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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
2. The information disclosure statement(s) (IDS) submitted on 01/08/2025 in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement(s) is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
3. Claim 18 is objected to because of the following informalities:
In Claim 18, a limitation recite “the method NF is further configured to, prior to the sending of the analytics information request:” (emphasis added) should read as “the NF is further configured to, prior to the sending of the analytics information request:”(emphasis added).
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
4. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
5. Claims 8, 11, 15 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
6. Claim 8 recites in a limitation “wherein: the request related to the operation is associated with a procedure with mandatory verification of user consent at the NEF” (emphasis added). There is no prior recitation of “an NEF” in the claim or the claim which it depends on. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 11 recites in a limitation “the subscribing includes configuring a UDM to send the notifications to the first NF” (Emphasis added). However, there is no prior recitation of “subscribing” in the claim or the claim which it depends on. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 15 recites in a limitation “in response to determining that a number of the UEs with granted user consent is below a minimum number associated with a validity criterion of the service, sending a reject message to the second NF” (Emphasis added). However, there is no prior recitation of “a service” in the claim or the claim which it depends on. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 17 recites in a limitation “first NF is a Network Exposure Function (NEF)” (Emphasis added). Claim 17 depends on Claim 16, and it is unclear whether the “first NF” refers to the “NF” recited in Claim 16 or a different “NF”. Therefore, Claim 17 is rejected as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. Claims 1-6 and 8-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over 3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Services and System Aspects;
Study on 5G System Support for AI/ML-based Services (Release 18), (2022-05) (hereinafter, R1) [As disclosed in IDS] in view of KHARE et al. (US 2022/0217539 A1, hereinafter Khare).
Regarding Claim 1,
R1 discloses a method for configuring analytics or event monitoring in a mobile communication system, the method implemented in a first network function (NF) of a core network (CN) and comprising (R1: [Page: 42, Section 6.6] Federated learning analytics as assistance to AI/ML application server, [Page: 43, Section 6.6.2] procedure for federated learning analytics as assistance to AI/ML application server is depicted in figure 6.6.2-1—NEF, [Page: 38, Section 6.5.1] Network Functions (NFs) can subscribe to UE related event notifications, e.g. Analytics information generated by the System…, the availability of system information is limited to the Core Network):
sending, from the first NF to a second NF, a request related to an operation involving analytics and/or event monitoring, the request indicating that the operation requires user consent (R1: [Page 21, Section 6.2.2.2.1 bottom] NWDAF performs user consent check to UDM to determine if the analytics procedure is allowed or not, [Page: 43 Section 6.6.2] See Figure 6.6.2-1, Federated learning analytics as assistance to AI/ML application server 1. The AF prepares for running FL training by collecting information such as FL aggregated model size, potential FL members, model aggregation latency target in each iteration, expected number of iterations and time interval between iterations, local model size, time window(s) when FL training needs to be performed. It determines an initial list for candidate FL members…, AF requests 5GS assistance and request for analytics with Analytics ID set to FL analytics, [Page: 44 Middle] 3. NEF forwards the request to NWDAF. 4-6. NWDAF collects data about candidate FL members from NFs:…, User consent checking for each member, from UDM, [Page: 42 bottom and Page 43 top] 5GS collects candidate FL members' data:…, User Consent check for each member, [Page: 43 Fig. 6.6.2-1] 2. Nnef_AnalyticsExposure_Subscribe (FL analytics: Candidate FL members, local Model size, aggregated model size, time window(s) when FL training needs to be performed), 3. Nnwdaf_AnalyticsSubscription_Subscribe (FL analytics), 4. Nudm_SDM_Get (User consent checking, serving AMF) (i.e. the requested FL analytics identifies candidate FL members whose data comprises user-consent checking for each member)); and
receiving, from the second NF, a response to the request (R1: [Page: 44 Middle] 3. NEF forwards the request to NWDAF. 4-6. NWDAF collects data about candidate FL members from NFs:…, User consent checking for each member, from UDM), the response including at least one of:
(i) a list of UEs for which user consent has been granted (R1: [Page: 44 Middle] 3. NEF forwards the request to NWDAF. 4-6. NWDAF collects data about candidate FL members from NFs:…, User consent checking for each member, from UDM), or
(ii) a list of UEs for which user consent has not been granted (R1: [Page: 44 Middle] 3. NEF forwards the request to NWDAF. 4-6. NWDAF collects data about candidate FL members from NFs:…, User consent checking for each member, from UDM).
R1 does not explicitly disclose:
receiving, from the second NF, a response to the request, the response including at least one of:
(i) a list of UEs for which user consent has been granted, or (ii) a list of UEs for which user consent has not been granted.
However, Khare from the same field of endeavor as the claimed invention discloses means for receiving, by a network function configured to provide centralized user consent authorization in a cellular communication system (Khare: [Abstract]), said user consent information may comprise Boolean flags (true/false) indicating individually for each of the at least one UE whether the logical network entity is authorized to access data (Khare: ¶ [0024]), if user consent information is stored in a database which stores subscription information of UEs, such as a Unified Data Manager, UDM,
or a Unified Data Repository, UDR, all logical network entities which want to access data related to a UE may need to retrieve a permission, i.e., a consent flag, from the database before they can access data related to the UE…, each NF collecting the data related to the UE must contact the UCA NF for authorization (Khare: ¶ [0025]), NFc 110 may determine that it wants to collect data related to at least one UE (not shown in FIG. 1), for example depending on a use case of NFc 110. For example, if NFc 110 is an NWDAF NF, it may need to collect data related to at least one UE for analytics (Khare: ¶ [0039]), UCA NF 120 may retrieve from UDM 130, by transmitting a request and receiving a response, said user consent information concerning the at least one UE,
wherein said user consent information indicates individually whether NFc 110 is authorized to access data related to each of the at least one UE whose consent is requested by NFc (Khare: ¶ [0047]), UCA NF 120 may transmit a subscription request to UDM 130, to request notifications about changes in said user consent information concerning any UE, range of UEs, or a group of UEs, which may be accepted by UDM 130 as well UDM 130 may transmit notifications to UCA NF 120 whenever consent of any UE, said range of UEs or said group if UEs is changed (Khare: ¶ [0049]), UCA NF 120 may check individually whether each UE, whose consent has been requested by NFc 110, has approved the collection of data by NFc 110 (Khare: ¶ [0050]), and UCA NF 120 may transmit a success response signed by UCA NF 120 to NFc 110, the success response further comprising an identity of the at least one UE whose data NFc 110 is authorized by UCA NF 120 to access (Khare: ¶ [0053]).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teachings of Khare in the teachings of R1. A person having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so to ensure that data is collected from the users who have provided the required consent, and each NF collecting the data related to the UE must contact the UCA NF for authorization. Therefore, contacting the UDM is not required as the UCA NF caches the UDM data locally (Khare: ¶ [0025]).
Regarding Claim 2,
Claim 2 is dependent on Claim 1, and the combination of R1 and Khare discloses all the limitations of Claim 1. R1 further discloses wherein: the first NF is a Network Exposure Function (NEF) (R1: [Page: 44 Middle] 3. NEF forwards the request to NWDAF. 4-6. NWDAF collects data about candidate FL members from NFs:…, User consent checking for each member, from UDM, [Page: 43 Fig. 6.6.2-1] 2. Nnef_AnalyticsExposure_Subscribe (FL analytics: Candidate FL members, local Model size, aggregated model size, time window(s) when FL training needs to be performed), 3. Nnwdaf_AnalyticsSubscription_Subscribe (FL analytics), 4. Nudm_SDM_Get (User consent checking, serving AMF)); and
the second NF is a Unified Data Management function (UDM) (R1: [Page: 44 Middle] 3. NEF forwards the request to NWDAF. 4-6. NWDAF collects data about candidate FL members from NFs:…, User consent checking for each member, from UDM, [Page: 43 Fig. 6.6.2-1] 2. Nnef_AnalyticsExposure_Subscribe (FL analytics: Candidate FL members, local Model size, aggregated model size, time window(s) when FL training needs to be performed), 3. Nnwdaf_AnalyticsSubscription_Subscribe (FL analytics), 4.Nudm_SDM_Get (User consent checking, serving AMF)).
Regarding Claim 3,
Claim 3 is dependent on Claim 2, and the combination of R1 and Khare discloses all the limitations of Claim 2. R1 further discloses wherein the request is sent from the NEF to the UDM via a Network Data Analytic Function (NWDAF) (R1: [Page: 44 Middle] 3. NEF forwards the request to NWDAF. 4-6. NWDAF collects data about candidate FL members from NFs:…, User consent checking for each member, from UDM).
Regarding Claim 4,
Claim 4 is dependent on Claim 1, and the combination of R1 and Khare discloses all the limitations of Claim 1. R1 further discloses wherein: the request related to an operation involving analytics and/or event monitoring is an analytics information request (R1: [Page: 43 Section 6.6.2] See Figure 6.6.2-1, Federated learning analytics as assistance to AI/ML application server 1. The AF prepares for running FL training by collecting information such as FL aggregated model size, potential FL members, model aggregation latency target in each iteration, expected number of iterations and time interval between iterations, local model size, time window(s) when FL training needs to be performed. It determines an initial list for candidate FL members…, AF requests 5GS assistance and request for analytics with Analytics ID set to FL analytics, [Page: 42 bottom and Page 43 top] 5GS collects candidate FL members' data:…, User Consent check for each member, [Page: 43 Fig. 6.6.2-1] 3. Nnwdaf_AnalyticsSubscription_Subscribe (FL analytics), 4. Nudm_SDM_Get (User consent checking, serving AMF, also see [Pages: 101-102 Section 6.25.2.1: Steps 1-3]);
the method further comprising, prior to the sending of the analytics information request: receiving, from a third NF, a request indicating a preliminary operation requiring user consent (R1: [Page: 42 bottom and Page 43 top] 5GS collects candidate FL members' data:…, User Consent check for each member, [Page: 43 Section 6.6.2] See Figure 6.6.2-1, The AF prepares for running FL training by collecting information such as FL aggregated model size, potential FL members, model aggregation latency target in each iteration, expected number of iterations and time interval between iterations, local model size, time window(s) when FL training needs to be performed. It determines an initial list for candidate FL members…, Based on the information collected in step 1, the AF requests 5GS assistance and request for analytics with Analytics ID set to FL analytics, and provides the following input information to 5GS about FL model training, [Page: 44 top] Candidate FL members: a list of candidate FL members Ids, i.e. one or more SUPI(s) or Internal Group Identifier(s), as derived in step 1. [Page: 43 Fig. 6.6.2-1] 2. Nnef_AnalyticsExposure_Subscribe (FL analytics: Candidate FL members, local Model size, aggregated model size, time window(s) when FL training needs to be performed), also see [Pages: 101-102 Section 6.25.2.1: Steps 1-3]).
Regarding Claim 5,
Claim 5 is dependent on Claim 1, and the combination of R1 and Khare discloses all the limitations of Claim 1. R1 further discloses further comprising: selecting, based on the response, a group of UEs for the operation (R1: [Page: 43 bottom and 44 Top] Based on the information collected in step 1, the AF requests 5GS assistance and request for analytics with Analytics ID set to FL analytics, and provides the following input information to 5GS about FL model training: Candidate FL members: a list of candidate FL members Ids, i.e. one or more SUPI(s) or Internal Group Identifier(s), as derived in step 1. [Page: 44 Middle] 3. NEF forwards the request to NWDAF. 4-6. NWDAF collects data about candidate FL members from NFs:…, User consent checking for each member, from UDM …, 7-8 NWDAF estimates and informs AF, via NEF, about analytics and predictions, per time window, [Fig. 6.6.2-1 See 8.Nnef_AnalyticsExposure_Notify (Candidate members’ expected latency performance given the load on aggregated and local model, per time window)]).
Regarding Claim 6,
Claim 6 is dependent on Claim 1, and the combination of R1 and Khare discloses all the limitations of Claim 1. R1 further discloses wherein the operation relates to federated learning (R1: [Page: 43 Section 6.6.2--top] The procedure for federated learning analytics as assistance to AI/ML application server is depicted in figure 6.6.2-1, [Page: 43 Fig. 6.6.2-1] 2. Nnef_AnalyticsExposure_Subscribe (FL analytics: Candidate FL members, local Model size, aggregated model size, time window(s) when FL training needs to be performed), [Page: 43 bottom] 9-11. Based on the received information, the AF can estimate latency performance of FL model training and can take some decision on FL training, such as start or delay FL model training, or increase targeted latency per iteration and start FL, or decide to add FL members and request again assistance from the 5GS for new candidate members, or decide to use another FL selection algorithm).
Regarding Claim 8,
Claim 8 is dependent on Claim 1, and the combination of R1 and Khare discloses all the limitations of Claim 1. R1 further discloses wherein: the request related to the operation is associated with a procedure with mandatory verification of user consent at the NEF (R1: [Page: 103 Section 6.25.2.1--middle] 2. If the request from AI/ML Application Server is authorized, AIML NF/NEF determines whether the UEs provided by AI/ML Application Server are authorized by 5GC to support AIML operations and whether each UE consents to participate in the FL operation from UDM, which is stored in the UE subscription information, by invoking Nudm_SDM_Get service operation. After successful response is received, the AIML NF/NEF may subscribe to be notified of the Subscription data modification using Nudm_SDM_Subscribe).
R1 does not explicitly disclose wherein: the request related to the operation is associated with a procedure with mandatory verification of user consent at the NEF.
Khare further discloses if user consent information is stored in a database which stores subscription information of UEs, such as a Unified Data Manager, UDM, or a Unified Data Repository, UDR, all logical network entities which want to access data related to a UE may need to retrieve a permission, i.e., a consent flag, from the database before they can access data related to the UE…, each NF collecting the data related to the UE must contact the UCA NF for authorization (Khare: ¶ [0025]), and UCA NF 120 may check individually whether each UE, whose consent has been requested by NFc 110, has approved the collection of data by NFc 110 (Khare: ¶ [0050]).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teachings of Khare in the teachings of R1. A person having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so to ensure that data is collected from the users who have provided the required consent, and each NF collecting the data related to the UE must contact the UCA NF for authorization. Therefore, contacting the UDM is not required as the UCA NF caches the UDM data locally (Khare: ¶ [0025]).
Regarding Claim 9,
Claim 9 is dependent on Claim 1, and the combination of R1 and Khare discloses all the limitations of Claim 1. R1 further discloses wherein the request related to the operation includes one of: (i) a request to receive analytics information (R1: [Page: 102 Section 6.25.2.1--bottom] 1. AI/ML Application Server invokes Nnef_AIMLAssistanceInfo_Request /Nnef_AIMLAssistanceInfo_Subscribe to request/subscribe 5G assistance information with specific conditions for FL operation. The AI/ML Application Server requests FL assistance information for the UE list included in the request. It also indicates that these UEs are authorized by AI/ML Application Server (application side) for FL operation, [Page: 103 Section 6.25.2.1--middle] 3. For the authorized UEs for AIML operation by 5GC, AIML NF/NEF determines appropriate analytics information and input parameters to be collected based on the requested inputs in step 1 to derive assistance information such as lists of candidate UEs or recommended areas with recommended time periods that can satisfy the request from AI/ML Application Server), or (ii) a request to subscribe to analytics information (R1: [Page: 102 Section 6.25.2.1--bottom] 1. AI/ML Application Server invokes Nnef_AIMLAssistanceInfo_Request/Nnef_AIMLAssistanceInfo_Subscribe to request/subscribe 5G assistance information with specific conditions for FL operation. The AI/ML Application Server requests FL assistance information for the UE list included in the request. It also indicates that these UEs are authorized by AI/ML Application Server (application side) for FL operation, [Page: 103 Section 6.25.2.1--middle] 3. For the authorized UEs for AIML operation by 5GC, AIML NF/NEF determines appropriate analytics information and input parameters to be collected based on the requested inputs in step 1 to derive assistance information such as lists of candidate UEs or recommended areas with recommended time periods that can satisfy the request from AI/ML Application Server).
Khare as well discloses NFc 110 may determine that it wants to collect data related to at least one UE (not shown in FIG. 1), for example depending on a use case of NFc 110. For example, if NFc 110 is an NWDAF NF, it may need to collect data related to at least one UE for analytics (Khare: ¶ [0039]).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teachings of Khare in the teachings of R1. A person having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so to ensure that data is collected from the users who have provided the required consent, and each NF collecting the data related to the UE must contact the UCA NF for authorization. Therefore, contacting the UDM is not required as the UCA NF caches the UDM data locally (Khare: ¶ [0025]).
Regarding Claim 10,
Claim 10 is dependent on Claim 1, and the combination of R1 and Khare discloses all the limitations of Claim 1. R1 further discloses further comprising: subscribing to notifications related to changes in user consent of the one or more UEs (R1: [Page: 103 Section 6.25.2.1--Middle] 2. If the request from AI/ML Application Server is authorized, AIML NF/NEF determines whether the UEs provided by AI/ML Application Server are authorized by 5GC to support AIML operations and whether each UE consents to participate in the FL operation from UDM, which is stored in the UE subscription information, by invoking Nudm_SDM_Get service operation. After successful response is received, the AIML NF/NEF may subscribe to be notified of the Subscription data modification using Nudm_SDM_Subscribe).
Khare as well discloses UCA NF 120 may transmit a subscription request to UDM 130, to request notifications about changes in said user consent information concerning any UE, range of UEs, or a group of UEs, which may be accepted by UDM 130 as well…, and each NF collecting the data related to the UE must contact the UCA NF for authorization. Therefore, contacting the UDM is not required as the UCA NF caches the UDM data locally…, transmit a subscription request to UDM 130, the subscription request identifying UE= Any UE/Range of UE/Group of UE, Consent Change=True. Based on this subscription, UDM 130 may transmit notifications to UCA NF 120 whenever consent of any UE, said range of UEs or said group if UEs is changed (Khare: ¶ [0049]).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teachings of Khare in the teachings of R1. A person having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so to ensure that data is collected from the users who have provided the required consent (Khare: ¶ [0025]).
Regarding Claim 11,
Claim 11 is dependent on Claim 1, and the combination of R1 and Khare discloses all the limitations of Claim 1. R1 further discloses wherein: the subscribing includes configuring a UDM to send the notifications to the first NF (R1: [Page: 103 Section 6.25.2.1--Middle] 2. If the request from AI/ML Application Server is authorized, AIML NF/NEF determines whether the UEs provided by AI/ML Application Server are authorized by 5GC to support AIML operations and whether each UE consents to participate in the FL operation from UDM, which is stored in the UE subscription information, by invoking Nudm_SDM_Get service operation. After successful response is received, the AIML NF/NEF may subscribe to be notified of the Subscription data modification using Nudm_SDM_Subscribe).
Khare as well discloses UCA NF 120 may transmit a subscription request to UDM 130, to request notifications about changes in said user consent information concerning any UE, range of UEs, or a group of UEs, which may be accepted by UDM 130 as well…, and each NF collecting the data related to the UE must contact the UCA NF for authorization. Therefore, contacting the UDM is not required as the UCA NF caches the UDM data locally…, transmit a subscription request to UDM 130, the subscription request identifying UE= Any UE/Range of UE/Group of UE, Consent Change=True. Based on this subscription, UDM 130 may transmit notifications to UCA NF 120 whenever consent of any UE, said range of UEs or said group if UEs is changed (Khare: ¶ [0049]).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teachings of Khare in the teachings of R1. A person having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so to ensure that data is collected from the users who have provided the required consent (Khare: ¶ [0025]).
Regarding Claim 12,
Claim 12 is dependent on Claim 10, and the combination of R1 and Khare discloses all the limitations of Claim 10. R1 further discloses wherein: the subscribing includes indicating an application associated with the operation, to which the user consent relates (R1: [Page: 102 Section 6.25.2.1--middle] 1. AI/ML Application Server invokes Nnef_AIMLAssistanceInfo_Request /Nnef_AIMLAssistanceInfo_Subscribe to request/subscribe 5G assistance information with specific conditions for FL operation. The AI/ML Application Server requests FL assistance information for the UE list included in the request. It also indicates that these UEs are authorized by AI/ML Application Server (application side) for FL operation,…, External Application Identifier).
Regarding Claim 13,
Claim 13 is dependent on Claim 10, and the combination of R1 and Khare discloses all the limitations of Claim 10. R1 further discloses further comprising: receiving a request for analytics fetching or subscription, wherein the subscribing is in response to the receiving of the request (R1: [Page: 38, Section 6.5.1] Network Functions (NFs) can subscribe to UE related event notifications, e.g. Analytics information generated by the System, [Page: 43 Section 6.6.2—Bottom and Page 44 --top] 2. Based on the information collected in step 1, the AF requests 5GS assistance and request for analytics with Analytics ID set to FL analytics, and provides the following input information to 5GS about FL model training: Candidate FL members: a list of candidate FL members Ids, i.e. one or more SUPI(s) or Internal Group Identifier(s), as derived in step 1. 4-6. NWDAF collects data about candidate FL members from NFs—See also Figure 6.6.2-1).
Regarding Claim 14,
Claim 14 is dependent on Claim 10, and the combination of R1 and Khare discloses all the limitations of Claim 10. R1 further discloses further comprising: receiving a request for event monitoring fetching or subscription, wherein the subscribing is in response to the receiving of the request (R1: [Page: 102 Section 6.25.2.1--middle] 1. AI/ML Application Server invokes Nnef_AIMLAssistanceInfo_Request/Nnef_AIMLAssistanceInfo_Subscribe to request/subscribe 5G assistance information with specific conditions for FL operation. The AI/ML Application Server requests FL assistance information for the UE list included in the request. It also indicates that these UEs are authorized by AI/ML Application Server (application side) for FL operation— [Page: 103 Section 6.25.2.1--middle] 2. If the request from AI/ML Application Server is authorized, AIML NF/NEF determines whether the UEs provided by AI/ML Application Server are authorized by 5GC to support AIML operations and whether each UE consents to participate in the FL operation from UDM, which is stored in the UE subscription information, See also Figure 6.25.2.1-1).
R1 does not explicitly disclose further comprising: receiving a request for event monitoring fetching or subscription, wherein the subscribing is in response to the receiving of the request.
Khare further discloses transmitting a user consent authorization request to the UCA NF. Upon receiving the user consent authorization request, the UCA NF may retrieve, from the database which stores subscription information of UEs, user consent information concerning the at least one UE, wherein said user consent information indicates whether the logical network entity is authorized to access data related to each of the at least one UE (Khare: ¶ [0032], See also Claim 6).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teachings of Khare in the teachings of R1. A person having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so to ensure that data is collected from the users who have provided the required consent (Khare: ¶ [0025]).
Regarding Claim 15,
Claim 15 is dependent on Claim 1, and the combination of R1 and Khare discloses all the limitations of Claim 1. R1 discloses further comprising: in response to determining that a number of the UEs with granted user consent is below a minimum number associated with a validity criterion of the service, sending a reject message to the second NF (R1: [Page: 156 Section 6.42.2--bottom] See Step 1: Minimum number of UEs in the AIML group indicates the minimum number of UEs which for which the requested QoS can be provided for the list of UEs included in the AIML group information, [Page: 157 Section 6.42.2--middle] 7. For request received from the NEF in step 6, the PCF determines whether the request is authorized and notifies the NEF if the request is not authorized…., If multiple UE(s) from the AF group is served by the same PCF, the PCF sends Npcf_GroupAuthorization_Create response with the result (success or failure) associated with the list of UEs for which policy authorization was successful and reason for failure for the list of UEs for which policy authorization failed…., 8. The NEF keeps track of the result included step 7 from all the PCFs identified in step 5. If minimum UEs in the group with requested QoS parameter is provided in step1, and the results from all PCFs matches or exceeds the minimum UEs in the group with requested QoS parameter, the NEF sends a Nnef_GroupAFsessionWithQoS_Create response message (Transaction Reference ID, Result, list of UEs in the AIML group for which the requested QoS is allowed)).
R1 does not explicitly disclose in response to determining that a number of the UEs with granted user consent is below a minimum number associated with a validity criterion of the service, sending a reject message to the second NF.
Khare further discloses determine, based on said user consent information concerning the at least one UE whose consent is requested by NFc 110, at least one UE whose data the logical network entity is authorized by UCA NF 120 to access. That is to say, UCA NF 120 may check individually whether each UE, whose consent has been requested by NFc 110, has approved the collection of data by NFc 110. (Khare: ¶ [0050]), and UCA NF 120, at step 112, may apply operator policy along with said user consent information received from UDM 130…, If NFc 110 is not authorized to access data related to any of the request UE(s), UCA NF 120 can reject the request with an error code (Khare: ¶ [0051], ¶ [0057], see also Claim 3).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teachings of Khare in the teachings of R1. A person having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so to ensure that data is collected from the users who have provided the required consent, and each NF collecting the data related to the UE must contact the UCA NF for authorization. Therefore, contacting the UDM is not required as the UCA NF caches the UDM data locally (Khare: ¶ [0025]).
Regarding Claim 16,
R1 discloses a network function (NF) implemented in a core network (CN) that comprises processing hardware, the NF configured to (R1: [Page: 42, Section 6.6] Federated learning analytics as assistance to AI/ML application server, [Page: 43, Section 6.6.2] procedure for federated learning analytics as assistance to AI/ML application server is depicted in figure 6.6.2-1—NEF, [Page: 38, Section 6.5.1] Network Functions (NFs) can subscribe to UE related event notifications, e.g. Analytics information generated by the System…, the availability of system information is limited to the Core Network, [Page: 100, Section 6.25.1] an AIML NF, which may be co-located with NEF, also see Khare: ¶ [0065]), and discloses all the limitations of Claim 16 as discussed in Claim 1. Therefore, Claim 16 is rejected using the same rationales as discussed in Claim 1.
Regarding Claim 17,
Claim 17 is dependent on Claim 16, and the combination of R1 and Khare discloses all the limitations of Claim 16. The combination of R1 and Khare discloses all the limitations of Claim 17 as discussed in Claim 2. Therefore, Claim 17 is rejected using the same rationales as discussed in Claim 2.
Regarding Claim 18,
Claim 18 is dependent on Claim 16, and the combination of R1 and Khare discloses all the limitations of Claim 16. The combination of R1 and Khare discloses all the limitations of Claim 18 as discussed in Claim 4. Therefore, Claim 18 is rejected using the same rationales as discussed in Claim 4.
Regarding Claim 19,
Claim 19 is dependent on Claim 16, and the combination of R1 and Khare discloses all the limitations of Claim 16. The combination of R1 and Khare discloses all the limitations of Claim 19 as discussed in Claim 5. Therefore, Claim 19 is rejected using the same rationales as discussed in Claim 5.
11. Claims 7 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over 3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Services and System Aspects;
Study on 5G System Support for AI/ML-based Services (Release 18), (2022-05) (hereinafter, R1) [As disclosed in IDS] in view of KHARE et al. (US-20220217539-A1, hereinafter Khare) and further in view of Shariat (US 2022/0124160 Al hereinafter, Shariat).
Regarding Claim 7,
Claim 7 is dependent on Claim 1, and the combination of R1 and Khare discloses all the limitations of Claim 1. R1 further discloses wherein: the request related to the operation is an event notification request including an event identifier corresponding to an event with mandatory verification of user consent (R1: [Page: 44 Section 6.6.2--middle] 4-6. NWDAF collects data about candidate FL members from NFs…- User consent checking for each member, from UDM).
R1 does not explicitly disclose wherein: the request related to the operation is an event notification request including an event identifier corresponding to an event with mandatory verification of user consent.
However, Khare from the same field of endeavor as the claimed invention discloses if user consent information is stored in a database which stores subscription information of UEs, such as a Unified Data Manager, UDM, or a Unified Data Repository, UDR, all logical network entities which want to access data related to a UE may need to retrieve a permission, i.e., a consent flag, from the database before they can access data related to the UE…, each NF collecting the data related to the UE must contact the UCA NF for authorization (Khare: ¶ [0025]), and UCA NF 120 may check individually whether each UE, whose consent has been requested by NFc 110, has approved the collection of data by NFc 110 (Khare: ¶ [0050]).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teachings of Khare in the teachings of R1. A person having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so to ensure that data is collected from the users who have provided the required consent, and each NF collecting the data related to the UE must contact the UCA NF for authorization. Therefore, contacting the UDM is not required as the UCA NF caches the UDM data locally (Khare: ¶ [0025]).
The combination of R1 and Khare does not explicitly disclose:
the request related to the operation is an event notification request including an event identifier corresponding to an event with mandatory verification of user consent.
However, Shariat from the same field of endeavor as the claimed invention discloses an event ID and/or AF identification marker corresponding to specific applications that support UE data collection can be configured in NEF (e.g., via OAM procedures) (Shariat: ¶ [0031]), UE(s) can be requested to provide consent at this stage. Application client(s) at the UE level are only configured for UE(s) that grant such consent…,Upon expiration of a user consent period, a new request can be sent to the UE to renew or update the user consent (Shariat: ¶ [0032]), and the NWDAF subscribes to an event exposure function of the AF (for a trusted AF) or an NEF (for
an untrusted AF) based on AF profile(s) discovered..., The NWDAF may include a target of analytics reporting (as a single UE or any UE), the event ID (i.e. the new event ID related to NF load analytics or any other analytics types), and event/analytics filters related to the area of interest or application ID(s) (Shariat: ¶ [0034] See Fig. 1-steps 11, 12 and 14).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teachings of Shariat in the teachings of R1. A person having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so to precisely identify which events the NF wants monitored and reported to provide improved incident response.
Regarding Claim 20,
Claim 20 is dependent on Claim 16, and the combination of R1 and Khare discloses all the limitations of Claim 16. The combination of R1, Khare and Shariat discloses all the limitations of Claim 20 as discussed in Claim 7. Therefore, Claim 20 is rejected using the same rationales as discussed in Claim 7.
Conclusion
12. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US-20220046412-A1
US-20160302070-A1
US-20220108214-A1
US-20160104067-A1
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/SAMEERA WICKRAMASURIYA/
Examiner, Art Unit 2494
/JUNG W KIM/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2494
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