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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I (claims 1-9) in the reply filed on 8/17/2026 is acknowledged.
Priority
The present application claims priority from Provisional Application 63627726 , filed 01/31/2024.
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.
Claim(s) 1-3, 5-9, 21-23 and 25-30 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhu et al. (Pub. No.: US 20220225095 A1) in view of Chinese Patent Application (CN116193430A), “CPA” hereinafter and mappings to the CPA are based on the attached translation.
As to claim 1, Zhu teaches a method comprising: receiving, from a network function (NF) of a network, an authentication request for authentication of a user equipment (UE), the UE configured for establishing direct non-access stratum (NAS) connections to NF of the network (fig. 6A, S304);
performing an authentication procedure for the UE (fig. 6A, S306); and
generating an authentication result of the authentication procedure to be provided to at least one NF (fig. 6A, S308).
Zhu does not explicitly teach two or more NF.
However, in the same field of endeavor (Network authentication) CPA teaches UE configured for establishing direct non-access stratum (NAS) connections to two or more NFs of the network; and generating an authentication result of the authentication procedure to be provided to at least one of the two or more NFs (paragraph [0011], “…when the UDM determines, based on the UE's context, that there is more than one AMF providing services to the UE, it notifies the other AMFs of the authentication and authorization results.”).
Based on Zhu in view of CPA, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate two or more NFs (taught by CPA) with authentication UE to NF (taught by Zhu) in order to improve service availability, load balancing and enhance user experience.
As to claim 2, CPA further teaches wherein the authentication result is to be provided to at least two NFs of the two or more NFs (paragraph [0011], “…when the UDM determines, based on the UE's context, that there is more than one AMF providing services to the UE, it notifies the other AMFs of the authentication and authorization results.”). The limitations of claim 2 are rejected in view of the analysis of claim 1 above, and the rationale to combine, as discussed in claim 1, applies here as well.
As to claim 3, CPA further teaches wherein the authentication result is to be provided to all of the two or more NFs (paragraph [0011], “…when the UDM determines, based on the UE's context, that there is more than one AMF providing services to the UE, it notifies the other AMFs of the authentication and authorization results.”). The limitations of claim 3 are rejected in view of the analysis of claim 1 above, and the rationale to combine, as discussed in claim 1, applies here as well.
As to claim 5, Zhu teaches wherein the authentication result is to be provided to only the NF (fig. 6A, S308).
As to claim 6, CPA further teaches determining an NF identifier (ID) corresponding to the NF within the authentication request, wherein the authentication result is to be provided to only the NF based at least in part on said determining the NF ID within the authentication request (paragraphs [0249]-[0250]). The limitations of claim 6 are rejected in view of the analysis of claim 1 above, and the rationale to combine, as discussed in claim 1, applies here as well.
As to claim 7, CPA further teaches wherein the NF includes a first NF, wherein the authentication request includes a first authentication request, wherein the first authentication request is for the first NF, wherein the authentication procedure includes a first authentication procedure, wherein the authentication result includes a first authentication result (paragraph [0011]), and wherein the method further comprises:
receiving, from a second NF of the two or more NFs, a second authentication request for the UE (paragraphs [0249]-[0250] and fig. 1);
performing a second authentication procedure for the UE for the second NF (paragraphs [0249]-[0250] and fig. 1); and
generating a second authentication result of the second authentication procedure to be provided to the second NF (paragraphs [0249]-[0250] and fig. 1). The limitations of claim 7 are rejected in view of the analysis of claim 1 above, and the rationale to combine, as discussed in claim 1, applies here as well.
As to claim 8, CPA further teaches determining a first NF identifier (ID) corresponding to the first NF within the first authentication request (paragraphs [0249]-[0250]); and
determining a second NF ID corresponding to the second NF within the second authentication request (paragraphs [0249]-[0250]). The limitations of claim 8 are rejected in view of the analysis of claim 1 above, and the rationale to combine, as discussed in claim 1, applies here as well.
As to claim 9, Zho teaches wherein an authentication server function (AUSF) is to provide instructions to cause the method to be performed (paragraph [0085]).
As to claim 21, Zho further teaches an apparatus comprising: interface circuitry; and processing circuitry coupled with the interface circuitry (paragraph [0212]). Therefore, the limitations of claim 21 are substantially similar to claim 1. Please refer to claim 1 above.
As to claims 22-23, the limitations of the claims are substantially similar to claims 2-3, respectively. Please refer to each respective claim above.
As to claim 25, the limitations of the claim are substantially similar or broader in scope to claim 6. Please refer to claim 6 above.
As to claim 26, the limitations of the claim are substantially similar or broader in scope to claim 7. Please refer to claim 7 above.
As to claim 27, Zho teaches wherein an authentication server function (AUSF) is to provide instructions to the processing circuitry to receive the authentication request and generate the authentication result (paragraph [0085]).
As to claim 28, Zhu teaches a method comprising: generating a request for authentication of a user equipment (UE), the request for establishing direct non-access stratum (NAS) connections with one or more network functions (NFs) (fig. 6A, S304);
and
receiving at least one result of an authentication procedure performed for the UE based at least in part on the request for authentication, the at least one result indicating whether authentication is provided for establishing the direct NAS connections with at least one of the one or more network functions (fig. 6A, S308).
Zhu does not explicitly teach two or more NF.
However, in the same field of endeavor (Network authentication) CPA teaches establishing direct non-access stratum (NAS) connections with two or more network functions (NFs); and indicating whether authentication is provided for establishing the direct NAS connections with at least one of the two or more network functions (paragraph [0011], “…when the UDM determines, based on the UE's context, that there is more than one AMF providing services to the UE, it notifies the other AMFs of the authentication and authorization results.”).
Based on Zhu in view of CPA, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate two or more NFs (taught by CPA) with authentication UE to NF (taught by Zhu) in order to improve service availability, load balancing and enhance user experience.
As to claim 29, Zhu teaches wherein the request includes a UE identifier (ID) utilized for determining an authentication anchor (AA) for performing the authentication procedure (paragraph [0100]).
As to claim 30, Zhu teaches wherein the UE ID comprises a subscription concealed identifier (SUCI) or a global unique temporary identifier (GUTI) (paragraph [0100]).
Claim(s) 4, 24 and 31 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhu et al. (Pub. No.: US 20220225095 A1) in view of CPA (CN116193430A) and further in view of Holtmanns (Pub. No.: US 20140171029 A1).
As to claim 4, Zhu teaches wherein performing the authentication procedure includes: verifying a UE identifier (ID) received within the authentication request (paragraph [0100]).
Zhu in view of CPA does not explicitly teach utilizing authentication vector.
However, in the same field of endeavor (network authentication) Holtmanns teaches
generating an authentication vector (AV) to be provided to the UE (paragraph [0056]);
receiving, from the UE, a calculation result (paragraph [0060]); and
verifying the calculation result to authenticate the UE (paragraph [0061]).
Based on Zhu in view of CPA and further in view of Holtmanns, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate authentication vector (taught by Holtmanns) with two or more NFs (taught by CPA) with authentication UE to NF (taught by Zhu) in order to improve service availability, load balancing and enhance user experience and in order to further enhance the security.
As to claim 24, the limitations of the claim are substantially similar to claim 4. Please refer to claim 4 above.
As to claim 31, Zhu in view of CPA does not explicitly teach utilizing authentication vector.
However, in the same field of endeavor (network authentication) Holtmanns teaches
receiving an authentication vector; generating a calculation result based at least in part on the authentication vector (paragraph [0056]); and generating an authentication response that includes the calculation result, the calculation result utilized in the authentication procedure for determining whether authentication is to be provided for establishing the direct NAS connections with the at least one of the two or more network functions (paragraphs [0060]-[0062]).
Based on Zhu in view of CPA and further in view of Holtmanns, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate authentication vector (taught by Holtmanns) with two or more NFs (taught by CPA) with authentication UE to NF (taught by Zhu) in order to improve service availability, load balancing and enhance user experience and in order to further enhance the security.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Please see PTO-892.
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/Abdulkader M Alriyashi/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2447 9/30/2026
