DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
Claims 1-20 are pending in this application. 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
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 02/13/2025, 6/10/2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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.
Claims 1-4, 6-7, 11-15, and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hans (US 2019/0281492) and in view of Kim (US 2024/0048632, publication date 02/08/2024).
Re Claim 1, Hans discloses A network entity, comprising:
obtain a first request to a first service for a user equipment (UE), the first request comprising an indicator of the first service Hans ([0026], providing a service for a first application on a UE. [0063], SMF may authenticate and authorize the UE and the session parameters to establish the QoS parameters for the requested service.);
establish a protocol data unit session with a set of traffic filters in accordance with the first request Hans ([0057]-[0058], UE will issue a request for a new PDU session is no appropriate PDU sessions exists. If there is, it may select an existing PDU session for delivery of the flows. Configuring new PDU session will configure UE with filters for the PDU session selection for new flows which filters indicate the need to setup a new PDU session for the new flows based on the requested ser vice parameters);
obtain a second request to a second service for the UE, the second request comprising an indicator of the second service Hans ([0026], providing a second service for a second application on a UE [0063], SMF may authenticate and authorize the UE and the session parameters to establish the QoS parameters for the requested service.); and
modify the protocol data unit session based at least in part on the second request, wherein modifying the protocol data unit session comprises modifying at least one traffic filter of the set of traffic filters Hans ([0026] changing the first quality of service setting for the first application to satisfy the higher quality of the second service. [0068]-[0075], switching the established first PDU session with the first service into the new PDU session to be established along with the second service. Confirmation of the PDU session establishment will contain filters that steer traffic of Application 2 to be transferred via the new PDU session).
While Hans discloses authenticate and authorizing the request for the service of the application on a UE, Hans does not disclose, however Kim discloses one or more memories storing processor-executable code ([0184], memory may store computer-readable executable code); and
one or more processors coupled with the one or more memories and individually or collectively operable to execute the code to cause the network entity to ([0184], memory may store computer-readable executable code that are executed by the processor);
request to validate a service ([0151], [0163], request validation for a service for a UE. Indicator of the service includes service-level device identifier.);
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the date the current invention was effectively filed to have modified the teachings of Han’s authentication and authorization service with an application on a UE with Kim’s authentication and authorization for various services on a UE to include validation. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to incorporate the teachings with one another in order to improve the security and policy enforcement by ensuring the service dynamically adapts PDU session for handling multiple application services.
Re claim 2, Hans discloses initiate, based at least in part on obtaining the first request, a first service authorization of the first service, wherein the first service is validated by a first application function ([0026], providing a service for a first application on a UE. [0062]-[0063], SMF may authenticate and authorize the UE and the session parameters to establish the QoS parameters for the requested service with App 1.); and
initiate, based at least in part on obtaining the second request, a second service authorization of the second service, wherein the second service is validated by a second application function different from the first application function ([0026], providing a second service for a second application on a UE [0063]-[0071], SMF may authenticate and authorize the UE and the session parameters to establish the QoS parameters for the requested service with App 2. App 1 and App 2 are different with different QoS).
One of ordinary level of skill in the art would have been compelled to make the proposed modification to Hans for the same reasons identified in the rejection of claim 1. In addition, Kim discloses Service level validation ([0161]-[0163], Validation request manager obtains a container that requests validation for a first service for a UE which includes the indicator of the first service including service-level device identifier.)
Re claim 3 wherein the set of traffic filters enable a first flow of traffic associated with the first service based at least in part on the first service-level validation of the first service being successful and the set of traffic filters comprising the modified at least one traffic filter enable a second flow of traffic associated with the second service based at least in part on the second service-level validation of the second service ([0057]-[0058], UE will issue a request for a new PDU session is no appropriate PDU sessions exists. If there is, it may select an existing PDU session for delivery of the flows. Configuring new PDU session will configure UE with filters for the PDU session selection for new flows which filters indicate the need to setup a new PDU session for the new flows based on the requested ser vice parameters).
One of ordinary level of skill in the art would have been compelled to make the proposed modification to Hans for the same reasons identified in the rejection of claim 1. In addition, Kim discloses Service level validation being successful ([0098], The UAV authentication failure may include an error message and a UAS resource release indication. The authentication result may include a success message.)
Re claim 4, One of ordinary level of skill in the art would have been compelled to make the proposed modification to Hans for the same reasons identified in the rejection of claim 1. In addition, Kim discloses wherein the first application function and the second application function are external to the network entity, and wherein the network entity communicates with the first application function and the second application function via a network exposure function ([0050]-[0051], a SMF may receive the request from the UE and may select a network exposure function that may provide to the AA to the UE for the service.
Re claim 6, Hans discloses wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further operable to execute the code to cause the network entity to: obtain the set of traffic filters to identify a flow of traffic associated with the first service based at least in part on the first service-level validation of the first service being successful ([0026], providing a service for a first application on a UE. [0063], SMF may authenticate and authorize the UE and the session parameters to establish the QoS parameters for the requested service. [0057]-[0058], UE will issue a request for a new PDU session is no appropriate PDU sessions exists. If there is, it may select an existing PDU session for delivery of the flows. Configuring new PDU session will configure UE with filters for the PDU session selection for new flows which filters indicate the need to setup a new PDU session for the.
Re claim 7, One of ordinary level of skill in the art would have been compelled to make the proposed modification to Hans for the same reasons identified in the rejection of claim 1. In addition, Kim discloses wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further operable to execute the code to cause the network entity to: output an indication of a capability to support a service-level validation of services supported by the UE, wherein obtaining the first request and the second request is based at least in part on outputting the indication of the capability ([0161]-[0163], Validation request manager obtains a container that requests validation for a first service for a UE which includes the indicator of the first service including service-level device identifier.)
Re claim 11, One of ordinary level of skill in the art would have been compelled to make the proposed modification to Hans for the same reasons identified in the rejection of claim 1. In addition, Kim discloses establishing the protocol data unit session is based at least in part on a subscription data, the indicator of the first service, or both ([0010]-[0011], verifying subscription of the UE to determine the service identifier corresponding to the service-level device identifier); and
the subscription data indicates that the protocol data unit session is associated with a service-level validation of the UE ([0010]-[0011], verifying subscription of the UE to determine the service identifier corresponding to the service-level device identifier)
Re claim 12, Hans discloses wherein the set of traffic filters enable flow of traffic not subject to service-level validation, traffic associated with a successful service-level validation, or both ([0057]-[0058], UE will issue a request for a new PDU session is no appropriate PDU sessions exists. If there is, it may select an existing PDU session for delivery of the flows. Configuring new PDU session will configure UE with filters for the PDU session selection for new flows which filters indicate the need to setup a ne PDU session for the new flows based on the requested service parameters).
Re claim 13, One of ordinary level of skill in the art would have been compelled to make the proposed modification to Hans for the same reasons identified in the rejection of claim 1. In addition, Kim discloses wherein the indicator of the first service comprises a service level indicator, and wherein the network entity comprises a session management function Kim ([0050]-[0051], a SMF may receive the request from the UE and may select a network exposure function that may provide to the AA to the UE for the service.)
Re claim 14, it is similar to claim 1 and therefore is rejected for the same reasons as claim 1 above. One of ordinary level of skill in the art would have been compelled to make the proposed modification to Hans for the same reasons identified in the rejection of claim 1. In addition, Kim discloses forward, to the session management function, the set of traffic filters obtained from the application function for establishment of a protocol data unit session with the UE ([0050]-[0051], a SMF may receive the request from the UE and may select a network exposure function that may provide to the AA to the UE for the service.)
Re claim 15, it is similar to claim 2 and therefore is rejected for the same reasons as claim 2 above. One of ordinary level of skill in the art would have been compelled to make the proposed modification to Hans for the same reasons identified in the rejection of claim 14. In addition, Kim discloses forward, to the session management function for modification of at least one traffic filter of the set of traffic filters of the protocol data unit session, the second set of traffic filters and the second indication of authentication and authorization ([0050]-[0051], a SMF may receive the request from the UE and may select a network exposure function that may provide to the AA to the UE for the service.)
Re claim 18, One of ordinary level of skill in the art would have been compelled to make the proposed modification to Hans for the same reasons identified in the rejection of claim 14. In addition, Kim discloses wherein the network entity comprises a network exposure function ([0050]-[0051], a SMF may receive the request from the UE and may select a network exposure function that may provide to the AA to the UE for the service.
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hans and in view of Kim and in view of Kim 100 (US 2022/0191100).
Re claim 5, Hans and Kim do not disclose, however Kim 100 discloses wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further operable to execute the code to cause the network entity to: release the protocol data unit session based at least in part on determining that the first service-level validation of the first service and the second service-level validation of the second service are not complete within a threshold time period ([0085], [0063], Release the PDU session when the transmit authorization information indicates the UE can or cannot use the MEC service provided to the UE).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the date the current invention was effectively filed to have modified the teachings of Han and Kim’s authentication and authorization service with an application on a UE with Kim 100’s authentication and authorization to include releasing PDU session. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to incorporate the teachings with one another in order to improve network efficiency by releasing the session when there is not validated service.
Claims 8 and 16-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hans and in view of Kim and in view of Ferdi (US 2024/0305980).
Re claim 8, Hans and Kim do not disclose, however Ferdi discloses obtain an indication of revocation of validation of the first service ([0160]-[0163], authorization revocation request message); and
remove a traffic filter from the set of traffic filters in response to obtaining the indication, wherein the traffic filter corresponds to the first service ([0160]-[0163], remove the filter configured based on revocation request message).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the date the current invention was effectively filed to have modified the teachings of Han and Kim’s authentication and authorization service with an application on a UE with Ferdi’s authentication and authorization to include traffic filter configurations. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to incorporate the teachings with one another in order to improve the communication between the networks by being able to discard data traffic from the remote devices.
Re claim 16, Hans discloses receive a second indication of authentication and authorization of the UE for the first service, wherein the second indication comprises a revocation of validation ([0098]-[0099], reauthorization or revoke notification when a UAV authentication failure is resulted).
Hans and Kim do not disclose, however Ferdi discloses remove the set of traffic filters associated with the first service from an allowed traffic filter list associated with the UE based at least in part on the revocation of validation. ([0160]-[0163], remove the filter configured based on revocation request message
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the date the current invention was effectively filed to have modified the teachings of Han and Kim’s authentication and authorization service with an application on a UE with Ferdi’s authentication and authorization to include traffic filter configurations. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to incorporate the teachings with one another in order to improve the communication between the networks by being able to discard data traffic from the remote devices.
Re claim 17, one of ordinary level of skill in the art would have been compelled to make the proposed modification to Hans and Kim for the same reasons identified in the rejection of claim 16. In addition, Ferdi discloses release the protocol data unit session associated with the UE based at least in part on the revocation of validation associated with the first service and the first service being a last service associated with the UE. ([0164], PDU session released based on authorization revocation procedure).
Claims 9-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hans and in view of Kim and in view of Lee (US 2020/0366794).
Re claim 9, Hans and Kim do not disclose, however Lee discloses determine that the set of traffic filters is exclusive of active traffic filters for the protocol data unit session ([0090]-[0091], Traffic filter rule to only allow packets destined to the data shop); and
release the protocol data unit session in response to determining that the set of traffic filters is exclusive of active traffic filters for the protocol data unit session ([0090]-[0091], SMF performs a PDU session release procedure when the usage period has expired or exhausted. It only allows packets destined to the data shop).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the date the current invention was effectively filed to have modified the teachings of Han and Kim’s session management with Lee’s session management include traffic filter configurations. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to incorporate the teachings with one another in order to improve network efficiency by being able to release PDU session with session management.
Re claim 10, one of ordinary level of skill in the art would have been compelled to make the proposed modification to Hans and Kim for the same reasons identified in the rejection of claim 9. In addition, Lee discloses wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further operable to execute the code to cause the network entity to: release the protocol data unit session upon expiration of a timer, wherein the timer is initiated upon determining that the set of traffic filters is exclusive of active traffic filters for the protocol data unit session ([0090]-[0091], SMF performs a PDU session release procedure when the usage period has expired or exhausted. It only allows packets destined to the data shop).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HO T SHIU whose telephone number is (571)270-3810. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri (9:00am - 5:00pm).
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/HO T SHIU/Examiner, Art Unit 2443
HO T. SHIU
Examiner
Art Unit 2443
/NICHOLAS R TAYLOR/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2443
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