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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on May 28, 2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Specification
The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
In paragraph [0002] of the specification, the URL should be deleted.
Numerals 1273a, 1273b, 1274a, 1274b, 1275a, 1275b are shown in Figure 12 but they are not described in the specification.
Numerals 1373a and 1373b are shown in Figure 13 but they are not described in the specification.
Numeral 1422 is mentioned on page 31 of the specification, but it is not shown in the drawings.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Objections
Claims 8, 12-18, 20 and 21 are objected to because of the following informalities:
In claim 8, line 3, “a” radio should be – the – radio.
In claim 12, line 12, -- the – should be inserted before “at least one determined data source”.
In claim 20, line 10, -- the – should be inserted before “at least”.
In claim 21, line 9, -- the – should be inserted before “at least”.
Appropriate correction is required.
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 3, 7-12, 14 and 17-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Fu et al (U.S. Patent Publication 2024/0048975).
Regarding claim 1, Fu teaches a method in a data collection and distribution application entity (Figure 5, 500), the method comprising:
receiving a request from a service consumer (Figure 6, step 600), wherein the request is related to a radio related performance analytics event (Figure 1 shows an NG-RAN and Consumer 1 in Figure 6 is NWDAF-1);
determining at least one data source for data collection related to the radio related performance analytics event (Figure 5, DCCF 502 “FINDS THE RIGHT DATA PRODUCER”);
configuring, based at least in part on the radio related performance analytics event, at least one parameter related to data collection from at least one determined data source (Notification Correlation ID);
sending the at least one configured parameter to the at least one data source based at least in part on the radio related resource performance analytics event (Step 610);
receiving data from the at least one data source (Step 614);
processing the received data to produce processed data (Paragraph [0176], “Data Tag”); and
sending the processed data to the service consumer (Paragraph [0177]).
Regarding claim 3, Fu shows wherein the request (Step 600) from the service consumer comprises one or more of a data subscription request or an analytics event subscription request.
Regarding claim 7, Fu teaches in paragraph [0045] processing the received data comprises combining data collected from a plurality of data sources.
Regarding claim 8, Fu teaches in paragraph [0046] storing a data source list with the request for analytics related to a radio related performance analytics event.
Regarding claim 9, Fu teaches sending analytics to the service consumer when a sending condition is satisfied (Paragraphs [0052]-[0058]).
Regarding claim 10, Fu teaches registering the data collection and distribution application entity with each of a plurality of data sources (Paragraph [0064]).
Regarding claim 11, Fu teaches (Paragraph [0082]-[0084]) determining the at least one data source for data collection related to the radio related performance analytics event comprises selecting data sources from the plurality of data sources with which the data collection and distribution application entity is registered.
Regarding claims 12, 14, 17, and 18, these claims are the data collection and distribution application entity claims corresponding to method claims 1, 3, 7 and 8, and they are therefore rejected for the same reasons above.
Regarding claim 19, Fu further teaches wherein the received data comprises data analytics from one or more 3GPP sources.
Regarding claims 20 and 21, these claims are the network entity and processor claims corresponding to method claim 1, and they are therefore rejected for the same reasons above.
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 2 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over by Fu et al (U.S. Patent Publication 2024/0048975) in view of Ying et al (U.S. Patent Publication 2022/0014942).
Regarding claims 2 and 13, Fu shows all the features as described above except for the data collection and distribution application entity being an xApp. Ying teaches that it is known to use xApps in open radio access networks. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing the claimed invention to use the data collection and distribution method of Fu in an O-RAN using xApps as taught by Ying. The rationale is as follows: One of ordinary skill in art at the time of filing the claimed invention would have been motivated to use the data collection and distribution method of Fu in an O-RAN using xApps as taught by Ying so that an open radio access network could utilize the benefits of the secure data collection and distribution system taught by Fu.
Claims 4 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fu et al (U.S. Patent Publication 2024/0048975)
Regarding claims 4 and 15, Fu shows all the features as described above except for the radio related performance analytics event relates to a service level agreement between the service consumer and the data collection and distribution application entity provider. Official Notice is taken that it is old and well known to have a service level agreement between a customer and a service provider. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing the claimed invention to provide Fu with a service level agreement between the service consumer and the data collection and distribution application entity provider. The rationale is as follows: One of ordinary skill in art at the time of filing the claimed invention would have been motivated to provide Fu with a service level agreement between the service consumer and the data collection and distribution application entity provider since service level agreements define what services are included between a consumer and a provider.
Claims 6 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fu et al (U.S. Patent Publication 2024/0048975) in view of Chunduri et al (U.S. Patent Publication 2021/0204162).
Regarding claims 6 and 16, Fu shows all the features as described above except for processing of the received data comprises abstraction. Chunduri teaches that it is known in the art to mask or translate secure network data into a form that is not sensitive (i.e., abstraction). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing the claimed invention to process the received data of Fu using a masking technique as taught by Chunduri. The rationale is as follows: One of ordinary skill in art at the time of filing the claimed invention would have been motivated to process the received data of Fu using a masking technique as taught by Chunduri so that sensitive data is hidden and private information is not revealed.
Conclusion
The art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Feng et al (U.S. Patent Publication 2024/0372928), Khare et al (U.S. Patent Publication 2022/0124015), Park et al (U.S. Patent Publication 2023/0239680), Kahn et al (WO 2021/190806) and Pateromichelakis et al (U.S. Patent Publication 2025/0055902) are all cited to show data collection in a network.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WILLIAM R KORZUCH whose telephone number is (571)272-7589. The examiner can normally be reached Mon.-Fri. 8:00-4:00.
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/WILLIAM R KORZUCH/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2491
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