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 .
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.
Claim(s) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Bor-Yaliniz et al. (US 20200044943 A1) hereinafter BY.
Regarding claim 1, BY teaches a method performed by an observability management system implemented by one or more computing devices to collect observability data regarding a distributed system (0079; distributed architecture of the system), the method comprising: (0300; 0304-0305; methods performed by system including a plurality of apparatuses including network devices
obtaining observability data (0103; performance indicators/data/metrics) requests submitted (request for configuring and collecting performance data) by a plurality of observability data consumers (entities requesting the data); (0081; 0083-0086; entities 320 (consumers) work in conjunction with task creators and requestors to send data requests to entities that hold the data and for configuring collection and actual collection of data)
generating (creating) an observability configuration (configuration for monitoring and collection of data) and an observability data aggregation model (0083; data aggregation) based on collating the observability data requests (0133; In other words, the CSM can identify multiple data providers holding different parts of the required data, collect data from each of the multiple data providers, and combine or process together the collected data. 0139; if the data is already being requested then a new task is not launched, which is equivalent to collating); (0082-0084; task creators use the configuration instructions to create or modify tasks to carry out the monitoring and collection; When appropriate pre-existing tasks are established, these tasks can be re-used or modified by the task creator to support the monitoring operation. The task creator can generate a number of separate tasks for carrying out the monitoring operation, such as querying different data providers. The task creator can configure the tasks based on contextual information; 0079 teaches re-use data results)
configuring (mapping above) one or more observability data producers (instructing/configuring the entities 330 to start data collection) of the distributed system (mapping above) in accordance with the observability configuration (instructions and configuration) to cause the one or more observability data producers to generate observability data (specific requested data is created and collected 0121 also teaches the data includes measurements which generates data); (0083; he requests may be requests for information held at or available to these entities 330. The data requestor/instructor 306 may transmit instructions to the entities 330, which cause these entities 330 to begin collecting specified data, obtain specified data from elsewhere, process collected data in a defined manner, or a combination thereof. The instructions may cause the entities 330 to report the data back to the CSM 300 or hold the data locally or in a database for subsequent retrieval. The data from the entities 330 is received at the CSM via the data receiver 308, which may optionally store received data locally … for aggregation with further data.)
collecting the observability data (collecting the requested performance data) generated (requested, measured, and collected) by the one or more observability data producers (entities see mapping above); (0083; and mapping above; collecting the requested/measured data)
aggregating the collected observability data (aggregating the collected performance data) in accordance with the observability data aggregation model (aggregating data at its basic function is a model; 0234 teaches aggregation for end-to-end latency which is also a “model”) to generate an aggregation result (aggregating data inherently creates a result of the aggregation) for each of the observability data requests (mapping above), (mapping above + 0083; 0085; teaches collecting and aggregating data, which inherently creates/generates an aggregation result; 0300; tasks are configured to process together the different information from the different respective ones of the data provider network devices to generate aggregate or combined information forming at least part of said specified information.)
wherein the aggregating includes sampling (sampling data) observability data items (collected performance data) from the collected observability data (collected performance data) to generate the aggregation result (time-series or report) for one of the observability data requests (0124; sampling specific data within a time interval and based on a sampling frequency to create a report or time-series; (0234; For instance, latency of network segments, nodes or slices (when multiple NSIs are utilized to serve the CSI) can be aggregated to obtain end-to-end latency. Utilization percentage of NSIs or NSI components can be collected to determine the bottleneck areas. PDU session or QoS based measurements can be aggregated to obtain slice-level performances.))
and extracting observability data items (aggregating latency or performance data) from the collected observability data without sampling (As mapped above, the specific data could be sampled or its just aggregated) to generate the aggregation result (aggregation or collected data; see mapping above) for another one of the observability data requests (see above for plurality of requests); (See mapping above + 0234; For instance, latency of network segments, nodes or slices (when multiple NSIs are utilized to serve the CSI) can be aggregated to obtain end-to-end latency. Utilization percentage of NSIs or NSI components can be collected to determine the bottleneck areas. PDU session or QoS based measurements can be aggregated to obtain slice-level performances.)
and reporting, (providing to the entities 320) to each of the plurality of observability data consumers,(entities 320) the aggregation result for the observability data request (the aggregation of the data collected in response to the request; see mapping above regarding requested) submitted by the observability data consumer (entities 320; see mapping above regarding request). (See mapping above + 0085; Referring to FIG. 3, the data processor 310 processes data received at the data receiver 308 according to a set of processing operations. The data processor 310 is configured by the task creator 304 to perform specific processing operations in support of the monitoring operation indicated in the configuration instruction message. For example, data can be processed to determine if a particular trigger condition is met, or to aggregate data, generate statistics based on data, generate indications of data trends, etc.0086; Referring to FIG. 3, the results of processing operations performed by the data processor 310 are provided to the result reporter 312. The result reporter transmits the results of the processing operations toward one of the entities 320; 0057; The evaluation results may trigger some alarms and reports to be sent to the monitoring entities service consumers (i.e., event-triggered). These reports or alarms may lead to some changes of the monitoring entities service consumers. For example, the network controller may change the network operation policy to enforce new QoS requirements or optimize the routing strategies)
Regarding claim 2, BY teaches the method of claim 1, and is disclosed above, BY further teaches wherein the collected observability data includes one or more of: logs,(0195; Table 29; logs) metrics, (0072; performance and qos metrics) and traces. (0074; data collection for enhanced trace management)
Regarding claim 3, BY teaches the method of claim 1, and is disclosed above, BY further teaches further comprising: receiving an observability capability report (measurement capability information) from at least one of the one or more observability data producers, (0247; Further according to step 3204, all CSI and NSI specification updates are sent to CSM and NSC. If needed, csmJobModificationRequest( ) is also sent be CSMSP and NSMSP. Note that, the contents of both modification requests are limited by the capabilities of CSMSP and NSMSP. [0281] In step 3503 b, if the existing measurement services are not adequate, DAM provider may utilize additional measurement services, or interact with other analytical service providers to determine capability of the network, e.g., RAN analytical services and NWDAF. [0282] In step 3503 c, CSM-COM obtains network capability related information from DAM.)
wherein the observability capability report indicates which types of observability data the at least one of the one or more observability data producer is capable of generating. (0247; Further according to step 3204, all CSI and NSI specification updates are sent to CSM and NSC. If needed, csmJobModificationRequest( ) is also sent be CSMSP and NSMSP. Note that, the contents of both modification requests are limited by the capabilities of CSMSP and NSMSP. [0281] In step 3503 b, if the existing measurement services are not adequate, DAM provider may utilize additional measurement services, or interact with other analytical service providers to determine capability of the network, e.g., RAN analytical services and NWDAF. [0282] In step 3503 c, CSM-COM obtains network capability related information from DAM.)
Regarding claim 4, BY teaches the method of claim 1, and is disclosed above, BY further teaches wherein an observability data request indicates one or more of: one or more targets to observe, (Examiner notes this claim element is part of a “one or more” limitation, and since the types of data to collect is mapped, this element is not being elected) one or more types of observability data to collect, (0118; Referring to FIG. 11, the monitoring type field 1100 is used to indicate the metric/data/KPI/status that NSM/NSC/3rd party wants CSM to monitor.) an observability data collection frequency, (Examiner notes this claim element is part of a “one or more” limitation, and since the types of data to collect is mapped, this element is not being elected) an observability data collection duration, (Examiner notes this claim element is part of a “one or more” limitation, and since the types of data to collect is mapped, this element is not being elected) and observability data reporting instructions. (Examiner notes this claim element is part of a “one or more” limitation, and since the types of data to collect is mapped, this element is not being elected)
Regarding claim 5, BY teaches the method of claim 1, and is disclosed above, BY further teaches wherein the collating includes translating (determining if monitoring jobs can be reused) observability data requirements (data being requested) of the observability data requests (mapping in claim 1) submitted by the plurality of observability data consumers (mapping in claim 1) to lower-level observability data requirements (determining if monitoring jobs can be reused based on data re-use) and determining whether there is overlap (determining if monitoring jobs can be reused based on data reuse) in the lower-level observability data requirements (data re-use). (0133;l In other words, the CSM can identify multiple data providers holding different parts of the required data, collect data from each of the multiple data providers, and combine or process together the collected data. [0139] where the determination 1210 indicates that required monitoring can be performed by current monitoring job 1210, the CSM associates 1240 reusable monitoring job data with the required monitoring job, and data collection configuration ends 1235. That is, if data is already being retrieved by the CSM which is sufficient to complete the monitoring job, the CSM can re-use this data without making any new requests to obtain additional data from data provider devices.)
Regarding claim 6, BY teaches the method of claim 1, and is disclosed above, BY further teaches wherein the configuring includes configuring a particular one of the one or more observability data producers to execute a single job (the task is executed) that generates observability data that can be used to fulfill requirements (re-use the data) of more than one of the observability data requests. ([0139] where the determination 1210 indicates that required monitoring can be performed by current monitoring job 1210, the CSM associates 1240 reusable monitoring job data with the required monitoring job, and data collection configuration ends 1235. That is, if data is already being retrieved by the CSM which is sufficient to complete the monitoring job, the CSM can re-use this data without making any new requests to obtain additional data from data provider devices. [0182] the task creator 304 creates or modifies a set of one or more tasks for carrying out a monitoring operation conveyed in a configuration instruction message. When appropriate pre-existing tasks are established, these tasks can be re-used or modified by the task creator to support the monitoring operation. The task creator can generate a number of separate tasks for carrying out the monitoring operation, such as querying different data providers. The task creator can configure the tasks based on contextual information.)
Regarding claim 7, BY teaches the method of claim 6, and is disclosed above, BY further teaches wherein the particular one of the observability data producers is configured to generate observability data with a frequency and duration (0084; For example, the task creator may specify the data to be retrieved, the entities to retrieve the data from, the frequency at which the data is to be retrieved periodically, trigger conditions under which data is to be retrieved, or a combination thereof. [0207 Table 38 indicates the collection frequency; 0144; The request may contain some or all of the following information to instruct the DAM to measure the corresponding data (performance or status or behaviors): data type, which may refer to policy format; time intervals, which may refer to policy format; measurement methods; analytical method, which may refer to policy format; etc. Examples of data type may include: latency, throughput, load, user distribution, traffic pattern. An example of time intervals may include a reporting frequency.)
that are determined based on collating frequencies (aggregating and reporting) and durations indicated by the more than one of the observability data requests. (0124; An example of the sampling type of the analyzing methodology may include sampling the data with a certain time interval or sampling frequency. 0115; message for communicating a monitoring policy may include: F1 1100, the monitoring type field; F2 1105, the agent ID field; F3 1110, the monitoring trigger condition field; F4 1115, the network component indicator field; F5 1120, the reporting type field; and F6 1125, the customizable value field. The F6 1125, the customizable value field, may have subfields including: F6-1 1130, the analyze method field; F6-2 1135, the collect method field; F6-3 1140, the report frequency field; F6-4 1145, the threshold field; F6-5 1150, the triggered reporting condition field; [0116] he Report Frequency field indicates a time frequency at which results of the network monitoring operations are to be periodically reported when time-triggered reporting is implemented. 0126; The report frequency field 1140 is an optional field which may be used to indicate the periodicity to use for repeatedly reporting event data. In some embodiments, the value in this field is only valid or relevant when time-triggered report type is selected)
Regarding claim 8, BY teaches the method of claim 1, and is disclosed above, BY further teaches wherein the aggregating further includes combining observability data items from the collected observability data. (0133; In other words, the CSM can identify multiple data providers holding different parts of the required data, collect data from each of the multiple data providers, and combine or process together the collected data. 0083; 0085; 0234; aggregating specific types of collected data)
Regarding claim 9, BY teaches the method of claim 1, and is disclosed above, BY further teaches wherein the distributed system is a mobile network. (0051 + 0087; communication network is 5G network; 0295; servicing mobile devices)
Regarding claims 10-20 inherit the same rejection as claims 1-9 for reciting similar limitations in the form of non-transitory machine-readable medium (0309-0311) and further in the form of a device (0311)
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ABDERRAHMEN H CHOUAT whose telephone number is (571)431-0695. The examiner can normally be reached on Mon-Fri from 9AM to 5PM PST.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Christopher Parry, can be reached at telephone number 571-272-8328. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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Abderrahmen Chouat
Examiner
Art Unit 2451
/Chris Parry/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2451
