DETAILED ACTION
The non-final office action is responsive to the filing of U.S. Patent Application 19/198,893 on 05/05/2025. Claims 1-20 are pending; claims 1-20 are rejected.
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 05/05/2025 was filed before the mailing date of the non-final office action. The submission 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 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WIPO WO 2025/187088 A1 to MINOKUCHI et al. (hereinafter MINOKUCHI. Note: citation is based on included machine translation).
As to claim 1, MINOKUCHI teaches a communication system for providing a reservation-based sensing function (This network node includes: a control unit that estimates that a sensing target moves outside a sensing range of a host device, determines switching of a sensing function, and determines a first network node having a sensing function for a movement destination; and a transmission unit that transmits, to a second network node, a first message requesting interruption of sensing measurement to a base station, and transmits context necessary for sensing to the first network node, MINOKUCHI, Abstract), comprising at least one entity,
wherein the at least one entity comprises:
a computer-readable memory storing at least one instruction (The storage device 1002 is a computer-readable recording medium and may be composed of, for example, at least one of a ROM (Read Only Memory), an EPROM (Erasable Programmable ROM), an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM), a RAM (Random Access Memory), etc. The storage device 1002 may also be called a register, a cache, a main memory, etc., MINOKUCHI, 4th Paragraph (hereinafter Para), Page (hereinafter Pg) 17 to 8th Para, Pg 18); and
a processor executing the at least one instruction (the processor 1001 reads programs (program code), software modules, data, etc. from at least one of the auxiliary storage device 1003 and the communication device 1004 into the storage device 1002, and executes various processes in accordance with these. The programs used are those that cause a computer to execute at least some of the operations described in the above-mentioned embodiments, MINOKUCHI, 4th Para, Pg 17 to 8th Para, Pg 18), and wherein the at least one entity is configured to:
negotiate, by using at least one network function (NF), a sensing policy for performing a sensing operation corresponding to the sensing request with the sensing client (S501: The AF30L sends a request message (Nnef_PSSQ (Planned Sensing with QoS Requirements) PolicyNegotiation_Create request) to the NEF30K requesting negotiation of a sensing policy. The request message includes a sensing range reference parameter, a sensing target reference parameter, and a sensing quality reference parameter. S502: The NEF30K sends a request message (Npcf_PSSQPolicyControl_Create request) to the (SS-)PCF30C requesting negotiation of a sensing policy. The request message includes multiple external parameters related to sensing quality of service (QoS) (sensing range reference parameter, sensing target reference parameter, and sensing quality reference parameter), MINOKUCHI, 3rd Para, Pg 12 to 11th Para, Pg 13); and
communicate with a radio access network (RAN) or a user equipment (UE) using the at least one NF, so that the sensing operation corresponding to the sensing request is performed by applying the sensing policy determined based on the negotiation (Furthermore, (SS-)PCF30C may receive from AF30L a message requesting the start of sensing measurement, including the identifier (PSSQ policy reference ID) of the sensing policy selected in S513. Furthermore, (SS-)PCF30C may convert the identifier (PSSQ policy reference ID) of the sensing policy included in the request message into the contents of the policy and sensing quality of service (QoS) information to be used within the network, and transmit the converted sensing quality of service (QoS) information to SF30B, MINOKUCHI, 3rd Para, Pg 12 to 11th Para, Pg 13).
MINOKUCHI does not explicitly disclose to receive, from a sensing client, a sensing request;
and wherein the sensing request includes reservation information for performing the sensing operation in the embodiment shown in Figure 7.
However, in another embodiment shown in Figure 3, MINOKUCHI discloses to receive, from a sensing client, a sensing request (S108: The AF30L sends a request message (The NEF30K sends to the (SS-)PCF30C a request message (Npcf_PolicyAuthorization_Create request) requesting sensing, including the external parameters received in S108, the AF identifier, the AF service identifier, and a subscription request. The subscription request includes the notification identifier assigned by the NEF30K, MINOKUCHI, 2nd Para, Pg 4 to 6th Para, Pg 6);
and wherein the sensing request includes reservation information for performing the sensing operation (Furthermore, the (SS-)PCF30C derives inter-sensing priority information(SenSing Allocation and Retention Priority, SSARP) and inter-communication service priority information (Allocation and Retention Priority, ARP) from the AF identifier and AF service identifier based on a mapping table appropriately defined by the telecommunications carrier. Here, SSARP indicates the priority between sensing, and ARP indicates the priority among all communication services. Furthermore, in addition to information indicating the high priority, SSARP and ARP may also include information indicating pre-emption vulnerability (i.e., allowing reserved network resources to be released when other higher priority communications or sensing require them) and information indicating pre-emption capability (i.e., the ability to release reserved network resources for other lower priority communications or sensing and thereby reserve those network resources, MINOKUCHI, 2nd Para, Pg 4 to 6th Para, Pg 6).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement receiving request message for sensing and reserving corresponding resources as taught by MINOKUCHI to modify the system of MINOKUCHI in order to achieve even greater system capacity, even faster data transmission speeds, and even lower latency in wireless sections.
As to claim 2, MINOKUCHI discloses the communication system according to claim 1, wherein the at least one entity is further configured to: transmit, through at least one first NF, a sensing reservation or negotiation request including the reservation information to at least one second NF; determine, through the at least one second NF, at least one sensing policy candidate in response to the sensing reservation or negotiation request; and transmit, through the at least one first NF, the at least one sensing policy candidate to the sensing client as a response to the sensing reservation or negotiation request (MINOKUCHI, 3rd Para, Pg 12 to 11th Para, Pg 13).
As to claim 3, MINOKUCHI discloses the communication system according to claim 2, wherein the at least one entity is further configured to: receive, through the at least one first NF, the sensing policy determined by the sensing client among the at least one sensing policy candidate, in response to the sensing reservation or negotiation request (The AF30L sends a request message (S513: Nnef_PSSQPolicyNegotiation_Update request) to the NEF30K requesting an update of the sensing policy. The request message includes the identifier (PSSQ policy reference ID) of the sensing policy that the AF30L selected from the list received in S510, MINOKUCHI, 3rd Para, Pg 12 to 11th Para, Pg 13).
As to claim 4, MINOKUCHI discloses the communication system according to claim 2, wherein the at least one entity is further configured to: determine, using a Network Data Analytics Function (NWDAF), the at least one sensing policy candidate in response to the sensing reservation or negotiation request, for determining of the at least one sensing policy candidate (MINOKUCHI, 3rd Para, Pg 12 to 11th Para, Pg 13. Note: “the SF30B has two functions: SF and NWDAF with AnLF (Analytics Logical Function)” in cited paragraphs).
As to claim 5, MINOKUCHI discloses the communication system according to claim 1, wherein the sensing policy includes information on at least one of a condition or time when sensing is initiated, a condition or time when sensing ends, available resources for sensing, sensing accuracy, sensing resolution, available sensing modes, an interval between sensings, or UE(s) capable of participating in sensing (MINOKUCHI, 2nd Para, Pg 4 to 6th Para, Pg 6).
As to claim 6, MINOKUCHI discloses the communication system according to claim 1, wherein the at least one entity is further configured to: exchange, via at least one first NF, at least one sensing policy candidate for performing the sensing operation corresponding to the sensing request between at least one second NF and the sensing client; and communicate, using the at least one second NF, with the RAN or the UE, so that the sensing operation corresponding to the sensing request is performed by applying the sensing policy determined based on the negotiation (MINOKUCHI, 3rd Para, Pg 12 to 11th Para, Pg 13).
As to claim 7, MINOKUCHI discloses the communication system according to claim 1, wherein the at least one entity is further configured to: retrieve, using a Unified Data Management (UDM) or a Unified Data Repository (UDR), an available sensing policy candidate capable of responding to the sensing request, in order to negotiate the sensing policy with the sensing client (MINOKUCHI, 2nd Para, Pg 4 to 6th Para, Pg 6).
As to claim 8, MINOKUCHI discloses the communication system according to claim 1, wherein the at least one entity is further configured to: store and manage, using a Unified Data Management (UDM) or a Unified Data Repository (UDR), the sensing policy determined based on the negotiation (MINOKUCHI, 2nd Para, Pg 4 to 6th Para, Pg 6).
As to claim 9, MINOKUCHI discloses the communication system according to claim 8, wherein the at least one entity is further configured to: update or remove, using at least one first NF, the UDM or the UDR, a previously stored sensing policy based on the sensing policy determined based on the negotiation (MINOKUCHI, 2nd Para, Pg 4 to 6th Para, Pg 6).
As to claim 10, MINOKUCHI discloses the communication system according to claim 8, wherein the at least one entity is further configured to: notify, using the UDM or the UDR, at least one second NF of a change to a previously stored sensing policy in accordance with the sensing policy determined based on the negotiation (MINOKUCHI, 2nd Para, Pg 4 to 6th Para, Pg 6).
As to claim 11, MINOKUCHI teaches a sensing policy negotiation method for reservation-based sensing, comprising:
determining, by the core network and using at least one second NF, at least one sensing policy candidate in response to the sensing reservation or negotiation request (S501: The AF30L sends a request message (Nnef_PSSQ (Planned Sensing with QoS Requirements) PolicyNegotiation_Create request) to the NEF30K requesting negotiation of a sensing policy. The request message includes a sensing range reference parameter, a sensing target reference parameter, and a sensing quality reference parameter. S502: The NEF30K sends a request message (Npcf_PSSQPolicyControl_Create request) to the (SS-)PCF30C requesting negotiation of a sensing policy. The request message includes multiple external parameters related to sensing quality of service (QoS) (sensing range reference parameter, sensing target reference parameter, and sensing quality reference parameter), MINOKUCHI, 3rd Para, Pg 12 to 11th Para, Pg 13); and
transmitting, by the core network and using the at least one first NF, the at least one sensing policy candidate to the sensing client as a response to the sensing reservation or negotiation request (Furthermore, (SS-)PCF30C may receive from AF30L a message requesting the start of sensing measurement, including the identifier (PSSQ policy reference ID) of the sensing policy selected in S513. Furthermore, (SS-)PCF30C may convert the identifier (PSSQ policy reference ID) of the sensing policy included in the request message into the contents of the policy and sensing quality of service (QoS) information to be used within the network, and transmit the converted sensing quality of service (QoS) information to SF30B, MINOKUCHI, 3rd Para, Pg 12 to 11th Para, Pg 13).
MINOKUCHI does not explicitly disclose receiving, by a core network and using at least one first network function (NF), a sensing reservation or negotiation request from a sensing client in the embodiment shown in Figure 7.
However, in another embodiment shown in Figure 3, MINOKUCHI discloses receiving, by a core network and using at least one first network function (NF), a sensing reservation or negotiation request from a sensing client (S108: The AF30L sends a request message (The NEF30K sends to the (SS-)PCF30C a request message (Npcf_PolicyAuthorization_Create request) requesting sensing, including the external parameters received in S108, the AF identifier, the AF service identifier, and a subscription request. The subscription request includes the notification identifier assigned by the NEF30K, MINOKUCHI, 2nd Para, Pg 4 to 6th Para, Pg 6)
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement receiving request message for sensing and reserving corresponding resources as taught by MINOKUCHI to modify the system of MINOKUCHI in order to achieve even greater system capacity, even faster data transmission speeds, and even lower latency in wireless sections.
As to claim 12, MINOKUCHI discloses the sensing policy negotiation method according to claim 11, further comprising: receiving, by the core network and using the at least one first NF, a sensing policy, among the at least one sensing policy candidate, determined by the sensing client as a result of the sensing reservation or negotiation request (The AF30L sends a request message (S513: Nnef_PSSQPolicyNegotiation_Update request) to the NEF30K requesting an update of the sensing policy. The request message includes the identifier (PSSQ policy reference ID) of the sensing policy that the AF30L selected from the list received in S510, MINOKUCHI, 3rd Para, Pg 12 to 11th Para, Pg 13).
As to claim 13, MINOKUCHI discloses the sensing policy negotiation method according to claim 12, further comprising: communicating, by the core network and using the at least one second NF, with a Radio Access Network (RAN) or a User Equipment (UE) so that sensing is performed by applying the sensing policy determined as the result of the sensing reservation or negotiation request (, MINOKUCHI, 3rd Para, Pg 12 to 11th Para, Pg 13).
As to claim 14, MINOKUCHI discloses the sensing policy negotiation method according to claim 11, wherein the at least one sensing policy candidate includes information on at least one of a condition or time when sensing is initiated, a condition or time when sensing ends, available resources for sensing, sensing accuracy, sensing resolution, available sensing modes, an interval between sensings, or UE(s) capable of participating in sensing (MINOKUCHI, 2nd Para, Pg 4 to 6th Para, Pg 6).
As to claim 15, MINOKUCHI discloses the sensing policy negotiation method according to claim 11, wherein the determining of the at least one sensing policy candidate comprises: determining, by the core network and using a Network Data Analytics Function (NWDAF), the at least one sensing policy candidate in response to the sensing reservation or negotiation request ((MINOKUCHI, 3rd Para, Pg 12 to 11th Para, Pg 13. Note: “the SF30B has two functions: SF and NWDAF with AnLF (Analytics Logical Function)” in cited paragraphs).
As to claims 16-20, the same reasoning applies mutatis mutandis to the corresponding method claims 16-20. Accordingly, claims 16-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over MINOKUCHI.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RUOLEI ZONG whose telephone number is (571)270-7522. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:30AM-4:30PM IFP.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Vivek Srivastava can be reached at (571)272-7304. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/RUOLEI ZONG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2449 7/31/2026
Prosecution Insights