DETAILED ACTION
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 Bosch et al. (US20130031271A1) in view of Zhang et al. (US20240224158A1).
Regarding claim 1, Bosch discloses a method comprising (para [0059] shows exchange data traffic for mobile VPN 56 using bidirectional MPLS tunnel 66A):
providing an access network [attachment circuit 58A and mobile VPN 56] connecting a provider edge router [PE router 52B] to a gateway router [CE device 54A/gateway 8A] (Fig. 3 and para [0058] show CE device 54A may represent an embodiment of mobile gateway 8A. CE device 54A connects to PE router 52B using attachment circuit 58A and mobile VPN 56),
the gateway router being connected to a base station having a wireless connection to user equipment (UE) (para [0032] shows base station 10 to transport user and control traffic between wireless device 6 and mobile gateway 813); and
routing traffic between the provider edge router [PE router 52B] and the gateway router [CE device 54A/gateway 8A] according to both of multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) protocol and VPN protocol (para [0039] shows when forwarding packets sourced by wireless device 6, a PE router supporting mobile VPN 18 encapsulates the packets with the MPLS label; Fig. 3 and para [0059] show PE router 52B and autonomous system border router (ASBR) 60B exchange data traffic for mobile VPN 56 using bidirectional MPLS tunnel 66A; para [0060] shows ASBR 60A and ASBR 60B have a direct peering relationship; para [0062] shows ASBR 60A may extend mobile VPN 56 toward CE device 54A/gateway 8A).
Bosch discloses routing traffic according to both of MPLS protocol and VPN protocol (para [0039]) but fails to show routing traffic according to both of MPLS protocol and mobile user plane (MUP) protocol.
However, Zhang discloses routing traffic according to both of MPLS protocol and mobile user plane (MUP) protocol (Fig. 10 and para [0129] show MUP PEs 1410 and MUP Gateways 1310 connect over transport network 141; para [0134] shows traffic arrives at MUP Gateways 1310 via normal VPN routing; para [0153, 0155] shows to direct traffic to a MUP Gateway using an MPLS label stack with a GPRS Tunneling Protocol (GTP) header.)
The PE router 52B (e.g. provider edge router in claim 1) and the CE device 54A/mobile gateway 8A (e.g., gateway router in claim 1) in Fig. 3 of Bosch are mapped to the MUP PEs 1410 and MUP Gateways 1310 in Fig. 10 of Zhang. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the teaching of Bosch with the teaching of Zhang in order to extend MUP techniques to the access network and to reduce the number of headers required for leveraging an IP-VPN transport network (Zhang; para [0119]).
Regarding claim 12, Bosch discloses a system comprising (para [0059] shows to exchange data traffic for mobile VPN 56 using bidirectional MPLS tunnel 66A):
a provider edge router [PE router 52B] (Fig. 3 and para [0058]);
a base station configured to wirelessly connect to user equipment (UE); a gateway router connected to the base station (para [0032] shows base station 10 to transport user and control traffic between wireless device 6 and mobile gateway 813; Fig. 3 and para [0058] show CE device 54A may represent an embodiment of mobile gateway 8A);
an access network [attachment circuit 58A and mobile VPN 56] connecting the provider edge router [PE router 52B] to the gateway router [CE device 54A/gateway 8A] (Fig. 3 and para [0058] show CE device 54A connects to PE router 52B using attachment circuit 58A and mobile VPN 56); and
a controller configured to configure the provider edge router [PE router 52B] and the gateway router [CE device 54A/gateway 8A] to route traffic between the provider edge router and the gateway router according to both of multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) protocol and VPN protocol (para [0039] shows when forwarding packets sourced by wireless device 6, a PE router supporting mobile VPN 18 encapsulates the packets with the MPLS label; Fig. 3 and para [0059] show PE router 52B and autonomous system border router (ASBR) 60B exchange data traffic for mobile VPN 56 using bidirectional MPLS tunnel 66A; para [0060] shows ASBR 60A and ASBR 60B have a direct peering relationship; para [0062] shows ASBR 60A may extend mobile VPN 56 toward CE device 54A).
Bosch discloses to route traffic according to both of MPLS protocol and VPN protocol (para [0059, 0062]) but fails to show to route traffic according to both of MPLS protocol and mobile user plane (MUP) protocol.
However, Zhang discloses to route traffic according to both of MPLS protocol and mobile user plane (MUP) protocol (Fig. 10 and para [0129] show MUP PEs 1410 and MUP Gateways 1310 connect over transport network 141; para [0134] shows traffic arrives at MUP Gateways 1310 via normal VPN routing; para [0153, 0155] shows to direct traffic to a MUP Gateway using an MPLS label stack with a GPRS Tunneling Protocol (GTP) header.)
The PE router 52B (e.g. provider edge router in claim 1) and the CE device 54A/mobile gateway 8A (e.g., gateway router in claim 1) in Fig. 3 of Bosch are mapped to the MUP PEs 1410 and MUP Gateways 1310 in Fig. 10 of Zhang. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the teaching of Bosch with the teaching of Zhang in order to extend MUP techniques to the access network and to reduce the number of headers required for leveraging an IP-VPN transport network (Zhang; para [0119]).
Regarding claims 2 and 13, Bosch-Zhang as applied to claims 1 and 12 discloses:
discovering, by a controller in a data path between the base station [gNodeB/base station] and a user plane function, general packet radio service (GPRS) tunneling protocol (GTP) information for the base station (Zhang; para [0043] shows a gNodeB is a 5G base station; para [0051] shows Session Management Function (SMF) 153 performs GTP-U Tunnel Management, which refers to managing of the GTP-U tunnel between gNodeB 102 and User Plane Function (UPF) 146; para [0063] shows UPF may announce IP host routes with the IP address for the UE); and
transmitting, by the controller, the GTP information to the gateway router and to the provider edge router, the GTP information including an address of the base station and an address of the user equipment (Zhang; para [0050] shows the SMF 153 handles IP address allocation by signaling towards UE 101, gNodeB 102; para [0063] shows UPF may announce IP host routes with the IP address for the UE.)
Regarding claims 3 and 14, Bosch-Zhang as applied to claims 2 and 13 discloses the GTP information includes a tunnel endpoint identifier (TEID) and quality flow identifier (QFI) (Zhang; para [0051] shows the GTP-U layer specifies a Tunnel Endpoint Identifier (TEID); para [0083] shows QoS marking is done in the VPN tunnel encapsulation.)
Regarding claims 4 and 15, Bosch-Zhang as applied to claims 2 and 13 discloses transmitting the GTP information to the gateway router and to the provider edge router comprises sending session transformed (ST) messages according to the MUP protocol (Zhang; para [0163] shows advertisements for session translated routes ST1 and ST2 may include Mobile User Plane (MUP).)
Regarding claims 5 and 16, Bosch-Zhang as applied to claims 2 and 13 discloses the GTP information includes a user plane function (UPF) address (Zhang; para [0063] shows UPF may announce IP host routes with the IP address for the UE),
the method further comprising creating, by the gateway router, a first routing entry associating the address of the user equipment with encapsulation using the GTP information with the UPF address as a source address and the address of the base station as a destination address (Zhang; para [0050] shows the SMF 153 handles IP address allocation by signaling towards UE 101, gNodeB 102l; para [0165] shows GTP encapsulation.)
Regarding claims 6 and 17, Bosch-Zhang as applied to claims 5 and 16 discloses:
generating, by the gateway router, an MPLS label associated with the address of the base station [gNodeB/base station] (Bosch; para [0074] shows the route includes a prefix corresponding to the IP address of the wireless device as well as an MPLS label. Zhang; para [0043] shows a gNodeB is a 5G base station; para [0050] shows the SMF 153 handles IP address allocation by signaling towards UE 101, gNodeB 102);
transmitting, by the gateway router, to the provider edge router, the MPLS label in association with the address of the base station; and binding, by the provider edge router, the MPLS label with the GTP information using the address of the base station (Bosch; para [0075] shows the forwarding information associates the MPLS label and an outbound interface toward the next hop router (e.g., gateway router) with the IP address corresponding to the prefix received in the labeled route. Zhang; para [0043] shows a gNodeB is a 5G base station; para [0050] shows the SMF 153 handles IP address allocation by signaling towards UE 101, gNodeB 102; para [0051] shows SMF 153 performs GTP-U Tunnel Management, which refers to managing of the GTP-U tunnel between gNodeB 102 and UPF 146. A GTP-U tunnel operates with GTP-U headers to packets being transported between gNodeB 102 and UPF 146; para [0155] shows using an MPLS label stack with a GTP header.)
Regarding claims 7 and 18, Bosch-Zhang as applied to claims 6 and 17 discloses creating, by the provider edge router, a second routing entry associating the gateway router and the address of the user equipment with the MPLS label (Bosch; para [0056] shows PE routers 34 may distribute labeled routes; para [0063] shows UPF may announce IP host routes with the IP address for the UE; para [0075] shows the forwarding information associates the MPLS label and an outbound interface toward the next hop router (e.g., gateway router) with the IP address corresponding to the prefix received in the labeled route.)
Regarding claim 8, Bosch-Zhang as applied to claim 7 discloses binding the MPLS label, address of the base station, and GTP information comprises binding the MPLS label, address of the base station, and GTP information in a virtual routing function (VRF) (Bosch; para [0075] shows the forwarding information associates the MPLS label and an outbound interface toward the next hop router (e.g., gateway router) with the IP address corresponding to the prefix received in the labeled route. Zhang; para [0133] shows GTP-U tunneling; para [0135] shows a VRF is a virtual routing and forwarding instance.)
Regarding claim 9, Bosch-Zhang as applied to claim 8 discloses the VRF is an N6 VRF according to the MUP protocol (Zhang; para [0134] shows an N6VPN (implemented with N6VRFs of the MUP Gateways 1310); para [0135] shows a VRF is a virtual routing and forwarding instance.)
Regarding claims 10 and 19, Bosch-Zhang as applied to claims 7 and 18 discloses:
receiving, by the provider edge router, an internet protocol (IP) packet from a data network and addressed to the address of the user equipment (Bosch; para [0036] shows an IP address for wireless device 6 to use in exchanging IP packet belonging to IP traffic flows; para [0074] shows the route includes a prefix corresponding to the IP address of the wireless device as well as an MPLS label);
encapsulating, by the provider edge router, the IP packet into an MPLS packet having the MPLS label according to the second routing entry (Bosch; para [0039] shows when forwarding packets sourced by wireless device 6, a PE router supporting mobile VPN 18 encapsulates the packets with the MPLS label); and
transmitting the MPLS packet to the gateway router [CE device 54A/ mobile gateway 8A] (Bosch; para [0039] shows this MPLS packet is gets tunneled to the proper edge router supporting mobile VPN 18; para [0058] shows visited provider network 21 and home provider network 20 dynamically extend mobile VPN 56 toward CE device 54A and MPLS transport techniques. Zhang; para [0153, 0155] shows to direct traffic to a MUP Gateway using an MPLS label stack with a GPRS Tunneling Protocol (GTP) header.)
Regarding claims 11 and 20, Bosch-Zhang as applied to claims 10 and 19 discloses:
receiving, by the gateway router, the MPLS packet; decapsulating, by the gateway router, the MPLS packet to obtain the IP packet (Zhang; para [0159] shows a MUP Gateway installs forwarding state in N3VRF to perform GTP decapsulation);
encapsulating, by the gateway router, the IP packet into a GTP packet using the first routing entry; and transmitting, by the gateway router, the GTP packet to the base station (Zhang; para [0132] shows the MUP Gateways 1310 encapsulate the DL traffic into GTP-U and send to the gNodeB-CU.)
Citation of Relevant Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Patel et al. (US20260046733A1) discloses in [Abstract] Border gateway protocol (BGP) prefix-independent convergence is implemented over a mobile user plane (MUP). Routing may be performed using MPLS; para [0020] shows the MUP-GW 110 a may function as a gateway router and may be connected by the access network 106 to the data network 104 by a provider edge router 112 that is enabled to perform MUP (MUP-PE 112),
Patel et al. (US20260046246A1) discloses in [Abstract] a network environment includes an MUP-PE connected to a data network and an MUP-GW connected to a cellular communication base station, the MUP-PE and MUP-GW connected by an access network; para [0028] shows the MUP-PE 114 to invoke forwarding of packets to the UE 102 using the MPLS label.
Conclusion
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/TAN DOAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2445
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