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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Per Applicant’s Preliminary Amendment filed 9/24/25
Claims 1-20 have been amended.
Claims 1-20 are pending.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
I. 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.
(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.
II. CLAIMS 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(2) as being anticipated by WANG et al (US 2022/0150810).
Per claim 1, WANG et al teach a service chain policy processing method, comprising:
receiving, by a network function entity, service information about a service (paras 0012, 0052, 0083, 0138—receiving service information Network Function (NF) Consumer device); and
determining, by the network function entity based on the service information, that a service related to a service chain policy library changes, and updating service chain policies in the service chain policy library, wherein service chain policies in the service chain policy library correspond to different ordered combinations of a plurality of services (paras 0052, 0062-63, 0066, 0069-710, 0074, 0078, 0083-86, 0122—service chain profile retrieved from a database, profile comprises an identity of the application and a list of services for the application, determining a set of service chain rules defining criteria based on different connection conditions and predetermined policies providing different service chain for different traffic; providing different service chains once the charging rate is changed, introducing another service into the service chain if some predefine event happens, or removing a service into the service chain if it's not needed after the connection conditions change).
Claims 19 and 20 contain limitations that are substantially equivalent to the claim limitations of claim 1 and are therefore rejected under the same basis.
Per claim 2, WANG et al teach the method according to claim 1, wherein the determining, that a service related to the service chain policy library changes comprises: determining, by the network function entity based on the service information, a newly added service related to a service chain policy library, wherein the service information comprises information about the newly added service (paras 0119, 0125—the NRF device may add the new registered service NF to existing profile if it meets the profile template, the NRF may add the NF Consumer device into the profile as a service provider).
Per claim 3, WANG et al teach the method according to claim 2, wherein the receiving, the service information comprises: receiving, by the network function entity, a registration request message, wherein the registration request message comprises the information about the newly added service (paras 0035, 0119, 0146-148—a registration management entity, the NRF device may add the new registered service NF to existing profile).
Per claim 4, WANG et al teach the method according to claim 2, wherein after the updating the service chain policies in the service chain policy library, the service chain policy library comprises updated service chain policies, wherein the updated service chain policies correspond to different ordered combinations of a plurality of services, and the plurality of services comprise the newly added service (paras 0069, 0092, 0105, 0110-116—when the application service chain profile is updated, the NEF device may provide the candidate service chain when a new service is added, NRF device may generate the profile and/or update the profile where the profile comprises an identity of the application and a list of services for the application).
Per claim 5, WANG et al teach the method according to claim 1, wherein the determining that a service related to the service chain policy library changes comprises: determining, by the network function entity based on the service information, a to-be-deleted service in services related to the service chain policy library, wherein the service information comprises information about the to-be-deleted service (page 4 Table 3, paras 0060, 0066, 0070, 0073, 0078, 0096, 0125—service operation deletion, the service marked as optional may be removed from the service chain, removing a service in the service chain if it’s not needed after the connection conditions change, removal of the NF Consumer device from the profile as it deregisters from the NRF).
Per claim 6, WANG et al teach the method according to claim 5, wherein the receiving, the service information comprises: receiving, by the network function entity, a deregistration message, wherein the deregistration message comprises the information about the to-be-deleted service (page 4 Table 3, paras 0122, 0125, 0136, 0138— service operation deletion, deregistration request).
Per claim 7, WANG et al teach the method according to claim 5, wherein after updating the service chain policies in the service chain policy library, the service chain policy library comprises updated service chain policies, wherein the updated service chain policies correspond to different ordered combinations of a plurality of services, and the plurality of services do not comprise the to-be-deleted service (paras 0120, 0122, 0125—notification of updated profile or deregister request determining that the NEF unsubscribes the profile of the application, where the profile comprises an identity of the application and a list of services for the application).
Per claim 8, WANG et al teach the method according to claim 1, wherein the determining that a service related to the service chain policy library changes comprises: determining, by the network function entity based on the service information, a to-be-updated service in services related to the service chain policy library, wherein the service information comprises information about the to-be-updated service (paras 0006, 0009, 0012, 0069, 0111-113, 0119-125—determining service profiles need to be changed/updated and updating the profile based on a predetermined profile template, where the profile comprises an identity of the application and a list of services for the application).
Per claim 9, WANG et al teach the method according to claim 8, wherein the receiving, the service information comprises: receiving, by the network function entity, a registration update request message, wherein the registration update request message comprises the information about the to-be-updated service (paras 0111, 0119, 0125-129—status change comprises a registration of the service).
Per claim 10, WANG et al teach the method according to claim 8, wherein after updating the service chain policies in the service chain policy library, the service chain policy library comprises updated service chain policies, wherein the updated service chain policies correspond to different ordered combinations of a plurality of services, and the plurality of services comprise the to-be-updated service (paras 0066, 0078, 0097—a set a service chain rules to define both criteria and service chain operation base on different connection conditions).
Per claim 11, WANG et al teach the method according to claim 1, wherein the network function entity is a network function entity for receiving service registration, and wherein the receiving, the service information comprises: receiving, by the network function entity, the service information about the service from an edge application server or a service function entity (paras 0047, 0060, 0073, 0138—a reception of an update request from a network function NF consumer device to trigger updating the profile; service function chain, SFC, service function overload where the service marked as optional may be removed from the service chain; paras 0111, 0119, 0125-129—status change comprises a registration of the service).
Per claim 12, WANG et al teach the method according to claim 1, wherein the network function entity is a network function entity for data network configuration, and wherein the receiving, the service information comprises: receiving, by the network function entity, the service information from a network function entity for receiving service registration (paras 0047, 0060, 0073, 0138—a reception of an update request from a network function NF consumer device to trigger updating the profile; service function chain, SFC, service function overload where the service marked as optional may be removed from the service chain; paras 0111, 0119, 0125-129— service registration and status change comprises a registration of the service).
Per claim 13, WANG et al teach the method according to claim 12, wherein the service information from the network function entity for receiving service registration is sent, based on service information from an edge application server or a service function entity, by the network function entity for receiving the service registration (paras 0047, 0060, 0073, 0138—a reception of an update request from a network function NF consumer device to trigger updating the profile; service function chain, SFC, service function overload where the service marked as optional may be removed from the service chain; paras 0111, 0119, 0125-129—service registration and status change comprises a registration of the service).
Per claim 14, WANG et al teach the method according to claim 11, further comprising: receiving, by the network function entity, indication information, wherein the indication information indicates whether the edge application server or the service function entity has a service providing capability; and wherein updating the service chain policies in the service chain policy library comprises: determining, based on the indication information, that the edge application server or the service function entity has the service providing capability, and updating, by the network function entity, the service chain policies in the service chain policy library (paras 0047, 0060, 0073, 0138—a reception of an update request from a network function NF consumer device to trigger updating the profile; service function chain, SFC, service function overload where the service marked as optional may be removed from the service chain; paras 0048-52, 0110-111, 0116, 0119, 0125-129—Service Capability Information: indicates the capability of this NF on both computing capability and determining whether a profile of a service chain for an application needs to be updated where the profile comprises an identity of the application and a list of services for the application).
Per claim 15, WANG et al teach the method according to claim 1, wherein the network function entity is a network function entity for receiving service registration, and wherein the receiving the service information comprises: receiving, by the network function entity, the service information from another network function entity for receiving service registration (paras 0047, 0060, 0073, 0138—a reception of an update request from a network function NF consumer device to trigger updating the profile; service function chain, SFC, service function overload where the service marked as optional may be removed from the service chain; paras 0111, 0119, 0125-129—service registration and status change comprises a registration of the service).
Per claim 16, WANG et al teach the method according to claim 1, wherein after the updating the service chain policy in the service chain policies library, the method further comprises: receiving, by the network function entity, a request message from an edge application server or a service function entity, wherein the request message comprises information related to a service requirement; selecting, by the network function entity, a target service chain policy from the service policy library based on the information related to the service requirement; and sending, by the network function entity, information about the target service chain policy to the edge application server or the service function entity (paras 0007-8, 0010-11, 0064-67, 0076-78, 0083-84, 0088-90, 0101—the NEF device determines the target service chain based on the profile, the request and based on the predetermined policy accordingly where the profile comprising an identity of the application and a list of services for the application).
Per claim 17, WANG et al teach the method according to claim 1, wherein the service information comprises any one or more of the following: an identifier of the service; indication information of a service provider; indication information of a data network to which the service belongs; and endpoint information of the service (paras 0059, 0072, 0085, 0110—information to identify the traffic for service chain, identity information of services, identification of service type).
Per claim 18, WANG et al teach the method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises: sending, by a second network function entity, the service information to the network function entity (paras 0047, 0060, 0073, 0138—a reception of an update request from a network function NF consumer device to trigger updating the profile; service function chain, SFC, service function overload where the service marked as optional may be removed from the service chain, the NRF device is further caused to transmit the updated profile to a Network Function (NF) Consumer device).
Conclusion
III. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: US 2016/0344803, US 2017/0019303, USPN 9762402.
IV. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KRISTIE D SHINGLES whose telephone number is (571)272-3888. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Thursday 10am-7pm. 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, Kamal Divecha can be reached on 571-272-5863. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/KRISTIE D SHINGLES/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2453
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