DETAILED ACTION
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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 09/18/2025 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1, 3-7, 9-13, and 15-18 have been considered but are moot in view of new grounds of rejection. See rejection below.
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, 3-7, 9-13, and 15-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over TALEBI-FARD et al. (US 2025/0212113) in views of KUMAR et al. (US 2025/0031167), 3GPP TSG SA WG2#164, S2-2408609 (Maastricht, 19-23 August 2024), and 3GPP TSG-WG SA2 Meeting #160, S2-2311727 (Chicago, USA, 13-17 November 2023).
Regarding claim 1, Talebi-Fard discloses a method performed by a user equipment (UE) and comprising:
locally removing a Single Network Slice Selection Assistance Information (S-NSSAI) from an Allowed NSSAI if a slice deregistration inactivity timer expires (p. [0295]; the AMF and UE may locally remove the S-NSSAI from the Allowed NSSAI when the timer expires).
But, Talebi-Fard does not particularly disclose de-mapping a replaced S-NSSAI and an alternative S-NSSAI in an access type when the replaced S-NSSAI or alternative S-NSSAI is removed from an allowed NSSAI due to the slice deregistration inactivity timer expiry over a corresponding access type.
However, Kumar teaches de-mapping a replaced S-NSSAI and an alternative S-NSSAI in an access type when the replaced S-NSSAI or alternative S-NSSAI is removed from an allowed NSSAI due to the slice deregistration inactivity timer expiry over a corresponding access type (p. [0034], [0094], [0142]-[0145]; the mapping is removed (i.e., demapped) for an S-NSSAI that has been replaced in the alternative S-NSSAI, and update the alternative S-NSSAI).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Talebi-Fard with the teachings of Kumar, since such a modification would allow removing a mapping of an S-NSSAI that has been removed and thus updating the S-NSSAI mapping with the current allowed S-NSSAI available.
The combination of Talebi-Fard and Kumar fails to particularly disclose
wherein during a handover procedure, if the S-NSSAI has to be replaced with the alternative S-NSSAI, the handover procedure including any protocol data unit (PDU) session associated with the S-NSSAI to be replaced continues unaffected by a network slice replacement,
wherein the Network Slice Replacement is used to temporarily replace the S-NSSAI with the alternative S-NSSAI when the S-NSSAI becomes unavailable or congested,
wherein for the replaced S-NSSAI or the Alternative S-NSSAI, a network slice admission control (NSAC) for maximum number of PDU sessions is configured, and
wherein the replaced S-NSSAI is subject to area restrictions.
However, 3GPP TSG SA WG2#164, S2-2408609 (Maastricht, 19-23 August 2024) teaches
wherein during a handover procedure, if the S-NSSAI has to be replaced with the alternative S-NSSAI, the handover procedure including any protocol data unit (PDU) session associated with the S-NSSAI to be replaced continues unaffected by a network slice replacement (Page 7, paragraph 9),
wherein the Network Slice Replacement is used to temporarily replace the S-NSSAI with the alternative S-NSSAI when the S-NSSAI becomes unavailable or congested (Page 4, section 5.15.19, paragraphs 1-2),
wherein for the replaced S-NSSAI or the Alternative S-NSSAI, a network slice admission control (NSAC) for maximum number of PDU sessions is configured (Page 7, paragraph 11), and
wherein the replaced S-NSSAI is subject to area restrictions (Page 5, paragraph 2). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the combination of Talebi-Fard and Kumar with the teachings of 3GPP TSG SA WG2#164, S2-2408609, since such a modification of: “any PDU session associated with the S-NNSAI to be replaced continues unaffected by slice replacement” would provide a seamless transition of the PDU sessions during handover, “wherein the Network Slice Replacement is used to temporarily replace the S-NSSAI with the alternative S-NSSAI when the S-NSSAI becomes unavailable or congested” would maintain the continuity of the functions/session during a period of congestion, and configuring a maximum of PDU sessions would prevent overloading of the network.
Further, the combination of Talebi-Fard, Kumar, and 3GPP TSG SA WG2#164, S2-2408609 (Maastricht, 19-23 August 2024) fails to particularly disclose, the method comprising:
storing a received slice usage policy with a configured network slice selection assistance information (NSSAD) for a serving public land mobile network (PLMN),
wherein the slice usage policy is kept stored for as long as a configured NSSAI remains stored for the PLMN, and wherein when the configured NSSAI is updated, the UE receives a new slice usage policy.
However, 3GPP TSG-WG SA2 Meeting #160, S2-2311727 (Chicago, USA, 13-17 November 2023) discloses storing a received slice usage policy with a configured network slice selection assistance information (NSSAD) for a serving public land mobile network (PLMN), wherein the slice usage policy is kept stored for as long as a configured NSSAI remains stored for the PLMN, and wherein when the configured NSSAI is updated, the UE receives a new slice usage policy (Page 4, section 5.15.15.2, lines 27-29).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the combination of Talebi-Fard, Kumar, and 3GPP TSG SA WG2#164, S2-2408609 with the teachings of 3GPP TSG-WG SA2 Meeting #160, S2-2311727 (Chicago, USA, 13-17 November 2023), since such a modification would allow the UE to retain the previously received slice usage policy until the new slice usage policy is received, thus ensuring service continuity and conserving storage resources of the UE.
Regarding claim 3, the combination of Talebi-Fared, Kumar, 3GPP TSG SA WG2#164, S2-2408609, and 3GPP TSG-WG SA2 Meeting #160, S2-2311727 disclose the method of claim 1, Kumar discloses further comprising: locally removing a mapping of the replaced S-NSSAI and the alternative S-NSSAI (p. [0094]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Talebi-Fard with the teachings of Kumar, since such a modification would allow removing a mapping of an S-NSSAI that has been removed and thus updating the S-NSSAI mapping with the current allowed S-NSSAI available.
Regarding claim 4, the combination of Talebi-Fared, Kumar, 3GPP TSG SA WG2#164, S2-2408609, and 3GPP TSG-WG SA2 Meeting #160, S2-2311727 disclose the method of claim 1, Talebi-Fared discloses wherein the slice deregistration inactivity timer is set per access type (p. [0298]; the AMF runs a slice deregistration inactivity timer per S-NSSAI and access type).
Regarding claim 5, the combination of Talebi-Fard, Kumar, 3GPP TSG SA WG2#164, S2-2408609, and 3GPP TSG-WG SA2 Meeting #160, S2-2311727 disclose the method of claim 1, Talebi-Fared discloses wherein the slice deregistration inactivity timer is started a) when the Network Slice is added to the Allowed NSSAI and there are no Protocol data unit (PDU) Sessions associated with the Network Slice over a corresponding access type or b) when a last PDU Session associated with the Network Slice over a same access type is released (p. [0295], lines 1-8; This deregistration inactivity timer is started at the UE and AMF per access type when the last PDU Session associated with the S-NSSAI is released, or the Network Slice is included in the Allowed NSSAI and no PDU session is established).
Regarding claim 6, the combination of Talebi-Fared, Kumar, 3GPP TSG SA WG2#164, S2-2408609, and 3GPP TSG-WG SA2 Meeting #160, S2-2311727 disclose the method of claim 1, Talebi-Fared discloses further comprising: stopping or resetting the first timer when at least one PDU Session associated with the Network Slice is successfully established or the Network Slice is removed from the Allowed NSSAI (p. [0295]; The deregistration inactivity timer is stopped and reset when the first PDU session is established or the S-NSSAI is removed from the Allowed NSSAI).
Regarding claim 7, Talebi-Fared discloses a UE (p. [0041]) comprising: a transceiver; and a processor configured to control the transceiver (transceiver and processor are inherent in a wireless device) thereby performing operations including:
locally removing a Single Network Slice Selection Assistance Information (S- NSSAI) from an Allowed NSSAI if a slice deregistration inactivity timer expires (p. [0295]; the AMF and UE may locally remove the S-NSSAI from the Allowed NSSAI when the timer expires).
But, Talebi-Fard does not particularly disclose de-mapping a replaced S-NSSAI and an alternative S-NSSAI in an access type when the replaced S-NSSAI or alternative S-NSSAI is removed from an allowed NSSAI due to the slice deregistration inactivity timer expiry over a corresponding access type.
However, Kumar teaches de-mapping a replaced S-NSSAI and an alternative S-NSSAI in an access type when the replaced S-NSSAI or alternative S-NSSAI is removed from an allowed NSSAI due to the slice deregistration inactivity timer expiry over a corresponding access type (p. [0034], [0094], [0142]-[0145]; the mapping is removed (i.e., demapped) for an S-NSSAI that has been replaced in the alternative S-NSSAI, and update the alternative S-NSSAI).
The combination of Talebi-Fard and Kumar fails to particularly disclose
wherein during a handover procedure, if the S-NSSAI has to be replaced with the alternative S-NSSAI, the handover procedure including any protocol data unit (PDU) session associated with the S-NSSAI to be replaced continues unaffected by a network slice replacement,
wherein the Network Slice Replacement is used to temporarily replace the S-NSSAI with the alternative S-NSSAI when the S-NSSAI becomes unavailable or congested,
wherein for the replaced S-NSSAI or the Alternative S-NSSAI, a network slice admission control (NSAC) for maximum number of PDU sessions is configured, and
wherein the replaced S-NSSAI is subject to area restrictions.
However, 3GPP TSG SA WG2#164, S2-2408609 (Maastricht, 19-23 August 2024) teaches
wherein during a handover procedure, if the S-NSSAI has to be replaced with the alternative S-NSSAI, the handover procedure including any protocol data unit (PDU) session associated with the S-NSSAI to be replaced continues unaffected by a network slice replacement (Page 7, paragraph 9),
wherein the Network Slice Replacement is used to temporarily replace the S-NSSAI with the alternative S-NSSAI when the S-NSSAI becomes unavailable or congested (Page 4, section 5.15.19, paragraphs 1-2),
wherein for the replaced S-NSSAI or the Alternative S-NSSAI, a network slice admission control (NSAC) for maximum number of PDU sessions is configured (Page 7, paragraph 11), and
wherein the replaced S-NSSAI is subject to area restrictions (Page 5, paragraph 2). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the combination of Talebi-Fard and Kumar with the teachings of 3GPP TSG SA WG2#164, S2-2408609, since such a modification of: “any PDU session associated with the S-NNSAI to be replaced continues unaffected by slice replacement” would provide a seamless transition of the PDU sessions during handover, “wherein the Network Slice Replacement is used to temporarily replace the S-NSSAI with the alternative S-NSSAI when the S-NSSAI becomes unavailable or congested” would maintain the continuity of the functions/session during a period of congestion, and configuring a maximum of PDU sessions would prevent overloading of the network.
Further, the combination of Talebi-Fard, Kumar, and 3GPP TSG SA WG2#164, S2-2408609 (Maastricht, 19-23 August 2024) fails to particularly disclose, the method comprising:
storing a received slice usage policy with a configured network slice selection assistance information (NSSAD) for a serving public land mobile network (PLMN),
wherein the slice usage policy is kept stored for as long as a configured NSSAI remains stored for the PLMN, and wherein when the configured NSSAI is updated, the UE receives a new slice usage policy.
However, 3GPP TSG-WG SA2 Meeting #160, S2-2311727 (Chicago, USA, 13-17 November 2023) discloses storing a received slice usage policy with a configured network slice selection assistance information (NSSAD) for a serving public land mobile network (PLMN), wherein the slice usage policy is kept stored for as long as a configured NSSAI remains stored for the PLMN, and wherein when the configured NSSAI is updated, the UE receives a new slice usage policy (Page 4, section 5.15.15.2, lines 27-29).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the combination of Talebi-Fard, Kumar, and 3GPP TSG SA WG2#164, S2-2408609 with the teachings of 3GPP TSG-WG SA2 Meeting #160, S2-2311727 (Chicago, USA, 13-17 November 2023), since such a modification would allow the UE to retain the previously received slice usage policy until the new slice usage policy is received, thus ensuring service continuity and conserving storage resources of the UE.
Regarding claim 9, the combination of Talebi-Fared, Kumar, 3GPP TSG SA WG2#164, S2-2408609, and 3GPP TSG-WG SA2 Meeting #160, S2-2311727 disclose the UE of claim 7, Kumar discloses wherein the operations may further include: locally removing a mapping of the replaced S-NSSAI and the alternative S-NSSAI (p. [0094]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Talebi-Fard with the teachings of Kumar, since such a modification would allow removing a mapping of an S-NSSAI that has been removed and thus updating the S-NSSAI mapping with the current allowed S-NSSAI available.
Regarding claim 10, the combination of Talebi-Fared, Kumar, 3GPP TSG SA WG2#164, S2-2408609, and 3GPP TSG-WG SA2 Meeting #160, S2-2311727 disclose the UE of claim 7, Talebi-Fared discloses wherein the slice deregistration inactivity timer is set per access type (p. [0298]; the AMF runs a slice deregistration inactivity timer per S-NSSAI and access type).
Regarding claim 11, the combination of Talebi-Fard, Kumar, 3GPP TSG SA WG2#164, S2-2408609, and 3GPP TSG-WG SA2 Meeting #160, S2-2311727 disclose the UE of claim 7, Talebi-Fared discloses wherein the slice deregistration inactivity timer is started a) when the Network Slice is added to the Allowed NSSAI and there are no Protocol data unit (PDU) Sessions associated with the Network Slice over a corresponding access type or b) when a last PDU Session associated with the Network Slice over a same access type is released (p. [0295], lines 1-8; This deregistration inactivity timer is started at the UE and AMF per access type when the last PDU Session associated with the S-NSSAI is released, or the Network Slice is included in the Allowed NSSAI and no PDU session is established).
Regarding claim 12, the combination of Talebi-Fared, Kumar, 3GPP TSG SA WG2#164, S2-2408609, and 3GPP TSG-WG SA2 Meeting #160, S2-2311727 disclose the UE of claim 7, Talebi-Fared discloses wherein the operations may further include: stopping or resetting the first timer when at least one PDU Session associated with the Network Slice is successfully established or the Network Slice is removed from the Allowed NSSAI (p. [0295]; The deregistration inactivity timer is stopped and reset when the first PDU session is established or the S-NSSAI is removed from the Allowed NSSAI).
Regarding claim 13, Talebi-Fared discloses a semiconductor chipset equipped into a user equipment (UE) (p. [0041]; the wireless device inherently includes a semiconductor chipset, processor, memory and instructions executed by the processor), comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory capable of storing instructions and being connected electrically to the at least one processor operably,
wherein an operation, performed when the instructions are executed by the at least one processor, includes:
locally removing a Single Network Slice Selection Assistance Information (S- NSSAI) from an Allowed NSSAI if a slice deregistration inactivity timer expires (p. [0295]; the AMF and UE may locally remove the S-NSSAI from the Allowed NSSAI when the timer expires).
But, Talebi-Fard does not particularly disclose de-mapping a replaced S-NSSAI and an alternative S-NSSAI in an access type when the replaced S-NSSAI or alternative S-NSSAI is removed from an allowed NSSAI due to the slice deregistration inactivity timer expiry over a corresponding access type.
However, Kumar teaches de-mapping a replaced S-NSSAI and an alternative S-NSSAI in an access type when the replaced S-NSSAI or alternative S-NSSAI is removed from an allowed NSSAI due to the slice deregistration inactivity timer expiry over a corresponding access type (p. [0034], [0094], [0142]-[0145]; the mapping is removed (i.e., demapped) for an S-NSSAI that has been replaced in the alternative S-NSSAI, and update the alternative S-NSSAI).
The combination of Talebi-Fard and Kumar fails to particularly disclose
wherein during a handover procedure, if the S-NSSAI has to be replaced with the alternative S-NSSAI, the handover procedure including any protocol data unit (PDU) session associated with the S-NSSAI to be replaced continues unaffected by a network slice replacement,
wherein the Network Slice Replacement is used to temporarily replace the S-NSSAI with the alternative S-NSSAI when the S-NSSAI becomes unavailable or congested,
wherein for the replaced S-NSSAI or the Alternative S-NSSAI, a network slice admission control (NSAC) for maximum number of PDU sessions is configured, and
wherein the replaced S-NSSAI is subject to area restrictions.
However, 3GPP TSG SA WG2#164, S2-2408609 (Maastricht, 19-23 August 2024) teaches
wherein during a handover procedure, if the S-NSSAI has to be replaced with the alternative S-NSSAI, the handover procedure including any protocol data unit (PDU) session associated with the S-NSSAI to be replaced continues unaffected by a network slice replacement (Page 7, paragraph 9),
wherein the Network Slice Replacement is used to temporarily replace the S-NSSAI with the alternative S-NSSAI when the S-NSSAI becomes unavailable or congested (Page 4, section 5.15.19, paragraphs 1-2),
wherein for the replaced S-NSSAI or the Alternative S-NSSAI, a network slice admission control (NSAC) for maximum number of PDU sessions is configured (Page 7, paragraph 11), and
wherein the replaced S-NSSAI is subject to area restrictions (Page 5, paragraph 2). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the combination of Talebi-Fard and Kumar with the teachings of 3GPP TSG SA WG2#164, S2-2408609, since such a modification of: “any PDU session associated with the S-NNSAI to be replaced continues unaffected by slice replacement” would provide a seamless transition of the PDU sessions during handover, “wherein the Network Slice Replacement is used to temporarily replace the S-NSSAI with the alternative S-NSSAI when the S-NSSAI becomes unavailable or congested” would maintain the continuity of the functions/session during a period of congestion, and configuring a maximum of PDU sessions would prevent overloading of the network.
Further, the combination of Talebi-Fard, Kumar, and 3GPP TSG SA WG2#164, S2-2408609 (Maastricht, 19-23 August 2024) fails to particularly disclose, the method comprising:
storing a received slice usage policy with a configured network slice selection assistance information (NSSAD) for a serving public land mobile network (PLMN),
wherein the slice usage policy is kept stored for as long as a configured NSSAI remains stored for the PLMN, and wherein when the configured NSSAI is updated, the UE receives a new slice usage policy.
However, 3GPP TSG-WG SA2 Meeting #160, S2-2311727 (Chicago, USA, 13-17 November 2023) discloses storing a received slice usage policy with a configured network slice selection assistance information (NSSAD) for a serving public land mobile network (PLMN), wherein the slice usage policy is kept stored for as long as a configured NSSAI remains stored for the PLMN, and wherein when the configured NSSAI is updated, the UE receives a new slice usage policy (Page 4, section 5.15.15.2, lines 27-29).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the combination of Talebi-Fard, Kumar, and 3GPP TSG SA WG2#164, S2-2408609 with the teachings of 3GPP TSG-WG SA2 Meeting #160, S2-2311727 (Chicago, USA, 13-17 November 2023), since such a modification would allow the UE to retain the previously received slice usage policy until the new slice usage policy is received, thus ensuring service continuity and conserving storage resources of the UE.
Regarding claim 15, the combination of Talebi-Fared, Kumar, 3GPP TSG SA WG2#164, S2-2408609, and 3GPP TSG-WG SA2 Meeting #160, S2-2311727disclose the semiconductor chipset of claim 13, Kumar discloses wherein the operations may further include: locally removing a mapping of the replaced S-NSSAI and the alternative S-NSSAI (p. [0094]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Talebi-Fard with the teachings of Kumar, since such a modification would allow removing a mapping of an S-NSSAI that has been removed and thus updating the S-NSSAI mapping with the current allowed S-NSSAI available.
Regarding claim 16, the combination of Talebi-Fared, Kumar, 3GPP TSG SA WG2#164, S2-2408609, and 3GPP TSG-WG SA2 Meeting #160, S2-2311727 disclose the semiconductor chipset of claim 13, Talebi-Fared discloses wherein the slice deregistration inactivity timer is set per access type (p. [0298]; the AMF runs a slice deregistration inactivity timer per S-NSSAI and access type).
Regarding claim 17, the combination of Talebi-Fard, Kumar, 3GPP TSG SA WG2#164, S2-2408609, and 3GPP TSG-WG SA2 Meeting #160, S2-2311727 disclose the semiconductor chipset of claim 13, Talebi-Fared discloses wherein the slice deregistration inactivity timer is started a) when the Network Slice is added to the Allowed NSSAI and there are no Protocol data unit (PDU) Sessions associated with the Network Slice over a corresponding access type or b) when a last PDU Session associated with the Network Slice over a same access type is released (p. [0295], lines 1-8; This deregistration inactivity timer is started at the UE and AMF per access type when the last PDU Session associated with the S-NSSAI is released, or the Network Slice is included in the Allowed NSSAI and no PDU session is established).
Regarding claim 18, the combination of Talebi-Fared, Kumar, 3GPP TSG SA WG2#164, S2-2408609, and 3GPP TSG-WG SA2 Meeting #160, S2-2311727 disclose the semiconductor chipset of claim 13, Talebi-Fared discloses wherein the operations may further include: stopping or resetting the first timer when at least one PDU Session associated with the Network Slice is successfully established or the Network Slice is removed from the Allowed NSSAI (p. [0295]; The deregistration inactivity timer is stopped and reset when the first PDU session is established or the S-NSSAI is removed from the Allowed NSSAI).
Conclusion
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/MARISOL FIGUEROA/
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2643