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 .
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.
Claim(s) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Enrici et al., (US Publication No. 2021/0406178), hereinafter “Enrici”, and further in view of Wennerstrom et al., (International Publication Number WO2022/104396), hereinafter “Wennerstrom”.
Regarding claim 1, Enrici discloses
an apparatus comprising:
an input/output (I/O) interface [Enrici, figure 1, paragraphs 10-11];
circuitry coupled to the I/O interface [Enrici, figure 1, paragraphs 10-11], the circuitry configured to:
based on receipt of a first request, allocate a first region of one or more memory regions of a memory to store data reserved for access by a first network function of a radio access network (RAN) and shared for access by a second network function of the RAN [Enrici, figures 1, 6, paragraphs 9-11, a deterministic application request module (DRAM) receives an application request to allocate one or more reconfiguration or PR slots] and
allocate a processor to perform operations of the first network function, wherein the first network function and the second network function perform operations [Enrici, figures 1, 6, paragraphs 9-11, a deterministic application request module (DRAM) receives an application request to allocate one or more reconfiguration or PR slots]
Enrici does not specifically disclose, however Wennerstrom teaches
of Open Radio Access Network (ORAN) components [Wennerstrom, paragraph 93].
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include an ORAN within Enrici’s network in order to provide secure communications and system throughout the network.
It would have been obvious to combine Wennerstrom with Enrici as each art relates to a RAN and securing the devices and networks.
Regarding claim 2, Enrici-Wennerstrom further discloses
wherein: the first request is to request isolation of a network slice of the first network function [Enrici, figures 1, 6, paragraphs 9-11].
Regarding claim 3, Enrici-Wennerstrom further discloses
wherein: the first network function comprises an ORAN Centralized Unit (CU), Distributed Unit (DU), or RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) [Wennerstrom, paragraph 93] and the second network function comprises a NextG User Plane Function (UPF) or Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) [Wennerstrom, paragraph 95].
Regarding claim 4, Enrici-Wennerstrom further discloses
wherein: the first network function comprises an Open Radio Access Network (ORAN) Centralized Unit (CU) and the second network function comprises an ORAN Distributed Unit (DU), or NextG User Plane Function (UPF) or Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) [Wennerstrom, paragraphs 93-95].
Regarding claim 5, Enrici-Wennerstrom further discloses
wherein: the first network function is to provide a service consistent with 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) fifth-generation wireless technology (5G) Release 15 (2018) or 3GPP NextG Core (5GC) in Release 16 (2020) [Wennerstrom, paragraphs 93-95].
Regarding claim 6, Enrici-Wennerstrom further discloses
wherein: the first network function is associated with a first tenant and the second network function is associated with the first tenant [Enrici, figures 1, 6, paragraphs 9-11].
Regarding claim 7, Enrici-Wennerstrom further discloses
wherein: the circuitry is to provide telemetry data indicative of memory region accesses and memory bandwidth utilized by the first network function to indicate isolation of the first region for the first network function and based on a received command [Enrici, figures 1, 6, paragraphs 9-11], the circuitry is to allocate a second region of one or more memory regions of the memory and also release reservation of the first region to store data for the first network function and second network function of the RAN [Enrici, figures 1, 6, paragraphs 9-11].
Regarding claims 8, 14, Enrici-Wennerstrom further discloses
issue a first request to a memory device to isolate a radio access network (RAN) slice by reserving access to memory and compute resources for a first network function and a second network function of the RAN slice [Enrici, figures 1, 6, paragraphs 9-11, a deterministic application request module (DRAM) receives an application request to allocate one or more reconfiguration or PR slots] and issue a second request to the memory device to isolate a second RAN slice by reserving access to the memory and compute resources for a third network function and fourth network function of the second RAN slice [Enrici, figures 1, 6, paragraphs 9-11, a deterministic application request module (DRAM) receives an application request to allocate one or more reconfiguration or PR slots], wherein the reserved access to the memory and the compute resources for the first and second RAN slices are different and wherein the first network function and the second network function perform operations [Enrici, figures 1, 6, paragraphs 9-11, a deterministic application request module (DRAM) receives an application request to allocate one or more reconfiguration or PR slots] of Open Radio Access Network (ORAN) components [Wennerstrom, paragraph 93].
Regarding claims 9, 15, Enrici-Wennerstrom further discloses
wherein: the first network function comprises an Open Radio Access Network (ORAN) Centralized Unit (CU), Distributed Unit (DU), or RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) and the second network function comprises a NextG User Plane Function (UPF) or Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) [Wennerstrom, paragraphs 93-95].
Regarding claims 10, 16, Enrici-Wennerstrom further discloses
wherein: the first network function comprises an Open Radio Access Network (ORAN) Centralized Unit (CU) and the second network function comprises an ORAN Distributed Unit (DU), or NextG User Plane Function (UPF) or Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) [Wennerstrom, paragraphs 93-95].
Regarding claim 11, Enrici-Wennerstrom further discloses
wherein: the first network function is associated with a first tenant and the second network function is associated with the first tenant [Enrici, figures 1, 6, paragraphs 9-11].
Regarding claim 12, Enrici-Wennerstrom further discloses
wherein: the third network function is associated with a second tenant and the fourth network function is associated with the second tenant [Enrici, figures 1, 6, paragraphs 9-11].
Regarding claim 13, Enrici-Wennerstrom further discloses
based on receipt of telemetry data indicative of memory region accesses and memory bandwidth utilized by the first network function, allocate a second region of one or more memory regions of the memory and also release reservation of the first region to store data for the first network function and second network function of the RAN [Enrici, figures 1, 6, paragraphs 9-11].
Regarding claim 17, Enrici-Wennerstrom further discloses
wherein: the first network function is associated with a first tenant, the second network function is associated with the first tenant, the third network function is associated with a second tenant, and the fourth network function is associated with the second tenant [Enrici, figures 1, 6, paragraphs 9-11].
Regarding claim 18, Enrici-Wennerstrom further discloses
based on telemetry data indicative of memory region accesses and memory bandwidth utilized by the first network function, allocating a second region of one or more memory regions of the memory and releasing reservation of the first region to store data for the first network function and second network function of the RAN [Enrici, figures 1, 6, paragraphs 9-11].
Regarding claim 19, Enrici-Wennerstrom further discloses
based on telemetry data indicative of memory region accesses and memory bandwidth utilized by the first network function, allocating a region of one or more memory regions of a second memory to store data for the first network function and the second network function of the RAN and releasing reservation of the first region to store data for the first network function and second network function of the RAN [Enrici, figures 1, 6, paragraphs 9-11].
Regarding claim 20, Enrici-Wennerstrom further discloses
wherein: the first network function provides a service consistent with 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) fifth-generation wireless technology (5G) Release 15 (2018) or 3GPP NextG Core (5GC) in Release 16 (2020) [Wennerstrom, paragraphs 93-95].
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WILLIAM J GOODCHILD whose telephone number is (571)270-1589. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8am-4:30pm.
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, Jeff Pwu can be reached at 571-272-6798. 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.
/William J. Goodchild/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2433
Prosecution Insights