DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
2. Claims 1, 3, 4, 6-8, 10, 11, 13-15, 17, 18 and 20 are pending.
3. 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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 09/05/2025 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
4. Applicant’s arguments with respect to the amended independent claims have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection in which the Examiner has cited previously presented prior art, Sainath et al. (US Pub. No. 2020/0184784 A1 hereinafter “Sainath”), as necessitated by the amended independent claims.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
5. 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.
6. Claims 1, 6-8, 13-15 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over German et al. (US Pub. No. 2011/0043371 hereinafter “German”) in view of Sainath et al. (US Pub. No. 2020/0184784 A1 hereinafter “Sainath”), and further in view of German et al. (US Patent No. 6,499,861 B1 hereinafter “M. German”).
Referring to claim 1, German discloses a system (German – Figs. 1, 7 show a system 10, 12) comprising:
a first storage unit (German – par. 152 discloses the data center environment has end devices being data storage devices.) comprising a first plurality of ports (German – Fig. 7, Patch panels 32 includes a plurality of connector ports 34.); and
a second storage unit (German – par. 152 discloses the data center environment has end devices being data storage devices.) comprising a second plurality of ports (German – Fig. 7, Patch panels 32’ includes a plurality of connector ports 34’.), wherein the first storage unit and the second storage unit each comprise at least one processing device (German – Fig. 3 discloses each of the patch panels includes a processor 190.) to:
receive a system setup data structure comprising cable couplings between the first plurality of ports (German – see par. 28, 79, 80, 97, 115, 148) of the first storage unit (German – par. 152 discloses the data center environment has end devices being data storage devices.) and the second plurality of ports (German – see par. 28, 79, 80, 97, 115, 148) of the second storage unit (German – par. 152 discloses the data center environment has end devices being data storage devices.), each cable coupling in the system setup data structure indicating ports to be coupled in accordance with system setup (German – see par. 28, 79, 80, 97, 115, 148) of the second storage unit (German – par. 97 discloses As the microprocessor 190 already knows the unique identifiers of each of the serial ID chips 180 on patch panel 32, it may then pass to the rack manager 36 the unique identifiers of the two connector ports 34, 34' that are connected by the patch cord 200 for logging in a database or table of patch cord connections. Thus, the rack manager 36 on the equipment rack that includes patch panel 32 can automatically determine and log the identifiers of the connector ports 34, 34' that are connected by the patch cord 200. This information may be used to affirmatively track the patching connections between intelligent patch panels in the communications patching system 12.);
activate a first illumination component associated with a first port of the first plurality of ports and a second illumination component associated with a second port of the second plurality of ports, to indicate the first port and the second port are to be coupled in accordance with system setup, wherein the first port and the second port correspond to one of the cable couplings included in the system setup data structure (German - Fig. 3, par. 82 disclose an LED 140 for each connector port opening 126. In addition, the trace buttons 130 and LEDs 140 may be used to allow a technician to easily identify the connector ports that are connected by communications cables 28 or patch cords 50 to each of the connector ports 34 on the patch panel 32. See par. 28, 79, 80, 97, 115, 148);
determine whether the cable has been coupled to both the first port and the second port, after first and second illumination (German - Fig. 3, par. 82 disclose an LED 140 for each connector port opening 126. In addition, the trace buttons 130 and LEDs 140 may be used to allow a technician to easily identify the connector ports that are connected by communications cables 28 or patch cords 50 to each of the connector ports 34 on the patch panel 32.); and
provide a visual indication that the cable is correctly coupled (German - Fig. 3, par. 82 disclose an LED 140 for each connector port opening 126 that allows someone to easily identify the connector ports that are connected by communications cable 28 or patch cords 50 to each of the connector ports 34 on the patch panel 32.) at both the first storage unit and the second storage unit (German – par. 152 discloses the data center environment has end devices being data storage devices.) responsive to determining that the cable is coupled to both the first port of the first storage unit and the second port of the second storage unit (German – see par. 78-82, 94),
German fails to explicitly disclose at least one processing device to: receive a system setup data structure comprising cable couplings between the first plurality of ports of the first storage unit and the second plurality of ports of the second storage unit, each cable coupling in the system setup data structure indicating ports to be coupled in accordance with system setup, wherein the system setup data structure comprises an order for physically connecting uncoupled cables associated with the cable couplings between respective ports of the first plurality of ports and the second plurality of ports; activate a first illumination component integrated into and surrounding a first port of the first plurality of ports and a second illumination component integrated into and surrounding a second port of the second plurality of ports; wherein the first illumination and the second illumination are activated prior to a cable being coupled to the first port and the second port, and wherein the first illumination component is activated under direction of a processing device of the first storage unit responsive to the processing device of the first storage unit accessing the system setup data structure and the second illumination component is activated under direction of a processing device of the second storage unit responsive to the processing device of the second storage unit accessing the system setup data structure, wherein to determine whether the cable has been coupled comprises the processing device of the first storage unit communicating with the processing device of the second storage unit via the cable; and provide a visual indication that the cable has been is correctly coupled at both the first storage unit and the second storage unit responsive to determining that the cable has been is coupled to both the first port of the first storage unit and the second port of the second storage unit through successful communication between the processing device of the first storage unit and the processing device of the second storage unit via the cable.
Sainath discloses at least one processing device (Sainath – Par. [0056] discloses a cable management apparatus 120 may include a processor.) to: receive a system setup data structure comprising cable couplings between the first plurality of ports of the first node and the second plurality of ports of the second node, each cable coupling in the system setup data structure indicating ports to be coupled in accordance with system setup (Sainath – Par. [0056] discloses a cable management apparatus 120 may include a processor.), wherein the system setup data structure (Sainath – Par. [0074] discloses a cable mapping table.) comprises an order for physically connecting uncoupled cables associated with the cable couplings between respective ports of the first plurality of ports and the second plurality of ports (Sainath – Par. [0074] discloses the order module 312 is configured to determine an order for installing cables 108 in ports of a first node 106 based on the cable mapping table. In such an embodiment, the cable mapping table further defines a cable installation order for one or more ports of the first node 106 (e.g., the entries in the cable mapping table may be listed in the desired order, the cable mapping table may include a column that includes an order number for each entry, and/or the like). For instance, if a new enclosure 104 is installed in the system 100, the cable mapping table for the new enclosure 104 may define the order in which cables 108 should be connected to the corresponding ports on the nodes 106 of the enclosure 104.);
activate a first illumination component associated with a first port of the first plurality of ports and a second illumination component associated with a second port of the second plurality of ports, to indicate the first port and the second port are to be physically coupled from an uncoupled state in accordance with the system setup, wherein the first port and the second port correspond to one of the cable couplings included in the system setup data structure (Sainath – Fig. 5 & par. [0084-0085] disclose the method 500 begins and determines 502 an order for installing cables 108 in ports of a first node 106 based on a cable mapping table. If the method 500 determines 506 that a port of the first node 106 does not have a cable 108 connected, the method 500 triggers 508 a visual indicator at the port of the first node 106 to indicate installation of a first end of a cable 108 at the port of the first node 106. The method 500, in further embodiments, triggers 510 a visual indicator at a corresponding port of a second node 106 to indicate installation of a second end of the cable 108 at the port of the second node 106.) and wherein the first illumination and the second illumination are activated prior to a cable being coupled to the first port and the second port (Sainath – Par. [0041] disclose The method, in certain embodiments, includes, in response to determining the cable is the expected cable at the port of the first node, triggering a visual indicator at the port of the first node to visually confirm that the cable is the expected cable for the port of the first node. In various embodiments, the method includes determining a port of a second node where a second end of the cable is expected to be installed based on the cable mapping table. In some embodiments, the method includes triggering a visual indicator at the port of the second node to visually indicate that the second end of the cable is expected to be installed in the port of the second node.), and wherein the first illumination component is activated under direction of a processing device of the first unit responsive to the processing device of the first unit accessing the system setup data structure and the second illumination component is activated under direction of a processing device of the second unit responsive to the processing device of the second unit accessing the system setup data structure (Sainath – Par. [0054] disclose a cable management apparatus 120 that activates the visual indicators 110 using an LED on a first node 106 and a second node 106. It is pointed out that having more than one cable management apparatus is a mere duplication of parts to be applied to each node. Par. [0039] discloses the cable includes a symmetric multi-processing (“SMP”) cable and the ports of the first and second nodes include symmetric multi-processing ports. The SMP cable may be used to connect the first node to the second node to facilitate communications between different processors of the first and second nodes.), wherein to determine whether the cable has been coupled comprises the processing device of the first node communicating with the processing device of the second node via the cable (Sainath – Par. [0054] disclose the cable management apparatus 120 may provide instant and dynamic direction or feedback during the cabling process without requiring a user to install all of the cables 108 and then run a verification tool to determine if the user's cabling is correct or not.); and
provide a visual indication that the cable has been is correctly coupled at both the first storage unit and the second storage unit responsive to determining that the cable has been is coupled to both the first port of the first storage unit and the second port of the second storage unit through successful communication between the processing device of the first storage unit and the processing device of the second storage unit via the cable (Sainath – Par. [0082-0083] & Fig. 4, Steps 404 – 410. Par. [0039] discloses the cable includes a symmetric multi-processing (“SMP”) cable and the ports of the first and second nodes include symmetric multi-processing ports. The SMP cable may be used to connect the first node to the second node to facilitate communications between different processors of the first and second nodes.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to include Sainath’s teachings with German’s teachings for the benefit of installing cables between devices and more particularly relates to providing visual guidance and direction for cable installation (Sainath – Par. [0001]).
German and Sainath fail to explicitly disclose activate a first illumination component integrated into and surrounding a first port of the first plurality of ports and a second illumination component integrated into and surrounding a second port of the second plurality of ports.
M. German discloses activate a first illumination component integrated into and surrounding a first port of the first plurality of ports and a second illumination component integrated into and surrounding a second port of the second plurality of ports (M. German – Col. 5, lines 44-47 disclose since the shroud 50 completely surrounds the open face of the connector port 16, the area immediately surrounding the connector port 16 is illuminated. This can be applied to all ports.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to include M. German’s teachings with German and Sainath’s teachings for the benefit of the illuminated translucent shroud 50 greatly increases the likelihood that a technician will correctly service the proper connector port 16 selected by the line tracing subroutines utilized in the telecommunications closet (M. German – Col. 5, lines 50-54).
Referring to claim 6, German, Sainath and M. German disclose the system of claim 1, wherein the first illumination component and the second illumination component comprise light emitting diodes (LEDs) controlled by corresponding processing device (Sainath – Par. [0054] disclose a cable management apparatus 120 that activates the visual indicators 110 using an LED on a first node 106 and a second node 106. It is pointed out that having more than one cable management apparatus is a mere duplication of parts to be applied to each node.).
Referring to claim 7, German, Sainath and M. German disclose the system of claim 1, wherein the first illumination component and second illumination component comprise a first color and wherein the one or more processing devices are further configured to: activate a third illumination component associated with a third port of the first plurality of ports and a fourth illumination component associated with a fourth port of the second plurality of ports, wherein the third port and the fourth port correspond to another of the cable couplings included in the system setup data structure and wherein the third illumination component and the fourth illumination component comprise a second color that is different than the first color (German – Fig. 3, par. 82 disclose an LED 140 for each connector port opening 126. See par. 123 disclosing the LEDs could have different colors.).
Referring to claims 8 and 15, note the rejection of claim 1 above. The Instant Claims recite substantially same limitations as the above-rejected and is therefore rejected under same prior-art teachings.
Referring to claims 13 and 20, note the rejection of claim 6 above. The Instant Claims recite substantially same limitations as the above-rejected and is therefore rejected under same prior-art teachings.
Referring to claim 14, note the rejection of claim 7 above. The Instant Claim recites substantially same limitations as the above-rejected and is therefore rejected under same prior-art teachings.
7. Claims 3, 10 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over German in view of Sainath and M. German, and further in view of Goergen et al. (US Patent. No. 9,958,622 B1 hereinafter “Goergen”).
Referring to claim 3, German, Sainath and M. German disclose system of claim 1, however, fails to explicitly disclose wherein the cable comprises a third illumination component and wherein the third illumination component is activated upon coupling the cable to one of the first port or the second port.
Goergen discloses the cable comprises a third illumination component and wherein the third illumination component is activated upon coupling the cable to one of the first port or the second port (Goergen – see Figs. 1A, 5 & col. 4, lines 55-57; col. 10, line 54 to col. 11, line 2 disclose the tab 16 of the plug of the cable has an LED that when activated upon coupling the cable to the port emits a green light.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to include Goergen’s teachings with German, Sainath and M. German’s teachings for the benefit of providing a visual indication of compatibility between the cable assembly and the port (Goergen – Abstract).
Referring to claims 10 and 17, note the rejection of claim 3 above. The Instant Claims recite substantially same limitations as the above-rejected and is therefore rejected under same prior-art teachings.
8. Claims 4, 11 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over German in view of Sainath and M. German, and further in view of Smith et al. (US Pub. 2015/0016277 A1 hereinafter “Smith”).
Referring to claim 4, German, Sainath and M. German disclose the system of claim 1, however, fails to explicitly disclose wherein the at least one processing device is further to: provide a second visual indication that the cable has not been correctly coupled at the first storage unit and the second storage unit upon determining that the cable has not been coupled to the first port and the second port.
Smith discloses providing a second visual indication that the cable has not been correctly coupled upon determining that the cable has not been coupled to the first port (Smith – Par. [0047] disclose the fabric manager 310 may determine that the port 1106 on the first switch IHS 1102 should be connected to an interconnect cable but is not (e.g., the port 1106 is a missing link port), and at block 516, the fabric manager 310 will then cause the visual port indicator 1106a to visually indicate the missing link error (e.g., by causing an LED in the visual port indicator to provide a solid amber color or a slow flashing green color per the table above.).).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to include Smith’s teachings with German, Sainath and M. German’s teachings for the benefit of allowing a user to quickly and easily determine the locations of interconnect errors in complicated networked systems. (Smith – Par. [0048]).
Referring to claims 11 and 18, note the rejection of claim 4 above. The Instant Claims recite substantially same limitations as the above-rejected and is therefore rejected under same prior-art teachings.
Conclusion
The examiner requests, in response to this office action, support be shown for language added to any original claims on amendment and any new claims. That is, indicate support for newly added claim language by specifically pointing to page(s) and line number(s) in the specification and/or drawing figure(s). This will assist the examiner in prosecuting the application. When responding to this office action, applicant is advised to clearly point out the patentable novelty which he or she thinks the claims present, in view of the state of art disclosed by the references cited or the objections made. He or she must also show how the amendments avoid such references or objections. See 37 C.F.R.I .Ill(c).
In amending in reply to a rejection of claims in an application or patent under reexamination, the applicant or patent owner must clearly point out the patentable novelty which he or she thinks the claims present in view the state of the art disclosed by the references cited or the objections made. The applicant or patent owner must also show how the amendments avoid such references or objections.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DAYTON LEWIS-TAYLOR whose telephone number is (571) 270-7754. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday through Thursday, 8AM TO 4PM, EASTERN TIME.
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/DAYTON LEWIS-TAYLOR/Examiner, Art Unit 2181