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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments on rejections based on 35 U.S.C. 103 filed 3/03/26 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
For claim 11, Applicant argues Black does not teach claim limitations “subsequent to retrieving the first time, calculating the difference between a second time and the first time; and calculating a delay duration by subtracting the calculated difference from a target latency” because Black does not disclose any "calculating a difference between the second time and the first time" and, thus, cannot disclose "calculating difference between the second [received] time and the first time as required by claim 11.
In response, Examiner respectfully disagree.
Black in FIG. 3 and associated text clearly teaches calculating a delay in de-jitter to enable the playback utility to receive packets (or samples) every 20 ms, such as “[0059] FIG. 3 further illustrates a second scenario, in which the de-jitter buffer introduces a delay, t.sub.djb before the playback of the first packet. In this scenario, the de-jitter buffer delay is added to enable the playback utility to receive packets (or samples) every 20 ms. … [0060] PKT 1 is sent at time to, received at time t.sub.1 and instead of being played back at time t.sub.1, as was done previously, is now played back at time t.sub.1+t.sub.djb=t.sub.1'. The playback utility plays PKT 2 at a predetermined interval, e.g. 20 ms, after PKT 1 or at time t.sub.2'=t.sub.1+t.sub.djb+20=t.sub.2+t.sub.djb and PKT 3 at time t.sub.3'=t.sub.3+t.sub.djb. The delaying of the playback by t.sub.djb allows the third packet to be played out without an underflow being caused. Thus, as illustrated in FIG. 3, introduction of the de-jitter buffer delay may reduce underflows and prevent speech quality from being degraded.”; FIG. 3 clearly shows t.sub.djb= t.sub.1- t.sub.1'). Therefore, Applicant’s arguments are not persuasive.
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 11 and 21-39 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Black (US 20060045138 A1) in view of Weill (US 20150131450 A1).
For claim 11, Black discloses a non-transitory, computer readable medium that includes code for reducing jitter in a cellular network caused by a variable amount of time required for a packet (FIG. 3 shows a de-jitter system for packets PKT1-PKT4 in view of “[0006] The present invention relates to wireless communication systems, and specifically to an adaptive de-jitter buffer for Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) for packet switched communications.” and “[0049] … Note, for clarity the following discussion describes a spread-spectrum communication systems supporting packet data communications including, but is not limited to Code Division-Multiple Access (CDMA) systems, Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (W-CDMA), Global Systems for Mobile Communications (GSM) systems, systems supporting IEEE standards”; note that at least GSM, CDMA, and W-CDMA are cellular networks) comprising:
receiving the packet both (i) at a first time before the packet passes through a particular portion of the network at a start point of the network portion (FIG. 3 shows a first time t_1 when PKT1 arrived at “RECEIVE” but before the packet passes through a particular portion of the network at a start point of the network portion) and (ii) at a second time after the packet has passed through the network (FIG. 3 shows a second time t_1’ when PKT1 arrived at de-jitter buffer when it has passed through the network);
in response to receiving the packet at the second time, retrieving the first time from the memory, using the identifier of the packet (FIG. 3, each PKT has an identifier, such as PKT1 for the first packet, which is stored in a memory for later usage);
subsequent to retrieving the first time, calculating the difference between the second time and the first time; (FIGs. 3-5 and the associated text, such as “[0012] FIGS. 4A and 4B are timing diagrams illustrating calculation of optimal de-jitter buffer lengths in two scenarios. [0013] FIG. 5 is a timing diagram illustrating a run of "underflows" resulting from delayed packets”. FIG 3 also shows calculating the difference between the second time and the first time);
calculating a delay duration (FIGs. 3-9 and the associated text, such as “[0059] FIG. 3 further illustrates a second scenario, in which the de-jitter buffer introduces a delay, t.sub.djb before the playback of the first packet. In this scenario, the de-jitter buffer delay is added to enable the playback utility to receive packets (or samples) every 20 ms. … [0060] PKT 1 is sent at time to, received at time t.sub.1 and instead of being played back at time t.sub.1, as was done previously, is now played back at time t.sub.1+t.sub.djb=t.sub.1'. The playback utility plays PKT 2 at a predetermined interval, e.g. 20 ms, after PKT 1 or at time t.sub.2'=t.sub.1+t.sub.djb+20=t.sub.2+t.sub.djb and PKT 3 at time t.sub.3'=t.sub.3+t.sub.djb. The delaying of the playback by t.sub.djb allows the third packet to be played out without an underflow being caused. Thus, as illustrated in FIG. 3, introduction of the de-jitter buffer delay may reduce underflows and prevent speech quality from being degraded.”; FIG. 3 clearly shows t.sub.djb= t.sub.1- t.sub.1');
delaying the packet from sending via the cellular communication network by the delay duration, wherein a delayed sending via the cellular communication network is subsequent to the packet being received by the second time (FIGs. 3-9 and the associated text, such as “[0059] FIG. 3 further illustrates a second scenario, in which the de-jitter buffer introduces a delay, t.sub.djb before the playback of the first packet. In this scenario, the de-jitter buffer delay is added to enable the playback utility to receive packets (or samples) every 20 ms. … [0060] … as illustrated in FIG. 3, introduction of the de-jitter buffer delay may reduce underflows and prevent speech quality from being degraded.“ and “[0151] … delayer 678 being configured to adjust delaying may include being configured to stop delaying packet(s), e.g. by removing those data packet(s) from queue(s) 682, for instance depending on a result of the evaluation by delay evaluator 676.”); and
sending the delayed packet via the cellular communication network to the target communication terminal (FIGs. 1 or 20 shows packets are sent between two terminals 50 and 82 or user1 and user2).
Black is silent on but Weill, in the same field of endeavor of wireless communication, discloses: the particular portion of the network (between two terminals) is the core network (“[0046] … the mobile network may include a core network of any architecture such as UMTS, GSM, LTE, CDMA, CDMA2000, any network of any appropriate generation, etc.”). OOSA would have been motivated to apply the teaching of Weill above to the cellular network connecting two terminals by Black to yield a predictable result of connecting two users via a core network.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to OOSA before the effective filing date of the application to combine Black and Weill for the benefit of connecting users in wide area via a core network ([0046] of Weill).
For claim 30, Black discloses a non-transitory, computer readable medium that includes code or reducing jitter in a cellular communication network caused by a variable amount of time required for a packet, which is communicated over the cellular communication network by a source communication terminal to a target communication terminal coupled between base stations of the cellular communication network (FIG. 1, which shows terminal 52 connecting terminal 82 via base station 70, and the associated text, such as “[0006] The present invention relates to wireless communication systems, and specifically to an adaptive de-jitter buffer for Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) for packet switched communications.”) comprising:
receiving a packet in the cellular communication network from a first cellular communication terminal (FIG. 3 PKT1 is received; or FIG.1 shows a first terminal 52 in view of FIG. 2 or FIG. 13A “INCOMING PACKETS” being received);
providing, using the cellular communication network, the packet to a dejittering system (FIGs. 3-9 and the associated text, such as [0059], [0060], [0151], and FIG. 3 shows de-jitter buffer in which the packet is placed);
receiving a delayed packet, wherein the delayed packet includes the packet which is delayed from the dejittering system by a period of delay (FIG. 3 shows the received packet is delayed in the de-jitter buffer by a period of d_jb); and
providing the delayed packet to a second cellular communication terminal (FIGs. 1, terminal 82 and FIG. 3, which provides delayed packets between two terminals/users shown in FIG. 1 or 20), wherein the dejittering system performs a packet delay determination (FIG. 3 and associated text, such as [0059], [0060], [0151]) comprising:
at a first time, receiving the packet both (i) at a first time before the packet passes through the network, and (ii) at a second time after the packet has passed through the network (FIG. 3, wherein the first time is t_1 when PKT1 arrived at “RECEIVE”, and the second time is t_1’ when PKT1 arrived at de-jitter buffer):
calculating a delay duration based on a difference between the second time and the first time (FIGs. 3-9 and the associated text, such as [0059]-[0060] and FIG. 3 shows PKT1 de-jitter buffer delay t_dj = t_1’ - t_1);
delaying the packet by the calculated delay duration (FIGs. 3-9 and the associated text, such as [0059], [0060], [0151], and FIG.3 shows PKT1 is a de-jitter buffer delay t_dj); and
subsequent to delaying the packet, providing the delayed packet to the cellular communication network (FIGs. 3-9 and associated text, such as [0059], [0060], [0151] and [0171] “… delayer 678 may delay data packets for any of these UEs 110 …”), wherein calculating the delay duration comprises:
subsequently to receiving the packet at the first time, recording the first time, in association with an identifier of the packet, in a memory (FIG. 3, t_1 associated with PKT1 is stored in memory for later use);
in response to receiving the packet at the second time, retrieving the first time from the memory, using the identifier of the packet (FIG. 3, t_1 is associated with a packet with ID PKT1);
subsequent to retrieving the first time, calculating the difference between the second time and the first time (FIG. 3 shows PKT1 de-jitter buffer delay t_dj = t_1’ - t_1);
calculating a delay duration by subtracting the calculated difference from a target latency (FIG. 3 shows PKT1 de-jitter buffer delay t_dj = t_1’ - t_1).
Black is silent on but Weill, in the same field of endeavor of wireless communication, discloses: the particular portion of the network (between two terminals) is the core network (“[0046] … the mobile network may include a core network of any architecture such as UMTS, GSM, LTE, CDMA, CDMA2000, any network of any appropriate generation, etc.”). OOSA would have been motivated to apply the teaching of Weill above to the cellular network connecting two terminals by Black to yield a predictable result of connecting two users via a core network.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to OOSA before the effective filing date of the application to combine Black and Weill for the benefit of connecting users in wide area via a core network ([0046] of Weill).
As to claims 21 and 31, Black in view of Weill discloses claims 11 and 30, Weill further discloses: wherein:
the cellular communication network includes a first base station, to which the source communication terminal transmits the packet, and a second base station, which transmits the packet to the target communication terminal (FIG. 8 shows a plurality of base stations (such as base stations 815 and 817), each attached multiple terminals UEs 110 that transmit and receive packets),
receiving the packet at the first time comprises receiving the packet at the first time while the packet is enroute from the first base station to the core network (FIG 1 or FIG. 8 shows a packet may enroute from a base station to the core network PDN), and
receiving the packet at the second time comprises receiving the packet at the second time while the packet is enroute from the core network to the second base station (FIG 1 or FIG. 8 shows the base station associated with receiving UE receives a packet from the sending UE).
OOSA would have been motivated to apply the teaching of Weill above to the cellular network by Black to yield a predictable result of providing detailed information of network architecture.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to OOSA before the effective filing date of the application to combine Black and Weill for the benefit of providing detailed information of network architecture ([0046] of Weill).
As to claims 22 and 32, Black in view of Weill discloses claims 11 and 30, Black further discloses:
wherein the packet belongs to a flow, and wherein the target latency is set for the flow ([0049] “… The end-to-end delay of packets, or the time it takes a packet to travel within the network from a first user or "sender" to a second user or "receiver" varies, depending upon channel conditions, network load, Quality of Service (QoS) capabilities of the system, and other flows competing for resources among other things. …”).
As to claims 23 and 33, Black in view of Weill discloses claims 22 and 32, Black further discloses:
the data processing system to perform further operations comprising: setting the target latency (FIGs. 3-9, each shows the target latency, such as 20ms latency between packets shown in FIG. 3).
As to claims 24 and 34, Black in view of Weill discloses claims 23 and 33, Black further discloses:
wherein setting the target latency comprises setting the target latency by requiring that a particular percentage of observed latencies be less than the target latency (FIGs. 3-9, each shows the target latency to be less than target latency, such as no more than 20ms latency between packets shown in FIG. 3).
As to claims 25 and 35, Black in view of Weill discloses claims 23 and 33, Black further discloses: wherein setting the target latency comprises setting the target latency responsively to an estimated size of a jitter buffer of the target communication terminal ([0136] “… consider an example wherein the calculated value (delay or length) of the de-jitter buffer is 40 ms at the beginning of a talkspurt. At a later time, the de-jitter buffer loading falls below the expansion threshold, resulting in a decision to expand a data packet. Immediately after the playback of this packet, a bundle of three packets arrives; the arriving data fills the de-jitter buffer size such that the compression threshold is exceeded …”).
As to claims 26 and 36, Black in view of Weill discloses claims 23 and 33, Black further discloses: wherein the target latency is a first target latency, and wherein execution of the code by the one or more processors of the data processing system causes the data processing system to perform further operations comprising:
setting a second target latency for another flow that is different from the first target latency ([0136] “… consider an example wherein the calculated value (delay or length) of the de-jitter buffer is 40 ms at the beginning of a talkspurt. At a later time, the de-jitter buffer loading falls below the expansion threshold, resulting in a decision to expand a data packet. Immediately after the playback of this packet, a bundle of three packets arrives; the arriving data fills the de-jitter buffer size such that the compression threshold is exceeded …” which shows a de-jitter buffer length for 40 ms and FIG. 3 shows a de-jitter buffer length for 20 ms. In fact a de-jitter/jitter buffer length for a flow may be different according to different requirements as shown in [0049] cited above).
As to claims 27 and 37, Black in view of Weill discloses claims 23 and 33, Black further discloses: wherein setting the target latency comprises setting the target latency in response to a similarity between the flow and another flow (this is obvious to OOSA because it is an obvious try case according to MPEP 2143(E)).
As to claims 28 and 38, Black in view of Weill discloses claims 11 and 30, Black further discloses:
wherein the amount of time is a first amount of time and execution of the code by the one or more processors of the data processing system causes the data processing system to perform further operations comprising:
estimating a second amount of time required for the packet (i) to reach the dejittering system from the source communication terminal (FIG. 3, playback without dej-ittering buffer delay), and (ii) to reach the target communication terminal from the dejittering system (FIG. 3, playback with dej-ittering buffer delay); and
calculating the delay duration comprises calculating the delay duration by subtracting the estimated second amount of time from the target latency ([0136] “… consider an example wherein the calculated value (delay or length) of the de-jitter buffer is 40 ms at the beginning of a talkspurt. At a later time, the de-jitter buffer loading falls below the expansion threshold, resulting in a decision to expand a data packet. Immediately after the playback of this packet, a bundle of three packets arrives; the arriving data fills the de-jitter buffer size such that the compression threshold is exceeded …”).
As to claims 29 and 39, Black in view of Weill discloses claims 11 and 30, Black further discloses: wherein delaying the packet comprises delaying the packet responsively to a message from the target communication terminal that reports a packet delay variation (“[0070] In the present example, the initial de-jitter buffer delay may be set to a constant value such as 40 ms. The TARGET_VALUE is a targeted value of "delayed underflows" (e.g., 1%). PER.sub.delay is a filtered value of the "delayed underflow" rate of packets where the parameters of the filter allow the TARGET_VALUE to be achieved …”).
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JIANYE WU whose telephone number is (571)270-1665. The examiner can normally be reached M-TH 8am-6pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Yemane Mesfin can be reached on (571) 272-3927. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JIANYE WU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2462