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 OFFICE ACTION
This action is responsive to the communication received June 3rd, 2026. Claims 6, 8, 16 have been canceled. Claims 1-5, 7, 9-15, 17-21 have been entered and are presented for examination.
Application 17/870,396 is a Continuation of PCT/CN2020/119667 09/30/2020 and has Chinese Application 202010075317.7 01/22/2020.
Response to Arguments
Applicant argues the references do not disclose “detecting, based on the identifier, a multicast flow to which the first BIER packet to obtain detection data comprising information about an interface for transmitting the first BIER.”
The Examiner respectfully disagrees.
Wijnands et al. discloses detecting, based on the identifier, a multicast flow to which the first BIER packet to obtain detection data (paragraph 0054 [MDC receiving signaling message from ER with the BIER network; signaling message includes multicast group ID that is to be received or ceased]) comprising information about an interface for transmitting the first BIER (paragraphs 0059, 0093 [the multicast group is traditionally encapsulated in the destination address (DA) field of the IPv6 header of a multicast data packet; Handling of the packet or packet and header can be determined, for example, by forwarding engine 1310. For example, forwarding engine 1310 may determine that the packet or packet and header should be forwarded to one or more of port processors 1350(1,1)-(N,N); multicast group ID in the header indictes the ports]).
It is unclear what Applicant mean by “Wijnands does not detect the signaling message…”, since the message is received by the device.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1, 4, 9-10, 13, 17, 20-21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wijnands et al. (US 2015/0078379) in view of JP-2015512171.
Regarding claims 1, 9, 10, 17, 20, Wijnands et al. discloses a method implemented by a network device (see Figure 2 [MDC 230]), and comprises: obtaining a first bit index explicit replication (BIER) packet comprising a identifier (paragraphs 0054-0055 [MDC receiving signaling message from ER with the BIER network; signaling message includes multicast group ID that is to be received or ceased]); detecting, based on the identifier, a multicast flow to which the first BIER packet to obtain detection data (paragraph 0054 [MDC receiving signaling message from ER with the BIER network; signaling message includes multicast group ID that is to be received or ceased]) comprising information about an interface for transmitting the first BIER (paragraphs 0059, 0093 [the multicast group is traditionally encapsulated in the destination address (DA) field of the IPv6 header of a multicast data packet; Handling of the packet or packet and header can be determined, for example, by forwarding engine 1310. For example, forwarding engine 1310 may determine that the packet or packet and header should be forwarded to one or more of port processors 1350(1,1)-(N,N); multicast group ID in the header indictes the ports]); and sending, to a controller, the detection data (paragraph 0055 [rather than the controller creating and maintaining a group membership table, the group membership table is created and maintained by an ingress router or a host. When the GMT is created and maintained by an IR or host, the controller forwards the signaling information to the IR or host that creates and maintains the GMT; IR or host controls the GMT]).
Wijnands et al. does not explicitly disclose packet comprising a first field and a second field, wherein the first field comprises a identifier, and wherein a value of the second field indicates that the first field carries the identifier and obtaining the identifier from the first field based on the second field.
However, of JP-2015512171 discloses packet comprising a first field and a second field, wherein the first field comprises a identifier, and wherein a value of the second field indicates that the first field carries the identifier (paragraph 00112 [future versions of a particular protocol (identified in version field 621) may utilize reserved field 623, in which case source device 120 may parse data packet header 610 and / or Information in reserved field 623 may be used to parse payload data 650. Reserved field 623, in conjunction with version field 621, potentially provides functionality for extending features and adding features to the data packet format]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to recognize based on the version field of the packet, the reserved field could be used to show value that can be used to show the multicast group ID such that the multicast group ID can be monitored.
Regarding claims 4, 13, Wijnands et al. further discloses obtaining, based on the identifier, the information; and sending, to the controller, the information (paragraph 0054 [MDC receiving signaling message from ER with the BIER network; signaling message includes multicast group ID that is to be received or ceased]).
Regarding claim 21, Wijnands et al. further discloses wherein the identifier indicates to detect the first BIER packet (paragraph 0054 [MDC receiving signaling message from ER with the BIER network; signaling message includes multicast group ID that is to be received or ceased]).
Claim(s) 7, 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wijnands et al. (US 2015/0078379) in view of JP-2015512171 as applied to claims 1, 10 above, and further in view of RFC 8296.
Regarding claims 7, 15, the references as applied above disclose all the recited subject matter in claims 6, 10, but do not explicitly disclose wherein the first field is either an operation, administration, and maintenance (OAM) field or a reserved field.
However, RFC 8296 discloses the reserved field of the BIER packet contains 2 bits that are currently unused (page 11).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to recognize the reserved field could be used to send the information regarding the multicast flow information.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-3, 5, 11-12, 14, 18-19 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The prior art of record does not disclose:
wherein the network device is an ingress node of a BIER network, and wherein the method further comprises: receiving, from the controller, a detection instruction comprising a multicast flow identifier, wherein the detection instruction instructs the ingress node to add the identifier to a second BIER packet that carries the multicast flow identifier; and adding, according to the detection instruction, the identifier to the second BIER packet to obtain the first BIER packet, or
wherein after receiving the detection instruction, the method further comprises: generating a correspondence between the multicast flow identifier and first indication information; obtaining the second BIER packet; obtaining, based on the multicast flow identifier and the correspondence, the first indication information instructing to add the identifier to the second BIER packet; and adding, based on the first indication information, the identifier to the second BIER packet to obtain the first BIER packet, or
wherein the first BIER packet further comprises a sequence number, and wherein the method further comprises: obtaining, based on the identifier, the sequence number; and obtaining, based on the sequence number, packet loss information or sequence error information of a multicast flow to which the first BIER packet belongs.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHRISTOPHER T WYLLIE whose telephone number is (571)270-3937. The examiner can normally be reached 4pm-11:30pm.
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, Ayman Abaza can be reached at (571)270-0422. 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.
/CHRISTOPHER T WYLLIE/Examiner, Art Unit 2465
Prosecution Insights