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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements filed 4/20/2023 and 5/13/2025 have been considered by the examiner.
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, 2, 5 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ghera et al (United States Patent Application Publication No. 2003/0081892) in view of Wang et al (United States Patent Application Publication No. 2009/0083353).
With respect to claim 1, Ghera et al disclose: A gain adjustment method, which is applied to an optical fiber amplifier at least comprising a gain medium, a dynamic gain equalizer, and a control unit [ taught by figure 1 and paragraph [0007] ], wherein the method is performed by the control unit, and comprises determining a property parameter of the gain medium and a current attenuation spectrum of the dynamic gain equalizer [ paragraph [0029] states, “…The control over the pump and VOA attenuation levels is preferably done by extensive software algorithms supported by look-up tables (LUTs), which provide the attenuation and pump level required for achieving a gain-flattened spectrum at any required gain. Such control schemes are well known to those skilled in the art…” ]; determining a gain attenuation-spectrum mapping table corresponding to the property parameter in a preset gain attenuation-spectrum library; wherein the gain attenuation-spectrum mapping table includes a mapping relationship between each gain of the optical fiber amplifier and one attenuation spectrum of the dynamic gain equalizer; obtaining a target gain of the optical fiber amplifier [ paragraph [0029] teaches providing the attenuation and pump level required for achieving a gain-flattened spectrum at any required gain – a required gain meets a target gain ]; determining a target attenuation spectrum in the gain attenuation-spectrum mapping table according to the target gain [ paragraph [0029] teaches getting pump levels and VOA attenuation levels from look-up tables ]; and adjusting the current attenuation spectrum to the target attenuation spectrum [ met by controlling the VOA attenuation levels ].
Ghera et al does not explicitly disclose determining a gain attenuation-spectrum mapping table corresponding to the property parameter in a preset gain attenuation-spectrum library; wherein the gain attenuation-spectrum mapping table includes a mapping relationship between each gain of the optical fiber amplifier and one attenuation spectrum of the dynamic gain equalizer and using the mapping table to determine a target attenuation spectrum.
Ghera et al teaches using known look-up tables using software algorithms for the purpose of determining pump and attenuation levels required for gain flatness at a required gain.
Wang et al teaches a method, known before the effective filing date of the present application, of obtaining a spectrum shape of a gain flattening filter including determining a gain attenuation-spectrum mapping table corresponding to the property parameter in a preset gain attenuation-spectrum library; wherein the gain attenuation-spectrum mapping table includes a mapping relationship between each gain of the optical fiber amplifier and one attenuation spectrum of the dynamic gain equalizer [ taught by the device of Wang et al determining the attenuation values set forth in figure 8 based on the gain values shown by figure 7; paragraphs [0024] and [0025] state, “…FIG. 7 illustrates various gain spectrums in optical fiber amplifiers with different doped fiber length based on a target gain, which shows a series of spectrum shape for determining a gain flattening filter (GFF); and FIG. 8 illustrates spectrum shape of the gain flattening filter (GFF) corresponding to the gain of the optical fiber amplifier shown in FIG. 7…”].
Therefore, it would have been obvious for a person of ordinary skill in the art to have used the gain shape and attenuation data tabulated by the method of Wang et al in the device of Ghera et al because Ghera et al taught using known look-up tables to determine attenuation levels producing desired gain flatness.
Claim 10 is rejected by the combination of Ghera et al and Wang et al, as applied to claim 1.
Claim 2 would have been obvious for the reasons applied to claim 1 because paragraph [0029] of Ghera et al suggested using a look-up table that had values meeting a required gain, thus motivating the skilled artisan to find values in the table that matched the desired gain.
Paragraph [0006] of Wang et al teaches using the length, doping and population inversion as factors in determining gain profiles, thus rendering claim 5 rejected by the combination of Ghera et al and Way et al, as applied to claim 1.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3, 4 and 6-9 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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication should be directed to MARK HELLNER at telephone number (571)272-6981.
Examiner interviews are available via a variety of formats. See MPEP § 713.01. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
/MARK HELLNER/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3645