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 ACTION
Claims 23-44 have been examined and are pending.
Information Disclosure Statement
An initialed and dated copy of Applicant’s IDS form 1449 submitted 09/06/2024 is attached to the instant office action. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being 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.
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.
Claim(s) 23-27, 29-37, 39-44 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2015/0085637 A1 to Nahlous et al. (hereinafter “Nahlous”) in view of 7,577,136 B1 to Devanagondi et al. (hereinafter “Devanagondi”)
Regarding Claim 23 and 32, Nahlous teaches An apparatus and method, comprising: ([0061], discloses a ring node 12d)
at least one memory storing instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: ([0061], discloses a ring node 12d-2 may include a physical chassis with multiple slots. [0083]-[0086], discloses a processor for executing instructions of the computer to implement the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram blocks)
obtain, at a first card of a router, an inter-card control message intended for a second card of the router; ([0063], discloses a state message 94 (i.e. inter-card control message) may arrive at the first ring port 18c. [0064], discloses A forwarding module 90a residing on the first line card 20b (i.e. first card of a router), which may, but need not necessarily, be the switch infrastructure 48a, may forward the state message 94. The state message 94 may be forwarded from the first front port 22b to the first virtual port 44a via the switch infrastructure 48 from the network interface 50 to the fabric interface 52 in a manner similar to any other frame/packet whose route involves the switch fabric 34. The forwarding module 90a may forward the state message 94 through the first virtual port 44a and over the inter-card communication link 42a supported by the backplane 34 to the second state machine 24c residing on the second line card 20c (i.e. second card of a router))
Nahlous discloses provide, at the first card, a data packet in [0054], The egress processor 56 may encapsulate a message generated at the line card 20 for distribution. and send, from the first card toward the second card via a switch fabric of the router, the data packet. ([0063], further discloses forwarding a state message from a first line card to a second line card over a switch fabric 34)
Nahlous does not explicitly teach provide, at the first card, a data packet including a payload and a data packet header, wherein the payload includes the inter-card control message.
However, the aspect of encapsulating a message into a payload of an encapsulated message and the encapsulated message including a data packet header is well known in the art. For example, in a similar field of endeavor, Devanagondi discloses in Column 2 lines 20-36, discloses A chassis based system (i.e. router) comprises one or more Traffic Management Devices (TMDs) on a line card (i.e. first and second card of router), interconnected by a switch fabric. Column 2 lines 37-50, discloses When a network entity A such as a client device transmits a packet through the switching system to another network entity B, the packet first arrives at the TMD connecting A with the switch fabric, TMD.sub.A (i.e. first card). In order to make sure that the switch fabric transfers the packet to the proper destination, and the packet gets processed appropriately at the destination TMD, TMD.sub.A encapsulates the packet in two additional headers--one interpreted by the destination TMD--i.e., TMD.sub.B (i.e. second card) and one interpreted by the switch fabric. Examiner notes that the packet being encapsulated becomes the payload of the encapsulated packet.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Nahlous to include the above limitations as suggested by Devanagondi, In order to make sure that the switch fabric transfers the packet to the proper destination, and the packet gets processed appropriately at the destination TMD as indicated in Column 2 lines 45-47 of Devanagondi.
Regarding Claim 24, Nahlous/Devanagondi teaches The apparatus of claim 23, wherein Devanagondi further teaches the data packet header includes a switch fabric header. (Column 2 lines 54-57, discloses Since an Ethernet switch is being used as the switch fabric, the header interpreted by the switch fabric is an Ethernet header (i.e. switch fabric header) (i.e., this is in addition to the Ethernet Header that is already present on the packet as it is received from the network)) Examiner maintains same motivation to combine as indicated in Claim 23 above.
Regarding Claim 25, Nahlous/Devanagondi teaches The apparatus of claim 23, wherein Devanagondi further teaches the data packet header includes a data packet protocol header and a switch fabric header. (Column 2 lines 54-57, discloses Since an Ethernet switch is being used as the switch fabric, the header interpreted by the switch fabric is an Ethernet header (i.e. switch fabric header) (i.e., this is in addition to the Ethernet Header (i.e. data packet protocol header) that is already present on the packet as it is received from the network)) Examiner maintains same motivation to combine as indicated in Claim 23 above.
Regarding Claim 26, Nahlous/Devanagondi teaches The apparatus of claim 25, wherein Devanagondi further teaches the data packet protocol header includes at least one of an Ethernet header, a (Column 2 lines 54-57, discloses Since an Ethernet switch is being used as the switch fabric, the header interpreted by the switch fabric is an Ethernet header (i.e. switch fabric header) (i.e., this is in addition to the Ethernet Header (i.e. data packet protocol header) that is already present on the packet as it is received from the network)) Examiner maintains same motivation to combine as indicated in Claim 23 above.
Regarding Claim 27, Nahlous/Devanagondi teaches The apparatus of claim 23,
Devanagondi further teaches wherein the data packet header includes an indication that the payload includes the inter-card control message. (Figure 3A, illustrates standard ethernet frame format including a type (i.e. indication). Examiner notes that it is well known in the art that the type field within an Ethernet frame is indicative of the protocol encapsulated in the payload) Examiner maintains same motivation to combine as indicated in Claim 23 above.
Regarding Claim 29, Nahlous/Devanagondi teaches The apparatus of claim 23, wherein Nahlous further teaches the first card is a forwarding card. ([0064], discloses A forwarding module 90a residing on the first line card 20b)
Regarding Claim 30, Nahlous/Devanagondi teaches The apparatus of claim 29, wherein Nahlous further teaches the inter-card control message is generated by a packet processor of the forwarding card or a central processing unit of the forwarding card. ([0054], The egress processor 56 may encapsulate a message generated at the line card 20 for distribution. [0055], further discloses the line card 20 may include a Central Processing Unit (CPU) 70)
Regarding Claim 31, Nahlous/Devanagondi teaches The apparatus of claim 29, wherein Nahlous further teaches the second card is a second forwarding card or a control card. ([0066], discloses Another forwarding module 90b and/or switch infrastructure 48b at the second line card 20c)
Regarding Claim 33 and 44, Nahlous teaches An apparatus and method, comprising: ([0061], discloses a ring node 12d-2)
at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: ([0061], discloses a ring node 12d-2 may include a physical chassis with multiple slots. [0083]-[0086], discloses a processor for executing instructions of the computer to implement the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram blocks)
receive, by a card of a router via a switch fabric of the router, a data packet ([0063], further discloses forwarding a state message from a first line card to a second line card over a switch fabric 34)
Nahlous does not explicitly teach the data packet including a payload and a data packet header, wherein the payload includes an inter-card control message; and obtain, by the card from the data packet, the inter-card control message.
However, the aspect of encapsulating a message into a payload of an encapsulated message and the encapsulated message including a data packet header is well known in the art. For example, in a similar field of endeavor, Devanagondi discloses in Column 2 lines 20-36, discloses A chassis based system (i.e. router) comprises one or more Traffic Management Devices (TMDs) on a line card (i.e. first and second card of router), interconnected by a switch fabric. Column 2 lines 37-50, discloses When a network entity A such as a client device transmits a packet through the switching system to another network entity B, the packet first arrives at the TMD connecting A with the switch fabric, TMD.sub.A (i.e. first card). In order to make sure that the switch fabric transfers the packet to the proper destination, and the packet gets processed appropriately at the destination TMD, TMD.sub.A encapsulates the packet in two additional headers--one interpreted by the destination TMD--i.e., TMD.sub.B (i.e. second card) and one interpreted by the switch fabric. Examiner notes that the packet being encapsulated becomes the payload of the encapsulated packet. Column 2 lines 65-67 and Column 3 lines 1-2, further discloses When TMD.sub.B receives the Ethernet frame, it extracts the encapsulated packet out of the Ethernet frame (i.e., it will remove the Ethernet header attached to the packet only to get it across the switch fabric), perform any required processing indicated by the Forwarding Header)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Nahlous to include the above limitations as suggested by Devanagondi, In order to make sure that the switch fabric transfers the packet to the proper destination, and the packet gets processed appropriately at the destination TMD as indicated in Column 2 lines 45-47 of Devanagondi.
Regarding Claim 34, Nahlous/Devanagondi teaches The apparatus of claim 33, wherein Devanagondi further teaches the data packet header includes a switch fabric header. (Column 2 lines 54-57, discloses Since an Ethernet switch is being used as the switch fabric, the header interpreted by the switch fabric is an Ethernet header (i.e. switch fabric header) (i.e., this is in addition to the Ethernet Header that is already present on the packet as it is received from the network)) Examiner maintains same motivation to combine as indicated in Claim 33 above.
Regarding Claim 35, Nahlous/Devanagondi teaches The apparatus of claim 33, wherein Devanagondi further teaches the data packet header includes a data packet protocol header and a switch fabric header. (Column 2 lines 54-57, discloses Since an Ethernet switch is being used as the switch fabric, the header interpreted by the switch fabric is an Ethernet header (i.e. switch fabric header) (i.e., this is in addition to the Ethernet Header (i.e. data packet protocol header) that is already present on the packet as it is received from the network)) Examiner maintains same motivation to combine as indicated in Claim 33 above.
Regarding Claim 36, Nahlous/Devanagondi teaches The apparatus of claim 35, wherein Devanagondi further teaches the data packet protocol header includes at least one of an Ethernet header, a (Column 2 lines 54-57, discloses Since an Ethernet switch is being used as the switch fabric, the header interpreted by the switch fabric is an Ethernet header (i.e. switch fabric header) (i.e., this is in addition to the Ethernet Header (i.e. data packet protocol header) that is already present on the packet as it is received from the network)) Examiner maintains same motivation to combine as indicated in Claim 33 above.
Regarding Claim 37, Nahlous/Devanagondi teaches The apparatus of claim 33,
Devanagondi further teaches wherein the data packet header includes an indication that the payload includes the inter-card control message. (Figure 3A, illustrates standard ethernet frame format including a type (i.e. indication). Examiner notes that it is well known in the art that the type field within an Ethernet frame is indicative of the protocol encapsulated in the payload) Examiner maintains same motivation to combine as indicated in Claim 33 above.
Regarding Claim 39, Nahlous/Devanagondi teaches The apparatus of claim 37, wherein Devanagondi further teaches wherein the inter-card control message is obtained from the data packet based on the indication that the payload includes the inter-card control message. (Column 2 lines 65-67 and Column 3 lines 1-2, further discloses When TMD.sub.B receives the Ethernet frame, it extracts the encapsulated packet out of the Ethernet frame (i.e., it will remove the Ethernet header attached to the packet only to get it across the switch fabric), perform any required processing indicated by the Forwarding Header) Examiner maintains same motivation to combine as indicated in Claim 33 above.
Regarding Claim 40, Nahlous/Devanagondi teaches The apparatus of claim 33, wherein Nahlous further teaches the card is a forwarding card or a control card. ([0066], discloses Another forwarding module 90b and/or switch infrastructure 48b at the second line card 20c)
Regarding Claim 41, Nahlous/Devanagondi teaches The apparatus of claim 33, wherein Nahlous further teaches the card is a forwarding card, ([0066], discloses Another forwarding module 90b and/or switch infrastructure 48b at the second line card 20c)
wherein Nahlous further teaches the data packet is received by a packet processor of the forwarding card, ([0056], discloses ingress processor 54)
wherein Devanagondi further teaches the inter-card control message is obtained from the data packet by the packet processor of the forwarding card. (Column 2 lines 65-67 and Column 3 lines 1-2, further discloses When TMD.sub.B receives the Ethernet frame, it extracts the encapsulated packet out of the Ethernet frame (i.e., it will remove the Ethernet header attached to the packet only to get it across the switch fabric), perform any required processing indicated by the Forwarding Header) Examiner maintains same motivation to combine as indicated in Claim 33 above.
Regarding Claim 42, Nahlous/Devanagondi teaches The apparatus of claim 41, wherein Nahlous further teaches the inter-card control message is processed by the packet processor of the forwarding card. ([0053], The ingress processor 54 may inspect a message as it would data packets/frames and determine a destination MAC address of the message)
Regarding Claim 43, Nahlous/Devanagondi teaches The apparatus of claim 41, wherein Nahlous further teaches the inter-card control message is provided from the packet processor of the forwarding card toward a central processing unit of the forwarding card. ([0055], further discloses additionally, the line card 20 may include a Central Processing Unit (CPU) 70. [0022] A message may then be passed from a first virtual port of the first line card over a backplane of the ring node to a second virtual port of the second line card. The second ring-protection-protocol state machine on the second line card of the two line cards may then also be updated to the updated state in response to the message received at the second virtual port)
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 28 and 38 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.
Conclusion
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/JENKEY VAN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2477