DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1-14 are presented for examination.
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 with respect to claim(s) 1 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Applicant's arguments filed June 29, 2026 with respect to the motivation to combine Shah and Wong have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant argues there is no motivation to combine Shah and Wong. Examiner respectfully disagrees. Shaw teaches [0022] Route tracing results may provide IP addresses and Results that provide the IP address at each node are used to calculate node or link diversity. In the flowchart of Fig. 3, Shaw teaches [0024] The path information is used to determine the number of common nodes or links between one or more combinations of paths (step 32). If this determination is made solely based on common IP addresses, it will not include the case where nodes with different IP addresses are co-located for example in the same building, which one of ordinary skill would realize this method identifies a shared risk. If a catastrophic event occurs in a building it will take down all of the nodes and links co-located in the building. By introducing the geographic location information of Wong to determine the number of “common nodes”, a more precise determination of disjoint paths can be made. Wong teaches (Col. 2, lines 20-21) determining a geographic region corresponding to the router based on the IP address of the router. Thus, by defining nodes that share a common geographic region as “common nodes” when determining the number of common nodes in step 32 of the flowchart of Fig. 3 of Shah and using this information to calculate path diversity in step 34, two disjoint paths can be determined that do not have nodes that are common to a defined geographic region, producing more robust disjoint network paths.
Regarding the rejection of claim 7, claim 7 recites the same limitations as set forth in claim 1, the response to claim 1 is also applicable to claim 7, and thus please refer to the response to claim 1 above.
Regarding the dependent claims 2-6 and 8-14, Applicant has not made specific arguments pertaining to why the cited references do not teach the recited claims, other than their dependency to claim 1 or 7. Therefor for at least the reasons presented above for claim 1, the dependent claims are rejected.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
Claims 1-2 and 7-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shah (US 20090016331 A1) in view of van der Kluit (US 20170295088 A1); further in view of Wong (US 8243730 B1); further in view of Korotky (US 20050197993 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Shah teaches a method for establishing a communication through multiple distinct communication paths deployed over different network operators (Fig. 1, [0017] shows multiple distinct communication paths between an enterprise content provider and a consumer over several different service provider networks), comprising:
collecting location information of network nodes of several available distinct paths between a source node and a destination node ([0021] Various route tracing methods may be used to identify paths within the network, as is well known by those skilled in the art. In one embodiment, a tool such as traceroute is used to identify a path taken by traffic over a network. Traceroute is used to trace the route of a packet over each node from a source node to a destination node by reporting all router addresses therebetween using Internet Protocol (IP) packets.);
comparing the location information of the network nodes to identify possibly co- located network nodes ([0022] Results that provide the IP address at each node are used to calculate node or link diversity. (IP address is location information));
determining path segment lengths of consecutive path segments between the nodes of each path (Fig. 4, [0025] The maximum path length (MaxPathLength (Pi, Pj)) of the two paths is then identified);
Shah does not explicitly teach wherein the location information comprises geographic location information, and wherein collecting the location information of the network nodes includes collecting the location information using an application programmable interface (API) through Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS); selecting multiple paths that do not comprise intersecting path segments and or co-located network nodes and or co-sharing path segments; and establishing communication between the source node and the destination node over both selected paths; estimating whether path segments of the paths intersect based on locations of the network nodes and the path segment lengths.
van der Kluit in the same field of endeavor of communication networks, specifically searching for disjoint paths through the network, teaches selecting multiple paths that do not comprise one or more of intersecting path segments, co-located network nodes, or co-sharing path segments ([0055] If the node 10, 10b is the destination node of the session, the data processor 24 of the node 10, 10b selects a disjoint pair from the paths for which the node has stored information and transmits confirmation messages of the paths in the selected pair back to the destination node. [0006] Disjoint paths between the source node and the destination node are paths between the source node and the destination node that do not share any other nodes and hence also no links); and establishing communication between the source node and the destination node over both selected paths ([0055] The confirmation messages may be sent back along the paths of the selected disjoint pair of paths. [0091] Although embodiments have been described for establishing a session wherein messages are transmitted over one of the disjoint paths (primary) and the other, disjoint path is used as an alternative for transmitting messages in case there is a failure on the primary path, it should be appreciated that discovered disjoint paths can be used in other ways. [0092] For example, for increased, seamless robustness of a session in case of a node or link failure each message, or at least each of a sub-set of critical messages, can be transmitted over each disjoint path).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the method of using nodes in a communication network to search for disjoint paths through the network of van der Kluit with the route selection method of Shah. The motivation to do so would have been to minimize or at least reduce the number of messages that will be forwarded between nodes throughout the network without compromising the ability of finding optimal disjoint paths (van der Kluit; [0007]).
Van der Kluit does not teach wherein the location information comprises geographic location information, and wherein collecting the location information of the network nodes includes collecting the location information using an application programmable interface (API) through Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS); estimating whether path segments of the paths intersect based on locations of the network nodes and the path segment lengths.
Wong in the same field of endeavor of geographically localizing mobile communication devices using Internet Protocol (IP) address information teaches wherein the location information comprises geographic location information (Col. 2, lines 19-21; The method also includes determining a geographic region corresponding to the router based on the IP address of the router. Col. 2, lines 66-67 and Col. 3, lines 1-6; Obtaining the geographic boundaries for the one or more intermediate nodes can include identifying an overlapped region from a plurality of circles having radii derived from the distance constraints. Obtaining the geographic boundaries for the one or more intermediate nodes can further include narrowing the overlapped region by obtaining network delay values between one or more wired landmarks and the one or more intermediate nodes.), and wherein collecting the location information of the network nodes includes collecting the location information using an application programmable interface (API) through Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) (Col. 2, lines 25-32; A further general aspect of the subject matter described in this specification can be embodied in a system for providing location estimates of network devices that includes a wireless landmark locator to receive location information from a wireless landmark and identify a location for the landmark. The system also includes means for determining location information of one or more intermediate network nodes using the location for the landmark. the geographic location of the wireless landmark can be obtained precisely (e.g., using GPS). Col. 8, lines 1-51; FIG. 3B shows a conceptual diagram of a system 310 for locating devices in a relatively opaque network. Again, system 310 is shown as a number of nodes in a network connecting an investigatory system 312 to a plurality of wireless devices W1, W2, W3. The investigatory system 312 is shown as a standard computer, but can take the form of any appropriate computing system that seeks to determine the locations of nodes in the network. Such determination can include locating wireless devices W1, W2, W3, or locating other nodes in the network such as last-hop routers LH1-LH4, gateways G1-G2, or other intermediate nodes 11-15 between the wireless devices W1, W2, W3 and the investigatory system 312. In general, system 310 can operate by establishing locations of one or more of wireless devices W1, W2, W3, in the network such as in a private network 318 that is separated (312) by gateways G1-G2 from a public network 320, such as the Internet. The wireless devices W1, W2, W3 can report their locations to the investigatory system 312, and the investigatory system 312 can then communicate with the wireless devices W1, W2, W3 to estimate locations of last-hop routers LH1, LH3, LH4 serving wireless devices W1, W2, W3. With the locations of these last-hop routers estimated, the system 310 can then attempt to estimate the locations of other nodes in the network. Wireless device W1 can be, for example, GPS-enabled so as to communicate with signals from satellite 316 to generate a location identifier that can be sent in a message to investigatory system 312. Fig. 7; Col. 14, lines 62-67; In addition, GPS receiver module 770 may provide additional wireless data to device 750, which may be used as appropriate by applications running on device 750.).
Wong also teaches comparing the geographic location information of the network nodes (The method also includes communicating with the wireless landmark to estimate the location of a first node in the mobile communication network proximate to the wireless landmark. Fig. 3B; Col. 8, lines 59-67; With the locations of one or more last-hop routers estimated, the process can then use such estimated locations to estimate the locations of related intermediate nodes I1-I6. For example, Arrow C shows a communication with last-hop router LH4, which can be used to estimate the location of intermediate nodes I4 and I6, and also gateway G1. In particular, the time of transmission between last-hop router LH4 and intermediate router I4 (or between intermediate router I6 and intermediate router I4) can provide a circle within which intermediate router I4 is likely to be located. A further communication indicated by Arrow B can provide a further constraint on the location of intermediate router I4, based on its time of transmission with last-hop router LH3. Further transmission can also be used to provide additional constraints on the location of intermediate router I4. Similar communications can occur to provide constraints on the possible locations for other nodes in the network, such as shown by Arrow E, with respect to intermediate node I2 and other nodes in the path of the communication. Col. 7, lines 38-48; Two paths that enter the same gateway subsequently typically traverse the same sequence of hops until they reach the target device. Col. 11, lines 26-29; As discussed earlier, having location estimates for the routers (hence the network topology of the carrier network) improves the localization process because errors due to "shared paths" can be minimized.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the method of geographically localizing mobile communication devices of Wong with the route selection method of Shah and the methods of searching for disjoint paths of van der Kluit. The motivation to do so would have been to estimate the network topology of a relatively opaque wireless carrier network, even when a wireless carrier only has a few gateway routers from the Internet to its carrier network. Additionally, to implement geographic localization at the application layer or in networks where there is only control over the end points (e.g., networks like Akamai, peer-to-peer networks like Skype, or anonymizing networks like Tor). (Wong; [Col. 3, lines 36-59).
Wong does not teach estimating whether path segments of the paths intersect based on locations of the network nodes and the path segment lengths.
Korotky in the same field of endeavor of wireless communications teaches estimating whether path segments of the paths intersect based on locations of the network nodes and the path segment lengths ([0258] To assist in visualizing the concepts discussed here, FIG. 2 illustrates a long-distance fiber-optic network of N=100 nodes and L=177 links. This view may be interpreted as a single-tier architecture of the network. FIG. 10 illustrates the same network of FIG. 2 where the nodes have been organized (divided) into a two-tier architecture with N.sub.C=25 core nodes and N.sub.S=75 satellite nodes. The core nodes are represented by the larger filled dots, whereas the satellite nodes are represented by the smaller filled dots. Each tier of the two-tier networks has an associated set of links, which may overlap spatially, i.e. share a common location, for example a right-of-way or conduit. In the particular example shown in FIG. 10, there are L.sub.R=177 regional links connecting the satellite and core nodes, which is identical to the number of links in the single-tier architecture of FIG. 2. Additionally there are L.sub.B=44 backbone links directly interconnecting the core nodes, which overlay the regional links. Further details of the network and tiers are described below in the following sections. [0260] Next the network of core and satellite nodes is organized into a collection of regions--each region including a core node, which will serve as a backbone node, and a set of satellite nodes. In effect, each core node serves as a hub for the regional network it defines and also as a node of the backbone network. Each satellite node has a connection to one or more core nodes, and consequently each satellite node is a member of one or more regional networks. [0324] Next attention is turned to the architectures of the regional and backbone tiers of the network, which are constructed using the satellite and core nodes and the links of the network. There are myriad possibilities. For specificity the two-tier network is considered as an overlay of two parallel networks in which the collection of regional networks has the same topology of nodes and links as the single-tier network and the backbone network is superimposed on top of the collection of regional networks. [0333] To close this section, the mean values of the physical lengths of the links of the regional and core networks are determined. Taking into consideration the overlay interpretation introduced above, the mean length of a link of the regional networks s.sub.R is identical to the mean length of a link of the single-tier network. If the details of the geography of the network links are provided, then the mean values of the link lengths are calculated directly from the set of link lengths.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include the Network Global Expectation Model of Korotky in the route selection method of Shah and the methods of searching for disjoint paths of van der Kluit and Wong. The motivation to do so would have been to provide a model for estimating the network requirements and costs of communication networks using analytic formulae including expectation values measured over the entire network, and to gain insight and quickly provide approximate results for preliminary network evaluation and design, element feature requirements, costs, sensitivity analyses, scaling performance, comparisons, product definition and application domains, and product and technology road-mapping.. (Korotky; [0008-0009).
Regarding claim 2, Shah teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein the collecting of location information of network nodes comprises querying respective nodes for location information ([0021] Various route tracing methods may be used to identify paths within the network, as is well known by those skilled in the art. In one embodiment, a tool such as traceroute is used to identify a path taken by traffic over a network. Traceroute is used to trace the route of a packet over each node from a source node to a destination node by reporting all router addresses therebetween using Internet Protocol (IP) packets. In this sense, traceroute can be used to “query” the nodes for location information (IP address)).
Shah does not teach collecting the location information via the API.
Wong in the same field of endeavor of geographically localizing mobile communication devices using Internet Protocol (IP) address information teaches collecting the location information via the API (Col. 14, lines 64-67; In addition, GPS receiver module 770 may provide additional wireless data to device 750, which may be used as appropriate by applications running on device 750. One of ordinary skill in the art knows APIs are involved in the application layer obtaining GPS information from the OS layer. Col. 9, lines 62-64; Additionally, the geographic location of the wireless landmark can be obtained precisely (e.g., using GPS). Col. 7, lines 48-51; Wireless device W1 can be, for example, GPS-enabled so as to communicate with signals from satellite 316 to generate a location identifier that can be sent in a message to investigatory system 312.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the method of geographically localizing mobile communication devices of Wong with the route selection method of Shah and the methods of searching for disjoint paths of van der Kluit. The motivation to do so would have been to estimate the network topology of a relatively opaque wireless carrier network, even when a wireless carrier only has a few gateway routers from the Internet to its carrier network. Additionally, to implement geographic localization at the application layer or in networks where there is only control over the end points (e.g., networks like Akamai, peer-to-peer networks like Skype, or anonymizing networks like Tor). (Wong; [Col. 3, lines 36-59).
Regarding claim 7, Shah teaches a system for establishing communication through multiple distinct communication paths deployed over different network operators, comprising a start node and a destination node (Fig. 1, [0017] shows multiple distinct communication paths between an enterprise content provider and a consumer over several different service provider networks),
wherein each of the start node (Fig. 1 BR1) and the destination node (Fig. 1 CR1) comprises at least one communication device configured for establishing communication between the start node and the destination node over multiple paths ([0017] In the example of FIG. 1, traffic is carried between the enterprise network 10 and the customer access network 12 over six service providers (SP) networks SP A, SP B, SP C, SP D, SP E, SP F) ,
wherein each of the start node and the destination node comprises a control unit (The network device may include, for example, a master central processing unit (CPU)),
wherein at least one of the control units is configured to:
collect location information of network nodes of several available distinct paths between the start node and the destination node ([0021] Various route tracing methods may be used to identify paths within the network, as is well known by those skilled in the art. In one embodiment, a tool such as traceroute is used to identify a path taken by traffic over a network. Traceroute is used to trace the route of a packet over each node from a source node to a destination node by reporting all router addresses therebetween using Internet Protocol (IP) packets);
compare the location information of the network nodes to identify possibly co- located network nodes ([0022] Results that provide the IP address at each node are used to calculate node or link diversity. (IP address is location information));
determine path segment lengths of consecutive path segments between the nodes of each path (Fig. 4, [0025] The maximum path length (MaxPathLength (Pi, Pj)) of the two paths is then identified);
Shah does not explicitly teach wherein the location information comprises geographic location information, and wherein collecting the location information of the network nodes includes collecting the location information using an application programmable interface (API) through Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS); selecting multiple paths, through which the communication is to be established, that do not comprise intersecting path segments and or co-located network nodes and or co-sharing path segments; estimating whether path segments of the paths intersect based on locations of the network nodes and the path segment lengths.
van der Kluit in the same field of endeavor of communication networks, specifically searching for disjoint paths through the network, teaches select multiple paths, through which the communication is to be established, that do not comprise one or more of intersecting path segments, co-located network nodes, or co-sharing path segments ([0055] If the node 10, 10b is the destination node of the session, the data processor 24 of the node 10, 10b selects a disjoint pair from the paths for which the node has stored information and transmits confirmation messages of the paths in the selected pair back to the destination node. [0006] Disjoint paths between the source node and the destination node are paths between the source node and the destination node that do not share any other nodes and hence also no links).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the method of using nodes in a communication network to search for disjoint paths through the network of van der Kluit with the route selection method of Shah. The motivation to do so would have been to minimize or at least reduce the number of messages that will be forwarded between nodes throughout the network without compromising the ability of finding optimal disjoint paths (van der Kluit; [0007]).
Van der Kluit does not teach wherein the location information comprises geographic location information, and wherein collecting the location information of the network nodes includes collecting the location information using an application programmable interface (API) through Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS); estimating whether path segments of the paths intersect based on locations of the network nodes and the path segment lengths.
Wong in the same field of endeavor of geographically localizing mobile communication devices using Internet Protocol (IP) address information teaches wherein the location information comprises geographic location information (Col. 2, lines 19-21; The method also includes determining a geographic region corresponding to the router based on the IP address of the router. Col. 2, lines 66-67 and Col. 3, lines 1-6; Obtaining the geographic boundaries for the one or more intermediate nodes can include identifying an overlapped region from a plurality of circles having radii derived from the distance constraints. Obtaining the geographic boundaries for the one or more intermediate nodes can further include narrowing the overlapped region by obtaining network delay values between one or more wired landmarks and the one or more intermediate nodes.), and wherein collecting the location information of the network nodes includes collecting the location information using an application programmable interface (API) through Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) (Col. 2, lines 25-32; A further general aspect of the subject matter described in this specification can be embodied in a system for providing location estimates of network devices that includes a wireless landmark locator to receive location information from a wireless landmark and identify a location for the landmark. The system also includes means for determining location information of one or more intermediate network nodes using the location for the landmark. the geographic location of the wireless landmark can be obtained precisely (e.g., using GPS). Col. 8, lines 1-51; FIG. 3B shows a conceptual diagram of a system 310 for locating devices in a relatively opaque network. Again, system 310 is shown as a number of nodes in a network connecting an investigatory system 312 to a plurality of wireless devices W1, W2, W3. The investigatory system 312 is shown as a standard computer, but can take the form of any appropriate computing system that seeks to determine the locations of nodes in the network. Such determination can include locating wireless devices W1, W2, W3, or locating other nodes in the network such as last-hop routers LH1-LH4, gateways G1-G2, or other intermediate nodes 11-15 between the wireless devices W1, W2, W3 and the investigatory system 312. In general, system 310 can operate by establishing locations of one or more of wireless devices W1, W2, W3, in the network such as in a private network 318 that is separated (312) by gateways G1-G2 from a public network 320, such as the Internet. The wireless devices W1, W2, W3 can report their locations to the investigatory system 312, and the investigatory system 312 can then communicate with the wireless devices W1, W2, W3 to estimate locations of last-hop routers LH1, LH3, LH4 serving wireless devices W1, W2, W3. With the locations of these last-hop routers estimated, the system 310 can then attempt to estimate the locations of other nodes in the network. Wireless device W1 can be, for example, GPS-enabled so as to communicate with signals from satellite 316 to generate a location identifier that can be sent in a message to investigatory system 312. Fig. 7; Col. 14, lines 62-67; In addition, GPS receiver module 770 may provide additional wireless data to device 750, which may be used as appropriate by applications running on device 750.).
Wong also teaches comparing the geographic location information of the network nodes (The method also includes communicating with the wireless landmark to estimate the location of a first node in the mobile communication network proximate to the wireless landmark. Fig. 3B; Col. 8, lines 59-67; With the locations of one or more last-hop routers estimated, the process can then use such estimated locations to estimate the locations of related intermediate nodes I1-I6. For example, Arrow C shows a communication with last-hop router LH4, which can be used to estimate the location of intermediate nodes I4 and I6, and also gateway G1. In particular, the time of transmission between last-hop router LH4 and intermediate router I4 (or between intermediate router I6 and intermediate router I4) can provide a circle within which intermediate router I4 is likely to be located. A further communication indicated by Arrow B can provide a further constraint on the location of intermediate router I4, based on its time of transmission with last-hop router LH3. Further transmission can also be used to provide additional constraints on the location of intermediate router I4. Similar communications can occur to provide constraints on the possible locations for other nodes in the network, such as shown by Arrow E, with respect to intermediate node I2 and other nodes in the path of the communication. Col. 7, lines 38-48; Two paths that enter the same gateway subsequently typically traverse the same sequence of hops until they reach the target device. Col. 11, lines 26-29; As discussed earlier, having location estimates for the routers (hence the network topology of the carrier network) improves the localization process because errors due to "shared paths" can be minimized.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the method of geographically localizing mobile communication devices of Wong with the route selection method of Shah and the methods of searching for disjoint paths of van der Kluit. The motivation to do so would have been to estimate the network topology of a relatively opaque wireless carrier network, even when a wireless carrier only has a few gateway routers from the Internet to its carrier network. Additionally, to implement geographic localization at the application layer or in networks where there is only control over the end points (e.g., networks like Akamai, peer-to-peer networks like Skype, or anonymizing networks like Tor). (Wong; [Col. 3, lines 36-59).
Wong does not teach estimating whether path segments of the paths intersect based on locations of the network nodes and the path segment lengths.
Korotky in the same field of endeavor of wireless communications teaches estimating whether path segments of the paths intersect based on locations of the network nodes and the path segment lengths ([0258] To assist in visualizing the concepts discussed here, FIG. 2 illustrates a long-distance fiber-optic network of N=100 nodes and L=177 links. This view may be interpreted as a single-tier architecture of the network. FIG. 10 illustrates the same network of FIG. 2 where the nodes have been organized (divided) into a two-tier architecture with N.sub.C=25 core nodes and N.sub.S=75 satellite nodes. The core nodes are represented by the larger filled dots, whereas the satellite nodes are represented by the smaller filled dots. Each tier of the two-tier networks has an associated set of links, which may overlap spatially, i.e. share a common location, for example a right-of-way or conduit. In the particular example shown in FIG. 10, there are L.sub.R=177 regional links connecting the satellite and core nodes, which is identical to the number of links in the single-tier architecture of FIG. 2. Additionally there are L.sub.B=44 backbone links directly interconnecting the core nodes, which overlay the regional links. Further details of the network and tiers are described below in the following sections. [0260] Next the network of core and satellite nodes is organized into a collection of regions--each region including a core node, which will serve as a backbone node, and a set of satellite nodes. In effect, each core node serves as a hub for the regional network it defines and also as a node of the backbone network. Each satellite node has a connection to one or more core nodes, and consequently each satellite node is a member of one or more regional networks. [0324] Next attention is turned to the architectures of the regional and backbone tiers of the network, which are constructed using the satellite and core nodes and the links of the network. There are myriad possibilities. For specificity the two-tier network is considered as an overlay of two parallel networks in which the collection of regional networks has the same topology of nodes and links as the single-tier network and the backbone network is superimposed on top of the collection of regional networks. [0333] To close this section, the mean values of the physical lengths of the links of the regional and core networks are determined. Taking into consideration the overlay interpretation introduced above, the mean length of a link of the regional networks s.sub.R is identical to the mean length of a link of the single-tier network. If the details of the geography of the network links are provided, then the mean values of the link lengths are calculated directly from the set of link lengths.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include the Network Global Expectation Model of Korotky in the route selection method of Shah and the methods of searching for disjoint paths of van der Kluit and Wong. The motivation to do so would have been to provide a model for estimating the network requirements and costs of communication networks using analytic formulae including expectation values measured over the entire network, and to gain insight and quickly provide approximate results for preliminary network evaluation and design, element feature requirements, costs, sensitivity analyses, scaling performance, comparisons, product definition and application domains, and product and technology road-mapping.. (Korotky; [0008-0009).
Regarding claim 8, Shah teaches the system according to claim 7, wherein the collecting of location information of network nodes comprises querying respective nodes for location information through the at least one control unit ([0021] Various route tracing methods may be used to identify paths within the network, as is well known by those skilled in the art. In one embodiment, a tool such as traceroute is used to identify a path taken by traffic over a network. Traceroute is used to trace the route of a packet over each node from a source node to a destination node by reporting all router addresses therebetween using Internet Protocol (IP) packets. In this sense, traceroute can be used to “query” the nodes for location information (IP address)).
Shah does not teach collecting the location information via the API.
Wong in the same field of endeavor of geographically localizing mobile communication devices using Internet Protocol (IP) address information teaches collecting the location information via the API (Col. 14, lines 64-67; In addition, GPS receiver module 770 may provide additional wireless data to device 750, which may be used as appropriate by applications running on device 750. One of ordinary skill in the art knows APIs are involved in the application layer obtaining GPS information from the OS layer. Col. 9, lines 62-64; Additionally, the geographic location of the wireless landmark can be obtained precisely (e.g., using GPS). Col. 7, lines 48-51; Wireless device W1 can be, for example, GPS-enabled so as to communicate with signals from satellite 316 to generate a location identifier that can be sent in a message to investigatory system 312.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the method of geographically localizing mobile communication devices of Wong with the route selection method of Shah and the methods of searching for disjoint paths of van der Kluit. The motivation to do so would have been to estimate the network topology of a relatively opaque wireless carrier network, even when a wireless carrier only has a few gateway routers from the Internet to its carrier network. Additionally, to implement geographic localization at the application layer or in networks where there is only control over the end points (e.g., networks like Akamai, peer-to-peer networks like Skype, or anonymizing networks like Tor). (Wong; [Col. 3, lines 36-59).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Claims 3, 4, 9, 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shah (US 20090016331 A1) and van der Kluit (US 20170295088 A1) and Wong (US 8243730 B1) and Korotky (US 20050197993 A1).; further in view of Seth (US 20170353940 A1).
Regarding claim 3, Shah, van der Kluit, Wong and Korotky teach the method according to claim 1 but do not teach wherein the determining of path segment lengths comprises measuring a transmission delay along a respective path segment.
Seth, in the same field of endeavor of wireless communications teaches wherein the determining of path segment lengths comprises measuring a transmission delay along a respective path segment ([0050] FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of a time of flight measurement system in accordance with one embodiment. A receiving device (e.g., device 320) receives the transmission from the transmitting device (e.g., device 310) and processes the RF signal 412 to generate at least one coarse estimation 442 using a coarse resolution estimator 440 and at least one fine estimation 452 of the propagation delay between the two devices over the air using a fine resolution estimator 450. The system 400 then utilizes a combiner 460 to combine the coarse time estimation 442 and the fine time estimation 452 to generate an accurate time-of-flight measurement 470. This time-of-flight measurement 470 can then be multiplied by the speed of light to calculate the distance, as shown in FIG. 4.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the systems and methods for determining locations of wireless nodes in a network architecture of Seth with the methods of searching for disjoint paths and route selection in a network of Shah, van der Kluit, Wong and Korotky to measure a transmission delay along a respective path segment. The motivation to do so would have been to exploit the fact that the speed of signal propagation is relatively constant (Seth; [0039]).
Regarding claim 4, Shah, van der Kluit, Wong and Korotky teach the method according to claim 1 but do not teach the method according to claim 1, wherein the determining of path segment lengths comprises calculating a distance between consecutive nodes of respective path segments.
Seth, in the same field of endeavor of wireless communications teaches wherein the determining of path segment lengths comprises calculating a distance between consecutive nodes of respective path segments ([0050] FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of a time of flight measurement system in accordance with one embodiment. A receiving device (e.g., device 320) receives the transmission from the transmitting device (e.g., device 310) and processes the RF signal 412 to generate at least one coarse estimation 442 using a coarse resolution estimator 440 and at least one fine estimation 452 of the propagation delay between the two devices over the air using a fine resolution estimator 450. The system 400 then utilizes a combiner 460 to combine the coarse time estimation 442 and the fine time estimation 452 to generate an accurate time-of-flight measurement 470. This time-of-flight measurement 470 can then be multiplied by the speed of light to calculate the distance, as shown in FIG. 4.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the systems and methods for determining locations of wireless nodes in a network architecture of Seth with the methods of searching for disjoint paths and route selection in a network of Shah, van der Kluit, Wong and Korotky to calculate a distance between consecutive nodes of respective path segments. The motivation to do so would have been to exploit the fact that the speed of signal propagation is relatively constant (Seth; [0039]).
Regarding claim 9, Shah, van der Kluit, Wong and Korotky teach the system according to claim 7, but do not teach wherein the determining of path segment lengths comprises measuring a transmission delay along a respective path segment through the at least one control unit.
Seth, in the same field of endeavor of wireless communications teaches wherein the determining of path segment lengths comprises measuring a transmission delay along a respective path segment through the at least one control unit ([0050] FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of a time of flight measurement system in accordance with one embodiment. A receiving device (e.g., device 320) receives the transmission from the transmitting device (e.g., device 310) and processes the RF signal 412 to generate at least one coarse estimation 442 using a coarse resolution estimator 440 and at least one fine estimation 452 of the propagation delay between the two devices over the air using a fine resolution estimator 450. The system 400 then utilizes a combiner 460 to combine the coarse time estimation 442 and the fine time estimation 452 to generate an accurate time-of-flight measurement 470. This time-of-flight measurement 470 can then be multiplied by the speed of light to calculate the distance, as shown in FIG. 4.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the systems and methods for determining locations of wireless nodes in a network architecture of Seth with the methods of searching for disjoint paths and route selection in a network of Shah, van der Kluit, Wong and Korotky to measure a transmission delay along a respective path segment. The motivation to do so would have been to exploit the fact that the speed of signal propagation is relatively constant (Seth; [0039]).
Regarding claim 10, Shah, van der Kluit, Wong and Korotky teach the system according to claim 7, but do not teach wherein the determining of path segment lengths comprises calculating a distance between consecutive nodes of the respective path segments through the at least one control unit.
Seth, in the same field of endeavor of wireless communications teaches wherein the determining of path segment lengths comprises calculating a distance between consecutive nodes of respective path segments through the at least one control unit ([0050] FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of a time of flight measurement system in accordance with one embodiment. A receiving device (e.g., device 320) receives the transmission from the transmitting device (e.g., device 310) and processes the RF signal 412 to generate at least one coarse estimation 442 using a coarse resolution estimator 440 and at least one fine estimation 452 of the propagation delay between the two devices over the air using a fine resolution estimator 450. The system 400 then utilizes a combiner 460 to combine the coarse time estimation 442 and the fine time estimation 452 to generate an accurate time-of-flight measurement 470. This time-of-flight measurement 470 can then be multiplied by the speed of light to calculate the distance, as shown in FIG. 4.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the systems and methods for determining locations of wireless nodes in a network architecture of Seth with the methods of searching for disjoint paths and route selection in a network of Shah, van der Kluit, Wong and Korotky to calculate a distance between consecutive nodes of respective path segments. The motivation to do so would have been to exploit the fact that the speed of signal propagation is relatively constant (Seth; [0039]).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Claims 6, 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shah (US 20090016331 A1) and van der Kluit (US 20170295088 A1) and Wong (US 8243730 B1) and Korotky (US 20050197993 A1); further in view of Cidon (US 20210067468 A1).
Regarding claim 6, Shah, van der Kluit, Wong and Korotky teach the method according to claim 1 but do not teach wherein the selecting of multiple paths additionally comprises determining a total path length and or expected signal attenuation and or signal latency as a cost factor for each available path and minimizing the cost factor when selecting the multiple paths.
Cidon in the same field of endeavor of communication networks, teaches wherein the selecting of multiple paths additionally comprises determining a total path length and or expected signal attenuation and or signal latency as a cost factor for each available path and minimizing the cost factor when selecting the multiple paths ([0114] As shown, the path-identifying layer initially defines (at 505) the routing graph to be identical to the measurement graph (i.e., to have the same links between the same pairs of managed forwarding nodes). At 510, the process removes bad links from the measurement graph 300. [0115] Next, at 515, the process 500 computes a link weight score (cost score) as a weighted combination of several computed and provider-specific values. In some embodiments, the weight score is a weighted combination of the link's (1) computed delay value (signal latency), (2) computed loss value, (3) provider network-connection cost, and (4) provider compute cost. [0120] Next, at 525, the process 500 compute the lowest cost paths (e.g., shortest paths, etc.) between each MFN and each other MFN that can serve as a virtual network egress location for a data message flow of the corporate entity.).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the methods of path identification of Cidon with the methods of searching for disjoint paths and route selection in a network of Shah, van der Kluit, Wong and Korotky. The motivation to do so would have been to custom configure path search operations to optimize a set of specific criteria, such as delay or path loss (Cidon, [0017]).
Regarding claim 12, Shah, van der Kluit, Wong and Korotky teach the system according to claim 7 but do not teach wherein the selecting of multiple paths additionally comprises determining a total path length and or expected signal attenuation and or signal latency as a cost factor for each available path and minimizing the cost factor when selecting the multiple paths.
Cidon in the same field of endeavor of communication networks, teaches wherein the selecting of multiple paths additionally comprises determining a total path length and or expected signal attenuation and or signal latency as a cost factor for each available path and minimizing the cost factor when selecting the multiple paths ([0114] As shown, the path-identifying layer initially defines (at 505) the routing graph to be identical to the measurement graph (i.e., to have the same links between the same pairs of managed forwarding nodes). At 510, the process removes bad links from the measurement graph 300. [0115] Next, at 515, the process 500 computes a link weight score (cost score) as a weighted combination of several computed and provider-specific values. In some embodiments, the weight score is a weighted combination of the link's (1) computed delay value (signal latency), (2) computed loss value, (3) provider network-connection cost, and (4) provider compute cost. [0120] Next, at 525, the process 500 compute the lowest cost paths (e.g., shortest paths, etc.) between each MFN and each other MFN that can serve as a virtual network egress location for a data message flow of the corporate entity.).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the methods of path identification of Cidon with the methods of searching for disjoint paths and route selection in a network of Shah, van der Kluit, Wong and Korotky. The motivation to do so would have been to custom configure path search operations to optimize a set of specific criteria, such as delay or path loss (Cidon, [0017]).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Claims 13, 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shah (US 20090016331 A1) and van der Kluit (US 20170295088 A1) and Wong (US 8243730 B1) and Korotky (US 20050197993 A1); further in view of Eskridge (US 20220209847 A1).
Regarding claim 13, Shah, van der Kluit, Wong and Korotky teach the system according to claim 7, but do not teach a vehicle system comprising at least one vehicle, and at least one communication station, wherein the start node is arranged in one of the vehicle and the communication station, and wherein the destination node is arranged another of the vehicle and the communication station.
Eskridge, in the same field of endeavor of wireless communications, teaches a vehicle system comprising at least one vehicle (Fig. 2, the airplane 150), at least one communication station (Fig. 2, 1st and 2nd terrestrial access points 202 and 204) and at least one system according to claim 7 (the system of claim 7 can be part of the terrestrial network 200 and/or the internet 115 of figure 2), wherein the start node is arranged in one of the vehicle (Fig. 2, UR 190) and the communication station, and wherein the destination node is arranged another of the vehicle and the communication station (Fig. 2, 2nd terrestrial AP 204).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the unified radio system of Eskridge with the methods of searching for disjoint paths and route selection in a network of Shah, van der Kluit, Wong and Korotky. The motivation to do so would have been to provide a system in which coverage provided by terrestrial networks, satellite networks, air-to-ground (ATG) networks, air-to-air (ATA or V2V), and any other applicable networks can not only coexist in the same geographical area, but can be leveraged to ensure reliable, optimized and continuous communications regardless of location and elevation (Eskridge, [0007]).
Regarding claim 14, Shah, van der Kluit, Wong and Korotky teach the system according to claim 7, but do not teach the vehicle system according to claim 13, wherein the vehicle is an aircraft, and wherein the communication station is a ground station.
Eskridge, in the same field of endeavor of wireless communications, teaches the vehicle system according to claim 13, wherein the vehicle is an aircraft (Fig. 2, the airplane 150), and wherein the communication station is a ground station (Fig. 2, 2nd terrestrial AP 204).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the unified radio system of Eskridge with the methods of searching for disjoint paths and route selection in a network of Shah, van der Kluit, Wong and Korotky. The motivation to do so would have been to provide a system in which coverage provided by terrestrial networks, satellite networks, air-to-ground (ATG) networks, air-to-air (ATA or V2V), and any other applicable networks can not only coexist in the same geographical area, but can be leveraged to ensure reliable, optimized and continuous communications regardless of location and elevation (Eskridge, [0007]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5 and 11 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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/NANCY SIXTO/Examiner, Art Unit 2465
/GARY MUI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2465
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