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
This action is in response to application filed on 3/30/2026.
Claims 1-7 & 21-33 filed on 11/10/2025 have been examined and are pending with this action.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed in the amendment filed 3/30/2026, have been fully considered and are moot based on new grounds of rejection. The reasons set forth below.
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 of this title, 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, 4, 7, 9-12, 14-17 and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable of Zaicenko et al (US Pub # 20220329457 A1 ) in view of GUO (CN 202111669160 A) and in further view of Nacham et al (CN 103368808 A).
INDEPENDENT CLAIMS:
As per claim 1, Zaicenko discloses an on-premises edge compute (Zaicenko : “Fig 1, Ref 100 & Fig 2, ref 204 & fig 5, Ref 500 “edge device” “), and networking server comprising: configured to instantiate a network gateway virtual machine (Zaicenko : [0032]: “The edge device 100 may further include a hypervisor 106 configured to implement one or more virtual machines (e.g., virtual machines 108A, 108B, 108C, to 108N, collectively referred to as “virtual machine(s) 108” or “VMs 108”).; and
the on-premises edge compute and networking server (Zaicenko : [0037]: “The network interface card 214 may be used to connect the edge device 204 to the computing device 202 via a local area network (e.g., the LAN 216). The API calls received by the NIC 214 may be transmitted to an exposed endpoint that may implement a Web server (e.g., endpoint 218).”), comprising:
a plurality of physical ports configured to physically connect server (Zaicenko : [0037]: “The edge device 100 may include any suitable number of central processing units (CPUs, one or more ports (e.g., QSFP28, RJ45, dual ports, etc.).”), to a layer two communications network, wherein the layer two communications network only comprises layer two equipment and one of a modem or internet access equipment (Zaicenko : [0024]: “fig. 2, ref. 216, "Local Area Network"; fig. 5, ref. NIC2 and NIC4; par., & [0037 & 0054] "the edge computing device is properly connected to a customer computing device (e.g., via a local area network"; & [0067] "The edge device 500 may be communicatively connected to a user device (e.g., the computing device 202 of FIG. 2) via one or more network interfaces (e.g., NIC2 and/or NIC 4)" & [0093] “each VNIC can have a media access control (MAC) address for layer 2 identification when transmitting data frames”); and
Zaicenko does not explicitly teacher layer 3 switch functionality.
Guo however discloses virtual machine having layer three switching functionality (Guo: “when the virtual machine in different network segments are mutually exchanged, the virtual switch inquires the IP address (2.2.2.21) and (2.2.3.21) of the target virtual machine through the L3 exchange table item, and corresponding tunnel ports (1) and (3), through the tunnel transmission message, using the IP address to send the message to the corresponding virtual machine”);
wherein: the layer two communications network is deployed absent a layer three switch and the network gateway virtual machine has layer three switching functionality (Guo: “the service provided by the user in the public cloud scene is no longer deployed in the physical server, but is deployed in the virtual machine (virtual machine running in the physical server), realizing the function address table entry in the physical switch by the two-layer table item, realizing the function table entry in the physical switch by three-layer table item.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Zaicenko view of Guo to figure out layer 3 switch functionality. One would be motivated to do so because this technique advantageously aids in to improve the performance of the virtual switch (Guo).
Modified Zaicenko does not explicitly teaches VLANs with multiple VMs.
Nacham however discloses wherein the network gateway virtual machine comprises a plurality of virtual network interfaces configured to forward packets to enable communication between different virtual local area networks (VLANs) (Nacham [0009]: “ inserting the data packet will be transmitted from the first virtual machine to the second virtual machine of the virtual machine corresponding to the second position information, and the entrance edge router bridge (bridge) to transmit the data packets. the position information comprises output device name and at least one virtual local area network (VLAN) tag,.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of modified Zaicenko in view of Nacham to figure out VLANs with multiple VMs. One would be motivated to do so because this technique advantageously aids in to improve transmitting data packets on a multilink transparent internet (TRILL) compatible network (Nacham).
As per claim 30, Zaicenko discloses a system (Zaicenko : [0032]: “The edge device 100 may further include a hypervisor 106 configured to implement one or more virtual machines”) comprising:
an on-premises edge compute and networking server comprising a processor and memory, the memory storing thereon computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the system to perform operations (Zaicenko : [0009]: “a cloud-computing edge device configured with one or more processors and one or more memories”) comprising:
wherein the on-premises edge compute and networking server is coupled to a plurality of physical ports (Zaicenko : [0037]: “The edge device 100 may include any suitable number of central processing units (CPUs, one or more ports (e.g., QSFP28, RJ45, dual ports, etc.).”), physically connected to a layer two communications network (Zaicenko : [0047 & 0093]: “In some embodiments, VNIC(s) 506 are attached to subnets of any suitable number of virtual networks (e.g., private virtual network(s) (PVN(s))) 505 and are assigned private Internet Protocol (IP) addresses & each VNIC can have a media access control (MAC) address for layer 2 identification when transmitting data frames”); wherein:
the layer two communications network only comprises layer two equipment and internet access equipment (Zaicenko : [0024]: “fig. 2, ref. 216, "Local Area Network"; fig. 5, ref. NIC2 and NIC4; par., & [0037 & 0054] "the edge computing device is properly connected to a customer computing device (e.g., via a local area network"; & [0067] "The edge device 500 may be communicatively connected to a user device (e.g., the computing device 202 of FIG. 2) via one or more network interfaces (e.g., NIC2 and/or NIC 4)" & [0093] “each VNIC can have a media access control (MAC) address for layer 2 identification when transmitting data frames”);
Zaicenko does not explicitly teacher layer 3 switch functionality.
Guo however discloses instantiate a network gateway virtual machine having layer three switching functionality (Guo: “when the virtual machine in different network segments are mutually exchanged, the virtual switch inquires the IP address (2.2.2.21) and (2.2.3.21) of the target virtual machine through the L3 exchange table item, and corresponding tunnel ports (1) and (3), through the tunnel transmission message, using the IP address to send the message to the corresponding virtual machine”);
the layer two communications network is deployed absent a layer three switch and the network gateway virtual machine has layer three switching functionality (Guo: “the service provided by the user in the public cloud scene is no longer deployed in the physical server, but is deployed in the virtual machine (virtual machine running in the physical server), realizing the function address table entry in the physical switch by the two-layer table item, realizing the function table entry in the physical switch by three-layer table item.”);
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Zaicenko view of Guo to figure out layer 3 switch functionality. One would be motivated to do so because this technique advantageously aids in to improve the performance of the virtual switch (Guo).
Modified Zaicenko does not explicitly teaches VLANs with multiple VMs.
Nacham however discloses wherein the network gateway virtual machine comprises a plurality of virtual network interfaces configured to forward packets to enable communication between different virtual local area networks (VLANs) (Nacham [0009]: “ inserting the data packet will be transmitted from the first virtual machine to the second virtual machine of the virtual machine corresponding to the second position information, and the entrance edge router bridge (bridge) to transmit the data packets. the position information comprises output device name and at least one virtual local area network (VLAN) tag,.”);
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of modified Zaicenko in view of Nacham to figure out VLANs with multiple VMs. One would be motivated to do so because this technique advantageously aids in to improve transmitting data packets on a multilink transparent internet (TRILL) compatible network (Nacham).
DEPENDENT CLAIMS:
As per claim 2, Zaicenko/Guo/Nacham discloses the compute and networking server of claim 1, further configured to instantiate comprising another virtual machine executing an application to provide a service (Zaicenko : [0032]: “ Each service may be stand-alone or operate as a distributed cluster. The edge device 100 may further include a hypervisor 106 configured to implement one or more virtual machines (e.g., virtual machines 108A, 108B, 108C, to 108N, collectively referred to as “virtual machine(s) 108” or “VMs 108”)”).
As per claim 3, Zaicenko/Guo/Nacham discloses the compute and networking server of claim 1, further comprising wherein the server comprises only generic hardware (Zaicenko : [0034]: “the edge device 100 may include hardware such as any suitable number of central processing units (CPUs) and/or storage drives. For example, the edge device 100 depicted in FIG. 1 may have one, two, or more CPUs, with various numbers of cores per processing unit, ”).
As per claim 4, Zaicenko/Guo/Nacham discloses the compute and networking server of claim 1, wherein the layer two communications network comprises a plurality of virtual local area networks VLANs (Zaicenko : [0047]: “ In some embodiments, the predefined thresholds are applied to each of the VM(s) 508. The subnets utilized by the VNIC(s) 506 may be isolated by VLANs”).
As per claim 5, Zaicenko/Guo/Nacham discloses the compute and networking server of claim 1, wherein one of the ports (Zaicenko : [0037]: “The edge device 100 may include any suitable number of central processing units (CPUs, one or more ports (e.g., QSFP28, RJ45, dual ports, etc.).”) connects to the internet via a node of the layer two communications network. (Zaicenko : [0024]: “fig. 2, ref. 216, "Local Area Network"; fig. 5, ref. NIC2 and NIC4; par., & [0037 & 0054] "the edge computing device is properly connected to a customer computing device (e.g., via a local area network"; & [0067] "The edge device 500 may be communicatively connected to a user device (e.g., the computing device 202 of FIG. 2) via one or more network interfaces (e.g., NIC2 and/or NIC 4)" & [0093] “each VNIC can have a media access control (MAC) address for layer 2 identification when transmitting data frames”);
As per claim 6, Zaicenko/Guo/Nacham discloses the compute and networking server of claim 1, wherein the network gateway virtual machine comprises dynamic network address translation functionality to a public internet protocol IP address. (Zaicenko : [0048]: “ the edge device 500 implements various networking functionality via a number of services such as a network address translation (NAT) service, a dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) service, a domain name system (DNS) service, a network time protocol (NTP) service, a metadata service, and a public API service) &U In some embodiments, DHCP service assigns private IP addresses to each of the VNIC(s) 506, each of the VM(s) 508 having one or more VNICS. ”).
As per claim 7, Zaicenko/Guo/Nacham discloses the compute and networking server of claim 1, further configured to instantiate comprising another virtual machine executing an application to provide
a service and wherein the network gateway virtual machine provides internet connectivity to the application (Zaicenko : [0007]: “ The private virtual network data plane can include an internet gateway that can provide a networking interface to the public network. The data packet may be forwarded to an additional cloud-computing edge device in the distributed computing cluster. ”).
As per claim 21, Zaicenko/Guo/Nacham discloses the compute and networking server of claim 1, wherein the plurality of physical ports are configured to:
receive a communications packet and route the packet to or from the internet using the network gateway virtual machine (Zaicenko : [0007]: “ the data packet may be sent to various destinations within the distributed computing cluster. The orchestration module can include appropriate routing information (e.g., routing tables) to forward the data packet to its destination. . ”).
As per claim 22, Zaicenko/Guo/Nacham discloses the compute and networking server of claim 21, wherein the communications packet is received from the internet and comprises instructions, further comprising managing the compute and networking server by executing the instructions (Zaicenko : [0007, 0096 & Fig 11]: “ the data packet may be sent to various destinations within the distributed computing cluster. The orchestration module can include appropriate routing information (e.g., routing tables) to forward the data packet to its destination & At block 1110, the virtual machine (e.g., VM1 806) can send a data packet or data packets (e.g., messages, requests, and other network traffic) using the virtual network interface (e.g., virtual network interface 810). ”).
As per claim 23, Zaicenko/Guo/Nacham discloses the compute and networking server of claim 21, wherein during a manufacturing stage:
the compute and networking server is connected to a layer three switch (Guo: “the service provided by the user in the public cloud scene is no longer deployed in the physical server, but is deployed in the virtual machine (virtual machine running in the physical server), realizing the function address table entry in the physical switch by the two-layer table item, realizing the function table entry in the physical switch by three-layer table item.”);
the network gateway virtual machine is instantiated (Guo: “when the virtual machine in different network segments are mutually exchanged, the virtual switch inquires the IP address (2.2.2.21) and (2.2.3.21) of the target virtual machine through the L3 exchange table item, and corresponding tunnel ports (1) and (3), through the tunnel transmission message, using the IP address to send the message to the corresponding virtual machine”);and
the layer three switch is disconnected (Guo: “Optimization is also finished by the form of L3 forwarding table item forwarding message,.”);
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Zaicenko view of Guo to figure out layer 3 switch functionality. One would be motivated to do so because this technique advantageously aids in to improve the performance of the virtual switch (Guo).
As per claim 24, Zaicenko/Guo/Nacham discloses the compute and networking server of claim 21, further configured to:
route the communications packet to another virtual machine at the compute and networking server (Zaicenko : [0007]: “ the data packet may be sent to various destinations within the distributed computing cluster. The orchestration module can include appropriate routing information (e.g., routing tables) to forward the data packet to its destination. . ”). the other virtual machine executing an application configured to provide a service. (Zaicenko : [0048]: “ the edge device 500 implements various networking functionality via a number of services such as a network address translation (NAT) service, a dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) service, a domain name system (DNS) service, a network time protocol (NTP) service, a metadata service, and a public API service) &U In some embodiments, DHCP service assigns private IP addresses to each of the VNIC(s) 506, each of the VM(s) 508 having one or more VNICS. ”).
As per claim 25, Zaicenko/Guo/Nacham discloses the compute and networking server of claim 24, further configured to:
manage internet connectivity to the application (Zaicenko : [0032]: “A containerization engine (e.g., the containerization engine 102) may be container-orchestration system for automating computer application deployment, scaling, and management. The edge device 100 may further include a hypervisor 106 configured to implement one or more virtual machines (e.g., virtual machines 108A, 108B, 108C, to 108N, collectively referred to as “virtual machine(s) 108” or “VMs 108”).
As per claim 26, Zaicenko/Guo/Nacham discloses the compute and networking server of claim 21, wherein the communications packet is received at one of the ports from the internet via a node of the layer two communications network. (Zaicenko : [0007 & 0093]: “ the data packet may be sent to various destinations within the distributed computing cluster. The orchestration module can include appropriate routing information (e.g., routing tables) to forward the data packet to its destination & each VNIC can have a media access control (MAC) address for layer 2 identification when transmitting data frames”).
As per claim 27, Zaicenko/Guo/Nacham discloses the compute and networking server of claim 21, further configured to instantiate a plurality of virtual local area networks VLANs in the layer two communications network (Guo: “the service provided by the user in the public cloud scene is no longer deployed in the physical server, but is deployed in the virtual machine (virtual machine running in the physical server), realizing the function address table entry in the physical switch by the two-layer table item, realizing the function table entry in the physical switch by three-layer table item.”);
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Zaicenko view of Guo to figure out layer 3 switch functionality. One would be motivated to do so because this technique advantageously aids in to improve the performance of the virtual switch (Guo).
As per claim 28, Zaicenko/Guo/Nacham discloses the compute and networking server of claim 22, further configured to: use one of the ports (Zaicenko : [0037]: “The edge device 100 may include any suitable number of central processing units (CPUs, one or more ports (e.g., QSFP28, RJ45, dual ports, etc.).”), to connect to the internet via a node of the layer two communications network (Zaicenko : [0067] "The edge device 500 may be communicatively connected to a user device (e.g., the computing device 202 of FIG. 2) via one or more network interfaces (e.g., NIC2 and/or NIC 4)" & [0093] “each VNIC can have a media access control (MAC) address for layer 2 identification when transmitting data frames”).
As per claim 29, Zaicenko/Guo/Nacham discloses the compute and networking server of claim 22, further configured to: carry out dynamic network address translation to a public internet protocol IP address using the network gateway virtual machine (Zaicenko : [0048] "the edge device 500 implements various networking functionality via a number of services such as a network address translation (NAT) service, a dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) service, a domain name system (DNS) service, a network time protocol (NTP) service, a metadata service, and a public API service).”).
Claims 31-33 are rejected based on rationale provided in dependent claims.
Conclusion
This action is made Final. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. This includes:
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/SIBTE H BUKHARI/Examiner, Art Unit 2449
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