DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Status
Claims 1 and 7 are amended.
No claims are canceled.
Claims 13 and 14 are newly added.
Claims 1-14 are presented for examination.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed in the amendment filed on 10/9/2025 have been fully considered but applicant’s arguments are moot in view of new grounds of rejection.
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, 5, 7 and 11 and are rejected under U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Menon et al. (US 20210314806), in view of Carney Landow (US 20210112301), in further view of Buenrostro (US 20160080239), in further view of Singh (US 20220070678), in further view of Smyth et al. (US 20200267185).
Regarding claim 1, Menon discloses, A system, comprising: a plurality of data consuming customer devices that are each capable of consuming a piece of content broadcast from a digital broadcast system (Par. 0074, a broadcast transmission, allowing that first user and any other user, desiring to access that content for real-time consumption, to real-time consume that content, i.e. customer device is a data consumer device as it consume data in real time);
the digital broadcast system having an internal return channel, an out of band return path to communicate with the customer devices (Par. 0066, broadcast system, where system can be cable television, internet protocol delivery network, i.e. internet protocol delivery network has internal return channel for acknowledgment of connection establishment. Par. 0221, fig. 34, alternative network 3458 is used as a reverse link 3460 for communicating signals to the content distribution network system 3430. The alternative network 3458 is different from the broadcast television network system 3410), a processor and memory wherein the processor executes a plurality of instructions that cause the processor of the digital broadcast system to: (see par. 0064) to:
receive, by the digital broadcast system from each customer device, over the out of band return path, a device identity and a set of device capabilities (Par. 0221, using alternative network as reserve link to communicate return signal, content distribution network receives reverse link signal from intermediate storage device that includes efficiency of the condition of the intermediate device reception (i.e. device capabilities ) Par. 0233, registration of device via alternative network, registration request signal include device identifier, Par. 0236-0237, A content delivery acknowledge signal 3816 is communicated from the intermediate storage device 3450 to the content distribution system 3430 through the alternative network 3458, The content delivery acknowledge signals provide feedback to the content distribution network system such as the volume of data received, the download duration and the achieved throughput may all be provided to the content distribution network system, i.e. providing device capabilities in terms of volume of data received by device and throughput achieved by device in receiving data); and
receive, by the broadcast system from each customer device over the out of band return path and based on the heartbeat duration, a keepalive message (Par. 0233-0234, a registration signal of intermediate storage device is communicated through the alternative network to the content distribution network system. The communication of a registration request signal may also take place periodically at regular time interval as a keep alive or heartbeat mechanism, i.e. keep alive heartbeat received at a regular interval).
Menon does not disclose, an out of band return path to communicate with the data consuming customer devices,
send, to each data consuming customer device, a heartbeat setup messaging including return path information about the out of band return path and heartbeat duration request.
receiving, from each consuming customer device over the out of band return path identified in the heartbeat setup messaging,
send, by the digital broadcast system to each data consuming customer device, a security setup message to set up protected communications over the out of band return path, the security setup message for each data consuming customer device including the received device identity of the data consuming customer device and an encryption key of the digital broadcast system,
receive, by the broadcast system from each data consuming customer device using the encryption key of the digital broadcast system for protected communications over the out of band return path.
Carney Landow discloses, an out of band return path to communicate with the data consuming customer devices (Par. 0039, configured for return data path communications with content sources and/or other entities via the digital television network 160. For example, the ATSC 3.0 standards provide for devices to send data back to programmers and other entities relating to viewership (e.g., which channels are being watched, at what times, for how long, on what devices, etc.) , i.e. device is data consuming device as sends back viewership data, Par. 0044, fig. 3 shows an illustrative communications architecture 300 in which NGTV signals are received by a NGTV-compatible headphone system 105 via a digital television network 160 channel, and return data path communications are provided by a video player device 190 via a mobile network channel. Par. 0045 the return data path communications can be relayed to the digital broadcast television providers 310 via the Internet 330. Alternatively, the digital broadcast television providers 310 are directly in communication with the mobile network 320 and can receive the return data path communications directly from the mobile network 320).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify Menon, by teaching of an out of band return path to communicate with the data consuming customer devices, as taught by Carney Landow, to additional channels and return data paths can enable broadcasters to turn on television sets remotely (e.g., to broadcast emergency signals), gather and exploit viewership feedback to improve the targeting of advertisements, and provide various interactive features through the Internet, as disclosed in Carney Landow par. 0019.
Menon in view of Carney Landow does not disclose, send, to each data consuming customer device, a heartbeat setup messaging including return path information about the out of band return path and heartbeat duration request.
receiving, from each consuming customer device over the out of band return path identified in the heartbeat setup messaging,
send, by the digital broadcast system to each data consuming customer device, a security setup message to set up protected communications over the out of band return path, the security setup message for each data consuming customer device including the received device identity of the data consuming customer device and an encryption key of the digital broadcast system,
receive, by the broadcast system from each data consuming customer device using the encryption key of the digital broadcast system for protected communications over the out of band return path.
Buenrostro discloses, send, to each data consuming customer device, a heartbeat setup messaging including heartbeat duration request (Par. 0032, heartbeat messages are sent at a particular frequency or predetermined interval, The server computer system may modify the predefined interval by sending data to one or more client computers that instructs the client computers to send heartbeat messages at a modified frequency or interval. client computer determines sends a heartbeat message to the server system. Par. 0041, The server computer system may send data to the client computer that indicates when the client computer should send future heartbeats. For example, a server computer system may send data to a client computer that indicates the frequency at which the client should send heartbeat messages).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify Menon in view of Carney Landow, by teaching of send heartbeat duration request to each device and receiving heartbeat based on heartbeat duration request, as taught by Buenrostro, to control the heartbeat status activity by server as it can affect the load on the management, update of logs and report of status of connectivity of client devices to preserve bandwidth or based on expected error, as disclosed in Buenrostro par. 0077.
Menon in view of Carney Landow in further view of Buenrostro does not discloses, send, to each data consuming customer device, a heartbeat setup messaging including return path information about the out of band return path,
receiving by digital broadcast system, from each consuming customer device over the out of band return path identified in the heartbeat setup messaging,
send, by the digital broadcast system to each data consuming customer device, a security setup message to set up protected communications over the out of band return path, the security setup message for each data consuming customer device including the received device identity of the data consuming customer device and an encryption key of the digital broadcast system,
receive, by the broadcast system from each data consuming customer device using the encryption key of the digital broadcast system for protected communications over the out of band return path.
Singh discloses, send, to data consuming customer device, a heartbeat setup messaging including return path information about the out of band return path (Par. 0011, The allocation message from the communication management resource indicates the identity of the selected wireless channel allocated to the customer premises equipment. Par. 0013, the communication management resource communicates a heartbeat response to the customer premises equipment allowing continued use of the second wireless channel by the customer premises equipment, i.e. management resources setup or establishing out of band (i.e. approved to use second communication channel different from first communication channel) channel with customer devices by sending heartbeat setup message),
receiving, from each consuming customer device over the out of band return path identified in the heartbeat setup messaging (Par. 0013, the communication management resource communicates a heartbeat response to the customer premises equipment allowing continued use of the second wireless channel by the customer premises equipment, Par. 0126, computer system can be phone device, laptop, consumer device, i.e. consumer device sends information over out band return path identified in the heartbeat setup messaging to sending device).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify Menon in view of Carney Landow in further view of Buenrostro, by teaching of send, to data consuming customer device, a heartbeat setup messaging including return path information about the out of band return path, receiving, from each consuming customer device over the out of band return path identified in the heartbeat setup messaging, as taught by Singh, rational to combine teaching of Singh with teaching of Menon, Carney Landow and Buenrostro would be, to allow broadcaster to dynamically control which alternate return path to be used for collecting information from consumer device, as disclosed in Singh par. 0011 and 0013. Further to that one skilled in art would be motivated to include broadcast system sending information about out of band return path information to data consuming customer device in to the heartbeat setup message along with heartbeat duration request of Buenrostro to making it as integral part of sending it as combined information to send it as one heartbeat message which would save overhead usage of resources in sending it separately. Combined teaching of Menon, Carney Landow, Buenrostro and Singh would lead to receive the device identify and device capabilities as well as the keepalive message as described in Menon over the out of band return path identified in heartbeat setup message as described by Singh, taking advantage of reliable separate channel to create better load balancing.
Menon in view of Carney Landow in further view of Buenrostro in further view of Singh does not disclose,
send, by the digital broadcast system to each data consuming customer device, a security setup message to set up protected communications over the out of band return path, the security setup message for each data consuming customer device including the received device identity of the data consuming customer device and an encryption key of the digital broadcast system,
receive, by the broadcast system from each data consuming customer device using the encryption key of the digital broadcast system for protected communications over the out of band return path.
Smyth discloses, send, by the digital broadcast system to each data consuming customer device, a security setup message to set up protected communications over the out of band return path, the security setup message for each data consuming customer device including the received device identity of the data consuming customer device and an encryption key of the digital broadcast system (Par. 0017, using secure web socket is used to establish a persistent bi-directional link between CA headend (i.e. broadcast system) and populations of client devices such as set top boxes connected via the internet (i.e. over the out band return path) for bi-directional transmission of CA private data. Par. 0019, the secure key structure of the CA system is retained. This provides strong protection due to the multi-level key encryption a CA typically deploys, i.e. CA deploys key encryption = broadcast system provides encryption key for secure bi-direction transmission of data. Par. 0047, wherein the method also includes providing the entitlement request received via the secure web socket connection and the identifier of the client to the headend, receiving an entitlement response from the headend, looking up the secure web socket connection based upon the identifier of the client, and providing the entitlement response to the client via the secure web socket connection, i.e. response from headend includes client identifier so that client can receive the response. ),
receive, by the broadcast system from each data consuming customer device using the encryption key of the digital broadcast system for protected communications over the out of band return path (Par. 0017, using secure web socket is used to establish a persistent bi-directional link between CA headend (i.e. broadcast system) and populations of client devices such as set top boxes connected via the internet (i.e. over the out band return path) for bi-directional transmission of CA private data. Par. 0019, the secure key structure of the CA system is retained. This provides strong protection due to the multi-level key encryption a CA typically deploys, i.e. bi-direction secure communication between headend and stb to communicate private data = broadcast system receives from stb using encryption deployed by headend for protected communication over internet or out of band return path).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify Menon in view of Carney Landow in further view of Buenrostro in further view of Singh, by teaching of bidirectional secured communication using secure key based encryption to communicate private data, as taught by Smyth, rational to combine teaching of Smyth with teaching of Menon in view of Carney Landow in further view of Buenrostro in further view of Singh would be, to allow broadcaster setup secure bi-directional encrypted communication channel over internet with client device to provide secure communication of private data so that client device can be provided with data communication anywhere in the world over the internet, as disclosed in Smyth par. 0019 and 0013. Further to that one skilled in art would be motivated to include broadcast system setting up the secured encrypted communication channel with client devices over internet to receive heartbeat and keepalive message of Menon and Buenrostro to making it as integral part of broadcast system. Combined teaching of Menon, Carney Landow, Buenrostro, Singh and Smyth would lead to receive the device identify and device capabilities as well as the keepalive message as described in Menon over the out of band return path identified in heartbeat setup message over protected channel as described by Smyth, taking advantage of reliable separate encrypted path to the broadcast system.
Regarding claim 5, The system of claim 1,
Menon further discloses, wherein the digital broadcast system is an Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) 3.0 system (Par. 0215, the content may be broadcasted or unicasted to subscribers of the service in a protected manner. Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) 3.0 or other digital standards may be used for communicating the digital content).
Regarding claim 7, Menon in view of Carney Landow in further view of Buenrostro in further view of Singh in further view of Smyth meets claim limitation as set forth in claim 1.
Regarding claim 11, Menon meets claim limitation as set forth in claim 5.
Claims 2, 3, 8, and 9 are rejected under U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Menon et al. (US 20210314806), in view of Carney Landow (US 20210112301), in further view of Buenrostro (US 20160080239), in further view of Singh (US 20220070678), in further view of Smyth et al. (US 20200267185), in further view of Mauer et al. (US 9374751).
Regarding claim 2, The system of claim 1,
Menon in view of Carney Landow in further view of Buenrostro in further view of Singh in further view of Smyth further discloses, wherein the keepalive message further comprises an identifier of the data consuming customer device (Menon Par. 0233, fig. 37, communication of a registration request signal 3710 may also take place periodically as a keep alive or heartbeat mechanism. The registration request signal 3710 may include an intermediate storage device identifier that is used to uniquely identify the intermediate storage device communicating the registration request signal 3710, Carney Landow Par. 0044, fig. 3, NGTV signals are received by a NGTV-compatible headphone system 105, i.e. device being data consuming customer device).
Menon in view of Carney Landow in further view of Buenrostro in further view of Singh in further view of Smyth does not disclose, wherein the keepalive message further comprises, a signal strength of the return path for the device, a signal to noise ratio for the return path of the device.
Mauer discloses, wherein the keepalive message further comprises, a signal strength of the return path for the device, a signal to noise ratio for the return path of the device (column 7, line 18-25, monitoring involves evaluating signal strength, signal to noise ratio with respect to keep-alive signals from mobile craft).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify Menon in view of Carney Landow in further view of Buenrostro in further view of Singh in further view of Smyth, by teaching of the keepalive message further comprises, a signal strength of the return path for the device, a signal to noise ratio for the return path of the device, as taught by Mauer, to determine the quality of connection between source and receiving device, as disclosed in Mauer column 7, line18-40.
Regarding claim 3, The system of claim 2,
Menon in view of Carney Landow in further view of Buenrostro in further view of Singh in further view of Smyth in further view of Mauer further discloses, wherein the processor is further caused to broadcast data to each data consuming customer device and receive, by the digital broadcast system from each data consuming customer device over the out of band return path for each data consuming customer device, a unicast data receipt confirmation message indicated successful receipt of the broadcasted data (Menon, Par. 0235, 0239, fig. 38, 39, unicast delivery mode to deliver content from broadcast network to intermediate storage device, content delivery acknowledge signal may be communicated from the intermediate storage devices to the content distribution system through the alternative network 3458, Carney Landow Par. 0044, fig. 3, NGTV signals are received by a NGTV-compatible headphone system 105, i.e. device being data consuming customer device, Carney Landow Par. 0044, fig. 3 shows an illustrative communications architecture 300 in which NGTV signals are received by a NGTV-compatible headphone system 105 via a digital television network 160 channel, and return data path communications are provided by a video player device 190 via a mobile network channel ).
Regarding claim 8, Menon in view of Carney Landow in further view of Buenrostro in further view of Singh in further view of Smyth in further view of Mauer meets the claim limitation as set forth in claim 2.
Regarding claim 9, Menon in view of Carney Landow in further view of Buenrostro in further view of Singh in further view of Smyth in further view of Mauer meets claim limitation as set forth in claim 3.
Claims are 4 and 10 are rejected under U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Menon et al. (US 20210314806), in view of Carney Landow (US 20210112301), in further view of Buenrostro (US 20160080239), in further view of Singh (US 20220070678), in further view of Smyth et al. (US 20200267185), in further view of Wendling (US 20120008779).
Regarding claim 4, The system of claim 1,
Menon in view of Carney Landow in further view of Buenrostro in further view of Singh in further view of Smyth does not disclose, wherein the processor is further caused to broadcast a security setup message to each data consuming customer device that includes an encryption key.
Wendling discloses, wherein the processor is further caused to broadcast a security setup message to each data consuming customer device that includes an encryption key (Par. 0012-0021, securely transferring encrypted content from server towards a receiver via broadcast communication channel, connected via a return communication channel. Sending a key message via the return communication path from the server towards receiver, key message comprising the key information).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify Menon in view of Carney Landow in further view of Buenrostro in further view of Singh in further view of Smyth, by teaching of broadcast a security setup message to each device that includes an encryption key, as taught by Wendling, to determine only the legitimate client will be able to access the encrypted content, as disclosed in Wendling par 0003.
Regarding claim 10, Menon in view of Carney Landow in further view of Buenrostro in further view of Singh in further view of Smyth in further view of Wendling meets claim limitation as set forth in claim 4.
Claims 6 and 12 are rejected under U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Menon et al. (US 20210314806), in view of Carney Landow (US 20210112301), in further view of Buenrostro (US 20160080239), in further view of Singh (US 20220070678), in further view of Smyth et al. (US 20200267185), in further view of Lee et al. (US 20120236779, part of the Information Disclosure Statement dated 4/19/2024).
Regarding claim 6, The system of claim 1,
Menon in view of Carney Landow in further view of Buenrostro in further view of Singh in further view of Smyth does not disclose, wherein each data consuming customer device has a processor that executes a plurality of lines of instructions so that the processor is configured to one of send an acknowledgement of a file transfer from the digital broadcast system using the keepalive message and send an acknowledgement of a firmware update using the keepalive message.
Lee discloses, wherein each device has a processor that executes a plurality of lines of instructions so that the processor is configured to one of send an acknowledgement of a file transfer from the digital broadcast system using the keepalive message and send an acknowledgement of a firmware update using the keepalive message (Par. 0004, file transfer, firmware upgrade using broadcast communication. Par. 0007-0008. a contents provider who intends to broadcast advertisement, and information through wireless broadband communication network, to record specific terminals, i.e. terminals are consuming customer device as they are receiving advertisements from content provider, collecting transmission result to the content provider as statistic information. Par. 0142, receives an OGI keep-alive report (OGI_KeepAliveReport) message from the UEs 130. Par. 0169, the OGI controller 560 sends the content provider server 580 an OGI-UE statue report (OGI-UEStatusReport) message including the statistic information on the UEs OGI report = OGI acknowledgement report (OGI-ACKreport) as disclosed in par. 0269, i.e. US sends acknowledgement of file transfer and firmware update in form of statistics report using KeepALive report).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify Menon in view of Carney Landow in further view of Buenrostro in further view of Singh in further view of Smyth, by teaching of broadcast a security setup message to each device that includes an encryption key, as taught by Wendling, to get the report of transfer result for retransmitting erroneous ones, as disclosed in Lee, par 0014.
Regarding claim 12, Menon in view of Carney Landow in further view of Buenrostro in further view of Singh in further view of Smyth in further view of Lee meets claim limitation as set forth in claim 6.
Claims 6 and 12 are rejected under U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Menon et al. (US 20210314806), in view of Carney Landow (US 20210112301), in further view of Buenrostro (US 20160080239), in further view of Singh (US 20220070678), in further view of Smyth et al. (US 20200267185), in further view of Tazzari et al. (US 20180083774).
Regarding claim 13, The system of claim 1,
Menon in view of Carney Landow in further view of Buenrostro in further view of Singh in further view of Smyth does not disclose, wherein the security setup message to each data consuming customer device further comprises an expiry time for the encryption key.
Tazzari discloses, wherein the security setup message to each data consuming customer device further comprises an expiry time for the encryption key (Par. 0019, each symmetric encryption key can be provided with an expiry time or date. The symmetric encryption keys are thus available for communication only for a given time interval, after which the symmetric keys become unusable).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify Menon in view of Carney Landow in further view of Buenrostro in further view of Singh in further view of Smyth, by teaching of the security setup message to each data consuming customer device further comprises an expiry time for the encryption key, as taught by Tazzari, to provide improved security for communication channel, as disclosed in Tazzari, Par. 0019.
Regarding claim 14, Menon in view of Carney Landow in further view of Buenrostro in further view of Singh in further view of Smyth in further view of Tazzari meets claim limitation as set forth in claim 13.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/A.D./ Examiner, Art Unit 2422
/JOHN W MILLER/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2422