DETAILED ACTION
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 .
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.
Claim(s) 1, 6-8, 11 and 16-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Oran et al. (US 2017/0359254, hereinafter “Oran”) in view of Arrobo Vidal et al. (WO 2020/223640, hereinafter “Arrobo”) and further in view of “Millar” (US 2016/0380986).
For claims 1 and 11, Oran discloses A device for interest packet orchestration in information centric networking (ICN) (see Oran par. 0051 and Fig. 2), the device comprising:
multiple interfaces, each interface configured to link to a node over a network; memory including instructions; and processing circuitry that, when in operation, is configured by the instructions to (ICN node 200 may also include appropriate hardware including, but not limited to, one or more processors (e.g., processor 207), one or more network interfaces (e.g., network interfaces 208), and one or more memory elements (e.g., memory element 209). Network interfaces 208 can receive and forward/transmit interest and data packets. Control logic 203 may provide overall control of ICN node 200. Control logic 203 may also include or cooperate with a forwarding strategy module (not shown) to implement an adaptive forwarding strategy, which determines whether, when and where to forward each interest packet; see Oran par. 0051 and Fig. 2; When ICN node 200 receives data packet, ICN node 200 finds the matching entry in PIT 205 and forwards the data to all downstream interfaces listed in the matching entry of PIT 205; see Oran par. 0064 and Fig. 3):
receive an interest packet (At 902, an ICN router receives an interest or data packet; see Oran par. 0101 and Fig. 9), the interest packet including:
a compound name, the compound name including multiple ICN name components (If marked name components in the name are identified, as determined in 906, then at 910, for each identified marked name component, the ICN router determines an equivalence class by determining a respective name prefix of the name. A name prefix can be determined by identifying a group of name components in the name based on a particular marked name component. The group of name components can include all of the name components in a sequence from the beginning name component up to and including the particular marked name component, which is the last name component in the name prefix. In an NDN network, a different group of name components can be identified based on each name component element that includes a name component type encoded in a value field of the name component element. In a CCN network, a different group of name components can be identified based on each name component element that includes an explicit name component type encoded in a type field of the name component element. Thus, multiple equivalence classes may be determined for a hierarchy of flows; see Oran par. 0103); and
locate an ICN name component from the multiple ICN name components that is represented in the list of ICN components (In at least one embodiment, a determination can be made at 906, as to whether any name components are marked with name component types. If no name components are marked, then at 908 one or more equivalence classes may be determined by comparing the name in the packet to name prefixes in a flow table, such as name prefixes 212 in flow table 210. At 914, an action may be taken that affects the packet based, at least in part, on the one or more determined equivalence classes, if any; see Oran par. 0102);
Oran does not explicitly disclose a field including a list of ICN components. Arrobo discloses a field including a list of ICN components (FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example interest packet 130 that includes QoS fields 300. The interest packet 130 includes the QoS fields 300, a name field 302 and an optional elements field 304. The name field 302 includes the name of the interest and the optional elements fields 304 can include various optional ICN parameters including CanBePrefix (allowing a name in an interest packet to be a prefix, exact, or full name), MustBeFresh (indicating that cached data must not be stale), ForwardingHint (providing a list of name delegations), Nonce (allowing unique identification of interest packets), InterestLifetime (indicating a time before the interest times out), HopLimit (indicating a number of hops the interest is allowed to be forwarded), ApplicationParameters (arbitrary data parameters), and the like; see Arrobo par. 0029). It would have been obvious to the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date to use Arrobo's arrangement in Oran's invention to enable assignment of priorities, queues, and the like for ICN traffic at the link level for protocols like Wi-Fi and to enable cellular networks to perform packet classification and provide QoS inside the cellular network for ICN packets (see Arrobo par. 0015).
The combination of Oran and Arrobo does not explicitly disclose select an interface from the multiple interfaces, based on the ICN name component; and transmit the interest packet via the interface. Millar discloses select an interface from the multiple interfaces, based on the ICN name component; and transmit the interest packet via the interface (The browser may request the data object (e.g., send an interest message for the data object) via an ICN network interface of the client device 130. In a further example, the server 110 may direct the client device to a web page that includes links to one or more data objects (e.g., one or more NDN data objects, one or more CCN data objects). When a user selects and/or activates one of the links, the client device 130 may determine the name of the data object from the selected/activated link and may transmit a request for the data object via the ICN network interface of the client device 130; see Millar par. 0030). It would have been obvious to the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date to use Millar's arrangement in Oran's invention to allow existing network architectures (which are often IP network architectures) work in conjunction with NDN network architectures more easily (see Millar par. 0017).
Specifically for claim 11, Oran discloses At least one non-transitory machine readable medium including instructions for interest packet orchestration in information centric networking (ICN), the instructions, when executed by processing circuitry of a device, cause the device to perform operations comprising (This tangible media may be non-transitory in at least one embodiment. In some of these instances, one or more memory elements can store data used for the operations described herein. This includes the memory elements ( e.g., memory elements 129, 139, 209) being able to store software, logic, code, and/or processor instructions that are executed to carry out the activities described herein; see Oran par. 0134).
For claims 6 and 16, Oran discloses The device of claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is configured by the instructions to:
locate a second ICN name component from the multiple ICN name components, the second ICN name component matching a resource of the device (The forwarding strategy module may also be used to determine the route for forwarding. If ICN node 200 receives multiple interest packets containing the same name from multiple downstream consumer nodes, ICN node 200 may forward only one interest packet (e.g., the first one received) toward the producer node. FIB 206 can be populated by a name-prefix based routing protocol, and can have multiple output interfaces for each prefix... In certain implementations, for each interest packet, the forwarding strategy module retrieves the longest prefix matched entry from FIB 206. The longest prefix matched entry can then be used to determine where to forward the interest packet... When ICN node 200 receives data packet, ICN node 200 finds the matching entry in PIT 205 and forwards the data to all downstream interfaces listed in the matching entry of PIT 205; see Oran par. 0063-0064); and
remove an item, from the list of ICN components, that corresponds to the second ICN name component prior to communicating the interest packet to the interface (The matching entry is then removed from PIT 205. The data packet can be cached in content store 204. Data packets take the reverse path of interest packets. Host and interface addresses are not stored in interest or data packets. Rather, ICN node 200 forwards interest packets toward data producers based on the names contained in the interest packets, and forward data packets to consumer nodes based on the PIT state information established by interest packets. If no packet losses occur, one interest packet results in one data packet on each link, which provides flow balance. Thus, the need for source or destination node information in interest or data packets can be eliminated; see Oran par. 0064).
For claims 7 and 17, Oran discloses The device of claim 1, wherein each of the multiple ICN name components corresponds to a resource type that is identified in the ICN name component (At 904, the ICN router identifies each name component marked with an equivalence class identifier, such as a name component type (or ECNCT), in the packet. In at least one example, the ICN router can process the name in the packet on a component-by-component basis to determine which name components have an equivalence class identifier. In an NDN network, each name component element (e.g., 620) in a name element (e.g., 600) of the packet can be examined to determine if it contains a name component type; see Oran par. 0101, 0056, 0078, 0090).
For claims 8 and 18, Oran discloses The device of claim 7, wherein the resource type is DATA, SOFTWARE, or COMPUTE (Consumer node 120 and producer node 130 are examples of any number of possible consumer nodes and producer nodes provisioned in ICN environment 100. Consumer node 120 can include one or more consumer applications, such as consumer application 124, to request data from the ICN network. In at least one embodiment, flow classification module 122 may be provisioned in consumer node 120 (separate from or integral to) the consumer application to enable identification of flow classification in data packets and/or to enable marking interest packets according to certain flow classification embodiments. For example, in an EC3 flow classification embodiment, marking packets via flow classification module 122 may be optional because routers (e.g., ICN router 150-1 through 150-N) have the necessary state to map an interest name to a data name and an equivalence class; see Oran par. 0045, 0071-0072).
Claim(s) 2-4 and 12-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Oran, Arrobo and Millar, and further in view of Jang et al. (US 2014/0365550, hereinafter “Jang”).
For claims 2 and 12, the combination of Oran, Arrobo and Millar does not explicitly disclose The device of claim 1, wherein each of the ICN name components use a second level delimiter that is different than a first level delimiter of an ICN network to which the device is configured to operate within. Jang discloses The device of claim 1, wherein each of the ICN name components use a second level delimiter that is different than a first level delimiter of an ICN network to which the device is configured to operate within (Referring to FIG. 4, possible combinations when segmenting and recombining name components corresponding to two roles, a role of a director and a role of an identifier, based on a name given when creating the content in a CON are described. For example, in a name of a content 'ABC.com/sait/mwjang/ccn/"ABC.com/sait/mwjang/ccn/slides.ppt" /v_7/s_3,' name components, for example, "/ABC.com/sait/mwjang/ccn/,'' except a globally identifiable file name, for example, "/ABC.com/sait/mwjang/ccn/slides.ppt," may be used to function as a director. In contrast, "ABC.com/sait/mwjang/ccn/slides.ppt" or "ABC.com/sait/mwjang/ccn/slides.ppt/v_7/s_3" may be used to function as an identifier to globally identify a content; see Jang par. 0068-0070). It would have been obvious to the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date to use Jang's arrangement in Oran's invention to reduce a size of a forwarding table used in transmitting a content request packet and thus improve network scalability by enabling only a prefix rather than an entire content name to be used when transmitting the content request packet to the node created a content.
For claims 3 and 13, the combination of Oran, Arrobo and Millar does not explicitly disclose The device of claim 2, wherein the device uses a naming convention that is hierarchical and uses the first level delimiter to create a first name format, and wherein the ICN name component uses the second level delimiter to create a second name format, the second name format conforming to the first name format except for the second level delimiter. Jang discloses The device of claim 2, wherein the device uses a naming convention that is hierarchical and uses the first level delimiter to create a first name format, and wherein the ICN name component uses the second level delimiter to create a second name format, the second name format conforming to the first name format except for the second level delimiter (Also, the hierarchical name structure may have different formats based on a type of a CON. For example, in addition to the above classes of the name components, a new class may be added for a special purpose, for example, a command, a parameter, a hash value, and the like. Also, some of the above classes, for example, an additional information class may be omitted. In the representation of the hierarchical name, separators other than '/', for example, '.' may be used, and in the representation format, the component class designating a node or a set of nodes may be located in a last position of the name rather than a first position; see Jang par. 0046-0047). It would have been obvious to the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date to use Jang's arrangement in Oran's invention to reduce a size of a forwarding table used in transmitting a content request packet and thus improve network scalability by enabling only a prefix rather than an entire content name to be used when transmitting the content request packet to the node created a content.
For claims 4 and 14, the combination of Oran, Arrobo and Millar does not explicitly disclose The device of claim 3, wherein the first level delimiter is a slash '/' and the second level delimiter is a hyphen '-', a pipe 'I', an asterisk '*', or an underscore *_*. Jang discloses The device of claim 3, wherein the first level delimiter is a slash '/' and the second level delimiter is a hyphen '-', a pipe 'I', an asterisk '*', or an underscore *_* (Referring to FIG. 4, possible combinations when segmenting and recombining name components corresponding to two roles, a role of a director and a role of an identifier, based on a name given when creating the content in a CON are described. For example, in a name of a content 'ABC.com/sait/mwjang/ccn/"ABC.com/sait/mwjang/ccn/slides.ppt" /v_7/s_3,' name components, for example, "/ABC.com/sait/mwjang/ccn/,'' except a globally identifiable file name, for example, "/ABC.com/sait/mwjang/ccn/slides.ppt," may be used to function as a director. In contrast, "ABC.com/sait/mwjang/ccn/slides.ppt" or "ABC.com/sait/mwjang/ccn/slides.ppt/v_7/s_3" may be used to function as an identifier to globally identify a content; see Jang par. 0068-0070). It would have been obvious to the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date to use Jang's arrangement in Oran's invention to reduce a size of a forwarding table used in transmitting a content request packet and thus improve network scalability by enabling only a prefix rather than an entire content name to be used when transmitting the content request packet to the node created a content.
Claim(s) 10 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Oran, Arrobo and Millar, and further in view of “Byun” (US 2020/0136981).
For claims 10 and 20, Oran discloses The device of claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is configured by the instructions to:
locate a second ICN name component from the multiple ICN name components that is not represented in the list of ICN components (In some implementations, data packet 550 can also include other elements. It should be noted that CCN interest and data packets could contain additional elements and fields not represented in FIGS. SA and 5B depending on particular needs and implementations; see Oran par. 0077); and
The combination of Oran, Arrobo and Millar does not explicitly disclose update a forwarding information base (FIB) of the device with an entry directing a second interest packet for the second ICN name component through a second interface upon which the interest packet was received. Byun discloses update a forwarding information base (FIB) of the device with an entry directing a second interest packet for the second ICN name component through a second interface upon which the interest packet was received (in the network node, which supports fast flow switching, of the information-centric networking (ICN) according to the present invention, the flow management unit checks validity of the flow entry. The checking of the validity of the flow entry by the flow management unit includes: identifying whether a prefix of the FIB entry and the flow name match, wherein when the prefix of the FIB entry and the flow name match, it is determined that the FIB entry information is valid, and interest forwarding is performed using forwarding information that includes a nexthop list and a forwarding strategy within the FIB entry; and when the prefix of the FIB entry and the flow name do not match, it is determined that the FIB information is changed, a corresponding interest is marked as a new flow interest, an FIB is subjected to a longest prefix match (LPM) lookup to find a new matched FIB entry, and forwarding is performed on the basis of corresponding information; and the corresponding interest is recognized as the new flow interest, and the flow entry in the flow table is updated with new FIB entry information; see Byun par. 0031). It would have been obvious to the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date to use Byun's arrangement in Oran's invention to propose a method and a device for fast forwarding for an ICN node in information-centric networking (see Byun par. 0010).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5, 9, 15 and 19 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.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: claims 5, 9, 15 and 19 would be allowable because the closest prior arts listed above either alone or in combination, fail to anticipate or render obvious, the claimed invention of “wherein the multiple ICN name components include a re-coded compound name, the re-coded compound name replacing the first level delimiter with a third level delimiter, the third level delimiter being different than both the first level delimiter and the second level delimiter”, in combination with all other limitations in the claim(s) as defined by applicant.
Conclusion
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/CHAE S LEE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2415