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 .
Response to Amendment
Acknowledgement is made in that claim 2 has been canceled, claims 1, 11, 20 have been amended, and claim 22 has been added in the instant application presented herein.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see page 8 of Remarks, filed 15 December 2025, with respect to the rejections of claims 3-10, 13, 15-16, and 19 being rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112 2nd have been fully considered and are persuasive. The 35 U.S.C. 112 2nd rejection of Claims 3-10, 13, 15-16, and 19 have been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 8-13 of Remarks, filed 15 December 2025, with respect to the rejections of claims 1 and 3-21 under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new grounds of rejection is made in view of newly discovered reference(s) below.
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.
Claims 1, 3-7, 9-13, 20, and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fangwei (WO2018188464) (see previously attached English Translation, reference was cited in Applicants’ IDS filed 12/27/2024) in further view of Bhattacharya et al. (US 2015/0195178 A1) (hereinafter as Bhattacharya) and in further view of Vasseur et al. (US 2008/0123524 A1) (hereinafter as Vasseur).
Regarding Claim 1. Fangwei teaches an edge routing device at an edge of a network, comprising:
a memory storing instructions (pars [0027] and [0076]); and
one or more processors configured to execute the instruction to cause the edge routing device (pars [0027] and [0076]) to:
encode an edge routing capability into a type length value (TLV) structure of a link state message (the TLV is used to advertise various capability attribute information of a router, such as a TE (Traffic Engineering) node capability description, a PCED (Path Computing Unit Database), and other capability attributes, the ISIS router advertises its capability attribute, the ISIS router carries an IOAM capability sub-TLV, flooding in the segment routing network, par [0055]); and
flood the link state message including the TLV structure having the edge routing capability to other edge routing devices at the edge of the network (when the SR node encapsulates the LSPDU (Link State Packet Data Unit), the ISIS routing capability TLV is encapsulated, where the ISIS routing capability TLV carries the IOAM capability sub-TLV and after encapsulating the LSPDU, the SR node performs flooding in the segment routing domain by using the ISIS flooding mechanism, par [0112]).
Fangwei does not explicitly teach the step to:
determine that an edge routing capability of the edge routing device has been updated; and
wherein the TLV structure of a link state message includes the updated edge routing capability.
However, Bhattacharya in a similar field of endeavor discloses a method for resource optimized network virtualization overlay transport in virtualized center environments including:
determine that an edge routing capability of the edge routing device has been updated (if the DREM capability configuration of the TE node changes, i.e. capability is disabled or enabled via CLI, then it will re-advertise it's updated DREM capability in a new OSPF RI LSA or IS-IS RI LSP, as the case may be, pars [0360], [0362], and [0367]); and
wherein the TLV structure of a link state message includes the updated edge routing capability (The ISIS-TE NDREMCD sub-TLV is carried as an optional sub-TLV within an IS-IS CAPABILITY TLV, pars [0360], [0362], and [0367]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teachings of Bhattacharya in Fangwei to include capability information in LSAs. One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to combine the teachings of Fangwei/Bhattacharya to improve managing connections.
The combined teachings of Fangwei/Bhattacharya do not explicitly teach, wherein the updated edge routing capability indicates an update to a processing capability of the edge routing device or a storage capability of the edge routing device.
However, Vasseur in a similar field of endeavor discloses a failure protection for P2MP tunnel head-end node including wherein the updated edge routing capability indicates an update to a processing capability of the edge routing device or a storage capability of the edge routing device (multiple head-end nodes (e.g., nodes A-C, for example, provider edge devices of a service provider's point-of-presence, or POP) receive multicast traffic from a multicast network, par [0037], dynamic capabilities of the BHEs (e.g., advertised through TLV extensions within IGP advertisements or through explicit notification or manually configured at the PHE) comprise, processing ability (e.g., sufficient processing resources to handle two gigabits/second of data), par [0039]. Thus, since the capabilities of the BHEs are dynamic, the advertisements will comprise updated capabilities of the BHEs).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teachings of Vasseur in Fangwei/Bhattacharya to advertise dynamic capabilities for edge-type devices. One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to combine the teachings Fangwei/Bhattacharya/ Vasseur to improved resources usage.
Regarding Claim 3, the combined teachings of Fangwei/Bhattacharya/Vasseur teach the edge routing device claim 1, wherein the updated edge routing capability indicates a location or an identity of the edge routing device (Bhattacharya: during transfer of packets, the packets being transferred are encapsulated with a VNI (VX-LAN Network Identifier). The packet with a DMAC (Destination MAC address), a SMAC (Source MAC address), and a VNI if it is layer 2 or in case of Layer 3, encapsulate the actual packet with a DIP (Destination IP address), a SIP (Source IP address), par [0006]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teachings of Bhattacharya in Fangwei/Vasseur to include capability information in LSAs. One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to combine the teachings of Fangwei/Bhattacharya/Vasseur to improve managing connections.
Regarding Claim 4, the combined teachings of Fangwei/Bhattacharya/Vasseur teach the edge routing device of claim 1, wherein the link state message comprises a link state announcement (LSA) or a link state protocol data unit (LSP) (Bhattacharya: updated DREM capability in a new OSPF RI LSA or IS-IS RI LSP, as the case may be, pars [0360], [0362], and [0367]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teachings of Bhattacharya in Fangwei/Vasseur to include capability information in LSAs. One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to combine the teachings of Fangwei/Bhattacharya/Vasseur to improve managing connections.
Regarding Claim 5. the combined teachings of Fangwei/Bhattacharya/Vasseur teach the edge routing device of claim 1, wherein the link state message comprises an open shortest path first (OSPF) instance, an intermediate system to intermediate system (IS- IS) instance, an OSPF transport instance, or an IS-IS transport instance (Bhattacharya: updated DREM capability in a new OSPF RI LSA or IS-IS RI LSP, as the case may be, pars [0360], [0362], and [0367]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teachings of Bhattacharya in Fangwei/Vasseur to include capability information in LSAs. One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to combine the teachings of Fangwei/Bhattacharya/Vasseur to improve managing connections.
Regarding Claim 6. the combined teachings of Fangwei/Bhattacharya/Vasseur a teach the edge routing device of claim 1, wherein the TLV structure includes a type field containing a value identifying the edge routing capability that was updated (Bhattacharya: the ISIS-TE NDREMCD sub-TLV is carried as an optional sub-TLV within an IS-IS CAPABILITY TLV, pars [0360], [0362], and [0367]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teachings of Bhattacharya in Fangwei/Vasseur to include capability information in LSAs. One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to combine the teachings of Fangwei/Bhattacharya/Vasseur to improve managing connections.
Regarding Claim 7. the combined teachings of Fangwei/Bhattacharya/Vasseur teach the edge routing device of claim 1, wherein the TLV structure includes an address length field identifying a length of an edge routing capability address in a value field of the TLV structure (Bhattacharya: the ISIS-TE NDREMCD sub-TLV is carried as an optional sub-TLV within an IS-IS CAPABILITY TLV, pars [0360], [0362], and [0367]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teachings of Bhattacharya in Fangwei/Vasseur to include capability information in LSAs. One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to combine the teachings of Fangwei/Bhattacharya/Vasseur to improve managing connections.
Regarding Claim 9. the combined teachings of Fangwei/Bhattacharya/Vasseur teach the edge routing device of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors determine that the edge routing capability of the edge routing device has been updated by detecting that the edge routing capability of the edge routing device has been updated (Bhattacharya: updated DREM capability in a new OSPF RI LSA or IS-IS RI LSP, as the case may be, pars [0360], [0362], and [0367]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teachings of Bhattacharya in Fangwei/Vasseur to include capability information in LSAs. One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to combine the teachings of Fangwei/Bhattacharya/Vasseur to improve managing connections.
Regarding Claim 10. the combined teachings of Fangwei/Bhattacharya/Vasseur teach the edge routing device of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors determine that the edge routing capability of the edge routing device has been updated based on an update indication received from a network administrator (when a user manually configuring) of the network (dynamic capabilities of the BHEs (e.g., advertised through TLV extensions within IGP advertisements or through explicit notification or manually configured at the PHE) comprise, processing ability (e.g., sufficient processing resources to handle two gigabits/second of data), par [0039]. Thus, since the capabilities of the BHEs are dynamic, the advertisements will comprise updated capabilities of the BHEs).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teachings of Vasseur in Fangwei/Bhattacharya to advertise dynamic capabilities for edge-type devices. One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to combine the teachings Fangwei/Bhattacharya/ Vasseur to improved resources usage.
Regarding Claim 11, this method claim comprises limitation(s) substantially the same, as those discussed in claim 1 above, same rationale of rejection is applicable.
Regarding Claims 12-13, this method claim comprises limitation(s) substantially the same, as those discussed in claims 3-4 above, same rationale of rejection is applicable.
Regarding Claim 20, this non-transitory computer-readable medium claim comprises limitations(s) substantially the same, as those discussed in claim 1 above, same rationale of rejection is applicable.
Regarding Claim 22. the combined teachings of Fangwei/Bhattacharya/Vasseur teach the computer program product of claim 20, wherein the link state message comprises a link state announcement (LSA) or a link state protocol data unit (LSP) (Bhattacharya: updated DREM capability in a new OSPF RI LSA or IS-IS RI LSP, as the case may be, pars [0360], [0362], and [0367]).
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fangwei in further view of Bhattacharya in further view of Vasseur and in further view of Abraham et al. (US 2014/0254513 A1) (hereinafter as Abraham).
Regarding Claim 8. the combined teachings of Fangwei/Bhattacharya/Vasseur teach the edge routing device of claim 1 as disclosed above.
The combined teachings of Fangwei/Bhattacharya/Vasseur do not explicitly teach the wherein the TLV structure includes a category field identifying a category of the edge routing capability that was updated and an attribute field identifying an attribute of the edge routing capability that was updated.
However, Abraham teaches systems and methods for discovering devices in a neighborhood aware network including wherein the TLV structure includes a category field identifying a category of the edge routing capability that was updated and an attribute field identifying an attribute of the edge routing capability that was updated (the vendor-specific discovery frame 800 includes a category field 810 and one or more discovery type length value (TLV) fields 870-880, the category field 810 is one octet, the action field 820 is one octet, and the one or more discovery TLV fields 870-880 are of variable length, par [0092]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teachings of Abraham in the combined teachings of Fangwei/Bhattacharya/Vasseur to include a category field in the TLV structure. One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to combine the teachings of Fangwei/Bhattacharya/Vasseur/Abraham to discover a category of device capability.
Claims 14 and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fangwei and Vasseur.
Regarding Claim 14. Fangwei teaches an edge routing device (ISIS router) at an edge of a network, comprising:
a memory (pars [0027] and [0076]); storing a capability table; and
one or more processors coupled to the memory (pars [0027] and [0076]), the one or more processors configured to:
receive a link state message from a second edge routing device (SR node) at the edge of the network (the TLV is used to advertise various capability attribute information of a router, such as a TE (Traffic Engineering) node capability description, a PCED (Path Computing Unit Database), and other capability attributes, the ISIS router advertises its capability attribute, the ISIS router carries an IOAM capability sub-TLV, flooding in the segment routing network, par [0055]);
decode (decapsulate) the link state message to obtain an updated edge routing capability from a type length value (TLV) structure (after receiving the packet, the SR node E decapsulates the SR packet, discovers the IOAM data, decapsulates the IOAM data, and processes the IOAM data, par [0125], when the SR node encapsulates the LSPDU (Link State Packet Data Unit), the ISIS routing capability TLV is encapsulated, where the ISIS routing capability TLV carries the IOAM capability sub-TLV, and after encapsulating the LSPDU, the SR node performs flooding in the segment routing domain by using the ISIS flooding mechanism, par [0112]).
Fangwei does not explicitly teach the step to:
update the capability table in the memory to include the updated edge routing capability.
However, Vasseur in a similar field of endeavor discloses a failure protection for P2MP tunnel head-end node including update the capability table in the memory to include the updated edge routing capability (one or more novel "notification" fields (e.g., sub-TLVs in a Router Capability/Information TLV), described further below. Generally, the received IGP advertisements are stored in a link state database (LSDB) of the router, par [0024] and dynamic capabilities of the BHEs (e.g., advertised through TLV extensions within IGP advertisements or through explicit notification) comprise, processing ability (e.g., sufficient processing resources to handle two gigabits/second of data), par [0039]. Thus, since the capabilities of the BHEs are dynamic, the advertisements will comprise updated capabilities of the BHEs).
Regarding Claim 21, this non-transitory computer-readable medium claim comprises limitations(s) substantially the same, as those discussed in claim 14 above, same rationale of rejection is applicable.
Claims 15-19 and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fangwei in further view of Vasseur and in further view of Bhattacharya.
Regarding Claim 15. The combined teachings of Fangwei/Vasseur teach the edge routing device of claim 14.
The combined teachings of Fangwei/Vasseur do not explicitly teach wherein the updated edge routing capability indicates an update to a processing capability of the edge routing device, an update to a storage capability of the edge routing device, or a location or an identity of the edge routing device.
However, Bhattacharya in a similar field of endeavor discloses a method for resource optimized network virtualization overlay transport in virtualized center environments including:
wherein the updated edge routing capability indicates a location or an identity of the edge routing device (Bhattacharya: during transfer of packets, the packets being transferred are encapsulated with a VNI (VX-LAN Network Identifier). The packet with a DMAC (Destination MAC address), a SMAC (Source MAC address), and a VNI if it is layer 2 or in case of Layer 3, encapsulate the actual packet with a DIP (Destination IP address), a SIP (Source IP address), par [0006]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teachings of Bhattacharya in Fangwei/Vasseur to include capability information in LSAs. One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to combine the teachings of Fangwei/Vasseur/Bhattacharya to improve managing connections.
Regarding Claim 16. the combined teachings of Fangwei/Vasseur teach the edge routing device of claim 14.
Fangwei/Vasseur do not explicitly teach:
wherein the link state message comprises a link state announcement (LSA) or a link state protocol data unit (LSP).
However, Bhattacharya in a similar field of endeavor discloses a method for resource optimized network virtualization overlay transport in virtualized center environments including:
wherein the link state message comprises a link state announcement (LSA) or a link state protocol data unit (LSP) (Bhattacharya: updated DREM capability in a new OSPF RI LSA or IS-IS RI LSP, as the case may be, pars [0360], [0362], and [0367]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teachings of Bhattacharya in Fangwei/Vasseur to include capability information in LSAs. One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to combine the teachings of Fangwei/Vasseur/Bhattacharya to improve managing connections.
Regarding Claim 17, this method claim comprises limitations(s) substantially the same, as those discussed in claim 14 above, same rationale of rejection is applicable.
Regarding Claim 18, this method claim comprises limitations(s) substantially the same, as those discussed in claim 15 above, same rationale of rejection is applicable.
Regarding Claim 19, this method claim comprises limitations(s) substantially the same, as those discussed in claim 16 above, same rationale of rejection is applicable.
Regarding Claim 22, this non-transitory computer-readable medium claim comprises limitations(s) substantially the same, as those discussed in claim 16 above, same rationale of rejection is applicable.
Conclusion
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/ANTHONY MEJIA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2451