DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1-20 have been examined and are rejected.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 12/27/2023, 02/19/2025, and 03/24/2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Moisand et al. (USPGPub 2015/0092551).
As per claim 1, Moisand teaches a method implemented by a network traffic management system comprising one or more network traffic management apparatuses, server devices, or client devices, (Moisand, see paragraph [0001], applying network services to subscriber data traffic traversing computer networks) the method comprising:
mapping a network address in a network packet received from a client to one of a plurality of subscribers in a subscriber database (Moisand, see paragraph [0076], …the gateway router receives subscriber packets (207) and determines (Note: this is the mapping element) whether the packet represents a new subscriber session (208))
identifying a master network address for the one of the subscribers from the mapped network address, wherein the subscriber has at least one other network address associated with the one of the subscribers (Moisand, see paragraph [0077], receives a service profile or other information that defines the services to be applied to the subscriber (Note: this is master network address) or maps the various traffic expected for the subscriber to one or more service flows. Upon detecting a new flow, the gateway router selects the service chain for the flow based on the service profile and traffic type) and
routing the network packet to a determined one of a plurality of processing nodes and processing threads based on the master network address for the one of the subscribers (Moisand, see paragraph [0077], The gateway router assigns to the packet flow a session cookie having a value that uniquely identifies the flow from other flows assigned to the same service chain, even if those flows originate from the same subscriber or different subscribers).
As per claim 2, Moisand teaches the method of claim 1, further comprising: identifying a policy action based on the master network address for the identified one of the subscribers; and executing the policy action on the network packet received from the client (Moisand, see paragraph [0045], one or more of service nodes 10 may implement policy and charging control (PCC) functionality for subscriber devices 10. In response to queries 17 issued by any of service nodes 10, policy control server 14 issues responses 19 to provision the requesting service node by a policy interface with one or more policy rules that each specifies a set of information enabling the detection of a service data flow and defining policy control, charging, or application detection parameters for application by network elements of access network 6.)
As per claim 3, Moisand teaches the method of claim 2 wherein the policy action comprises an executable network traffic instruction assigned to the one of the subscribers (Moisand, see paragraph [0011], Each of the tunnel packets encapsulates a subscriber packet and including a session cookie storing a value that uniquely associates the subscriber packet with a collection of packet flows originating from the same subscriber).
As per claim 4, Moisand teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the routing the network packet to the determined one of the plurality of processing nodes and processing threads is further based on a hash of the master network address for the one of the subscribers (Moisand, see paragraph [0047], the load balancer need only apply a hash or other deterministic operation to the session cookies embedded within the tunnel packets so as to ensure that the entire collection of packet flows to the same service node while load balancing multiple collections (sessions) across different service nodes).
As per claim 5, Moisand teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the mapped network address and the at least one other network address associated with the one of the subscribers comprise an Internet Protocol version four (IPv4) address and an Internet Protocol version six (IPv6) address. (Moisand, see paragraph [0021], Packet data network 12 executes one or more packet data protocols (PDPs), such as IP (IPv4 and/or IPv6)).
As per claim 6, Moisand teaches a network traffic management apparatus, (Moisand, see paragraph [0001], applying network services to subscriber data traffic traversing computer networks) comprising memory comprising programmed instructions stored thereon and one or more processors configured to be capable of executing the stored programmed instructions to:
map a network address in a network packet received from a client to one of a plurality of subscribers in a subscriber database; (Moisand, see paragraph [0076], …the gateway router receives subscriber packets (207) and determines (Note: this is the mapping element) whether the packet represents a new subscriber session (208))
identify a master network address for the one of the subscribers from the mapped network address, wherein the subscriber has at least one other network address associated with the one of the subscribers; (Moisand, see paragraph [0077], receives a service profile or other information that defines the services to be applied to the subscriber (Note: this is master network address) or maps the various traffic expected for the subscriber to one or more service flows. Upon detecting a new flow, the gateway router selects the service chain for the flow based on the service profile and traffic type) and
route the network packet to a determined one of a plurality of processing nodes and processing threads based on the master network address for the one of the subscribers. (Moisand, see paragraph [0077], The gateway router assigns to the packet flow a session cookie having a value that uniquely identifies the flow from other flows assigned to the same service chain, even if those flows originate from the same subscriber or different subscribers).
As per claim 7, Moisand teaches the network traffic management apparatus of claim 6, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to be capable of executing the stored programmed instructions to: identify a policy action based on the master network address for the identified one of the subscribers; and execute the policy action on the network packet received from the client. (Moisand, see paragraph [0045], one or more of service nodes 10 may implement policy and charging control (PCC) functionality for subscriber devices 10. In response to queries 17 issued by any of service nodes 10, policy control server 14 issues responses 19 to provision the requesting service node by a policy interface with one or more policy rules that each specifies a set of information enabling the detection of a service data flow and defining policy control, charging, or application detection parameters for application by network elements of access network 6.)
As per claim 8, Moisand teaches the network traffic management apparatus of claim 7 wherein the policy action comprises an executable network traffic instruction assigned to the one of the subscribers. (Moisand, see paragraph [0011], Each of the tunnel packets encapsulates a subscriber packet and including a session cookie storing a value that uniquely associates the subscriber packet with a collection of packet flows originating from the same subscriber).
As per claim 9, Moisand teaches the network traffic management apparatus of claim 6 wherein the route the network packet to the determined one of the plurality of processing nodes and processing threads is further based on a hash of the master network address for the one of the subscribers. (Moisand, see paragraph [0047], the load balancer need only apply a hash or other deterministic operation to the session cookies embedded within the tunnel packets so as to ensure that the entire collection of packet flows to the same service node while load balancing multiple collections (sessions) across different service nodes).
As per claim 10, Moisand teaches the network traffic management apparatus of claim 6 wherein the mapped network address and the at least one other network address associated with the one of the subscribers comprise an Internet Protocol version four (IPv4) address and an Internet Protocol version six (IPv6) address. (Moisand, see paragraph [0021], Packet data network 12 executes one or more packet data protocols (PDPs), such as IP (IPv4 and/or IPv6)).
As per claim 11, Moisand teaches a non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon instructions comprising executable code that, when executed by one or more processors, causes the processors to:
map a network address in a network packet received from a client to one of a plurality of subscribers in a subscriber database; (Moisand, see paragraph [0076], …the gateway router receives subscriber packets (207) and determines (Note: this is the mapping element) whether the packet represents a new subscriber session (208))
identify a master network address for the one of the subscribers from the mapped network address, wherein the subscriber has at least one other network address associated with the one of the subscribers; (Moisand, see paragraph [0077], receives a service profile or other information that defines the services to be applied to the subscriber (Note: this is master network address) or maps the various traffic expected for the subscriber to one or more service flows. Upon detecting a new flow, the gateway router selects the service chain for the flow based on the service profile and traffic type) and
route the network packet to a determined one of a plurality of processing nodes and processing threads based on the master network address for the one of the subscribers. (Moisand, see paragraph [0077], The gateway router assigns to the packet flow a session cookie having a value that uniquely identifies the flow from other flows assigned to the same service chain, even if those flows originate from the same subscriber or different subscribers).
As per claim 12, Moisand teaches the computer readable medium of claim 11, further comprising executable code that, when executed by one or more processors, causes the processors to: identify a policy action based on the master network address for the identified one of the subscribers; and execute the policy action on the network packet received from the client. (Moisand, see paragraph [0045], one or more of service nodes 10 may implement policy and charging control (PCC) functionality for subscriber devices 10. In response to queries 17 issued by any of service nodes 10, policy control server 14 issues responses 19 to provision the requesting service node by a policy interface with one or more policy rules that each specifies a set of information enabling the detection of a service data flow and defining policy control, charging, or application detection parameters for application by network elements of access network 6.)
As per claim 13, Moisand teaches the computer readable medium of claim 12 wherein the policy action comprises an executable network traffic instruction assigned to the one of the subscribers. (Moisand, see paragraph [0011], Each of the tunnel packets encapsulates a subscriber packet and including a session cookie storing a value that uniquely associates the subscriber packet with a collection of packet flows originating from the same subscriber).
As per claim 14, Moisand teaches the computer readable medium of claim 11 wherein the route the network packet to the determined one of the plurality of processing nodes and processing threads is further based on a hash of the master network address for the one of the subscribers. (Moisand, see paragraph [0047], the load balancer need only apply a hash or other deterministic operation to the session cookies embedded within the tunnel packets so as to ensure that the entire collection of packet flows to the same service node while load balancing multiple collections (sessions) across different service nodes).
As per claim 15, Moisand teaches the computer readable medium of claim 11 wherein the mapped network address and the at least one other network address associated with the one of the subscribers comprise an Internet Protocol version four (IPv4) address and an Internet Protocol version six (IPv6) address. (Moisand, see paragraph [0021], Packet data network 12 executes one or more packet data protocols (PDPs), such as IP (IPv4 and/or IPv6)).
As per claim 16, Moisand teaches a network traffic management system, comprising one or more network traffic management apparatuses, server devices, or client devices with memory comprising programmed instructions stored thereon and one or more processors (Moisand, see paragraph [0001], applying network services to subscriber data traffic traversing computer networks) configured to be capable of executing the stored programmed instructions to:
map a network address in a network packet received from a client to one of a plurality of subscribers in a subscriber database (Moisand, see paragraph [0076], …the gateway router receives subscriber packets (207) and determines (Note: this is the mapping element) whether the packet represents a new subscriber session (208))
identify a master network address for the one of the subscribers from the mapped network address, wherein the subscriber has at least one other network address associated with the one of the subscribers; (Moisand, see paragraph [0077], receives a service profile or other information that defines the services to be applied to the subscriber (Note: this is master network address) or maps the various traffic expected for the subscriber to one or more service flows. Upon detecting a new flow, the gateway router selects the service chain for the flow based on the service profile and traffic type) and
route the network packet to a determined one of a plurality of processing nodes and processing threads based on the master network address for the one of the subscribers (Moisand, see paragraph [0077], The gateway router assigns to the packet flow a session cookie having a value that uniquely identifies the flow from other flows assigned to the same service chain, even if those flows originate from the same subscriber or different subscribers).
As per claim 17, Moisand teaches the system as set forth in claim 16 wherein the one or more processors are further configured to be capable of executing the stored programmed instructions to: identify a policy action based on the master network address for the identified one of the subscribers; and execute the policy action on the network packet received from the client. (Moisand, see paragraph [0045], one or more of service nodes 10 may implement policy and charging control (PCC) functionality for subscriber devices 10. In response to queries 17 issued by any of service nodes 10, policy control server 14 issues responses 19 to provision the requesting service node by a policy interface with one or more policy rules that each specifies a set of information enabling the detection of a service data flow and defining policy control, charging, or application detection parameters for application by network elements of access network 6.)
As per claim 18, Moisand teaches the system as set forth in claim 17 wherein the policy action comprises an executable network traffic instruction assigned to the one of the subscribers. (Moisand, see paragraph [0011], Each of the tunnel packets encapsulates a subscriber packet and including a session cookie storing a value that uniquely associates the subscriber packet with a collection of packet flows originating from the same subscriber).
As per claim 19, Moisand teaches the system as set forth in claim 16 wherein the route the network packet to the determined one of the plurality of processing nodes and processing threads is further based on a hash of the master network address for the one of the subscribers. (Moisand, see paragraph [0047], the load balancer need only apply a hash or other deterministic operation to the session cookies embedded within the tunnel packets so as to ensure that the entire collection of packet flows to the same service node while load balancing multiple collections (sessions) across different service nodes).
As per claim 20, Moisand teaches the system as set forth in claim 16 wherein the mapped network address and the at least one other network address associated with the one of the subscribers comprise an Internet Protocol version four (IPv4) address and an Internet Protocol version six (IPv6) address. (Moisand, see paragraph [0021], Packet data network 12 executes one or more packet data protocols (PDPs), such as IP (IPv4 and/or IPv6)).
Conclusion
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/HERMON ASRES/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2449