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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The prior art documents submitted by applicant in the Information Disclosure Statement filed on February 15, 2024 have all been considered and made of record (note the attached copy of form PTO-1449).
Drawings
Five (5) sheets of drawings were filed on February 15, 2024 and have been accepted by the examiner.
Inventorship
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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 1-7, 10-14, and 16-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Fini et al. (US 2023/0251440 A1).
Regarding claims 1-7; Optical receiver circuitry (Polarization Diverse Receiver with Delays, see title; receiver 300; see Figure 3) comprising:
a polarization diversifier (300) configured to:
receive an input optical signal (154; see Figure 3 and paragraph 71);
output a first component (optical signal 159 at first optical output 156C) of the input optical signal (154) into a first end (157B) of an optical path (157); and
output a second component (optical signal 158 at second optical output 157A) of the input optical signal (154) into a second end (157A) of the optical path (157);
a first add-drop ring resonator filter (ring resonator 301-1; see Figure 3 and paragraph 72) disposed in the optical path (157);
a first photodetector circuit (305-1);
a first waveguide (303A-1 / 303B-1) configured to transmit the first component (159 /309-1) from the first add-drop ring resonator filter (301-1) to the first photodetector circuit (305-1), the first waveguide (303A-1 / 303B-1) having a first length (short section; see paragraph 74); and
a second waveguide (303A-1 / 303 C-1) configured to transmit the second component (158 / 307-1) from the first add-drop ring resonator filter (301-1) to the first photodetector circuit (305-1), the second waveguide (303A-1 / 303C-1) having a second length (long section; see paragraph 74) that is greater than the first length;
wherein the first component includes a quasi-transverse-electric mode (TE; see paragraph 51) and the second component includes a quasi-transverse-magnetic mode (TM; see paragraph 51);
wherein the polarization diversifier (300) includes at least one of a polarization splitter and rotator (PSR 156; see paragraph 70) or a polarization splitting grating coupler (see paragraphs 44 and 51);
further comprising a waveguide delay line (Delay 315) in the optical path (157);
further comprising:
a second add-drop ring resonator filter (301-2) disposed in the optical path (157);
a second photodetector circuit (305-2);
a third waveguide (303A-2 / 303 B-2) configured to transmit the first component (159 / 309-2) from the second add-drop ring resonator filter (301-2) to the second photodetector circuit (305-2); and
a fourth waveguide (303A-2 / 303 C-2) configured to transmit the second component (158) from the second add-drop ring resonator filter (301-2) to the second photodetector circuit (305-2);
wherein the third waveguide (303A-2 / 303 B-2) has a third length that is equal to the first length (303A-1 / 303 B-1);
wherein the fourth waveguide (303A-2 / 303 C-2) has a length that is greater than the first length (303A-1 / 303 B-1) and less than the second length (303A-1 / 303 C-1).
Regarding claims 10-14 and 16; Fini et al. discloses a wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) receiver (see Figure 3) comprising:
a polarization diversifier (300) configured to:
receive an input optical signal (154);
output a first component (159) of the input optical signal (154) into a first end (157-B) of a looped optical path (157); and
output a second component (158) of the input optical signal (154) into a second end (157-A) of the looped optical path (154);
a first channel (λ1, 311-1) extending out from the looped optical path (157), the first channel comprising:
a first waveguide (303A-1 / 303 B-1) configured to transmit the first component (159) through the first channel (λ1, 311-1) to a first photodetector circuit (305-1); and
a second waveguide (303A-1 / 303C-1) configured to transmit the second component (158) through the first channel (λ1, 311-1) to the first photodetector circuit (305-1), the second waveguide including a waveguide delay line (the longer section 303C-1 forms a delay line); and
a second channel (λ2, 311-2) extending out from the looped optical path (157), the second channel (λ2, 311-2) comprising:
a third waveguide (303A-2 / 303B-2) configured to transmit the first component (159) through the second channel (λ2, 311-2) to a second photodetector circuit (305-2); and
a fourth waveguide (303A-2 / 303C-2) configured to transmit the second component (158) through the second channel (λ2, 311-2) to the second photodetector circuit (305-2);
further comprising an add-drop ring resonator filter (301-1) of the first channel (λ1, 311-1), the first waveguide and the second waveguide coupled to the add-drop ring resonator filter (see Figure 3);
wherein the first component includes a quasi-transverse-electric mode (TE) and the second component includes a quasi-transverse-magnetic mode (TM; see paragraph 51);
wherein the polarization diversifier (300) includes at least one of a polarization splitter and rotator (PSR 156; see paragraph 70) or a polarization splitting grating coupler (see paragraphs 44 and 51);
further comprising an additional waveguide delay line (Delay 315) included in the looped optical path (157);
further comprising an additional a waveguide delay line (303 C-2; the longer section of waveguide forms a delay line) included in the fourth waveguide.
Regarding claims 17-20; Fini A method (see Figure 3) comprising:
receiving an input optical signal (154);
splitting the input optical signal (154) into a first component (159) and a second component (158);
guiding the first component (159) into a first end (157B) of an optical path (157);
guiding the second component (158) into a second end (157A) of the optical path (157);
transmitting the first component (159) through an add-drop ring resonator filter (301-1) disposed in the optical path (157) and into a first waveguide (303A-1 / 303B-1) having a first length;
transmitting the second component (158) through the add-drop ring resonator filter (301-1) and into a second waveguide (303A-1 / 303C-1) having a second length that is greater than the first length (see Figure 3);
transmitting the first component (159) through the first waveguide to a photodetector circuit (305-1); and
transmitting the second component (158) through the second waveguide;
wherein the first component includes a quasi-transverse-electric mode and the second component includes a quasi-transverse-magnetic mode (TE and TM; see paragraph 51);
wherein the input optical signal (154) is split into the first component (159) and the second component (158) using a polarization diversifier (300);
further comprising delaying (at delay 315) transmission of the second component through the optical path (157).
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, 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 8, 9, and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fini et al. (US 2023/0251440 A1).
Regarding claims 8 and 9; Fini et al. discloses a waveguide delay line (315) in the optical path, but fails to specifically disclose that the third waveguide has a third length that is equal to the second length, however before the effective filing date of the present invention, a person of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to reverse the orientation of the waveguides to provide the third waveguide having a third length that is equal to the second length for the purpose of orienting the waveguide in a desired manner, since this would not appear to produce any novel or unexpected results and is considered to be within the level of ordinary skill in the art.
Regarding claim 15; before the effective filing date of the present invention, a person of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to provide an additional a waveguide delay line included in the third waveguide for the purpose of providing a desired optical output with optimal delays.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: Please see the entire disclosures of Jeong (US 9,584,246 B2), Ji et al. (US 10,735,124 B2), and Bhargava et al. (US 12,072,532 B2).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHELLE R CONNELLY whose telephone number is (571)272-2345. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 9 AM to 5 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Uyen-Chau Le can be reached at 571-272-2397. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MICHELLE R CONNELLY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2874