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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 7/14/2026 has been entered.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 4/14/2026 was filed after the mailing date of the Non-Final Office Action on 10/01/2025. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Status of the Claims
Claims 1-5, 7-13, 15-22 set forth in the amendment submitted 6/12/2026 form the basis of the present examination.
Response to Arguments
5. Applicant’s arguments, see remarks page 8-13, filed 6/12/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of Claim(s) 1-5, 10-13 and 15-19 under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a) (1) as being anticipated by PODOLSKI et al. (Hereinafter, “Podolski”) in the US Patent Application Publication Number US 20210311118 A1, the rejection of Claim(s) 6-9 and 14 under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over in view of Wajcer et al. (Hereinafter, “Wajcer”) in the US Patent Number US 7245129 B2 have been fully considered as follows:
Applicant’s Argument:
Applicant argues on page 10, of the remarks, filed on 6/12/2026, regarding the rejection(s) of Claim(s) 1-5, 10-13 and 15-19 under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a) (1) as being anticipated by PODOLSKI et al. (Hereinafter, “Podolski”) in the US Patent Application Publication Number US 20210311118 A1, that “First, Podolski does not disclose the language added to claim 1 reciting that the processing circuitry is to "detect a type of the fault and a location of the fault along the cable responsive to a signal pattern exhibited by the received signal within a period of time, the period of time beginning at a leading edge of one of the pulses of the periodic signal." The Office Action states, regarding claim 6, that "Podolski fails to teach" a processing circuitry "to detect a location of the fault responsive to the received signal" (Office Action, p. 32) and, regarding claim 14, that "Podolski fails to teach" "detecting a location of the fault responsive to one or more reflections" (OfficeAction, p. 41). Podolski likewise does not disclose detection "responsive to a signal pattern exhibited by the received signal within a period of time" beginning at a leading edge of a pulse. Podolski's measurement circuit is a diode (D 12) and capacitor (CPD 14) "creating a peak detector circuit," whose measured voltage "represents a peak level at the signal provider side of the signal path 4 and is the signal characteristic value" (Podolski, [0046]). Podolski's analysis examines how that peak level varies as the period of the generated signal is varied across multiple values, e.g., "2XTD, 4×TD, 3/4xTD, 4/5XTD, 4/7xTD, or 2/3xTD" (Podolski, [0057]; see also [0048], FIG. 4). A peak level read by a DC measurement unit (Podolski, [0046]) is a single value; it is not "a signal pattern exhibited by the received signal within a period of time," and Podolski identifies no period of time beginning at a leading edge of any pulse.
Second, Podolski does not disclose "a duration of each of the pulses greater than double a time of travel of the pulses along a maximum allowed length of a cable," as recited in amended claim 1.”
Examiner Response:
Applicant’s arguments, see remarks page 10 (stated above), filed 6/12/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of Claim(s) 1-5, 10-13 and 15-19 under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a) (1) as being anticipated by PODOLSKI et al. (Hereinafter, “Podolski”) in the US Patent Application Publication Number US 20210311118 A1, as applied to the Final office Action mailed on 4/16/2026 have been fully considered and is persuasive. Because applicant has amended the claims and added the limitation, “wherein the processing circuitry is to detect a type of the fault and a location of the fault along the cable responsive to a signal pattern exhibited by the received signal within a period of time, the period of time beginning at a leading edge of one of the pulses of the periodic signal and having a duration of double the time of travel of the pulses along the maximum allowed length of the cable” which necessitates a new ground of rejection, Therefore the rejection of Claim(s) 1-5, 10-13 and 15-19 under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a) (1) as being anticipated by PODOLSKI et al. (Hereinafter, “Podolski”) in the US Patent Application Publication Number US 20210311118 A1, as applied to the Final office Action mailed on 4/16/2026 has been withdrawn. Zang et al. (Hereinafter, “Zang”) in the US Patent Application Publication Number US 20210058168 A1 is applied to meet at least the amended limitation of independent claims 1, 11 and 17. Therefore Claim(s) 1-5, 10-13 and 15-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over PODOLSKI et al. (Hereinafter, “Podolski”) in the US Patent Application Publication Number US 20210311118 A1 in view of Zang et al. (Hereinafter, “Zang”) in the US Patent Application Publication Number US 20210058168 A1, as set forth below. Applicant’s argument is moot in view of newly applied combination of references. See the rejection set forth below.
Applicant argument, see remarks page 12-13 regarding the rejection of Claim(s) 6-9 and 14 under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over in view of Wajcer et al. (Hereinafter, “Wajcer”) in the US Patent Number US 7245129 B2, as applied to the Non-Final office Action mailed on 10/01/2025 have been fully considered and is not persuasive because of the same reason as stated above for independent claim 1. However, applicant has amended independent claim1 and therefore Claim(s) 7-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Podolski ‘118 A1 in view of Zang ‘168 A1, as applied to claim 1 above and further.in view of Wajcer et al. (Hereinafter, “Wajcer”) in the US patent Number US 7245129 B2, as set forth below. Applicant’s argument is moot in view of newly applied combination of references. See the rejection set forth below.
New claim(s) 20-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over PODOLSKI et al. (Hereinafter, “Podolski”) in the US Patent Application Publication Number US 20210311118 A1 in view of Zang et al. (Hereinafter, “Zang”) in the US Patent Application Publication Number US 20210058168 A1.
For expedite prosecution Applicant is invited to call to discuss the present rejection also if any further clarification needed and to discuss any possible amendment to overcome the references to make the claims allowable.
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) 1-5, 10-13 and 15-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over PODOLSKI et al. (Hereinafter, “Podolski”) in the US Patent Application Publication Number US 20210311118 A1 in view of Zang et al. (Hereinafter, “Zang”) in the US Patent Application Publication Number US 20210058168 A1.
Regarding claim 1, Podolski teaches an apparatus (an apparatus for testing a device under test (DUT) is disclosed. The apparatus includes a signal provider operable to generate a signal along a signal path, said signal path including an electrical length (TD) and operable to be coupled to said DUT; Paragraph [0011] Line 1-5), comprising:
a processing circuitry (The system includes a processor, and a memory in communication with the processor for storing data and instructions, the processor executes instructions to perform a method of testing the DUT based on a signal characteristic value; Paragraph [0028] Line 2-6) to:
provide a periodic signal (Figure 3a-3c) including pulses to a first pair of terminals (Figure 2 shows two terminals VR), a duration of each of the pulses greater than double a time of travel of the pulses (a period of the signal is significantly greater than 4×TD; Paragraph [0025] Line 1-2) along a maximum (Figure 3a) (determining the electrical length based on the signal characteristic and therefore maximum allowed length is determined based on characteristics) allowed length [TD] (an electrical length (TD)) of a cable [4] (According to some embodiments, said generating the signal includes generating the signal periodically according to at least one of a sine wave pulses including a constant pulse width, and pulses including widths equal to half of a period; Paragraph [0024] Line 1-5; The method includes generating a signal along a signal path including an electrical length (TD), said signal path including reflections caused by the signal, varying a period of the signal, determining a signal characteristic value of the signal along the signal path during the period, determining the electrical length based on the signal characteristic, and performing time-domain reflectometry (TDR) calibration for testing the DUT using the electrical length; Paragraph [0028] Line 6-14; FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C show exemplary time domain signals of timing diagrams generated during DUT testing according to embodiments of the present invention. If the period of the generated signal is significantly larger than 4 times the electrical length TD (4×TD), then there is a typical TDR waveform at the line and the settled peak detector shown its maximum (shown as FIG. 3a). If the period of the generated signal is exactly 4×TD (3/4×TD or 4/5×TD or 4/7×TD or etc.), then the reflection occurs exactly at the provided pulse yielding a DC signal at the node VR 20 when assuming a lossless transmission line (shown as FIG. 3b). This results in a minimum voltage at the monitored peak detector. In case the far end of the signal path 4 is shorted, e.g., the signal path is terminated at short circuit, and then there are minima when the reflections cancel the transmitted pulses. This occurs at periods of the generated signal 2×TD (or 2/3×TD or etc.) as shown in FIG. 3c; Paragraph [0048] Line 1-17); and
detect a fault in the cable responsive to a received signal at a second pair of terminals (Reflected pulse along the two terminal VR) responsive to the periodic signal (If the period of the generated signal is exactly 4×TD (3/4×TD or 4/5×TD or 4/7×TD or etc.), then the reflection occurs exactly at the provided pulse yielding a DC signal at the node VR 20 when assuming a lossless transmission line (shown as FIG. 3b). This results in a minimum voltage at the monitored peak detector. In case the far end of the signal path 4 is shorted, e.g., the signal path is terminated at short circuit, and then there are minima when the reflections cancel the transmitted pulses. This occurs at periods of the generated signal 2×TD (or 2/3×TD or etc.) as shown in FIG. 3c; Paragraph [0048] Line 1-17; short circuit detection as the fault detection based on the periodic signal).
Podolski fails to teach wherein the processing circuitry is to detect a type of the fault and a location of the fault along the cable responsive to a signal pattern exhibited by the received signal within a period of time, the period of time beginning at a leading edge of one of the pulses of the periodic signal and having a duration of double the time of travel of the pulses along the
maximum allowed length of the cable.
Zang taches a method may include transmitting a pulse signal to a cable of a shared bus from a node, and observing a signal received at the node in response to the pulse signal. The method may also include determining a fault condition of the cable based on the pulse signal and on an amplitude of each sample of a number of samples of the one or more observed signals (Abstract),
wherein the processing circuitry (FIG. 2 depicts an example network segment 101 including anode 102 (e.g., node 102_1, node 102_2, node 102_3, node 102_4, node 102_5, or node 102_6) coupled to communication bus 104. As shown in FIG. 2, node 102 includes a physical layer (PHY) 106 operably coupled to a media access control (MAC) layer 108; Paragraph [0040] Line 1-6; The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor; Paragraph [0021] Line 1-4) is to detect a type of the fault (e.g., cable open, cable short, normal, mismatch; Paragraph [0028] Line 7-8) (Further, based on information about reflection signal 304 (e.g., phase and/or orientation), a type of a cable fault (i.e., a fault with one or more cables of bus 104 of FIGS. 1 and 2) may be determined. In the example shown in FIG. 3A, transmit pulse signal 302 and reflection signal 304 are both positive and include similar pulse shapes, which is indicative of an “open” fault.; Paragraph [0042] Line 10-17; Paragraph [0028]- [0029]) and a location of the fault along the cable responsive to a signal pattern exhibited by the received signal within a period of time (With continued reference to timing diagram 300, a location of a cable fault may be determined based on a time duration 310 between a rising edge of transmit pulse signal 302 and a rising edge of reflection signal 304. More specifically, for example, it may be determined that time duration 310 is equal to 20 nanoseconds, and assuming 5 nanoseconds/meter, it may be determined that the cable fault is about 2 meters away from the associated node, e.g., node 102_1. An example method of determining a location of a cable fault will be described below with reference to FIGS. 4A and 4B; Paragraph [0043] Line 1-11),
the period of time beginning at a leading edge [a rising edge of transmit pulse signal 302] of one of the pulses of the periodic signal and having a duration of double the time of travel of the pulses along the maximum allowed length of the cable (FIG. 4A further depicts a matrix 420 including a number of vectors including a vector a[n], a vector b[n], a vector c[n], a vector t[n], and a vector r[n]. Each column of matrix 420 is associated with a sampling time T1-T8, and each vector (i.e., a[n], b[n], c[n], t[n], and r[n]) includes an element n for each sampling time. As shown in FIG. 4A, a width of transmit pulse signal 402 is such that it is sampled four times at the sampling rate. In other words, transmit pulse signal 402 includes four sampling times (i.e., T1-T4). More specifically, for example, transmit pulse signal 402 may include a pulse width of 40 nanoseconds, and may be sampled at 10 nanosecond intervals; Paragraph [0049] Line 1-12; Therefore the period of time beginning at a leading edge [a rising edge of transmit pulse signal] of one of the pulses of the periodic signal and having a duration of double the time of travel of the pulses (includes four sampling time includes double the time) along the maximum allowed length of the cable). The purpose of doing so is to detect cable fault types (e.g., cable open, cable short, normal, mismatch) of an associated 10SPE network based on time domain reflection (TDR) and to maintain easy and reconfigure, and is compatible across many systems.
It would have obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, modify Podolski in view of Zang, because Zang teaches to detect a type of the fault and a location of the fault along the cable responsive to a signal pattern exhibited by the received signal within a period of time detects cable fault types (e.g., cable open, cable short, normal, mismatch) of an associated 10SPE network based on time domain reflection (TDR) (Paragraph [0028]) and maintains easy and reconfigures, and is compatible across many systems.(Paragraph [0003]).
Regarding claim 2, Podolski teaches an apparatus,
wherein the cable is a network cable (FIG. 1A shows a conventional driver circuit with a conventional comparator circuit for performing TDR calibration. TDR measures the reflections that result from a signal travelling through a transmission environment (e.g., a circuit board trace, a cable, a connector); Paragraph [0008] Line 5-8; With regard to FIG. 6, an exemplary sequence of computer implemented steps of a process 600 for automatically performing TDR calibration for testing a DUT using a transmission environment (e.g., a circuit board trace, a cable, a connector, etc.) having an electrical length (TD); Paragraph [0055] Line 1-5; 80 cm real coaxial cable, TD˜4.4 ns; Paragraph [0052] Line 1).
Regarding claim 3, Podolski teaches an apparatus,
wherein the network cable is a shared transmission medium of a wired local area network (FIG. 1A shows a conventional driver circuit with a conventional comparator circuit for performing TDR calibration. TDR measures the reflections that result from a signal travelling through a transmission environment (e.g., a circuit board trace, a cable, a connector); Paragraph [0008] Line 5-8; With regard to FIG. 6, an exemplary sequence of computer implemented steps of a process 600 for automatically performing TDR calibration for testing a DUT using a transmission environment (e.g., a circuit board trace, a cable, a connector, etc.) having an electrical length (TD); Paragraph [0055] Line 1-5; 80 cm real coaxial cable, TD˜4.4 ns; Paragraph [0052] Line 1; The inventive data stream can be stored on a digital storage medium or can be transmitted on a transmission environment such as a wireless transmission environment or a wired transmission environment such as the Internet; Paragraph [0061] Line 13-16).
Regarding claim 4, Podolski teaches an apparatus,
wherein the processing circuitry is to detect an open circuit in the cable to detect the fault in the cable (According to another embodiment of the present invention, one end of the signal path may be connected to the signal provider and the other end of the signal path may be terminated by an impedance having a different value to a characteristic impedance of the signal path, or terminated in an open circuit, i.e., having an open end, or terminated in a short circuit. The signal provider may have a source impedance which has an equivalent value, i.e., the difference is for example +/−5% to a characteristic impedance of the signal path or different value from the characteristic impedance; Paragraph [0078] Line 1-10), responsive to:
a high magnitude pulse in the received signal for substantially an entirety of a duration of time for which a pulse of the periodic signal would transit the maximum allowed length of the cable, the high magnitude pulse having a higher magnitude than a magnitude of an echo pulse responsive to the periodic signal; or
a low magnitude pulse in the received signal following a leading edge of the one of the pulses of the periodic signal followed by a high magnitude pulse in the received signal within the entirety of the duration of time for which the pulse of the periodic signal would transit the maximum allowed length of the cable following the leading edge (FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C show exemplary time domain signals of timing diagrams generated during DUT testing according to embodiments of the present invention. If the period of the generated signal is significantly larger than 4 times the electrical length TD (4×TD), then there is a typical TDR waveform at the line and the settled peak detector shown its maximum (shown as FIG. 3a). If the period of the generated signal is exactly 4×TD (3/4×TD or 4/5×TD or 4/7×TD or etc.), then the reflection occurs exactly at the provided pulse yielding a DC signal at the node VR 20 when assuming a lossless transmission line (shown as FIG. 3b). This results in a minimum voltage at the monitored peak detector. In case the far end of the signal path 4 is shorted, e.g., the signal path is terminated at short circuit, and then there are minima when the reflections cancel the transmitted pulses. This occurs at periods of the generated signal 2×TD (or 2/3×TD or etc.) as shown in FIG. 3c; Paragraph [0048] Line 1-17; From Figure 3a-c and Figure 4 shows that a high magnitude pulse in the received signal for substantially an entirety of a duration of time for which a pulse of the periodic signal would transit the maximum allowed length of the cable, the high magnitude pulse having a higher magnitude than a magnitude of an echo pulse responsive to the periodic signal; or a low magnitude pulse in the received signal following a leading edge of the one of the pulses of the periodic signal followed by a high magnitude pulse in the received signal within the entirety of the duration of time for which the pulse of the periodic signal would transit the maximum allowed length of the cable following the leading edge is used to calculate the open circuit in the cable).
Regarding claim 5, Podolski teaches an apparatus,
wherein the processing circuitry is to detect a short circuit in the cable to detect the fault in the cable (According to another embodiment of the present invention, one end of the signal path may be connected to the signal provider and the other end of the signal path may be terminated by an impedance having a different value to a characteristic impedance of the signal path, or terminated in an open circuit, i.e., having an open end, or terminated in a short circuit. The signal provider may have a source impedance which has an equivalent value, i.e., the difference is for example +/−5% to a characteristic impedance of the signal path or different value from the characteristic impedance; Paragraph [0078] Line 1-10), responsive to:
a low magnitude pulse in the received signal for substantially an entirety of a duration of time for which the pulse of the periodic signal would transit the maximum allowed length of the cable; or
a high magnitude pulse in the received signal following a leading edge of the periodic signal followed by a low magnitude pulse in the received signal within the entirety of the duration of time for which the pulse of the periodic signal would transit the maximum allowed length of the cable following the leading edge, the high magnitude pulse having a higher magnitude than a magnitude of an echo pulse responsive to the periodic signal (FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C show exemplary time domain signals of timing diagrams generated during DUT testing according to embodiments of the present invention. If the period of the generated signal is significantly larger than 4 times the electrical length TD (4×TD), then there is a typical TDR waveform at the line and the settled peak detector shown its maximum (shown as FIG. 3a). If the period of the generated signal is exactly 4×TD (3/4×TD or 4/5×TD or 4/7×TD or etc.), then the reflection occurs exactly at the provided pulse yielding a DC signal at the node VR 20 when assuming a lossless transmission line (shown as FIG. 3b). This results in a minimum voltage at the monitored peak detector. In case the far end of the signal path 4 is shorted, e.g., the signal path is terminated at short circuit, and then there are minima when the reflections cancel the transmitted pulses. This occurs at periods of the generated signal 2×TD (or 2/3×TD or etc.) as shown in FIG. 3c; Paragraph [0048] Line 1-17; From Figure 3a-c and Figure 4 shows that a low magnitude pulse in the received signal for substantially an entirety of a duration of time for which the pulse of the periodic signal would transit the maximum allowed length of the cable; or a high magnitude pulse in the received signal following a leading edge of the periodic signal followed by a low magnitude pulse in the received signal within the entirety of the duration of time for which the pulse of the periodic signal would transit the maximum allowed length of the cable following the leading edge, the high magnitude pulse having a higher magnitude than a magnitude of an echo pulse responsive to the periodic signal is used to calculate the short circuit in the cable).
Regarding claim 10, Podolski teaches an apparatus of claim 1,
wherein a duty cycle of the periodic signal is substantially 50% (The term "Duty Cycle" refers to the proportion of time that a periodic signal or waveform spends in the active or high state compared to the total time of one complete cycle; https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/electrical-engineering/duty-cycle/; Figure 3b: Modified Figure 3b of PODOLSKI below shows a duty cycle of the periodic signal is substantially 50%).
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Figure 3b: Modified Figure 3b of PODOLSKI
Regarding claim 11, Podolski teaches a method for cable fault detection (an apparatus for testing a device under test (DUT) is disclosed. The apparatus includes a signal provider operable to generate a signal along a signal path, said signal path including an electrical length (TD) and operable to be coupled to said DUT; Paragraph [0011] Line 1-5), the method comprising:
providing a periodic signal (Figure 3a-3c) including pulses to a cable [4] (Signal path 40 in Figure 2), a duration of each of the pulses, greater than double a time of travel of the pulses (a period of the signal is significantly greater than 4×TD; Paragraph [0025] Line 1-2) along a predetermined allowed length [TD] (an electrical length (TD)) of the cable [4] (According to some embodiments, said generating the signal includes generating the signal periodically according to at least one of a sine wave pulses including a constant pulse width, and pulses including widths equal to half of a period; Paragraph [0024] Line 1-5; The method includes generating a signal along a signal path including an electrical length (TD), said signal path including reflections caused by the signal, varying a period of the signal, determining a signal characteristic value of the signal along the signal path during the period, determining the electrical length based on the signal characteristic, and performing time-domain reflectometry (TDR) calibration for testing the DUT using the electrical length; Paragraph [0028] Line 6-14; FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C show exemplary time domain signals of timing diagrams generated during DUT testing according to embodiments of the present invention. If the period of the generated signal is significantly larger than 4 times the electrical length TD (4×TD), then there is a typical TDR waveform at the line and the settled peak detector shown its maximum (shown as FIG. 3a). If the period of the generated signal is exactly 4×TD (3/4×TD or 4/5×TD or 4/7×TD or etc.), then the reflection occurs exactly at the provided pulse yielding a DC signal at the node VR 20 when assuming a lossless transmission line (shown as FIG. 3b). This results in a minimum voltage at the monitored peak detector. In case the far end of the signal path 4 is shorted, e.g., the signal path is terminated at short circuit, and then there are minima when the reflections cancel the transmitted pulses. This occurs at periods of the generated signal 2×TD (or 2/3×TD or etc.) as shown in FIG. 3c; Paragraph [0048] Line 1-17); and
detecting a fault in the cable responsive to a received signal, the received signal responsive to the periodic signal (If the period of the generated signal is exactly 4×TD (3/4×TD or 4/5×TD or 4/7×TD or etc.), then the reflection occurs exactly at the provided pulse yielding a DC signal at the node VR 20 when assuming a lossless transmission line (shown as FIG. 3b). This results in a minimum voltage at the monitored peak detector. In case the far end of the signal path 4 is shorted, e.g., the signal path is terminated at short circuit, and then there are minima when the reflections cancel the transmitted pulses. This occurs at periods of the generated signal 2×TD (or 2/3×TD or etc.) as shown in FIG. 3c; Paragraph [0048] Line 1-17; short circuit detection as the fault detection based on the periodic signal).
Podolski fails to teach wherein detecting the fault comprises detecting a type of the fault and a location of the fault along the cable responsive to a signal pattern exhibited by the received signal within a period of time, the period of time beginning at a leading edge of one of the pulses of the periodic signal and having a duration of double the time of travel of the pulses along the maximum allowed length of the cable.
Zang taches a method may include transmitting a pulse signal to a cable of a shared bus from a node, and observing a signal received at the node in response to the pulse signal. The method may also include determining a fault condition of the cable based on the pulse signal and on an amplitude of each sample of a number of samples of the one or more observed signals (Abstract),
wherein detecting the fault comprises detecting a type of the fault (e.g., cable open, cable short, normal, mismatch; Paragraph [0028] Line 7-8) (Further, based on information about reflection signal 304 (e.g., phase and/or orientation), a type of a cable fault (i.e., a fault with one or more cables of bus 104 of FIGS. 1 and 2) may be determined. In the example shown in FIG. 3A, transmit pulse signal 302 and reflection signal 304 are both positive and include similar pulse shapes, which is indicative of an “open” fault.; Paragraph [0042] Line 10-17; Paragraph [0028]- [0029]) and a location of the fault along the cable responsive to a signal pattern exhibited by the received signal within a period of time (With continued reference to timing diagram 300, a location of a cable fault may be determined based on a time duration 310 between a rising edge of transmit pulse signal 302 and a rising edge of reflection signal 304. More specifically, for example, it may be determined that time duration 310 is equal to 20 nanoseconds, and assuming 5 nanoseconds/meter, it may be determined that the cable fault is about 2 meters away from the associated node, e.g., node 102_1. An example method of determining a location of a cable fault will be described below with reference to FIGS. 4A and 4B; Paragraph [0043] Line 1-11),
the period of time beginning at a leading edge [a rising edge of transmit pulse signal 302] of one of the pulses of the periodic signal and having a duration of double the time of travel of the pulses along the maximum allowed length of the cable (FIG. 4A further depicts a matrix 420 including a number of vectors including a vector a[n], a vector b[n], a vector c[n], a vector t[n], and a vector r[n]. Each column of matrix 420 is associated with a sampling time T1-T8, and each vector (i.e., a[n], b[n], c[n], t[n], and r[n]) includes an element n for each sampling time. As shown in FIG. 4A, a width of transmit pulse signal 402 is such that it is sampled four times at the sampling rate. In other words, transmit pulse signal 402 includes four sampling times (i.e., T1-T4). More specifically, for example, transmit pulse signal 402 may include a pulse width of 40 nanoseconds, and may be sampled at 10 nanosecond intervals; Paragraph [0049] Line 1-12; Therefore the period of time beginning at a leading edge [a rising edge of transmit pulse signal] of one of the pulses of the periodic signal and having a duration of double the time of travel of the pulses (includes four sampling time includes double the time) along the maximum allowed length of the cable). The purpose of doing so is to detect cable fault types (e.g., cable open, cable short, normal, mismatch) of an associated 10SPE network based on time domain reflection (TDR) and to maintain easy and reconfigure, and is compatible across many systems.
It would have obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, modify Podolski in view of Zang, because Zang teaches to detect a type of the fault and a location of the fault along the cable responsive to a signal pattern exhibited by the received signal within a period of time detects cable fault types (e.g., cable open, cable short, normal, mismatch) of an associated 10SPE network based on time domain reflection (TDR) (Paragraph [0028]) and maintains easy and reconfigures, and is compatible across many systems.(Paragraph [0003]).
Regarding claim 12, Podolski teaches a method, comprising detecting an open circuit in the cable (According to another embodiment of the present invention, one end of the signal path may be connected to the signal provider and the other end of the signal path may be terminated by an impedance having a different value to a characteristic impedance of the signal path, or terminated in an open circuit, i.e., having an open end, or terminated in a short circuit. The signal provider may have a source impedance which has an equivalent value, i.e., the difference is for example +/−5% to a characteristic impedance of the signal path or different value from the characteristic impedance; Paragraph [0078] Line 1-10), responsive to:
detecting a high magnitude pulse in the received signal for substantially an entirety of a duration of time for which the periodic signal would transit the maximum allowed length of the cable, the high magnitude pulse having a higher magnitude than a magnitude of an echo pulse responsive to the periodic signal; or detecting a low magnitude pulse in one or more reflections following a leading edge of the pulse in the periodic signal then a high magnitude pulse in the received signal within the duration of time for which the pulse of the periodic signal would transit the maximum allowed length of the cable following the leading edge (FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C show exemplary time domain signals of timing diagrams generated during DUT testing according to embodiments of the present invention. If the period of the generated signal is significantly larger than 4 times the electrical length TD (4×TD), then there is a typical TDR waveform at the line and the settled peak detector shown its maximum (shown as FIG. 3a). If the period of the generated signal is exactly 4×TD (3/4×TD or 4/5×TD or 4/7×TD or etc.), then the reflection occurs exactly at the provided pulse yielding a DC signal at the node VR 20 when assuming a lossless transmission line (shown as FIG. 3b). This results in a minimum voltage at the monitored peak detector. In case the far end of the signal path 4 is shorted, e.g., the signal path is terminated at short circuit, and then there are minima when the reflections cancel the transmitted pulses. This occurs at periods of the generated signal 2×TD (or 2/3×TD or etc.) as shown in FIG. 3c; Paragraph [0048] Line 1-17; From Figure 3a-c and Figure 4 shows that a high magnitude pulse in the received signal for substantially an entirety of a duration of time for which the periodic signal would transit the maximum allowed length of the cable, the high magnitude pulse having a higher magnitude than a magnitude of an echo pulse responsive to the periodic signal; or detecting a low magnitude pulse in one or more reflections following a leading edge of the pulse in the periodic signal then a high magnitude pulse in the received signal within the duration of time for which the pulse of the periodic signal would transit the maximum allowed length of the cable following the leading edge).
Regarding claim 13, Podolski teaches a method,
comprising detecting a short circuit in the cable responsive to: (According to another embodiment of the present invention, one end of the signal path may be connected to the signal provider and the other end of the signal path may be terminated by an impedance having a different value to a characteristic impedance of the signal path, or terminated in an open circuit, i.e., having an open end, or terminated in a short circuit. The signal provider may have a source impedance which has an equivalent value, i.e., the difference is for example +/−5% to a characteristic impedance of the signal path or different value from the characteristic impedance; Paragraph [0078] Line 1-10), responsive to:
detecting a low magnitude pulse in one or more reflections following a leading edge of a pulse of the periodic signal in the one or more reflections; or detecting a high magnitude pulse in the received signal following the leading edge of the periodic signal followed by a low magnitude pulse in the received signal within an entirety of a duration of time for which the pulse of the periodic signal would transit the maximum allowed length of the cable following the leading edge, the high magnitude pulse having a higher magnitude than a magnitude of an echo pulse responsive to the periodic signal. (FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C show exemplary time domain signals of timing diagrams generated during DUT testing according to embodiments of the present invention. If the period of the generated signal is significantly larger than 4 times the electrical length TD (4×TD), then there is a typical TDR waveform at the line and the settled peak detector shown its maximum (shown as FIG. 3a). If the period of the generated signal is exactly 4×TD (3/4×TD or 4/5×TD or 4/7×TD or etc.), then the reflection occurs exactly at the provided pulse yielding a DC signal at the node VR 20 when assuming a lossless transmission line (shown as FIG. 3b). This results in a minimum voltage at the monitored peak detector. In case the far end of the signal path 4 is shorted, e.g., the signal path is terminated at short circuit, and then there are minima when the reflections cancel the transmitted pulses. This occurs at periods of the generated signal 2×TD (or 2/3×TD or etc.) as shown in FIG. 3c; Paragraph [0048] Line 1-17; From Figure 3a-c and Figure 4 shows that a high magnitude pulse in the received signal for substantially an entirety of a duration of time for which the periodic signal would transit the maximum allowed length of the cable, the high magnitude pulse having a higher magnitude than a magnitude of an echo pulse responsive to the periodic signal; or detecting a low magnitude pulse in one or more reflections following a leading edge of the pulse in the periodic signal then a high magnitude pulse in the received signal within the duration of time for which the pulse of the periodic signal would transit the maximum allowed length of the cable following the leading edge).
Regarding claim 15, Podolski teaches a method,
wherein the pulses corresponds to a first logic level of a clock signal (The term "Duty Cycle" refers to the proportion of time that a periodic signal or waveform spends in the active or high state compared to the total time of one complete cycle; https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/electrical-engineering/duty-cycle/; A clock signal is a periodic waveform with a set frequency that acts as a timing reference for electronic components, ensuring they operate in harmony. The duty cycle describes the percentage of time within one complete period that this clock signal spends in the high (or "on") state, rather than the low (or "off") state; FIG. 5b is an enlargement of FIG. 5a. The non-ideal behavior comes from the fact that the cable has a frequency-dependent loss and therefore the reflected signal is not able to fully “fill” the gaps in the transmitted pulses; Paragraph [0054] Line 2-5).
Regarding claim 16, Podolski teaches a method of claim 15,
wherein a duty cycle of the clock signal is substantially 50% (The term "Duty Cycle" refers to the proportion of time that a periodic signal or waveform spends in the active or high state compared to the total time of one complete cycle; https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/electrical-engineering/duty-cycle/; A clock signal is a periodic waveform with a set frequency that acts as a timing reference for electronic components, ensuring they operate in harmony. The duty cycle describes the percentage of time within one complete period that this clock signal spends in the high (or "on") state, rather than the low (or "off") state; Figure 3b (1): Modified Figure 3b of PODOLSKI below shows a duty cycle of the clock signal is substantially 50%).
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Figure 3b (1): Modified Figure 3b of PODOLSKI
Regarding claim 17, Podolski teaches an apparatus (an apparatus for testing a device under test (DUT) is disclosed. The apparatus includes a signal provider operable to generate a signal along a signal path, said signal path including an electrical length (TD) and operable to be coupled to said DUT; Paragraph [0011] Line 1-5), comprising:
a signal generator to provide ([0013] According to some embodiments, the signal generator varies a period of the signal, and the period of the signal is significantly greater than 4×TD; [0014] According to some embodiments, the signal generator varies a period of the signal, and the period of the signal is equal to at least one of: 3/4×TD; 4/5×TD; and 4/7×TD) to a cable, a clock signal, a duration of a single clock cycle of the clock signal greater than quadruple a time of travel of a pulse of the clock signal (a period of the signal is significantly greater than 4×TD; Paragraph [0025] Line 1-2) (Claim 3. The apparatus as described in claim 1, wherein the signal generator varies a period of the signal, and wherein the period of the signal is significantly greater than 4×TD; Claim 4. The apparatus as described in claim 1, wherein the signal generator varies a period of the signal, and wherein the period of the signal is equal to at least one of: 3/4×TD; 4/5×TD; and 4/7×TD) along a maximum allowed length [TD] (an electrical length (TD)) of a cable [4] (According to some embodiments, said generating the signal includes generating the signal periodically according to at least one of a sine wave pulses including a constant pulse width, and pulses including widths equal to half of a period; Paragraph [0024] Line 1-5; The method includes generating a signal along a signal path including an electrical length (TD), said signal path including reflections caused by the signal, varying a period of the signal, determining a signal characteristic value of the signal along the signal path during the period, determining the electrical length based on the signal characteristic, and performing time-domain reflectometry (TDR) calibration for testing the DUT using the electrical length; Paragraph [0028] Line 6-14; FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C show exemplary time domain signals of timing diagrams generated during DUT testing according to embodiments of the present invention. If the period of the generated signal is significantly larger than 4 times the electrical length TD (4×TD), then there is a typical TDR waveform at the line and the settled peak detector shown its maximum (shown as FIG. 3a). If the period of the generated signal is exactly 4×TD (3/4×TD or 4/5×TD or 4/7×TD or etc.), then the reflection occurs exactly at the provided pulse yielding a DC signal at the node VR 20 when assuming a lossless transmission line (shown as FIG. 3b). This results in a minimum voltage at the monitored peak detector. In case the far end of the signal path 4 is shorted, e.g., the signal path is terminated at short circuit, and then there are minima when the reflections cancel the transmitted pulses. This occurs at periods of the generated signal 2×TD (or 2/3×TD or etc.) as shown in FIG. 3c; Paragraph [0048] Line 1-17); and
a processing circuitry (The system includes a processor, and a memory in communication with the processor for storing data and instructions, the processor executes instructions to perform a method of testing the DUT based on a signal characteristic value; Paragraph [0028] Line 2-6) to:
detect a fault in the cable responsive to a received signal (Reflected pulse along the two terminal VR) the received signal received from the cable responsive to the clock signal (If the period of the generated signal is exactly 4×TD (3/4×TD or 4/5×TD or 4/7×TD or etc.), then the reflection occurs exactly at the provided pulse yielding a DC signal at the node VR 20 when assuming a lossless transmission line (shown as FIG. 3b). This results in a minimum voltage at the monitored peak detector. In case the far end of the signal path 4 is shorted, e.g., the signal path is terminated at short circuit, and then there are minima when the reflections cancel the transmitted pulses. This occurs at periods of the generated signal 2×TD (or 2/3×TD or etc.) as shown in FIG. 3c; Paragraph [0048] Line 1-17; short circuit detection as the fault detection based on the periodic signal).
Podolski fails to teach wherein the processing circuitry is to detect a type of the fault and a location of the fault along the cable responsive to a signal pattern exhibited by the received signal within a period of time, the period of time beginning at a leading edge of one of the pulses of the periodic signal and having a duration of double the time of travel of the pulses of the clock signal along the maximum allowed length of the cable.
Zang taches a method may include transmitting a pulse signal to a cable of a shared bus from a node, and observing a signal received at the node in response to the pulse signal. The method may also include determining a fault condition of the cable based on the pulse signal and on an amplitude of each sample of a number of samples of the one or more observed signals (Abstract),
wherein the processing circuitry (FIG. 2 depicts an example network segment 101 including anode 102 (e.g., node 102_1, node 102_2, node 102_3, node 102_4, node 102_5, or node 102_6) coupled to communication bus 104. As shown in FIG. 2, node 102 includes a physical layer (PHY) 106 operably coupled to a media access control (MAC) layer 108; Paragraph [0040] Line 1-6; The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor; Paragraph [0021] Line 1-4) is to detect a type of the fault (e.g., cable open, cable short, normal, mismatch; Paragraph [0028] Line 7-8) (Further, based on information about reflection signal 304 (e.g., phase and/or orientation), a type of a cable fault (i.e., a fault with one or more cables of bus 104 of FIGS. 1 and 2) may be determined. In the example shown in FIG. 3A, transmit pulse signal 302 and reflection signal 304 are both positive and include similar pulse shapes, which is indicative of an “open” fault.; Paragraph [0042] Line 10-17; Paragraph [0028]- [0029]) and a location of the fault along the cable responsive to a signal pattern exhibited by the received signal within a period of time (With continued reference to timing diagram 300, a location of a cable fault may be determined based on a time duration 310 between a rising edge of transmit pulse signal 302 and a rising edge of reflection signal 304. More specifically, for example, it may be determined that time duration 310 is equal to 20 nanoseconds, and assuming 5 nanoseconds/meter, it may be determined that the cable fault is about 2 meters away from the associated node, e.g., node 102_1. An example method of determining a location of a cable fault will be described below with reference to FIGS. 4A and 4B; Paragraph [0043] Line 1-11),
the period of time beginning at a leading edge [a rising edge of transmit pulse signal 302] of one of the pulses of the periodic signal and having a duration of double the time of travel of the pulses of the clock signal along the maximum allowed length of the cable (FIG. 4A further depicts a matrix 420 including a number of vectors including a vector a[n], a vector b[n], a vector c[n], a vector t[n], and a vector r[n]. Each column of matrix 420 is associated with a sampling time T1-T8, and each vector (i.e., a[n], b[n], c[n], t[n], and r[n]) includes an element n for each sampling time. As shown in FIG. 4A, a width of transmit pulse signal 402 is such that it is sampled four times at the sampling rate. In other words, transmit pulse signal 402 includes four sampling times (i.e., T1-T4). More specifically, for example, transmit pulse signal 402 may include a pulse width of 40 nanoseconds, and may be sampled at 10 nanosecond intervals; Paragraph [0049] Line 1-12; Therefore the period of time beginning at a leading edge [a rising edge of transmit pulse signal] of one of the pulses of the periodic signal and having a duration of double the time of travel of the pulses (includes four sampling time includes double the time) of the clock signal along the maximum allowed length of the cable). The purpose of doing so is to detect cable fault types (e.g., cable open, cable short, normal, mismatch) of an associated 10SPE network based on time domain reflection (TDR) and to maintain easy and reconfigure, and is compatible across many systems.
It would have obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, modify Podolski in view of Zang, because Zang teaches to detect a type of the fault and a location of the fault along the cable responsive to a signal pattern exhibited by the received signal within a period of time detects cable fault types (e.g., cable open, cable short, normal, mismatch) of an associated 10SPE network based on time domain reflection (TDR) (Paragraph [0028]) and maintains easy and reconfigures, and is compatible across many systems.(Paragraph [0003]).
Regarding claim 18, Podolski teaches an apparatus, wherein the processing circuitry to detect an open circuit in the cable (According to another embodiment of the present invention, one end of the signal path may be connected to the signal provider and the other end of the signal path may be terminated by an impedance having a different value to a characteristic impedance of the signal path, or terminated in an open circuit, i.e., having an open end, or terminated in a short circuit. The signal provider may have a source impedance which has an equivalent value, i.e., the difference is for example +/−5% to a characteristic impedance of the signal path or different value from the characteristic impedance; Paragraph [0078] Line 1-10), responsive to:
a high magnitude pulse in the received signal for substantially an entirety of a duration of time for which the clock signal would transit the maximum allowed length of the cable; or a low magnitude pulse following a leading edge of the clock signal in the received signal followed by a high magnitude pulse in one or more reflections within the entirety of the duration of time for which the pulse of the clock signal would transit the maximum allowed length of the cable following the leading edge, the high magnitude pulse having a higher magnitude than a magnitude of an echo pulse responsive to the clock signal. (FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C show exemplary time domain signals of timing diagrams generated during DUT testing according to embodiments of the present invention. If the period of the generated signal is significantly larger than 4 times the electrical length TD (4×TD), then there is a typical TDR waveform at the line and the settled peak detector shown its maximum (shown as FIG. 3a). If the period of the generated signal is exactly 4×TD (3/4×TD or 4/5×TD or 4/7×TD or etc.), then the reflection occurs exactly at the provided pulse yielding a DC signal at the node VR 20 when assuming a lossless transmission line (shown as FIG. 3b). This results in a minimum voltage at the monitored peak detector. In case the far end of the signal path 4 is shorted, e.g., the signal path is terminated at short circuit, and then there are minima when the reflections cancel the transmitted pulses. This occurs at periods of the generated signal 2×TD (or 2/3×TD or etc.) as shown in FIG. 3c; Paragraph [0048] Line 1-17; From Figure 3a-c and Figure 4 shows that a high magnitude pulse in the received signal for substantially an entirety of a duration of time for which the clock signal would transit the maximum allowed length of the cable; or a low magnitude pulse following a leading edge of the clock signal in the received signal followed by a high magnitude pulse in one or more reflections within the entirety of the duration of time for which the pulse of the clock signal would transit the maximum allowed length of the cable following the leading edge, the high magnitude pulse having a higher magnitude than a magnitude of an echo pulse responsive to the clock signal.).
Regarding claim 19, Podolski teaches an apparatus,
wherein the processing circuitry is to detect a short circuit in the cable to detect the fault in the cable (According to another embodiment of the present invention, one end of the signal path may be connected to the signal provider and the other end of the signal path may be terminated by an impedance having a different value to a characteristic impedance of the signal path, or terminated in an open circuit, i.e., having an open end, or terminated in a short circuit. The signal provider may have a source impedance which has an equivalent value, i.e., the difference is for example +/−5% to a characteristic impedance of the signal path or different value from the characteristic impedance; Paragraph [0078] Line 1-10), responsive to:
a low magnitude pulse in the received signal for substantially an entirety of a duration of time for which the clock signal would transit the maximum allowed length of the cable; or
a high magnitude pulse in the received signal following a leading edge of the pulse followed by a low magnitude pulse in the received signal within the entirety of the duration of time for which the pulse of the clock signal would transit the maximum allowed length of the cable following the leading edge, the high magnitude pulse having a higher magnitude than a magnitude of an echo pulse responsive to the clock signal (FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C show exemplary time domain signals of timing diagrams generated during DUT testing according to embodiments of the present invention. If the period of the generated signal is significantly larger than 4 times the electrical length TD (4×TD), then there is a typical TDR waveform at the line and the settled peak detector shown its maximum (shown as FIG. 3a). If the period of the generated signal is exactly 4×TD (3/4×TD or 4/5×TD or 4/7×TD or etc.), then the reflection occurs exactly at the provided pulse yielding a DC signal at the node VR 20 when assuming a lossless transmission line (shown as FIG. 3b). This results in a minimum voltage at the monitored peak detector. In case the far end of the signal path 4 is shorted, e.g., the signal path is terminated at short circuit, and then there are minima when the reflections cancel the transmitted pulses. This occurs at periods of the generated signal 2×TD (or 2/3×TD or etc.) as shown in FIG. 3c; Paragraph [0048] Line 1-17; From Figure 3a-c and Figure 4 shows that a low magnitude pulse in the received signal for substantially an entirety of a duration of time for which the clock signal would transit the maximum allowed length of the cable; or a high magnitude pulse in the received signal following a leading edge of the pulse followed by a low magnitude pulse in the received signal within the entirety of the duration of time for which the pulse of the clock signal would transit the maximum allowed length of the cable following the leading edge, the high magnitude pulse having a higher magnitude than a magnitude of an echo pulse responsive to the clock signal).
Regarding claim 20, Podolski teaches an apparatus,
wherein the maximum allowed length of the cable is a maximum length of the cable allowed by a standard governing the cable (At step 605, a signal (e.g., a pulse or a sine wave) is generated along a signal path that generates reflections in the transmission environment according to the electrical length (TD). To perform TDR calibration, the reflections from the transmission environment can be compared to those produced by a standard impedance, for example, based on the time between transmitted and reflected signal; Paragraph [0056] Line 1-7; therefore, the maximum allowed length of the cable is a maximum length of the cable allowed by a standard governing the cable and the standard here is standard impedance).
Regarding claim 21, Podolski teaches a method,
wherein the maximum allowed length of the cable is a maximum length of the cable allowed by a standard governing the cable (At step 605, a signal (e.g., a pulse or a sine wave) is generated along a signal path that generates reflections in the transmission environment according to the electrical length (TD). To perform TDR calibration, the reflections from the transmission environment can be compared to those produced by a standard impedance, for example, based on the time between transmitted and reflected signal; Paragraph [0056] Line 1-7; therefore, the maximum allowed length of the cable is a maximum length of the cable allowed by a standard governing the cable and the standard here is standard impedance).
Regarding claim 22, Podolski teaches an apparatus,
wherein the maximum allowed length of the cable is a maximum length of the cable allowed by a standard governing the cable (At step 605, a signal (e.g., a pulse or a sine wave) is generated along a signal path that generates reflections in the transmission environment according to the electrical length (TD). To perform TDR calibration, the reflections from the transmission environment can be compared to those produced by a standard impedance, for example, based on the time between transmitted and reflected signal; Paragraph [0056] Line 1-7; therefore, the maximum allowed length of the cable is a maximum length of the cable allowed by a standard governing the cable and the standard here is standard impedance).
Claim(s) 7-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Podolski ‘118 A1 in view of Zang ‘168 A1, as applied to claim 1 above and further.in view of Wajcer et al. (Hereinafter, “Wajcer”) in the US patent Number US 7245129 B2.
Regarding claim 7, Podolski teaches an apparatus,
a high magnitude pulse in the received signal for substantially the entirety of the duration of time for which the pulse of the periodic signal would transit the maximum allowed length of the cable, the high magnitude pulse having a higher magnitude than a magnitude of an echo pulse responsive to the periodic signal; or
a low magnitude pulse in the received signal for substantially an entirety of a duration of time for which the pulse of the periodic signal would transit the maximum allowed length of the cable following a leading edge of the pulse of the periodic signal (FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C show exemplary time domain signals of timing diagrams generated during DUT testing according to embodiments of the present invention. If the period of the generated signal is significantly larger than 4 times the electrical length TD (4×TD), then there is a typical TDR waveform at the line and the settled peak detector shown its maximum (shown as FIG. 3a). If the period of the generated signal is exactly 4×TD (3/4×TD or 4/5×TD or 4/7×TD or etc.), then the reflection occurs exactly at the provided pulse yielding a DC signal at the node VR 20 when assuming a lossless transmission line (shown as FIG. 3b). This results in a minimum voltage at the monitored peak detector. In case the far end of the signal path 4 is shorted, e.g., the signal path is terminated at short circuit, and then there are minima when the reflections cancel the transmitted pulses. This occurs at periods of the generated signal 2×TD (or 2/3×TD or etc.) as shown in FIG. 3c; Paragraph [0048] Line 1-17; From Figure 3a-c and Figure 4 shows a high magnitude pulse in the received signal for substantially the entirety of the duration of time for which the pulse of the periodic signal would transit the maximum allowed length of the cable, the high magnitude pulse having a higher magnitude than a magnitude of an echo pulse responsive to the periodic signal; or a low magnitude pulse in the received signal for substantially an entirety of a duration of time for which the pulse of the periodic signal would transit the maximum allowed length of the cable following a leading edge of the pulse of the periodic signal).
However, the combination of Podolski and Zang fails to teach wherein the processing circuitry is to detect a fault in the cable at a point of connection between the first pair of terminals and the cable.
Wajcer teaches an apparatus for and method of performing high accuracy cable diagnostics, including, for example, detection of cable faults, cable length, utilizing time domain reflectometry (Column 1 Line 15-18),
wherein the processing circuitry is to detect a fault in the cable at a point of connection between the first pair of terminals and the cable (Using time domain reflectometry, the transceiver generates and transmits a pulse out onto the cable. When the pulse reaches a fault along the cable or end of the cable (i.e. open cable, shorted cable or a mismatched load), a portion of the transmitted pulse energy is reflected back. Using knowledge of the propagation speed along the cable the invention estimates the location of the fault; Column 6 Line 58-64). The purpose of doing so is to obtain information about the communications channel, i.e. to perform cable diagnostics on the channel, to have include (1) identifying cable faults such as an open cable, shorted cable, unmatched load, irregularities of the impedance along the cable, to determine the length of the cable, etc., to enable the detection and identification of cables faults, estimation of cable length, identification of cable topology and identification of load and irregular impedance on metallic paired cable, such as twisted pair and coaxial cables.
It would have obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, modify Podolski and Zang in view of Wajcer, because Wajcer teaches t to detect a fault in the cable at a point of connection between the first pair of terminals and the cable obtains information about the communications channel, i.e. to perform cable diagnostics on the channel, to have include (1) identifying cable faults such as an open cable, shorted cable, unmatched load, irregularities of the impedance along the cable, determines the length of the cable, etc.(Column 1 Line 42-48), enables the detection and identification of cables faults, estimation of cable length, identification of cable topology and identification of load and irregular impedance on metallic paired cable, such as twisted pair and coaxial cables (Column 2 Line 26-29).
Regarding claim 8, Podolski teaches an apparatus,
a low magnitude pulse in the received signal following a leading edge of a pulse of the periodic signal followed by a high magnitude pulse in the received signal within an entirety of a duration of time for which the pulse of the periodic signal would transit the maximum allowed length of the cable following the leading edge; or
a high magnitude pulse in the received signal following the leading edge of the pulse of the periodic signal followed by a low magnitude pulse in the received signal within the entirety of the duration of time for which the pulse of the periodic signal would transit the maximum allowed length of the cable following the leading edge, the high magnitude pulse having a higher magnitude than a magnitude of an echo pulse responsive to the periodic signal (FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C show exemplary time domain signals of timing diagrams generated during DUT testing according to embodiments of the present invention. If the period of the generated signal is significantly larger than 4 times the electrical length TD (4×TD), then there is a typical TDR waveform at the line and the settled peak detector shown its maximum (shown as FIG. 3a). If the period of the generated signal is exactly 4×TD (3/4×TD or 4/5×TD or 4/7×TD or etc.), then the reflection occurs exactly at the provided pulse yielding a DC signal at the node VR 20 when assuming a lossless transmission line (shown as FIG. 3b). This results in a minimum voltage at the monitored peak detector. In case the far end of the signal path 4 is shorted, e.g., the signal path is terminated at short circuit, and then there are minima when the reflections cancel the transmitted pulses. This occurs at periods of the generated signal 2×TD (or 2/3×TD or etc.) as shown in FIG. 3c; Paragraph [0048] Line 1-17; From Figure 3a-c and Figure 4 shows a low magnitude pulse in the received signal following a leading edge of a pulse of the periodic signal followed by a high magnitude pulse in the received signal within an entirety of a duration of time for which the pulse of the periodic signal would transit the maximum allowed length of the cable following the leading edge; or a high magnitude pulse in the received signal following the leading edge of the pulse of the periodic signal followed by a low magnitude pulse in the received signal within the entirety of the duration of time for which the pulse of the periodic signal would transit the maximum allowed length of the cable following the leading edge, the high magnitude pulse having a higher magnitude than a magnitude of an echo pulse responsive to the periodic signal).
However, the combination of Podolski and Zang fails to teach wherein the processing circuitry is to detect a fault in the cable at a distance greater than substantially zero meters from a point of connection between the cable and the first pair of terminals.
Wajcer teaches an apparatus for and method of performing high accuracy cable diagnostics, including, for example, detection of cable faults, cable length, utilizing time domain reflectometry (Column 1 Line 15-18),
wherein the processing circuitry is to detect a fault in the cable at a distance greater than substantially zero meters from a point of connection between the cable and the first pair of terminals (Using time domain reflectometry, the transceiver generates and transmits a pulse out onto the cable. When the pulse reaches a fault along the cable or end of the cable (i.e. open cable, shorted cable or a mismatched load), a portion of the transmitted pulse energy is reflected back. Using knowledge of the propagation speed along the cable the invention estimates the location of the fault; Column 6 Line 58-64). The purpose of doing so is to obtain information about the communications channel, i.e. to perform cable diagnostics on the channel, to have include (1) identifying cable faults such as an open cable, shorted cable, unmatched load, irregularities of the impedance along the cable, to determine the length of the cable, etc.(Column 1 Line 42-48; Figure 1 shows the cable fault location at a distance greater than substantially zero meters from a point of connection between the cable and the first pair of terminals). The purpose of doing so is to obtain information about the communications channel, i.e. to perform cable diagnostics on the channel, to have include (1) identifying cable faults such as an open cable, shorted cable, unmatched load, irregularities of the impedance along the cable, to determine the length of the cable, etc., to enable the detection and identification of cables faults, estimation of cable length, identification of cable topology and identification of load and irregular impedance on metallic paired cable, such as twisted pair and coaxial cables.
It would have obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, modify Podolski and Zang in view of Wajcer, because Wajcer teaches to detect a fault in the cable at a distance greater than substantially zero meters obtains information about the communications channel, i.e. to perform cable diagnostics on the channel, to have include (1) identifying cable faults such as an open cable, shorted cable, unmatched load, irregularities of the impedance along the cable, determines the length of the cable, etc.(Column 1 Line 42-48), enables the detection and identification of cables faults, estimation of cable length, identification of cable topology and identification of load and irregular impedance on metallic paired cable, such as twisted pair and coaxial cables (Column 2 Line 26-29).
Regarding claim 9, Podolski teaches an apparatus, wherein the processing circuitry is to detect a fault in the cable responsive to:
a period of time beginning at the leading edge of the pulse of the periodic signal during which a low magnitude pulse is detected in the received signal; or
a period of time beginning at the leading edge of the pulse of the periodic signal during which the high magnitude pulse is detected in the received signal (FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C show exemplary time domain signals of timing diagrams generated during DUT testing according to embodiments of the present invention. If the period of the generated signal is significantly larger than 4 times the electrical length TD (4×TD), then there is a typical TDR waveform at the line and the settled peak detector shown its maximum (shown as FIG. 3a). If the period of the generated signal is exactly 4×TD (3/4×TD or 4/5×TD or 4/7×TD or etc.), then the reflection occurs exactly at the provided pulse yielding a DC signal at the node VR 20 when assuming a lossless transmission line (shown as FIG. 3b). This results in a minimum voltage at the monitored peak detector. In case the far end of the signal path 4 is shorted, e.g., the signal path is terminated at short circuit, and then there are minima when the reflections cancel the transmitted pulses. This occurs at periods of the generated signal 2×TD (or 2/3×TD or etc.) as shown in FIG. 3c; Paragraph [0048] Line 1-17; FIG. 4 depicts a DC (peaked) value at node PD vs. the signal period with very sharp minima at the distinctive periods according to embodiments of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 4, the reflection occurs at the period 4/5×TD, 4/3×TD and 4×TD (corresponding to the exemplary time domain signals in FIG. 3b). As explained above, it is possible to implement the TDR-calibration with the uni-drive channel, e.g., without having a comparator circuit or a receiver circuit to avoid negative effect of bandwidth with minimum cost. Furthermore, by reducing the circuits on the printed board, the accuracy of the test result is also improved; Paragraph [0049] Line 1-12).
The combination of Podolski and Zang fails to teach wherein the processing circuitry is to detect a location of the fault in the cable.
Wajcer teaches an apparatus for and method of performing high accuracy cable diagnostics, including, for example, detection of cable faults, cable length, utilizing time domain reflectometry (Column 1 Line 15-18),
wherein the processing circuitry is to detect a location of the fault in the cable (Using time domain reflectometry, the transceiver generates and transmits a pulse out onto the cable. When the pulse reaches a fault along the cable or end of the cable (i.e. open cable, shorted cable or a mismatched load), a portion of the transmitted pulse energy is reflected back. Using knowledge of the propagation speed along the cable the invention estimates the location of the fault; Column 6 Line 58-64). The purpose of doing so is to obtain information about the communications channel, i.e. to perform cable diagnostics on the channel, to have include (1) identifying cable faults such as an open cable, shorted cable, unmatched load, irregularities of the impedance along the cable, to determine the length of the cable, etc., to enable the detection and identification of cables faults, estimation of cable length, identification of cable topology and identification of load and irregular impedance on metallic paired cable, such as twisted pair and coaxial cables.
It would have obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, modify Podolski and Zang in view of Wajcer, because Wajcer teaches to detect a location of the fault in the cable obtains information about the communications channel, i.e. to perform cable diagnostics on the channel, to have include (1) identifying cable faults such as an open cable, shorted cable, unmatched load, irregularities of the impedance along the cable, determines the length of the cable, etc.(Column 1 Line 42-48), enables the detection and identification of cables faults, estimation of cable length, identification of cable topology and identification of load and irregular impedance on metallic paired cable, such as twisted pair and coaxial cables (Column 2 Line 26-29).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Burnett (US 5270661 A) discloses, “Method Of Detecting A Conductor Anomaly By Applying Pulses Along The Conductor In Opposite Directions- The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for analyzing conditions along a length of an elongate electrically conductive member, and more particularly to such an apparatus and method which is particularly adapted to detect the presence and location of anomalies along the length of a pipeline (Column 1 Line 24-30). Electrically conducting cables were connected at locations three and one half feet in from the opposite ends of each pipe, indicated at A and B in FIG. 2. A programmable dual pulse generator, number 8161A manufactured by Hewlett Packard was attached to the free ends of the two cables, the opposite ends of which were attached to points A and B of the 63 foot length of pipe, respectively, so that points A and B were 56 feet apart. In this particular test setup, the cable which was attached to point B was, for convenience, extended along the trench to the location of point A, and then both the cables were positioned adjacent to one another and connected to the programmable dual pulse generator. Thus, the cable extending to point B was about 56 feet longer than the cable extending from point A. In the actual experiment which will be described below, to synchronize the pulses, this difference in cable length was taken into consideration so that the points of intersection of the pulses were properly stepped along the length of the 63 foot pipe. (22) To receive and analyze the pulses, a Fourier Analyzer was connected to the pipes at point C, which was spaced from point B about five feet toward point A. Channel 1 of the Fourier Analyzer was attached to point C, while channel 2 of the Fourier Analyzer was attached to point B. In the latter phase of this experiment a digital oscilloscope (No. 2430A made by Tektronics) was substituted for the Fourier Analyzer (Column 9 Line 35-62)-However Burnett does not disclose wherein the processing circuitry is to detect a type of the fault and a location of the fault along the cable responsive to a signal pattern exhibited by the received signal within a period of time, the period of time beginning at a leading edge of one of the pulses of the periodic signal and having a duration of double the time of travel of the pulses along the maximum allowed length of the cable.”
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/NASIMA MONSUR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2858
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