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 .
Status of Claims
Claims 1-20 are currently pending in this application.
Claim Interpretation
Claims 1-10 recites a computer program product comprising one or more computer readable storage media and program instructions collectively stored on the one or more computer readable storage media. The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim drawn to the one or more computer readable storage media (also called machine readable/storage medium and other such variations) typically covers forms of non-transitory tangible media and transitory propagating signals per se in view of the ordinary and customary meaning of computer readable media. Applicant’s specification in [0013] has an “explicit definition” set forth to exclude the transitory “signal/carrier wave” embodiment from the scope of the claimed “one or more computer readable storage media” as follows:
[0013] A computer program product embodiment ("CPP embodiment" or "CPP") is a term used in the present disclosure to describe any set of one, or more, storage media (also called "mediums") collectively included in a set of one, or more, storage devices that collectively include machine readable code corresponding to instructions and/or data for performing computer operations specified in a given CPP claim. A "storage device" is any tangible device that can retain and store instructions for use by a computer processor. Without limitation, the computer readable storage medium may be an electronic storage medium, a magnetic storage medium, an optical storage medium, an electromagnetic storage medium, a semiconductor storage medium, a mechanical storage medium, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. Some known types of storage devices that include these mediums include: diskette, hard disk, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), static random access memory (SRAM), compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), digital versatile disk (DVD), memory stick, floppy disk, mechanically encoded device (such as punch cards or pits/lands formed in a major surface of a disc) or any suitable combination of the foregoing. A computer readable storage medium, as that term is used in the present disclosure, is not to be construed as storage in the form of transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freely propagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagating through a waveguide, light pulses passing through a fiber optic cable, electrical signals communicated through a wire, and/or other transmission media. As will be understood by those of skill in the art, data is typically moved at some occasional points in time during normal operations of a storage device, such as during access, de-fragmentation or garbage collection, but this does not render the storage device as transitory because the data is not transitory while it is stored.
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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hathorn et al. (US 2014/0055776-A1) in view of Govindarajan et al. (US 2017/0164526-A1).
With respect to claims 1, 11, and 16 Hathorn teaches a computer program product for facilitating processing within a computing environment, the computer program product (CRM with program code, fig.1 and [0019,0031-0033]) comprising: one or more computer readable storage media and program instructions collectively stored on the one or more computer readable storage media (storage medium 1310, fig.1); a computer system for facilitating processing within a computing environment (fig.1), the computer system comprising: a memory (storage medium 1310, fig.1); and at least one device coupled to the memory (controller 1320 and adapter 200 are coupled to the storage medium 1310, fig.1 and [0019]), wherein the computer system is configured to perform a method; and a computer-implemented method of facilitating processing within a computing environment (method and system of figs.1-5), the computer-implemented method comprising:
obtaining, by a receiving network device, a command built to enable a control program of a device coupled to the receiving network device to request [[temperature]] data of one or more selected units of a network, the command including an indication of the one or more selected units for which the [[temperature]] data is to be obtained (each of ports 210a-n is configured to provide access to bi-directional input/output (I/O) data links to provide mechanisms by which host requests for access to the resources of a SAN (e.g., hosts 122) and/or link service commands can be received by and/or sent to any port of associated storage devices (e.g., storage devices 130) [0021]; processor 260 operably communicates with adapter 200 to send link service requests and responses [0022]; allow the optical link diagnostic application to send the request from ports via links. Bytes 0, 1, and 2 of Word 0 are set to 00. Byte 3 of Word 1 is reserved, and Bytes 0, 1, and 2 include the N_Port Identifier, which is used to identify the port for which optical power is to be provided when the ROP ELS request is sent to a domain controller address of a switch, fig.4 and [0025]);
obtaining, by the receiving network device, the temperature data of the one or more selected units indicated by the command; and providing, by the receiving network device, a response to the request for the temperature data of the one or more selected units (Optical Power Block (OPB) data, containing optical power measurements, is received in response to the ROP ELS command, the OPB data is saved at 304. In an embodiment, an acceptance (LS_ACC) is received in response to the ELS request. The acceptance includes the OPB data and indicates that the request has been successfully received by the destination port, fig.5 and [0026]).
With respect to claims 1, 11 and 16, Hathorn does not appear to teach that the request and the response are of “temperature data”. However, it is known by Govindarajan to teach of monitoring temperature of one or more selected units of a network including sending temperature control requests, receiving the temperature control requests, and controlling the one or more selected units of a network based on the temperature control requests (Govindarajan: figs.1-2B and [0004,0029-0031]).
Because Govindarajan’s teaching is also directed to a computer system for facilitating processing within a computing environment (Govindarajan: fig.1; Hathorn: fig.1), it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to incorporate the teaching of requesting of temperature data and responding to the temperature data request as taught by Govindarajan with the computer system for facilitating processing within a computing environment as taught by Hathorn for the purpose of reducing airflow request traffic within the chassis (Govindarajan: [0002]).
With respect to claim 2, Hathorn and Govindarajan combined teaches further wherein the one or more selected units include one or more temperature monitored components of one or more network devices of the network (Govindarajan: temperature sensors [0029]).
With respect to claim 3, Hathorn and Govindarajan combined teaches further wherein the one or more selected units include one or more network devices of the network (Hathorn: storage area network, fig.1; Govindarajan: information handling system IHS, fig.1).
With respect to claim 4, Hathorn and Govindarajan combined teaches further wherein the network is a storage area network (Hathorn: storage area network SAN 130, fig.1; Govindarajan: information handling system such a data storage systems, fig.1 and [0003]), and the receiving network device and the one or more network devices are part of the storage area network (Hathorn: each fiber channel adapter 200 of SAN 130 includes ports 210a-n, interface unit 220, and controller 230, and processor 260; Govindarajan: IHS of fig.1 includes chassis management controller CMC, virtual local area network VLAN, and Blades 102-1 through 102-n, fig.1).
With respect to claim 5, Hathorn and Govindarajan combined teaches further wherein the one or more selected units are selected from a group of selected units consisting of one or more network devices, one or more optical transceivers, one or more power supply units, one or more chassis, one or more fans, and one or more selected blades of one or more chassis slots (Govindarajan: chassis management controller CMC, blades 102s, fan controller 212, figs.1-2B).
With respect to claims 6, 12, and 17, Hathorn and Govindarajan combined teaches further wherein the program instructions to obtain the temperature data of the one or more selected units include program instructions to forward at least an indication of the command to at least one network device coupled to the receiving network device to obtain the temperature data of at least one selected unit of the one or more selected units (Govindarajan: CMC 208 provides an IPMI command for air flow to blade 102 in air flow request 220 and blade 102 responds with the air flow 222 to CMC 106 [0032]).
With respect to claim 7, Hathorn and Govindarajan combined teaches further wherein the command is a control unit port command constructed based on a defined format, the defined format including a command code, a command name and a description of the command (Hathorn: command code 402, fig.4 and [0025]).
With respect to claims 8, 13, and 18, Hathorn and Govindarajan combined teaches further wherein the command uses a command structure built to be used with the command, the command structure provided to the receiving network device and including the indication of the one or more selected units for which the temperature data is to be obtained (Hathorn: Byte 3 of Word 0 includes a command code 402, which, in an embodiment, is specified by ANSI/INCITS/T11 Standards to allow the optical link diagnostic application to send the request from ports via links. Bytes 0, 1, and 2 of Word 0 are set to 00. Byte 3 of Word 1 is reserved, and Bytes 0, 1, and 2 include the N_Port Identifier, which is used to identify the port for which optical power is to be provided when the ROP ELS request is sent to a domain controller address of a switch, fig.4 and [0025]; Govindarajan: CMC 208 provides an IPMI command for air flow to blade 102 in air flow request 220 and blade 102 responds with the air flow 222 to CMC 106 [0032]).
With respect to claims 9, 14, and 19, Hathorn and Govindarajan combined teaches further wherein the command structure further includes one or more fields to include one or more temperature values for the one or more selected units (Hathorn: addressing the ROP ELS command, a source identifier (S_ID) field designates the source port or FC end port (Nx_Port) requesting the Optical Power Block. The destination identifier (D_ID) field of the source port (Nx_Port) of the ROP ELS command is set to any Domain Controller well known address (FFFCxxh), in an embodiment. For example, the D_ID field is set to a Domain Controller of a switch in the SAN that is used for powering an end port of the switch that can provide Optical Power attributes or values for any port on the switch. In another embodiment, the D_ID field is set to an F_Port Controller well-known address (FFFFEh), which can be a Controller of a device at the other end of the optical link. In still another embodiment, the D_ID field is set to any Nx_Port logged in with the S_ID address or any end port in the SAN, [0024]; Govindarajan: figs.1-2B and [0004,0029-0031]).
With respect to claims 10, 15, and 20, Hathorn and Govindarajan combined teaches further wherein the command structure further includes one or more fields to include a measurement indicator for the one or more [[temperature]] values, the measurement indicator indicating a measurement type for the one or more temperature values (Hathorn: addressing the ROP ELS command, a source identifier (S_ID) field designates the source port or FC end port (Nx_Port) requesting the Optical Power Block. The destination identifier (D_ID) field of the source port (Nx_Port) of the ROP ELS command is set to any Domain Controller well known address (FFFCxxh), in an embodiment. For example, the D_ID field is set to a Domain Controller of a switch in the SAN that is used for powering an end port of the switch that can provide Optical Power attributes or values for any port on the switch. In another embodiment, the D_ID field is set to an F_Port Controller well-known address (FFFFEh), which can be a Controller of a device at the other end of the optical link. In still another embodiment, the D_ID field is set to any Nx_Port logged in with the S_ID address or any end port in the SAN, [0024]; Govindarajan: figs.1-2B and [0004,0029-0031]; Govindarajan: figs.1-2B and [0004,0029-0031]).
Conclusion
The additional prior arts made of record and have not been relied upon are considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure as follows: 2017/0164526, US-20160204980-A1, and US-20200396182-A1.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HIEN (CINDY) D KHUU whose telephone number is (571)272-8585. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 9am-5:30pm.
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/HIEN D KHUU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2116 January 14, 2026