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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 1 recites the limitation "the bin" in lines 5 and 7. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Claims 2-8 depend on claim 1.
Claim 1 recites the limitation "a bin" in line 5. It is not clear which ‘bin’ in ‘a plurality of bins’ or ‘each bin of the plurality of bins’ in lines 1-2 of claim 1 that ‘a bin’ is referring to:. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Claims 2-8 depend on claim 1.
Claims 5 and 13 recite the limitation "the one or bins". There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 9 recites the limitation "the bin" in line 7. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Claims 10-16 depend on claim 9.
Claim 17 recites the limitation "the bin" in lines 6 and 7. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Claims 18-20 depend on claim 17.
Claims 2-20 recites the limitation "the bin". There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claims.
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.
Claim(s) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by U.S. Pat. No. 10,771,106 by Jin et al, hereinafter Jin.
Regarding claim 1, Jin discloses a method comprising,
identifying, by one (i.e. Cable Modem Termination System (CMTS); Fig. 1, 120) or more processors (i.e. remote PHY device (RPD); Fig. 1, 110; col. 2, lines 26-37; col. 2, line 63 – col. 3, line 11), a plurality of bins (i.e. mini-slots; col. 3, lines 49-59), each bin of the plurality of
bins corresponding to a portion of a frequency range (i.e. frequency domain) of a cable line (i.e. full duplex upstream channel or FDX US channel) (col. 2, lines 22-24; col. 3, lines 54-59; col. 5, lines 10-13);
determining, by the one or more processors, that a power level (i.e. power) of an echo signal (i.e. echoes) of each of a bin of the plurality of bins and one or more bins adjacent to the bin exceed a respective threshold for the power level (col. 3, lines 12-20; col. 5, lines 20-34);
training (i.e. Echo Cancellation Training (ECT)), by the one or more processors, an echo canceller of the echo signal for the bin, responsive to the determining (col. 3, lines 21-37; col. 5, lines 57-64).
Regarding claim 9, Jin discloses a system, comprising:
at least one processor (i.e. Cable Modem Termination System (CMTS); Fig. 1, 120) coupled with memory or more processors (i.e. remote PHY device (RPD); Fig. 1, 110; col. 2, lines 26-37; col. 2, line 63 – col. 3, line 11) and configured to:
identify a plurality of bins (i.e. mini-slots; col. 3, lines 49-59), each bin of the plurality of bins corresponding to a portion of a frequency range (i.e. frequency domain) of a cable line (i.e. full duplex upstream channel or FDX US channel) (col. 2, lines 22-24; col. 3, lines 54-59; col. 5, lines 10-13);
determine that a power level (i.e. power) of an echo signal (i.e. echoes) of each of a bin of the plurality of bins and one or more bins adjacent to the bin exceed a respective threshold for the power level (col. 3, lines 12-20; col. 5, lines 20-34);
train an echo canceller of the echo signal for the bin, responsive to the determining (col. 3, lines 21-37; col. 5, lines 57-64).
Regarding claim 17, Jin discloses a non-transitory computer-readable medium (Fig. 1, 100; i.e. system) storing instructions that, when executed by one (i.e. Cable Modem Termination System (CMTS); Fig. 1, 120) or more processors (i.e. remote PHY device (RPD); Fig. 1, 110; col. 2, lines 26-37; col. 2, line 63 – col. 3, line 11), cause the one or more processors to:
identify a plurality of bins (i.e. mini-slots; col. 3, lines 49-59), each bin of the plurality of
bins corresponding to a portion of a frequency range (i.e. frequency domain) of a cable line (i.e. full duplex upstream channel or FDX US channel) (col. 2, lines 22-24; col. 3, lines 54-59; col. 5, lines 10-13);
determine that a power level (i.e. power) of an echo signal (i.e. echoes) of each of a bin of the plurality of bins and one or more bins adjacent to the bin exceed a respective threshold for the power level (col. 3, lines 12-20; col. 5, lines 20-34);
train (i.e. Echo Cancellation Training (ECT)), , responsive to the determining, an echo canceller of the echo signal for the bin (col. 3, lines 21-37; col. 5, lines 57-64).
Regarding claims 2, 10, and 18, Jin discloses:
increasing, by the one or more processors, a count (i.e. silent window detection) for training of the echo signal for the bin responsive to the training; and
updating, by the one or more processors, the power threshold of the bin responsive to comparing the count to a threshold for the count (col. 5, lines 20-56).
Regarding claims 3, 11, and 19, Jin discloses:
training, by the one or more processors, the echo canceller of the echo signal for the bin by adjusting a frequency domain filter (i.e. Echo Cancelation (EC) coefficients) of the echo canceller, the frequency domain filter associated with the portion of the frequency range corresponding to the bin (col. 5, lines 10-19).
Regarding claims 4, 12, and 20, Jin discloses:
comparing, by the one or more processors, the power level of the echo signal of each of the bin and the one or more bins adjacent to the bin with the respective threshold for the power level of each of the bin and the one or more bins for a plurality of cycles, the plurality of cycles within a time period between two consecutive periods (col. 5, line 41 - col. 6, line 16) of an echo canceller training opportunity (ECTO) of a data over cable service interface specification (DOCSIS) network (col. 3, lines 12-34).
Regarding claims 5 and 13, Jin discloses:
identifying, by the one or more processors, a radius (i.e. frame size) for the one or bins adjacent to the bin (col. 4, lines 26-36); and
selecting, by the one or more processors, a first subset of the one or more bins preceding the bin and a second subset of the one or more bins following the bin (i.e. ECT cycle duration) (col. 4, lines 26-36).
Regarding claims 6 and 14, Jin discloses:
detecting, by the one or more processors responsive to comparing the respective power
level of each of the bin and the one or more bins with the respective threshold for the power level of each of the bin and the one or more bins, that the respective power level of the echo signal of each of the bin and the one or more bins exceeds the respective threshold for each of the bin and the one or more bins (col. 3, lines 12-20; col. 5, lines 20-34); and
classifying, by the one or more processors, responsive to the detecting implemented within a time period between two consecutive echo canceller training opportunity (ECTO) periods of a data over cable service interface specification (DOCSIS) network, the bin as available for training of the echo signal (col. 3, lines 49-59); and
training, by the one or more processors, the echo canceller of the echo signal for the bin responsive to the classifying (col. 6, lines 8-28.
Regarding claims 7 and 15, Jin discloses:
training, by the one or more processors, one or more echo cancellers of each of the echo signals for each of the one or more bins responsive to determining that the respective power level of the echo signal of each of the bin and the one or more bins adjacent to the bin exceeds the respective threshold for the power level (col. 3, lines 21-37; col. 5, lines 57-64); and
increasing, by the one or more processors, a plurality of counts (i.e. silent window detection) for training the echo canceller of each of the bin and the one or more bins, responsive to the training (col. 5, lines 10-56).
Regarding claims 8 and 16, Jin discloses:
adjusting, by the one or more processors, the power level for the bin responsive to a count (i.e. silent window detection) for training of the echo signal for the bin during a time period between two consecutive echo canceller training opportunity (ECTO) periods exceeding a threshold for the count; and
comparing, by the one or more processors, the adjusted power level of the echo signal of each of the bin and the one or more bins with the respective threshold for the power level (col. 5, line 41 - col. 6, line 16).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See PTO-892 Form.
Any response to this action should be mailed to:
Commissioner for Patents
P.O. Box 1450
Alexandria, VA 22313-1450
Or faxed to:
(571) 273-8300 (for formal communications intended for entry)
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Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LISA HASHEM whose telephone number is 571-272-7542. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday and Thursday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. EST.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Carolyn Edwards can be reached on 571-270-7136.
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/LISA HASHEM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2692
/CAROLYN R EDWARDS/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2692
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