DETAILED ACTION
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 3/4/2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments have been fully considered but they are moot because the arguments do not apply to the new reference Mesh et al (US 2016/0099772) and/or interpretation being used in the current rejection.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1-6, 8-13 and 15-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang et al (CN 111314014A. English Machine Translation was provided with previous Non-Final Action) in view of Goel et al (US 2018/0287818) and Mesh et al (US 2016/0099772).
1). With regard to claim 1, Wang et al discloses a passive aggregation-layer network device (Figures 1-3, the combination of the multiplexers 120/220 and the fiber between the multiplexers 120/220; [0022] etc.: “achieve the coexistence of 4G networks and 5G networks and the upgrade to 5G networks without changing the existing wavelength division multiplexers in use and without increasing the number of optical fibers”. Note: an access layer is a part of a network and enables end users to connect to the network; therefore, Figures 1-3, the RRU and AAU, which are components of a radio access Network (RAN), which is access layer of a cellular network, belong to access layer; the aggregation layer is defined as a middle layer that facilitates simplified communication between the various parts of the network, focusing on efficient data integration, efficiently combines traffic from the access layer, ensuring resource optimization, then the multiplexers 120/220 and the fiber belong to the aggregation layer; and a core layer is the backbone of the network, which is responsible for transmitting data between the various parts of the network at high speed and high efficiency; therefore, the combination of the mutiple BBU/DU in Figure 1 can be viewed as a core layer. And the multiplexers 120/220 are passive device and have no power supplying, therefore, the multiplexers 120/220 is a passive aggregation-layer), connected respectively to a core-layer network device (the combination of the BBUs/DUs) and a plurality of access-layer network devices (e.g., the RRU and AAU), comprising:
a first multiplexer/demultiplexer (120) comprising:
a first optical interface (e.g., the interface that is used for the connection to the RRU(4G) l1/l2) connected to an optical module (the optical module in the RRU(4G) l1/l2, [0029]) of a first access-layer network device (the RRU(4G) l1/l2) via a first optical fiber cable ([0034]-[0038] etc.), and
a second optical interface (e.g., the interface that is used for the connection to the RRU(4G) l3/l4) connected to an optical module (the optical module in the RRU(4G) l3/l4) of a second access-layer network device (the RRU(4G) l3/l4) via a second optical fiber cable ([0034]-[0038] etc.);
a second multiplexer/demultiplexer (220) comprising:
a third optical interface (e.g., the interface that is used for the connection to the BBU/DU l1/l2) connected to a first optical module (the optical module in the BBU/DU l1/l2) of a core-layer network device (the combination of the all six BBU/DU), and
a fourth optical interface (e.g., the interface that is used for the connection to the BBU/DU l3/l4) connected to a second optical module (the optical module in the BBU/DU l3/l4) of the core-layer network device (the combination of the all six BBU/DU); and
a first optical fiber (the fiber between the multiplexer 120 and multiplexer 220) connecting the first multiplexer/demultiplexer with the second multiplexer/demultiplexer (Figure 1), wherein the first optical fiber is an outdoor optical fiber cable (as shown in Figures 1-3, the system disclosed by Wang is a 5G system with RRU (remote radio unit)/AAU (active antenna unit) and BBU (baseband processing unit)/DU (distribution unit), and [0029], “[t]he current implementation method of the MWDM solution is generally based on reusing the first 6 wavelengths of 25G CWDM, increasing TEC temperature control, and shifting the wavelength by 3.5nm left and right to form 12 wavelengths. The first 8 wavelengths are matched with DML+PIN+TEC, and the last 4 wavelengths are matched with DML+APD+TEC to meet the 10km link budget”; the WDM 120 is associated with the “remote” RRU/AAU, and the WDM 220 is associated with “central office”; then it is obvious to one skilled in the art that the fiber cable between the base station wavelength division multiplexer 120 and the central office wavelength division multiplexer 220 is an outdoor optical fiber cable);
wherein the first multiplexer/demultiplexer is configured to receive a first optical signal (l1) sent by the optical module of the first access-layer network device (the optical module in the RRU(4G) l1/l2) and a second optical signal (l3) sent by the optical module of the second access-layer network device (the optical module in the RRU(4G) l3/l4), couple the first optical signal and the second optical signal to obtain a first coupled optical signal (the multiplexer 120 multiplexes/couples the first optical signal l1 and the second optical signal l3 to obtain a multiplexed signal and then sends the multiplexed signal to the fiber), and send the first coupled optical signal to the second multiplexer/demultiplexer by using the first optical fiber (Figure 1, the multiplexed signal is transmitted over the fiber to the second multiplexer 220); and
the second multiplexer/demultiplexer (220) is configured to decouple the first coupled optical signal to obtain the first optical signal and the second optical signal (the second multiplexer 220 demultiplexes the input multiplexed signal into demultiplexed signals l1 and l3), send the first optical signal (l1) to the first optical module of the core-layer network device (the optical module in the BBU/DU l1/l2), and send the second optical signal (l3) to the second optical module of the core-layer network device (the optical module in the BBU/DU l3/l4).
But, Wang et al does not expressly disclose: wherein the first optical signal and the second optical signal are Ethernet signals; and Wang et al does not expressly use the phrase core-layer network device to describe the baseband processing unit; and Wang et al also does not expressly disclose: the first and second optical fiber cables are a first indoor optical fiber cable and a second indoor optical fiber cable, respectively.
Regarding the Ethernet signals and core-layer network device, however, Goel et al discloses a three-layer network system (Figures 9-13), which includes core-layer network device (22 in Figures 9 and 11; 210 in Figure 10), aggregation network device (optical permutor 132 in Figures 9 and 11; 212 in Figure 10), and a plurality of access-layer network devices (access nodes 17i in Figure 9; or 206 in Figure 10; and 19 in Figure 11). And the aggregation network device or the optical permutor is a multi wavelength division multiplexing device comprises optical multiplexers and demultiplexers (Figures 15-19). That is, Goel et al discloses that a multi wavelength division multiplexing device can be used as an aggregation network device in a three-layer network device.
And Goel et al also discloses that the optical signals to/from the access-layer devices can be Ethernet signals ([0064]-[0069], [0077], [0130] and [0133]).
Regarding the indoor optical fibers, first, as shown in Figures 10 and 11 etc., Goel et al discloses that a group of access nodes can be put together, e.g., 211a in Figure 10, or into a rack, e.g., one of the racks 70i; then it is obvious that the fibers associated with access-layer device can be indoor fibers. Also, the similar multiplexer/demultiplexer system as disclosed by Wang has been widely used in the system with indoor fibers and outdoor fiber. E.g., Mesh et al discloses an optical communication system (Figures 3-5), in which a first multiplexer/demultiplexer (e.g., MUX 60 in Figure 5; MUX 5 in Figure 3) is connected to a plurality of indoor fibers (58a and 58b etc.; or the fibers for l1 to lN in Figure 3; [0021] and [0053]-[0061]), and a second multiplexer/demultiplexer (e.g., DEMUX 62 in Figure 5; MUX 7 in Figure 3) is connected to another set of optical devices, and a first optical fiber (6 in Figure 3, or 61 in Figure 5) connecting the first multiplexer/demultiplexer with the second multiplexer/demultiplexer (Figures 3-5), wherein the first optical fiber is an outdoor optical fiber cable ([0021] and [0058]-[0061]). That is, Mesh et al discloses that a plurality of indoor optical fibers can be connected to a multiplexer/demultiplexer, and then the multiplexer/demultiplexer is connected to an outdoor fiber cable that is connected to another multiplexer/demultiplexer.
Wang et al discloses a multi wavelength division multiplexing (MWDM) optical communication network, and wavelength multiplexers/demultiplexers are used as an aggregation device to interconnect network device RRU etc. with BBU etc.; and Goel et al discloses that a multi wavelength multiplexing unit (optical permutor) can be used to as an aggregation-layer device between a core-layer device and a plurality of access-layer device; and Mesh et al discloses that a multiplexer/demultiplexer can be used to multiplex optical signals from multiple indoor fibers and send out multiplexed signal over an outdoor fiber. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Goel et al with the system/method of Wang et al so that a simple optical multi wavelength multiplexer/demultiplexer structure can used as an aggregation-layer device between a core-layer device and access-network devices in a three-layer optical network system based on system needs and customer requirements, and to multiplex optical signals from multiple indoor fiber and transmit multiplexed signal over an outdoor fiber, and the system can be used to transmit Ethernet signals with high speed.
2). With regard to claim 2, Wang et al and Goel et al and Mesh et al disclose all of the subject matter as applied to claim 1 above, and the combination of Wang et al and Goel et al and Mesh et al further discloses wherein the second multiplexer/demultiplexer (e.g., Wang: 220. Also refer Goel: Figures 12 and 15-16) is configured to receive a third optical signal (Wang: l2) sent by the first optical module of the core-layer network device (Wang: the optical module in the BBU/DU l1/l2) and a fourth optical signal (Wang: l4) sent by the second optical module of the core-layer network device (Wang: the optical module in the BBU/DU l3/l4), couple the third optical signal and the fourth optical signal to obtain a second coupled optical signal (Wang: the multiplexer 220 multiplexes/couples the third optical signal l2 and the fourth optical signal l4 to obtain a multiplexed signal and then sends the multiplexed signal to the fiber), and send the second coupled optical signal to the first multiplexer/demultiplexer by using the first optical fiber (Wang: Figure 1, the multiplexed signal is transmitted from 220 over the fiber to the first multiplexer 120. Also refer Goel: Figures 12 and 15-16. Also refer to Figures 3-5 of Mesh et al); and
the first multiplexer/demultiplexer (Wang: 120) is configured to decouple the second coupled optical signal to obtain the third optical signal and the fourth optical signal (Wang: the first multiplexer 120 demultiplexes the input multiplexed signal into demultiplexed signals l2 and l4), send the third optical signal (Wang: l2) to the optical module of the first access-layer network device (Wang: the optical module in the RRU(4G) l1/l2), and send the fourth optical signal (l4) to the optical module of the second access-layer network device (Wang: the optical module in the RRU(4G) l3/l4).
3). With regard to claim 3, Wang et al and Goel et al and Mesh et al disclose all of the subject matter as applied to claim 1 above, and the combination of Wang et al and Goel et al and Mesh et al further discloses wherein
the optical module of the first access-layer network device has a first transmit center wavelength (Wang: l1) and a first receive center wavelength (Wang: l2), and the first transmit center wavelength (Wang: 1267.5 nm) and the first receive center wavelength (Wang: 1274.5 nm) are different (Wang: refer Table 1 in [0025] of the original disclosure. Also refer Goel: Figures 12 and 15-16. Also refer to Figures 3-5 of Mesh et al);
the optical module of the second access-layer network device has a second transmit center wavelength (Wang: l3) and a second receive center wavelength (Wang: l4), and the second transmit center wavelength (Wang: 1287.5 nm) and the second receive center wavelength (Wang: 1294.5 nm) are different;
the first optical module of the core-layer network device has a third transmit center wavelength (Wang: l2) and a third receive center wavelength (Wang: l1), and the third transmit center wavelength (Wang: 1274.5 nm) and the third receive center wavelength (Wang: 1267.5 nm) are different; and
the second optical module of the core-layer network device has a fourth transmit center wavelength (Wang: l4) and a fourth receive center wavelength (Wang: l3), and the fourth transmit center wavelength (Wang: 1294.5 nm) and the fourth receive center wavelength (Wang: 1287.5 nm) are different.
4). With regard to claim 4, Wang et al and Goel et al and Mesh et al disclose all of the subject matter as applied to claims 1 and 3 above, and the combination of Wang et al and Goel et al and Mesh et al further discloses, wherein
the first transmit center wavelength (Wang: l1) and the second transmit center wavelength (Wang: l3) are different;
the first receive center wavelength (Wang: l2) and the second receive center wavelength (Wang: l4) are different;
the third transmit center wavelength (Wang: l2) and the fourth transmit center wavelength (Wang: l4) are different; and
the third receive center wavelength (Wang: l1) and the fourth receive center wavelength (Wang: l3) are different (also refer to Figures 3-5 of Mesh et al).
5). With regard to claim 5, Wang et al and Goel et al and Mesh et al disclose all of the subject matter as applied to claims 1 and 3 above, and the combination of Wang et al and Goel et al and Mesh et al further discloses, wherein
the first transmit center wavelength (Wang: l1) corresponds to the third receive center wavelength (Wang: l1);
the second transmit center wavelength (Wang: l3) corresponds to the fourth receive center wavelength (Wang: l3);
the first receive center wavelength (Wang: l2) corresponds to the third transmit center wavelength (Wang: l2); and
the second receive center wavelengths (Wang: l4) corresponds to the fourth transmit center wavelength (Wang: l4. Also refer to Figures 3-5 of Mesh et al).
6). With regard to claim 6, Wang et al and Goel et al and Mesh et al disclose all of the subject matter as applied to claim 1 above, and the combination of Wang et al and Goel et al and Mesh et al further discloses, wherein the first multiplexer/demultiplexer and the second multiplexer/demultiplexer are of a type of a coarse wavelength division multiplexer (Wang: refer Table 1 in [0025] of the original disclosure; and [0029]-[0031] of the machine translation), or the first multiplexer/demultiplexer and the second multiplexer/demultiplexer are of a type of a dense wavelength division multiplexer (Figures 3-5 of Mesh et al).
7). With regard to claim 8, Wang et al discloses a network system (Figures 1-3, the combination of the multiplexers 120/220 and the fiber between the multiplexers 120/220; [0022] etc.: “achieve the coexistence of 4G networks and 5G networks and the upgrade to 5G networks without changing the existing wavelength division multiplexers in use and without increasing the number of optical fibers”. Note: an access layer is a part of a network and enables end users to connect to the network; therefore, Figures 1-3, the RRU and AAU, which are components of a radio access Network (RAN), which is access layer of a cellular network, belong to access layer; the aggregation layer is defined as a middle layer that facilitates simplified communication between the various parts of the network, focusing on efficient data integration, efficiently combines traffic from the access layer, ensuring resource optimization, then the multiplexers 120/220 and the fiber belong to the aggregation layer; and a core layer is the backbone of the network, which is responsible for transmitting data between the various parts of the network at high speed and high efficiency; therefore, the all BBU/DU in Figure 1 can be viewed as a core layer. And the multiplexers 120/220 are passive device and have no power supplying, therefore, the multiplexers 120/220 is a passive aggregation-layer), wherein the network system comprises a core-layer network device (e.g., the all BBU/DU), a passive aggregation-layer network device (Figure 1, the combination of the multiplexers 120/220 and the fiber between the multiplexers 120/220. And the multiplexers 120/220 are passive device and have no power supplying, therefore, the multiplexers 120/220 is a passive aggregation-layer), a first access-layer network device (e.g., the RRU and AAU in Figure 1; and RRU(4G) l1/l2 is the first access-layer network device), and a second access-layer network device (RRU(4G) l3/l4), wherein the passive aggregation-layer network device comprises:
a first multiplexer/demultiplexer (120) comprising:
a first optical interface (e.g., the interface that is used for the connection to the RRU(4G) l1/l2) connected to an optical module (the optical module in the RRU(4G) l1/l2, [0029]) of the first access-layer network device (the RRU(4G) l1/l2) via a first optical fiber cable ([0034]-[0038] etc.), and
a second optical interface (e.g., the interface that is used for the connection to the RRU(4G) l3/l4) connected to an optical module (the optical module in the RRU(4G) l3/l4) of the second access-layer network device (the RRU(4G) l3/l4) via a second optical fiber cable ([0034]-[0038] etc.);
a second multiplexer/demultiplexer (220) comprising:
a third optical interface (e.g., the interface that is used for the connection to the BBU/DU l1/l2) connected to a first optical module (the optical module in the BBU/DU l1/l2) of the core-layer network device (the combination of the six BBU/DU), and
a fourth optical interface (e.g., the interface that is used for the connection to the BBU/DU l3/l4) connected to a second optical module (the optical module in the BBU/DU l3/l4) of the core-layer network device (the combination of the six BBU/DU); and
a first optical fiber (the fiber between the multiplexer 120 and multiplexer 220) connecting the first multiplexer/demultiplexer with the second multiplexer/demultiplexer (Figure 1), wherein the first optical fiber is an outdoor optical fiber cable (as shown in Figures 1-3, the system disclosed by Wang is a 5G system with RRU (remote radio unit)/AAU (active antenna unit) and BBU (baseband processing unit)/DU (distribution unit), and [0029], “[t]he current implementation method of the MWDM solution is generally based on reusing the first 6 wavelengths of 25G CWDM, increasing TEC temperature control, and shifting the wavelength by 3.5nm left and right to form 12 wavelengths. The first 8 wavelengths are matched with DML+PIN+TEC, and the last 4 wavelengths are matched with DML+APD+TEC to meet the 10km link budget”; the WDM 120 is associated with the “remote” RRU/AAU, and the WDM 220 is associated with “central office”; then it is obvious to one skilled in the art that the fiber cable between the base station wavelength division multiplexer 120 and the central office wavelength division multiplexer 220 is an outdoor optical fiber cable);
wherein the first multiplexer/demultiplexer is configured to receive a first optical signal (l1) sent by the optical module of the first access-layer network device (the optical module in the RRU(4G) l1/l2) and a second optical signal (l3) sent by the optical module of the second access-layer network device (the optical module in the RRU(4G) l3/l4), couple the first optical signal and the second optical signal to obtain a first coupled optical signal (the multiplexer 120 multiplexes/couples the first optical signal l1 and the second optical signal l3 to obtain a multiplexed signal and then sends the multiplexed signal to the fiber), and send the first coupled optical signal to the second multiplexer/demultiplexer by using the first optical fiber (Figure 1, the multiplexed signal is transmitted over the fiber to the second multiplexer 220); and
the second multiplexer/demultiplexer (220) is configured to decouple the first coupled optical signal to obtain the first optical signal and the second optical signal (the second multiplexer 220 demultiplexes the input multiplexed signal into demultiplexed signals l1 and l3), send the first optical signal (l1) to the first optical module of the core-layer network device (the optical module in the BBU/DU l1/l2), and send the second optical signal (l3) to the second optical module of the core-layer network device (the optical module in the BBU/DU l3/l4).
But, Wang et al does not expressly disclose wherein the first optical signal and the second optical signal are Ethernet signals; and Wang et al does not expressly use the phrase core-layer network device to describe the baseband processing unit; and Wang et al also does not expressly disclose: the first and second optical fiber cables are a first indoor optical fiber cable and a second indoor optical fiber cable, respectively.
Regarding the Ethernet signals and core-layer network device, however, Goel et al discloses a three-layer network system (Figures 9-13), which includes core-layer network device (22 in Figures 9 and 11; 210 in Figure 10), aggregation network device (optical permutor 132 in Figures 9 and 11; 212 in Figure 10), and a plurality of access-layer network devices (access nodes 17i in Figure 9; or 206 in Figure 10; and 19 in Figure 11). And the aggregation network device or the optical permutor is a multi wavelength division multiplexing device comprises optical multiplexers and demultiplexers (Figures 15-19). That is, Goel et al discloses that a multi wavelength division multiplexing device can be used as an aggregation network device in a three-layer network device.
And Goel et al also discloses that the optical signals to/from the access-layer devices can be Ethernet signals ([0064]-[0069], [0077], [0130] and [0133]).
Regarding the indoor optical fibers, first, as shown in Figures 10 and 11 etc., Goel et al discloses that a group of access nodes can be put together, e.g., 211a in Figure 10, or into a rack, e.g., one of the racks 70i; then it is obvious that the fibers associated with access-layer device can be indoor fibers. Also, the similar multiplexer/demultiplexer system as disclosed by Wang has been widely used in the system with indoor fibers and outdoor fiber. E.g., Mesh et al discloses an optical communication system (Figures 3-5), in which a first multiplexer/demultiplexer (e.g., MUX 60 in Figure 5; MUX 5 in Figure 3) is connected to a plurality of indoor fibers (58a and 58b etc.; or the fibers for l1 to lN in Figure 3; [0021] and [0053]-[0061]), and a second multiplexer/demultiplexer (e.g., DEMUX 62 in Figure 5; MUX 7 in Figure 3) is connected to another set of optical devices, and a first optical fiber (6 in Figure 3, or 61 in Figure 5) connecting the first multiplexer/demultiplexer with the second multiplexer/demultiplexer (Figures 3-5), wherein the first optical fiber is an outdoor optical fiber cable ([0021] and [0058]-[0061]). That is, Mesh et al discloses that a plurality of indoor optical fibers can be connected to a multiplexer/demultiplexer, and then the multiplexer/demultiplexer is connected to an outdoor fiber cable that is connected to another multiplexer/demultiplexer.
Wang et al discloses a multi wavelength division multiplexing (MWDM) optical communication network, and wavelength multiplexers/demultiplexers are used as an aggregation device to interconnect network device RRU etc. with BBU etc.; and Goel et al discloses that a multi wavelength multiplexing unit (optical permutor) can be used to as an aggregation-layer device between a core-layer device and a plurality of access-layer device; and Mesh et al discloses that a multiplexer/demultiplexer can be used to multiplex optical signals from multiple indoor fibers and send out multiplexed signal over an outdoor fiber. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Goel et al with the system/method of Wang et al so that a simple optical multi wavelength multiplexer/demultiplexer structure can used as an aggregation-layer device between a core-layer device and access-network devices in a three-layer optical network system based on system needs and customer requirements, and to multiplex optical signals from multiple indoor fiber and transmit multiplexed signal over an outdoor fiber, and the system can be used to transmit Ethernet signals with high speed.
8). With regard to claim 9, Wang et al and Goel et al and Mesh et al disclose all of the subject matter as applied to claim 8 above, and the combination of Wang et al and Goel et al and Mesh et al further discloses wherein the second multiplexer/demultiplexer (e.g., Wang: 220. Also refer Goel: Figures 12 and 15-16) is configured to receive a third optical signal (Wang: l2) sent by the first optical module of the core-layer network device (Wang: the optical module in the BBU/DU l1/l2) and a fourth optical signal (Wang: l4) sent by the second optical module of the core-layer network device (Wang: the optical module in the BBU/DU l3/l4), couple the third optical signal and the fourth optical signal to obtain a second coupled optical signal (Wang: the multiplexer 220 multiplexes/couples the third optical signal l2 and the fourth optical signal l4 to obtain a multiplexed signal and then sends the multiplexed signal to the fiber), and send the second coupled optical signal to the first multiplexer/demultiplexer by using the first optical fiber (Wang: Figure 1, the multiplexed signal is transmitted from 220 over the fiber to the first multiplexer 120. Also refer Goel: Figures 12 and 15-16. Also refer to Figures 3-5 of Mesh et al); and
the first multiplexer/demultiplexer (Wang: 120) is configured to decouple the second coupled optical signal to obtain the third optical signal and the fourth optical signal (Wang: the first multiplexer 120 demultiplexes the input multiplexed signal into demultiplexed signals l2 and l4), send the third optical signal (Wang: l2) to the optical module of the first access-layer network device (Wang: the optical module in the RRU(4G) l1/l2), and send the fourth optical signal (Wang: l4) to the optical module of the second access-layer network device (Wang: the optical module in the RRU(4G) l3/l4).
9). With regard to claim 10, Wang et al and Goel et al and Mesh et al disclose all of the subject matter as applied to claim 8 above, and the combination of Wang et al and Goel et al and Mesh et al further discloses wherein
the optical module of the first access-layer network device has a first transmit center wavelength (Wang: l1) and a first receive center wavelength (Wang: l2), and the first transmit center wavelength (Wang: 1267.5 nm) and the first receive center wavelength (Wang: 1274.5 nm) are different (Wang: refer Table 1 in [0025] of the original disclosure);
the optical module of the second access-layer network device has a second transmit center wavelength (Wang: l3) and a second receive center wavelength (Wang: l4), and the second transmit center wavelength (Wang: 1287.5 nm) and the second receive center wavelength (Wang: 1294.5 nm) are different;
the first optical module of the core-layer network device has a third transmit center wavelength (Wang: l2) and a third receive center wavelength (Wang: l1), and the third transmit center wavelength (Wang: 1274.5 nm) and the third receive center wavelength (Wang: 1267.5 nm) are different; and
the second optical module of the core-layer network device has a fourth transmit center wavelength (Wang: l4) and a fourth receive center wavelength (Wang: l3), and the fourth transmit center wavelength (Wang: 1294.5) and the fourth receive center wavelength (Wang: 1287.5 nm) are different (also refer to Figures 3-5 of Mesh et al).
10). With regard to claim 11, Wang et al and Goel et al and Mesh et al disclose all of the subject matter as applied to claims 8 and 10 above, and the combination of Wang et al and Goel et al and Mesh et al further discloses, wherein
the first transmit center wavelength (Wang: l1) and the second transmit center wavelength (Wang: l3) are different;
the first receive center wavelength (Wang: l2) and the second receive center wavelength (Wang: l4) are different;
the third transmit center wavelength (Wang: l2) and the fourth transmit center wavelength (Wang: l4) are different; and
the third receive center wavelength (Wang: l1) and the fourth receive center wavelength (Wang: l3) are different (also refer to Figures 3-5 of Mesh et al).
11). With regard to claim 12, Wang et al and Goel et al and Mesh et al disclose all of the subject matter as applied to claims 8 and 10 above, and the combination of Wang et al and Goel et al and Mesh et al further discloses, wherein
the first transmit center wavelength (Wang: l1) corresponds to the third receive center wavelength (Wang: l1);
the second transmit center wavelength (Wang: l3) corresponds to the fourth receive center wavelength (Wang: l3);
the first receive center wavelength (Wang: l2) corresponds to the third transmit center wavelength (Wang: l2); and
the second receive center wavelengths (Wang: l4) corresponds to the fourth transmit center wavelength (Wang: l4. Also refer to Figures 3-5 of Mesh et al).
12). With regard to claim 13, Wang et al and Goel et al and Mesh et al disclose all of the subject matter as applied to claim 8 above, and the combination of Wang et al and Goel et al and Mesh et al further discloses, wherein the first multiplexer/demultiplexer and the second multiplexer/demultiplexer are of a type of a coarse wavelength division multiplexer (Wang: refer Table 1 in [0025] of the original disclosure; and [0029]-[0031] of the machine translation), or the first multiplexer/demultiplexer and the second multiplexer/demultiplexer are of a type of a dense wavelength division multiplexer (refer to Figures 3-5 of Mesh et al).
13). With regard to claim 15, Wang et al discloses a working method for a passive aggregation-layer network device (Figures 1-3, the combination of the multiplexers 120/220 and the fiber between the multiplexers 120/220; [0022] etc.: “achieve the coexistence of 4G networks and 5G networks and the upgrade to 5G networks without changing the existing wavelength division multiplexers in use and without increasing the number of optical fibers”. Note: an access layer is a part of a network and enables end users to connect to the network; therefore, Figures 1-3, the RRU and AAU, which are components of a radio access Network (RAN), which is access layer of a cellular network, belong to access layer; the aggregation layer is defined as a middle layer that facilitates simplified communication between the various parts of the network, focusing on efficient data integration, efficiently combines traffic from the access layer, ensuring resource optimization, then the multiplexers 120/220 and the fiber belong to the aggregation layer; and a core layer is the backbone of the network, which is responsible for transmitting data between the various parts of the network at high speed and high efficiency; therefore, the mutiple BBU/DU in Figure 1 can be viewed as a core layer. And the multiplexers 120/220 are passive device and have no power supplying, therefore, the multiplexers 120/220 is a passive aggregation-layer), wherein the passive aggregation-layer network device comprises a first multiplexer/demultiplexer (120), a second multiplexer/demultiplexer (220), and a first optical fiber (the fiber between the multiplexer 120 and multiplexer 220) connecting the first multiplexer/demultiplexer with the second multiplexer/demultiplexer wherein the first optical fiber is an outdoor optical fiber cable (as shown in Figures 1-3, the system disclosed by Wang is a 5G system with RRU (remote radio unit)/AAU (active antenna unit) and BBU (baseband processing unit)/DU (distribution unit), and [0029], “[t]he current implementation method of the MWDM solution is generally based on reusing the first 6 wavelengths of 25G CWDM, increasing TEC temperature control, and shifting the wavelength by 3.5nm left and right to form 12 wavelengths. The first 8 wavelengths are matched with DML+PIN+TEC, and the last 4 wavelengths are matched with DML+APD+TEC to meet the 10km link budget”; the WDM 120 is associated with the “remote” RRU/AAU, and the WDM 220 is associated with “central office”; then it is obvious to one skilled in the art that the fiber cable between the base station wavelength division multiplexer 120 and the central office wavelength division multiplexer 220 is an outdoor optical fiber cable), the first multiplexer/demultiplexer is connected to an optical module (the optical module in the RRU(4G) l1/l2, [0029]) of a first access-layer network device (the RRU(4G) l1/l2, [0029]) via a first optical fiber cable ([0034]-[0038] etc.) and an optical module (the optical module in the RRU(4G) l3/l4) of a second access-layer network device (the RRU(4G) l3/l4) via a second optical fiber cable ([0034]-[0038] etc.), the second multiplexer/demultiplexer is connected to a first optical module (the optical module in the BBU/DU l1/l2) and a second optical module (the optical module in the BBU/DU l3/l4) of a core-layer network device (e.g., all six BBU/DU), and the working method for the passive aggregation-layer network device comprises:
receiving, by the first multiplexer/demultiplexer, a first optical signal (l1) sent by the optical module of the first access-layer network device (the optical module in the RRU(4G) l1/l2) and a second optical signal (l3) sent by the optical module of the second access-layer network device (the optical module in the RRU(4G) l3/l4), coupling the first optical signal and the second optical signal to obtain a first coupled optical signal (the multiplexer 120 multiplexes/couples the first optical signal l1 and the second optical signal l3 to obtain a multiplexed signal and then sends the multiplexed signal to the fiber), and sending the first coupled optical signal to the second multiplexer/demultiplexer by using the optical fiber (Figure 1, the multiplexed signal is transmitted over the fiber to the second multiplexer 220); and
decoupling, by the second multiplexer/demultiplexer (220), the first coupled optical signal to obtain the first optical signal and the second optical signal (the second multiplexer 220 demultiplexes the input multiplexed signal into demultiplexed signals l1 and l3), sending the first optical signal (l1) to the first optical module of the core-layer network device (the optical module in the BBU/DU l1/l2), and sending the second optical signal (l3) to the second optical module of the core-layer network device (the optical module in the BBU/DU l3/l4).
But, Wang et al does not expressly disclose wherein the first optical signal and the second optical signal are Ethernet signals; and Wang et al does not expressly use the phrase core-layer network device to describe the baseband processing unit; and Wang et al also does not expressly disclose: the first and second optical fiber cables are a first indoor optical fiber cable and a second indoor optical fiber cable, respectively.
Regarding the Ethernet signals and core-layer network device, however, Goel et al discloses a three-layer network system (Figures 9-13), which includes core-layer network device (22 in Figures 9 and 11; 210 in Figure 10), aggregation network device (optical permutor 132 in Figures 9 and 11; 212 in Figure 10), and a plurality of access-layer network devices (access nodes 17i in Figure 9; or 206 in Figure 10; and 19 in Figure 11). And the aggregation network device or the optical permutor is a multi wavelength division multiplexing device comprises optical multiplexers and demultiplexers (Figures 15-19). That is, Goel et al discloses that a multi wavelength division multiplexing device can be used as an aggregation network device in a three-layer network device.
And Goel et al also discloses that the optical signals to/from the access-layer devices can be Ethernet signals ([0064]-[0069], [0077], [0130] and [0133]).
Regarding the indoor optical fibers, first, as shown in Figures 10 and 11 etc., Goel et al discloses that a group of access nodes can be put together, e.g., 211a in Figure 10, or into a rack, e.g., one of the racks 70i; then it is obvious that the fibers associated with access-layer device can be indoor fibers. Also, the similar multiplexer/demultiplexer system as disclosed by Wang has been widely used in the system with indoor fibers and outdoor fiber. E.g., Mesh et al discloses an optical communication system (Figures 3-5), in which a first multiplexer/demultiplexer (e.g., MUX 60 in Figure 5; MUX 5 in Figure 3) is connected to a plurality of indoor fibers (58a and 58b etc.; or the fibers for l1 to lN in Figure 3; [0021] and [0053]-[0061]), and a second multiplexer/demultiplexer (e.g., DEMUX 62 in Figure 5; MUX 7 in Figure 3) is connected to another set of optical devices, and a first optical fiber (6 in Figure 3, or 61 in Figure 5) connecting the first multiplexer/demultiplexer with the second multiplexer/demultiplexer (Figures 3-5), wherein the first optical fiber is an outdoor optical fiber cable ([0021] and [0058]-[0061]). That is, Mesh et al discloses that a plurality of indoor optical fibers can be connected to a multiplexer/demultiplexer, and then the multiplexer/demultiplexer is connected to an outdoor fiber cable that is connected to another multiplexer/demultiplexer.
Wang et al discloses a multi wavelength division multiplexing (MWDM) optical communication network, and wavelength multiplexers/demultiplexers are used as an aggregation device to interconnect network device RRU etc. with BBU etc.; and Goel et al discloses that a multi wavelength multiplexing unit (optical permutor) can be used to as an aggregation-layer device between a core-layer device and a plurality of access-layer device; and Mesh et al discloses that a multiplexer/demultiplexer can be used to multiplex optical signals from multiple indoor fibers and send out multiplexed signal over an outdoor fiber. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Goel et al with the system/method of Wang et al so that a simple optical multi wavelength multiplexer/demultiplexer structure can used as an aggregation-layer device between a core-layer device and access-network devices in a three-layer optical network system based on system needs and customer requirements, and to multiplex optical signals from multiple indoor fiber and transmit multiplexed signal over an outdoor fiber, and the system can be used to transmit Ethernet signals with high speed.
14). With regard to claim 16, Wang et al and Goel et al and Mesh et al disclose all of the subject matter as applied to claim 15 above, and the combination of Wang et al and Goel et al and Mesh et al further discloses the working method for the passive aggregation-layer network device according to claim 15, comprising:
receiving, by the second multiplexer/demultiplexer (e.g., Wang: 220. Also refer Goel: Figures 12 and 15-16), a third optical signal (Wang: l2) sent by the first optical module of the core-layer network device (Wang: the optical module in the BBU/DU l1/l2) and a fourth optical signal (Wang: l4) sent by the second optical module of the core-layer network device (Wang: the optical module in the BBU/DU l3/l4), coupling the third optical signal and the fourth optical signal to obtain a second coupled optical signal (Wang: the multiplexer 220 multiplexes/couples the third optical signal l2 and the fourth optical signal l4 to obtain a multiplexed signal and then sends the multiplexed signal to the fiber), and sending the second coupled optical signal to the first multiplexer/demultiplexer by using the optical fiber (Wang: Figure 1, the multiplexed signal is transmitted from 220 over the fiber to the first multiplexer 120. Also refer Goel: Figures 12 and 15-16. Also refer to Figures 3-5 of Mesh et al); and
decoupling, by the first multiplexer/demultiplexer (Wang: 120), the second coupled optical signal to obtain the third optical signal and the fourth optical signal (Wang: the first multiplexer 120 demultiplexes the input multiplexed signal into demultiplexed signals l2 and l4), sending the third optical signal (Wang: l2) to the optical module of the first access-layer network device (Wang: the optical module in the RRU(4G) l1/l2), and sending the fourth optical signal (Wang: l4) to the optical module of the second access-layer network device (Wang: the optical module in the RRU(4G) l3/l4).
15). With regard to claim 17, Wang et al and Goel et al and Mesh et al disclose all of the subject matter as applied to claim 15 above, and the combination of Wang et al and Goel et al and Mesh et al further discloses wherein
the optical module of the first access-layer network device has a first transmit center wavelength (Wang: l1) and a first receive center wavelength (Wang: l2), and the first transmit center wavelength (Wang: 1267.5 nm) and the first receive center wavelength (Wang: 1274.5 nm) are different (Wang: refer Table 1 in [0025] of the original disclosure);
the optical module of the second access-layer network device has a second transmit center wavelength (Wang: l3) and a second receive center wavelength (Wang: l4), and the second transmit center wavelength (Wang: 1287.5 nm) and the second receive center wavelength (Wang: 1294.5 nm) are different;
the first optical module of the core-layer network device has a third transmit center wavelength (Wang: l2) and a third receive center wavelength (Wang: l1), and the third transmit center wavelength (Wang: 1274.5 nm) and the third receive center wavelength (Wang: 1267.5 nm) are different; and
the second optical module of the core-layer network device has a fourth transmit center wavelength (Wang: l4) and a fourth receive center wavelength (Wang: l3), and the fourth transmit center wavelength (Wang: 1294.5) and the fourth receive center wavelength (Wang: 1287.5 nm) are different (also refer to Figures 3-5 of Mesh et al).
16). With regard to claim 18, Wang et al and Goel et al and Mesh et al disclose all of the subject matter as applied to claims 15 and 17 above, and the combination of Wang et al and Goel et al and Mesh et al further discloses, wherein
the first transmit center wavelength (Wang: l1) and the second transmit center wavelength (Wang: l3) are different;
the first receive center wavelength (Wang: l2) and the second receive center wavelength (Wang: l4) are different;
the third transmit center wavelength (Wang: l2) and the fourth transmit center wavelength (Wang: l4) are different; and
the third receive center wavelength (Wang: l1) and the fourth receive center wavelength (Wang: l3) are different (also refer to Figures 3-5 of Mesh et al).
17). With regard to claim 19, Wang et al and Goel et al and Mesh et al disclose all of the subject matter as applied to claims 15 and 17 above, and the combination of Wang et al and Goel et al and Mesh et al further discloses, wherein
the first transmit center wavelength (Wang: l1) corresponds to the third receive center wavelength (Wang: l1);
the second transmit center wavelength (Wang: l3) corresponds to the fourth receive center wavelength (Wang: l3);
the first receive center wavelength (Wang: l2) corresponds to the third transmit center wavelength (Wang: l2); and
the second receive center wavelengths (Wang: l4) corresponds to the fourth transmit center wavelength (Wang: l4. Also refer to Figures 3-5 of Mesh et al).
18). With regard to claim 20, Wang et al and Goel et al and Mesh et al disclose all of the subject matter as applied to claim 15 above, and the combination of Wang et al and Goel et al and Mesh et al further discloses, wherein the first multiplexer/demultiplexer and the second multiplexer/demultiplexer are of a type of a coarse wavelength division multiplexer (Wang: refer Table 1 in [0025] of the original disclosure; and [0029]-[0031] of the machine translation), or the first multiplexer/demultiplexer and the second multiplexer/demultiplexer are of a type of a dense wavelength division multiplexer (Figures 3-5 of Mesh et al).
Claims 7 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang et al and Goel et al and Mesh et al as applied to claims 1 and 8 above, and further in view of Yan et al (CN 105099556 B. English Machine Translation was provided with previous Non-Final Action).
Wang et al and Goel et al and Mesh et al discloses all of the subject matter as applied to claims 1 and 8 above. And the combination of Wang et al and Goel et al and Mesh et al further discloses wherein the passive aggregation-layer network device comprises a plurality of aggregation modules (e.g., Goel: Figures 9 and 11-12, plurality optical permutors 132; Figure 10, OPs 204), the plurality of aggregation modules comprise a first aggregation module (one of the Ops 132 or 204) and a second aggregation module (another one of the Ops 132 or 204). And Wang et al discloses an aggregation module (Figures 1-3) comprises the first multiplexer/demultiplexer (120), the second multiplexer/demultiplexer (220), and the first optical fiber connecting the first multiplexer/demultiplexer with the second multiplexer/demultiplexer (fiber between 120 and 220. Also refer to Figures 3-5 of Mesh).
But, Wang et al and Goel et al and Mesh et al do not expressly disclose wherein the plurality of aggregation modules comprise a first aggregation module and a second aggregation module, the first aggregation module comprises the first multiplexer/demultiplexer, the second multiplexer/demultiplexer, and the first optical fiber connecting the first multiplexer/demultiplexer with the second multiplexer/demultiplexer, and the second aggregation module comprises a third multiplexer/demultiplexer, a fourth multiplexer/demultiplexer, and a second optical fiber connecting the third multiplexer/demultiplexer with the fourth multiplexer/demultiplexer.
However, first, Goel et al discloses that the optical permutor can be a bi-directional device ([0007], [0079], [0081], [0124]-[0125], [0162], [0167] and [0194]; “the optical permutors described herein (e.g., OPs 132, OPs 204, OPs 302, OP 400 and OP 500) to provide bi-directional, full-mesh point-to-point connectivity for transporting communications for servers 12 to/from core switches 22”); that is, components in an optical permutor can be used to route optical signals from the access-layer device (e.g., AN 19) to the core-layer device (22 or 210), and similar components in an optical permutor can be used to route optical signals from the core-layer device to the access-layer device.
Second, the claimed second aggregation module is just a “duplication of parts”.
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As shown above, as the “parts” disclosed by Wang et al are duplicated, “a plurality of aggregation modules” are obtained; and the plurality of aggregation modules comprise a first aggregation module (the first Mux/Demux, second Mux/Demux and first fiber) and a second aggregation module (the third Mux/Demux, fourth Mux/Demux and second fiber), the first aggregation module comprises the first multiplexer/demultiplexer, the second multiplexer/demultiplexer, and the first optical fiber connecting the first multiplexer/demultiplexer with the second multiplexer/demultiplexer, and the second aggregation module comprises a third multiplexer/demultiplexer, a fourth multiplexer/demultiplexer, and a second optical fiber connecting the third multiplexer/demultiplexer with the fourth multiplexer/demultiplexer. Then, mere duplication of parts has no patentable significance unless a new and unexpected result is produced. And, a bi-directional optical communication system can be obtained by just duplicating parts.
Third, another prior art, Yan et al, discloses a three-layer optical communication system (Figures 1 and 3-8) comprises a core-layer device (Figure 1, top unit; Figures 3-8, the core-layer device 1), a plurality of aggregation-layer devices (Figure 2, second layer from the top. Figure 3, the aggregation-layer device 2a – 2m. Figure 4, CAWG2b1/5b1 and CAWG2b2/5b2. Figures 6-8: 2a1/5a1 and 2a2/5a2. [0044], “A cyclic arrayed waveguide grating (CAWG), also known as an AWG router or cyclic interleaver, is a wavelength-based N*N cyclic multiplexer/demultiplexer that can send wavelengths from different inlets to different outlets in a cyclic manner”), and access-layer devices (Figure 1, the third layer from the top. Figures 3-8, the access-layer devices 4); and the plurality of aggregation modules comprise a first aggregation module (e.g., Figures 6-8, 2a1/5a1), the first aggregation module comprises a first multiplexer/demultiplexer (2a1) and a second multiplexer/demultiplexer (5a1), and a first optical fiber connecting the first multiplexer/demultiplexer with the second multiplexer/demultiplexer (fiber between the 2a1 and 5a1, “solid line arrow” in Figures 6-8; [0044], [0053] and [0083]-[0084]), and the second aggregation module comprises a third multiplexer/demultiplexer (2a2) and a fourth multiplexer/demultiplexer (5a2), and a second optical fiber connecting the third multiplexer/demultiplexer with the fourth multiplexer/demultiplexer (fiber between the 2a1 and 5a1, “dotted arrow” in Figures 6-8; [0044], [0053] and [0083]-[0084]); and the first and second aggregation modules are between the core layer and the access-layer (“1” and “4”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use multiple aggregation modules for more access layer devices to increase system capacity and facilitate bi-directional optical communications between core-layer and access-layer, and the function of the system/method is enhanced.
Conclusion
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/LI LIU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2634 April 16, 2026
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