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 § 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 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) 1-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by SAKAI (Publication No.: US 2014/0328588 A1).
Regarding claim 1, 6, 10, SAKAI teaches An optical module, comprising: a local oscillator laser configured to output a local oscillator light (reference numeral 22 in Figure 4) ; a receiving module (reference numeral 21 in Figure 4) configured to receive an input light signal and a local oscillator light signal; a mixing module (reference numeral 21 in Figure 4) configured to mix the input light signal and the local oscillator light signal to obtain a beat frequency signal; and a digital signal processing module (reference numeral 25, 31, 32 in Figure 4) at least configured to calculate a beat frequency signal frequency of the beat frequency signal, and adjust the local oscillator light frequency output by the local oscillator laser through a feedback control loop according to the beat frequency signal frequency.
Regarding claim 2, SAKAI teaches The optical module according to claim 1, wherein the optical module further comprises a digital-to-analog conversion module (reference numeral 24 in Figure 4) , the digital-to-analog conversion module is configured to convert a signal mixed by the mixing module into a digital signal, and the digital signal is sent to the digital signal processing module.
Regarding claim 3, 7, there being no claimed structural difference between the apparatus of the claimed invention and that of the cited prior art, SAKAI teaches The optical module according to claim 2, wherein a formula for calculating a mixing signal /beat of the beat frequency signal frequency by the digital signal processing module is:
I.sub.beat(t)=I.sub.Lo+I.sub.S+2m√{square root over (I.sub.LO.Math.I.sub.S)} cos (2πf.sub.IFt+(θ.sub.LO−θ.sub.S))
f.sub.IFf.sub.LO−f.sub.S, wherein, I.sub.LO is an optical intensity of the local oscillator light signal, I.sub.S is an optical intensity of the input light signal, m is a mixing efficiency of the local oscillator light and the input light, f.sub.IF is a beat frequency signal frequency, f.sub.LO is a local oscillator light frequency, θ.sub.LO is an initial phase of the local oscillator light, f.sub.S is an input light frequency, θ.sub.S is an initial phase of the input light, and a frequency difference between the local oscillator light and the input light is obtained by measuring f.sub.IF through the formula. Examiner further notes that SAKAI meets the limitations of this claim by virtue of the fact that SAKAI clearly calculates the beat frequency of the mixed signal and Applicant broadly claims that the recited formula is but one of the many formulas applicable in finding the beat frequency of the mixed signal without claiming that the recited formula is actually the one used in the claimed invention to find the beat frequency.
Regarding claim 4, 8, SAKAI teaches The optical module according to claim 3, wherein the digital signal processing module is configured as: when a value of the beat frequency signal frequency is greater than a preset threshold value, the digital-to-analog conversion module (reference numeral 24 in Figure 4) generates a control signal to adjust the local oscillator light frequency until a beat frequency signal frequency is less than the preset threshold value (e.g. “threshold” as in paragraph [0107] and throughout) .
Regarding claim 5, 9, SAKAI teaches The optical module according to claim 3, wherein the digital signal processing module (reference numeral 25, 31, 32 in Figure 4) is configured as: when the beat frequency signal frequency is not zero, the digital-to-analog conversion module generates a control signal to adjust the local oscillator light frequency until the beat frequency signal frequency is equal to zero (e.g. “frequency offset becomes zero” as in paragraph [0087]) .
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AGUSTIN BELLO whose telephone number is (571)272-3026. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday, 9 AM - 5 PM.
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/AGUSTIN BELLO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2635