Office Action Predictor
Last updated: April 15, 2026
Application No. 18/511,371

High Performance Time-Based Queue

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Nov 16, 2023
Examiner
NGUYEN, LINH T
Art Unit
2459
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
Cisco Technology, INC.
OA Round
3 (Non-Final)
70%
Grant Probability
Favorable
3-4
OA Rounds
2y 11m
To Grant
96%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 70% — above average
70%
Career Allow Rate
248 granted / 354 resolved
+12.1% vs TC avg
Strong +26% interview lift
Without
With
+25.9%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 11m
Avg Prosecution
30 currently pending
Career history
384
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
8.5%
-31.5% vs TC avg
§103
64.2%
+24.2% vs TC avg
§102
9.2%
-30.8% vs TC avg
§112
13.8%
-26.2% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 354 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
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 . 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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 11/3/2025 has been entered. Response to Amendment Claims 1, 16 and 19 are amended. Claims 1-20 are pending in the instant application. Response to Arguments Applicant’s arguments, see Remarks, filed 11/03/2025 have been fully considered. Claim Rejections under 35 U.S.C. 103 Claims 1-6, 15-17 and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wilkinson (US 2007/0147394) in view of Onvural et al. (US 2002/0150115), hereinafter Onvural. Claims 1, 16 and 19 are amended with the following features: “determine a maximum Time-To-Live (TTL) value for the object stream based on a priority of the object stream; generate a time-based queue based on the maximum TTL value; assign a first TTL value for a first network data object of the plurality of network data objects based on a requirement of an application that utilizes the first network data object.” (Emphasis added) On page 8 of the Remarks, Applicant argues cited prior art fails to teach the amended features recited in the claim(s). Applicant’s arguments are persuasive, therefore, a new ground of rejection is made in light of the amendment. Dependent Claims 2-15, 17-19 and 20 Applicant argues these claims conditionally based on the arguments presented to their parent claim. Applicant’s arguments are persuasive, therefore, a new ground of rejection is made in light of the amendment. 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, 16 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jung et al. (US 2020/0034316), hereinafter Jung in view of Rochberger et al. (US 6,760,309 B1), hereinafter Rochberger. As for claim 1, Jung teaches a device, comprising: a processor (paragraph [0006] describes a processor); a memory communicatively coupled to the processor (paragraph [0006] describes a memory comprising code that, when executed, performs a method of processing I/Os); and a dynamic queuing logic, configured to: receive an object stream comprising a plurality of network data objects (paragraph [0046] describes an I/O that is received at a data storage system is placed in selected one of the queues based on different attributes of the I/O); determine a maximum Time-To-Live (TTL) value for the object stream based on a priority of the object stream (Fig. 3A; [0039]-[0043] describe multiple of pending I/Os is utilized, each of the queues has an associated Time to Expire (TTE) which is the maximum wait time before which of the I/Os of the queue are scheduled for execution. The highest priority queue of all the queues has the lowest TTE of all queues, and the lowest priority queue of all the queues has the highest TTE of all queues); generate a time-based queue based on the maximum TTL value (paragraph [0063]-[0065] describe an attempt to place an I/O that has a service level object (SLO) of Diamond with a 1 ms response time target and an EET of 200 micro seconds. Since Diamond is the highest SLO level thus the I/O is placed in the highest priority queue, having the TTEmax of 1 ms. The I/O can be placed in the queue if both the queue’s current remaining credit (RC) and TTE values are greater than or equal to the EET of the I/O). Jung fails to teach assign a first TTL value for a first network data object of the plurality of network data objects based on a requirement of an application that utilizes the first network data object; and insert the first network data object into the time-based queue. Rochberger discloses assign a first TTL value for a first network data object of the plurality of network data objects based on a requirement of an application that utilizes the first network data object (col. 14, lines 1-24 describe applications are classified into classes which include those that are time sensitive and those that are not. The time sensitive applications can be further classified as audio, voice, video etc. time to live (TTL) related information is added to the RTP packet at the egress of a network entity. The TTL information is added only for packets that are generated by time sensitive applications); and insert the first network data object into the time-based queue (col. 14, lines 30-31 describe the packet is then transmitted). One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have recognized the ability to utilize the teachings of Rochberger for adding TTL to a packet with time sensitive applications. The teachings of Rochberger, when implemented in the Jung system, will allow one of ordinary skill in the art to perform dynamic prioritizing packets. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to utilize the teachings of Rochberger in the Jung system in order to dynamically prioritize packets on the basis of their “time to live” in the network. As for claim 16, Jung teaches a device (claim 13; paragraph [0027] describes a director represents one of the disk adapter (DA), host adapter (HA), remote adapter (RA)), comprising: a processor (claim 13; paragraph [0027] describes a processor); a memory communicatively coupled to the processor (claim 13; paragraph [0121] describes computer readable media includes different forms of storage); and a dynamic queuing logic (paragraph [0118] describes a process), configured to: receive an object stream comprising a plurality of network data objects (paragraph [0046] describes an I/O that is received at a data storage system is placed in selected one of the queues based on different attributes of the I/O); determine a maximum Time-To-Live (TTL) value for the object stream based on a priority of the object stream (Fig. 3A; [0039]-[0043] describe multiple of pending I/Os is utilized, each of the queues has an associated Time to Expire (TTE) which is the maximum wait time before which of the I/Os of the queue are scheduled for execution. The highest priority queue of all the queues has the lowest TTE of all queues, and the lowest priority queue of all the queues has the highest TTE of all queues); generate a time-based queue based on the maximum TTL value (paragraph [0063]-[0065] describe an attempt to place an I/O that has a service level object (SLO) of Diamond with a 1 ms response time target and an EET of 200 micro seconds. Since Diamond is the highest SLO level thus the I/O is placed in the highest priority queue, having the TTEmax of 1 ms. The I/O can be placed in the queue if both the queue’s current remaining credit (RC) and TTE values are greater than or equal to the EET of the I/O). Jung fails to teach assign a first TTL value for a first network data object of the plurality of network data objects based on a requirement of an application that utilizes the first network data object; and insert the first network data object into the time-based queue. Rochberger discloses assign a first TTL value for a first network data object of the plurality of network data objects based on a requirement of an application that utilizes the first network data object (col. 14, lines 1-24 describe applications are classified into classes which include those that are time sensitive and those that are not. The time sensitive applications can be further classified as audio, voice, video etc. time to live (TTL) related information is added to the RTP packet at the egress of a network entity. The TTL information is added only for packets that are generated by time sensitive applications); and insert the first network data object into the time-based queue (col. 14, lines 30-31 describe the packet is then transmitted). One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have recognized the ability to utilize the teachings of Rochberger for adding TTL to a packet with time sensitive applications. The teachings of Rochberger, when implemented in the Jung system, will allow one of ordinary skill in the art to perform dynamic prioritizing packets. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to utilize the teachings of Rochberger in the Jung system in order to dynamically prioritize packets on the basis of their “time to live” in the network. As for claim 19, Jung teaches a method, comprising: receiving an object stream comprising a plurality of network data objects (paragraph [0046] describes an I/O that is received at a data storage system is placed in selected one of the queues based on different attributes of the I/O); determining a maximum Time-To-Live (TTL) value for the object stream based on a priority of the object stream (Fig. 3A; [0039]-[0043] describe multiple of pending I/Os is utilized, each of the queues has an associated Time to Expire (TTE) which is the maximum wait time before which of the I/Os of the queue are scheduled for execution. The highest priority queue of all the queues has the lowest TTE of all queues, and the lowest priority queue of all the queues has the highest TTE of all queues); generating a time-based queue based on the maximum TTL value (paragraph [0063]-[0065] describe an attempt to place an I/O that has a service level object (SLO) of Diamond with a 1 ms response time target and an EET of 200 micro seconds. Since Diamond is the highest SLO level thus the I/O is placed in the highest priority queue, having the TTEmax of 1 ms. The I/O can be placed in the queue if both the queue’s current remaining credit (RC) and TTE values are greater than or equal to the EET of the I/O). Jung fails to teach assigning a plurality of TTL values for the plurality of network data objects based on a requirement of an application that utilizes the first network data object; and inserting the plurality of network data objects into the time-based queue. Rochberger discloses assign a first TTL value for a first network data object of the plurality of network data objects based on a requirement of an application that utilizes the first network data object (col. 14, lines 1-24 describe applications are classified into classes which include those that are time sensitive and those that are not. The time sensitive applications can be further classified as audio, voice, video etc. time to live (TTL) related information is added to the RTP packet at the egress of a network entity. The TTL information is added only for packets that are generated by time sensitive applications); and insert the first network data object into the time-based queue (col. 14, lines 30-31 describe the packet is then transmitted). One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have recognized the ability to utilize the teachings of Rochberger for adding TTL to a packet with time sensitive applications. The teachings of Rochberger, when implemented in the Jung system, will allow one of ordinary skill in the art to perform dynamic prioritizing packets. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to utilize the teachings of Rochberger in the Jung system in order to dynamically prioritize packets on the basis of their “time to live” in the network. Claims 2-6, 15, 17 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jung (US 2020/0034316) in view of Rochberger (US 6,760,309 B1) further in view of Wilkinson (US 2007/0147394). As for claim 2, the combined system of Jung and Rochberger fails to teach wherein a dynamic queuing logic is further configured to determine a first object insertion time. Wilkinson discloses wherein a dynamic queuing logic is further configured to determine a first object insertion time (paragraph [0070] describes instructions to process methodologies; Fig. 4A; paragraphs [0030] and [0038] describe an event A with a timer object in a timer queue, the event A is an initialization of the timer queue when the first timer entry arrives and there is one timer entry set to expire at 100 seconds, and the TTL value for the timer entry and the Delta T for the timer queue are accordingly set at 100 seconds). One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have recognized the ability to utilize the teachings of Wilkinson for include a timer object in a timer queue. The teachings of Wilkinson, when implemented in the Jung and Rochberger system, will allow one of ordinary skill in the art to eliminate walk-through to add new timer entries to a linked list. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to utilize the teachings of Wilkinson in the Jung and Rochberger system in order to reduce the expiration time of a traffic flow. As for claim 3, the combined system of Jung, Rochberger and Wilkinson teaches wherein the insertion of the first object occurs at the first object insertion time (Wilkinson: paragraph [0030] describes at time event A, there is one timer entry set to expire at 100 seconds). One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have recognized the ability to utilize the teachings of Wilkinson for include a timer object in a timer queue. The teachings of Wilkinson, when implemented in the Jung and Rochberger system, will allow one of ordinary skill in the art to eliminate walk-through to add new timer entries to a linked list. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to utilize the teachings of Wilkinson in the Jung and Rochberger system in order to reduce the expiration time of a traffic flow. As for claim 4, the combined system of Jung, Rochberger and Wilkinson teaches wherein the first TTL value is indicative of a first time period (Wilkinson: : paragraph [0049] describes the first time entry is set at the timer size). One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have recognized the ability to utilize the teachings of Wilkinson for include a timer object in a timer queue. The teachings of Wilkinson, when implemented in the Jung and Rochberger system, will allow one of ordinary skill in the art to eliminate walk-through to add new timer entries to a linked list. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to utilize the teachings of Wilkinson in the Jung and Rochberger system in order to reduce the expiration time of a traffic flow. As for claim 5, the combined system of Jung, Rochberger and Wilkinson teaches wherein the dynamic queuing logic is further configured to remove the first object from the time-based queue when the first time period has elapsed after the first object insertion time (Wilkinson: (paragraph [0070] describes instructions to process methodologies; paragraph [0034] describes the timer queue is updated so as to remove any expired timer entries). One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have recognized the ability to utilize the teachings of Wilkinson for include a timer object in a timer queue. The teachings of Wilkinson, when implemented in the Jung and Rochberger system, will allow one of ordinary skill in the art to eliminate walk-through to add new timer entries to a linked list. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to utilize the teachings of Wilkinson in the Jung and Rochberger system in order to reduce the expiration time of a traffic flow. As for claim 6, the combined system of Jung, Rochberger and Wilkinson teaches wherein the dynamic queuing logic is further configured to: determine a second TTL value corresponding to a second object of the plurality of objects stored in the time-based queue (Jung: paragraph [0037] describes I/Os waiting for service is placed in a single I/O list, each I/O has an associated timeout period); determine a second time period indicated by the second TTL value (Jung: paragraph [0037] describes each I/O that is placed in a I/O list, has an associated timeout period); determine a second object insertion time corresponding to the second object (Wilkinson: Fig. 4A; paragraph [0033] describes the new timer entry is indicated by an object 404 at the time event B’); and remove the second object from the time-based queue when the second time period has elapsed after the second object insertion time (Wilkinson: paragraph [0034] describes the timer queue is updated so as to remove any expired timer entries). One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have recognized the ability to utilize the teachings of Wilkinson for include a timer object in a timer queue. The teachings of Wilkinson, when implemented in the Jung and Rochberger system, will allow one of ordinary skill in the art to eliminate walk-through to add new timer entries to a linked list. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to utilize the teachings of Wilkinson in the Jung and Rochberger system in order to reduce the expiration time of a traffic flow. As for claim 15, the combined system of Jung, Rochberger and Wilkinson teaches wherein the dynamic queuing logic is further configured to dynamically modify the maximum TTL value (Wilkinson: (paragraph [0070] describes instructions to process methodologies; Fig. 4A, paragraphs [0028] and [0030]-[0032] describe the Delta T value is changed at different events A and B). One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have recognized the ability to utilize the teachings of Wilkinson for include a timer object in a timer queue. The teachings of Wilkinson, when implemented in the Jung and Rochberger system, will allow one of ordinary skill in the art to eliminate walk-through to add new timer entries to a linked list. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to utilize the teachings of Wilkinson in the Jung and Rochberger system in order to reduce the expiration time of a traffic flow. As for claim 17, the combined system of Jung and Rochberger fails to teach wherein the dynamic queuing logic is further configured to: determine a plurality of time periods corresponding to the plurality of TTL values; and remove one or more objects of the plurality of objects from the time-based queue based on one or more time periods of the plurality of time periods. Wilkinson discloses wherein the dynamic queuing logic is further configured to: determine a plurality of time periods corresponding to the plurality of TTL values (paragraph [0070] describes instructions to process methodologies; Fig. 4A; paragraphs [0031]-[0034] describe TTL values for object 402, 404 and 406 and their corresponding time duration); and remove one or more objects of the plurality of objects from the time-based queue based on one or more time periods of the plurality of time periods (paragraph [0034] describe the a timer entry is to be cancelled because an acknowledgment packet associated with the transmitted packet for that timer entry has been received and the timer queue is updated so as to remove any expired timer entries). One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have recognized the ability to utilize the teachings of Wilkinson for include a timer object in a timer queue. The teachings of Wilkinson, when implemented in the Jung and Rochberger system, will allow one of ordinary skill in the art to eliminate walk-through to add new timer entries to a linked list. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to utilize the teachings of Wilkinson in the Jung and Rochberger system in order to reduce the expiration time of a traffic flow. As for claim 20, the combined system of Jung and Rochberger fails to teach determining a plurality of time periods corresponding to the plurality of TTL values; and removing one or more objects of the plurality of objects from the time-based queue based on one or more time periods of the plurality of time periods. Wilkinson discloses determining a plurality of time periods corresponding to the plurality of TTL values (Fig. 4A; paragraphs [0031]-[0034] describe TTL values for object 402, 404 and 406 and their corresponding time duration); and removing one or more objects of the plurality of objects from the time-based queue based on one or more time periods of the plurality of time periods paragraph [0034] describe the a timer entry is to be cancelled because an acknowledgment packet associated with the transmitted packet for that timer entry has been received and the timer queue is updated so as to remove any expired timer entries). One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have recognized the ability to utilize the teachings of Wilkinson for include a timer object in a timer queue. The teachings of Wilkinson, when implemented in the Jung and Rochberger system, will allow one of ordinary skill in the art to eliminate walk-through to add new timer entries to a linked list. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to utilize the teachings of Wilkinson in the Jung and Rochberger system in order to reduce the expiration time of a traffic flow. Claims 7-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jung (US 2020/0034316) in view of Rochberger (US 6,760,309 B1) further in view of Kwan et al. (US 2014/0146666), hereinafter Kwan. As for claim 7, the combined system of Jung and Rochberger fails to teach wherein the dynamic queuing logic is further configured to: detect a latency spike in reception of the object stream; determine a recovery time period based on the latency spike; determine one or more objects of the plurality of objects having one or more TTL values within the recovery time period; and maintain the one or more objects of the plurality of objects in the time-based queue during the recovery time period. Kwan discloses wherein a dynamic queuing logic is further configured to (paragraph [0051] describes actions that are performed by processors by executing instructions recorded on storage medium): detect a latency spike in reception of an object stream (paragraph [0003] describes a lossless traffic is an indication that the queues that are assigned to the lossless traffic reach their capacity, or reach a threshold level, the lossless traffic is interpreted as a latency spike; paragraph [0028] describes a network device receives packets from a first network device, the transmitted packets may be lossless packets and may be associated with a priority that is indicative of lossless traffic, the packets are received by a second network device); determine a recovery time period based on the latency spike (paragraph [0029] describes the network device receives a message from the second network device that indicates that the transmission of the packets that queue in the queue to the second network device should be paused. The first network device pauses the transmission of the packets of any queues that are associated with lossless traffic, the first network device initiates a timer associated with the queue upon pausing the transmission of the packet to the second network device); determine one or more objects of a plurality of objects having one or more TTL values within the recovery time period (paragraph [0020] describe lossless packets include packet age and a system that is utilized for deadlock recovery; paragraphs [0029] describes the timer is initiated ); and maintain the one or more objects of the plurality of objects in the time-based queue during the recovery time period (paragraph [0020] describes in a recover from a deadlock state, the network devices drops queued lossless packets that have a packet age that is greater than a threshold; paragraph [0039] describes the first network device continues to buffer and queue the packets received from another network device but does not transmit any of the received packets to the second network device). One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have recognized the ability to utilize the teachings of Kwan for performing a deadlock recovery for lossless packets. The teachings of Kwan, when implemented in the Jung and Rochberger system, will allow one of ordinary skill in the art to resolve network traffic congestions. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to utilize the teachings of Kwan in the Jung and Rochberger system in order to alleviate a deadlock state that involves multiple network devices. As for claim 8, the combined system of Jung, Rochberger and Kwan teaches wherein the dynamic queuing logic is further configured to retrieve the plurality of objects from the time-based queue based on a First-In-First-Out (FIFO) order and a plurality of TTL values corresponding to the plurality of objects (Kwan: paragraph [0037] describes if the timer for the queue reaches a timeout threshold, the deadlock recovery state is entered for the queue, the scheduler of the first network device begins to process the packets that are queued in the queue irrespective of the flow control state of the queue. The scheduler still services the queue in the same manner and order that all of the queues are service and selects the first packet that is queue from the queue). One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have recognized the ability to utilize the teachings of Kwan for performing a deadlock recovery for lossless packets. The teachings of Kwan, when implemented in the Jung and Rochberger system, will allow one of ordinary skill in the art to resolve network traffic congestions. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to utilize the teachings of Kwan in the Jung and Rochberger system in order to alleviate a deadlock state that involves multiple network devices. Claims 9-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jung (US 2020/0034316) in view of Rochberger (US 6,760,309 B1) further in view of Kwan (US 2014/0146666) and further in view of Wilkinson (US 2007/0147394). As for claim 9, the combined system of Jung, Rochberger and Kwan teaches wherein the dynamic queuing logic is further configured to: determine a queue size based on the maximum TTL value (Jung: paragraphs [0063]-[0064] describe an I/O is placed in a queue based on the EET of the EET of the I/O and the queue’s TTE). The combined system of Jung, Rochberger and Kwan fails to teach generate the time-based queue based on the queue size; and store the time-based queue in the memory. Wilkinson discloses generate the time-based queue based on the queue size (paragraph [0026] describes if the timer size is 100 seconds, then the timer queue may only be updated with new timer entries that are set to expire in 100 seconds); and store the time-based queue in the memory (paragraph [0025] describes a register file includes entries including a head pointer to a head of the timer queue, a tail pointer to a tail of the timer queue, a time value Delta T and a timer size). One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have recognized the ability to utilize the teachings of Wilkinson for generating a queue based on queue size. The teachings of Wilkinson, when implemented in the Jung, Rochberger and Kwan system, will allow one of ordinary skill in the art to execute packets through a queue. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to utilize the teachings of Wilkinson in the Jung and Rochberger system in order to avoid a delay of transmission of packets. As for claim 10, the combined system of Jung, Rochberger, Kwan and Wilkinson teaches wherein the time-based queue stores a plurality of references corresponding to the plurality of objects (Wilkinson: paragraph [0025] describes the register file stores entries associated with timer queue). One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have recognized the ability to utilize the teachings of Wilkinson for generating a queue based on queue size. The teachings of Wilkinson, when implemented in the Jung, Rochberger and Kwan system, will allow one of ordinary skill in the art to execute packets through a queue. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to utilize the teachings of Wilkinson in the Jung and Rochberger system in order to avoid a delay of transmission of packets. As for claim 11, the combined system of Jung, Rochberger, Kwan and Wilkinson teaches wherein the plurality of references correspond to a plurality of memory locations in the memory (Wilkinson: Fig. 20, Register File 210; paragraph [0025] describes the register file includes a head pointer, a tail pointer, a timer size and a time value). One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have recognized the ability to utilize the teachings of Wilkinson for generating a queue based on queue size. The teachings of Wilkinson, when implemented in the Jung, Rochberger and Kwan system, will allow one of ordinary skill in the art to execute packets through a queue. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to utilize the teachings of Wilkinson in the Jung and Rochberger system in order to avoid a delay of transmission of packets. Claims 12-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jung (US 2020/0034316) in view of Rochberger (US 6,760,309 B1) further in view of Kwan (US 2014/0146666) and Wilkinson (US 2007/0147394) and further in view of Geffen et al. (US 2019/0140966), hereinafter Geffen. As for claim 12, the combined system of Jung, Rochberger, Kwan and Wilkinson fails to teach wherein a plurality of objects are stored in the plurality of memory locations in a bucket array. Geffen discloses wherein a plurality of objects are stored in the plurality of memory locations in a bucket array (Figs. 2A-B; paragraphs [0060]-[0061] describe a processor maintains a record of a client’s ongoing flows. This record is typically embodied as a cyclic array. The array includes a plurality of buckets, the buckets correspond to respective time intervals. Upon receiving a downstream packet and passing this packet on to a destination, the processor records the “size” of the packet in the bucket that corresponds to the interval of time during which the packet was passed to the destination). One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have recognized the ability to utilize the teachings of Geffen for keeping a record including buckets and arrays. The teachings of Geffen, when implemented in the Jung, Rochberger, Kwan and Wilkinson system, will allow one of ordinary skill in the art to monitor the flows of communication over the network. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to utilize the teachings of Geffen in the Jung, Rochberger, Kwan and Wilkinson system in order to regulate the flow e.g. controlling the rate at which network packets are delivered from a sender to a receiver, allocating bandwidth in a more effective manner and performing any other traffic-shaping task. As for claim 13, the combined system of Jung, Rochberger, Kwan and Geffen teaches wherein a bucket array is indexed based on a plurality of TTL values (Wilkinson: paragraph [0024] describes TTL values; Geffen: Figs. 2A-B; paragraph [0072]-[0077] describes a time interval and parameters sim_seq and sim_ack and their respective values). One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have recognized the ability to utilize the teachings of Geffen for keeping a record including buckets and arrays. The teachings of Geffen, when implemented in the Jung, Rochberger, Kwan and Wilkinson system, will allow one of ordinary skill in the art to monitor the flows of communication over the network. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to utilize the teachings of Geffen in the Jung, Rochberger, Kwan and Wilkinson system in order to regulate the flow e.g. controlling the rate at which network packets are delivered from a sender to a receiver, allocating bandwidth in a more effective manner and performing any other traffic-shaping task. As for claim 14, the combined system of Jung, Rochberger, Kwan, Wilkinson and Geffen teaches wherein the dynamic queuing logic is further configured to dynamically modify one or more TTL values of the plurality of TTL values corresponding to one or more objects of the plurality of objects stored in the time-based queue (Jung: paragraph [0072] describes the TTE values of the queues are revised). Claim 18 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jung (US 2020/0034316) in view of Rochberger (US 6,760,309 B1) and Wilkinson (US ) further in view of Kwan. As for claim 18, the combined system of Jung, Rochberger and Wilkinson fails to teach wherein the dynamic queuing logic is further configured to: detect a latency spike in reception of the object stream; determine a recovery time period based on the latency spike; determine one or more objects of the plurality of objects having one or more TTL values within the recovery time period; and maintain the one or more objects of the plurality of objects in the time-based queue during the recovery time period. Kwan discloses wherein a dynamic queuing logic is further configured to (paragraph [0051] describes actions that are performed by processors by executing instructions recorded on storage medium): detect a latency spike in reception of an object stream (paragraph [0003] describes a lossless traffic is an indication that the queues that are assigned to the lossless traffic reach their capacity, or reach a threshold level, the lossless traffic is interpreted as a latency spike; paragraph [0028] describes a network device receives packets from a first network device, the transmitted packets may be lossless packets and may be associated with a priority that is indicative of lossless traffic, the packets are received by a second network device); determine a recovery time period based on the latency spike (paragraph [0029] describes the network device receives a message from the second network device that indicates that the transmission of the packets that queue in the queue to the second network device should be paused. The first network device pauses the transmission of the packets of any queues that are associated with lossless traffic, the first network device initiates a timer associated with the queue upon pausing the transmission of the packet to the second network device); determine one or more objects of a plurality of objects having one or more TTL values within the recovery time period (paragraph [0020] describe lossless packets include packet age and a system that is utilized for deadlock recovery; paragraphs [0029] describes the timer is initiated ); and maintain the one or more objects of the plurality of objects in the time-based queue during the recovery time period (paragraph [0020] describes in a recover from a deadlock state, the network devices drops queued lossless packets that have a packet age that is greater than a threshold; paragraph [0039] describes the first network device continues to buffer and queue the packets received from another network device but does not transmit any of the received packets to the second network device). One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have recognized the ability to utilize the teachings of Kwan for performing a deadlock recovery for lossless packets. The teachings of Kwan, when implemented in the Jung, Rochberger and Wilkinson system, will allow one of ordinary skill in the art to resolve network traffic congestions. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to utilize the teachings of Kwan in the Jung, Rochberger and Wilkinson system in order to alleviate a deadlock state that involves multiple network devices. Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Baitaineh et al. (US 2024/0056385) teach switch device for facilitating switching in data-driven intelligent network Salafia et al. (US 2010/0251492) teach integrated call handler and email systems and methods Fanning et al. (US 2008/0066620) teach isochronous memory access with variable channel priorities and timers. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to L. T N. whose telephone number is (571)272-1013. The examiner can normally be reached M & Th 5:30 am - 2:30 pm EST. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, TONIA DOLLINGER can be reached at 571-272-4170. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /SCHQUITA D GOODWIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2459 /L. T. N/ Examiner, Art Unit 2459
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Prosecution Timeline

Nov 16, 2023
Application Filed
Feb 04, 2025
Non-Final Rejection — §103
Feb 26, 2025
Examiner Interview Summary
Feb 26, 2025
Applicant Interview (Telephonic)
May 12, 2025
Response Filed
Jul 28, 2025
Final Rejection — §103
Aug 14, 2025
Examiner Interview Summary
Aug 14, 2025
Applicant Interview (Telephonic)
Nov 03, 2025
Request for Continued Examination
Nov 08, 2025
Response after Non-Final Action
Dec 30, 2025
Non-Final Rejection — §103
Mar 26, 2026
Response Filed

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Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

3-4
Expected OA Rounds
70%
Grant Probability
96%
With Interview (+25.9%)
2y 11m
Median Time to Grant
High
PTA Risk
Based on 354 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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