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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Maruyama et al. (US Application 2022/0131681, hereinafter Maruyama).
Regarding claims 1, 10-11,Maruyama discloses a communication, a method , and a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium (Figs. 1-3,10-15) apparatus including a first clock (master clock) and a second clock (slave clock) which operate according to a predetermined time synchronization protocol, the communication apparatus comprising:
a time synchronization unit (130,131) configured to synchronize time of the first clock with time of a time source device(Abstract, [0067]-[0073],[0109]-[0112], which recites a time synchronization control unit 130 is a functional unit that executes time synchronization processing. Examples of a time synchronization protocol included in the time synchronization processing include IEEE 1588, NTP, and SNIP. The time synchronization control unit 130 determines whether to update a synchronization time estimation method and an estimation equation of a time synchronization unit 131. For this purpose, a time measured by a timestamp unit 133, a reference delay held in a reference delay storage unit 132, and the estimated synchronization time or parameters necessary for calculating the synchronization time notified from the time synchronization unit 131 are used.); and
a measurement unit (133) configured to measure a staying time, in the communication apparatus, of a packet to be transferred to a second communication apparatus or the time source device, based on time of the second clock(Abstract, [0067]-[0073],[0109]-[0112], which recites the timestamp unit 133 measures the timing at which the packet for time synchronization passes through the timestamp unit 133 or is transmitted and received by a communication unit 134 and the time synchronization unit 131. In addition, a measured timestamp is stored in the time synchronization packet).
Regarding claim 2, Maruyama discloses the communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the time synchronization unit calculates a difference between time of the first clock and time of the time source device as a first difference and adjusts the first clock so that the first difference becomes “0”, thus synchronizing time of the first clock with time of the time source device(Abstract, [0067]-[0073],[0109]-[0112]).
Regarding claim 3, Maruyama discloses the communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the time synchronization unit further synchronizes time of the second clock with time of the first clock(Abstract, [0067]-[0073],[0109]-[0112]).
Regarding claim 4, Maruyama discloses the communication apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the time synchronization unit synchronizes time of the second clock with time of the first clock during a period in which the staying time is not yet measured by the measurement unit(Abstract, [0067]-[0073],[0109]-[0112]).
Regarding claim 5, Maruyama discloses the communication apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the measurement unit acquires, from the second clock, first time at which the packet was received in the communication apparatus, acquires, from the second clock, second time at which the packet was transmitted from the communication apparatus, and measures a difference between the first time and the second time as the staying time, and wherein the time synchronization unit synchronizes time of the second clock with time of the first clock in a time period other than a time period in which the staying time is measured after the first time is acquired(Abstract, [0067]-[0073],[0109]-[0112]).
Regarding claim 6, Maruyama discloses the communication apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the time synchronization unit calculates a difference between time of the second clock and time of the first clock as a second difference and adjusts the second clock so that the second difference becomes “0”, thereby synchronizing time of the second clock with time of the first clock(Abstract, [0067]-[0073],[0109]-[0112]).
Regarding claim 7, Maruyama discloses the communication apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the time synchronization unit overwrites time of the second clock with time of the first clock in such a manner that the second difference becomes “0”, thereby synchronizing time of the second clock with time of the first clock(Abstract, [0067]-[0073],[0109]-[0112]).
Regarding claim 8, Maruyama discloses the communication apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the time synchronization unit makes gain of time of the second clock slower or faster in such a manner that the second difference becomes “0”, thus synchronizing time of the second clock with time of the first clock(Abstract, [0067]-[0073],[0109]-[0112]).
Regarding claim 9, Maruyama discloses the communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined time synchronization protocol is Precision Time Protocol (PTP), and the packet is a packet compliant with the PTP(Abstract, [0067]-[0073],[0109]-[0112]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DADY CHERY whose telephone number is (571)270-1207. The examiner can normally be reached M to T, 8 am to 5pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Huy D Vu can be reached at 571-272-3155. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DADY CHERY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2461