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 .
This Office Action is in response to the Continuation filed on 10/27/2025.
In the instant Amendment, claims 1-8, and 11-21 have been amended; and claims 1, 11, and 16 are independent claims. Claims 1-8, 11-22 have been examined and are pending.
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 10/27/2025 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicants’ arguments filed on 10/27/2025 with respect to claims 1, 11, and 16 have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection, which were necessitated by amendment.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 16-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter. The claim(s) does/do not fall within at least one of the four categories of patent eligible subject matter because a "network", as understood by a person having ordinary skill in the art, is neither "process", "machine", "manufacture" or "composition of matter". The term "network" under the BRI could be interpreted to be a software processor (..."(software) A computer program that includes the compiling, assembling, translating, and related functions for a specific programming language..."). Thus, under the BRI the claims as a whole recites software per se.
Regarding claims 17-20, Claims 17-20 are rejected for the same rational as described above due to their dependency on rejected claim 20.
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, 3-8, 11, 13-16, and 18-22, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bishop et al. (US. Pub. No. 2018/0262276 A1; Hereinafter “Bishop”) in view Van et al. (“Quantum Internet Research Group Internet-Draft” September 2020), Tran et al. (U.S. Pub. 20200358187 A1; Hereinafter “Tran”) and Vakili (US 11190349 B1; Hereinafter “Vakili”).
As per claim 1, Bishop teaches a method of operating a quantum capable communication network, the method comprising (Bishop: fig. 1-2, para [19], “Embodiments of the present invention include a system and method to transmit a quantum state successfully across a lossy optical link by using a polarization encoding and taking advantage of the ability to perform quantum operations on the qubits for post-selection”):
generating, by a quantum capable c(source qubit) having selected polarization states (Bishop: fig. 2, para [22-23], , [35-39], “FIG. 2 illustrates how to encode a quantum state of a non-polarization encoded qubit to a polarization encoded qubit….The transmitter system 200 includes the polarization hardware 105B, the converter 106B…the transmitter system 200 can include a measurement device in the case when the transmitter system 200 is operating as a receiver system…After receiving the top and bottom qubits, the converter 106B converts the top and bottom qubits from, for example, the microwave domain to the optical domain…, the top qubit is referred to as the horizontal source qubit and the bottom qubit is referred to as the vertical source qubit (or vice versa) after polarization… After receiving the vertical source qubit and the horizontal source qubit, the polarization beam combiner 102B is configured to combine both the vertical and horizontal source qubits into the single source qubit in the form a|Hcustom-character+b|Vcustom-character. In some embodiments, the single source qubit is the polarization encoded source qubit that is sent from the transmitter system 200 over the optical communication link 302 to the receiver system 100 in FIG. 1.”),
transferring the first qubits to a quantum repeater (Bishop: para [39] “the single source qubit is the polarization encoded source qubit that is sent from the transmitter system 200 over the optical communication link 302 to the receiver system 100 in FIG. 1.”, para [21-23], “The receiver system 100 includes polarization hardware 105A, a converter 106A, and a CNOT gate 108A”),
receiving, by the quantum repeater, the first qubits (Bishopo: para[22], “the receiver system 100 is configured to receive over an optical communication link 302 a polarization encoded source qubit (QS). The optical communication like 302 can be a fiber optic link. The optical communication link 302 is a polarization preserving optical link.”), generating second qubits (destination qubit) (Bishop: para[ 22-26], “The converter 106A is a transducer that converts the pair of qubits (which are the horizontal source qubit and vertical source qubit) from one form of energy to another form of energy. In some embodiments, the converter 106A (106B) functions as an optical-to-microwave converter in one direction and a microwave-to-optical converter in the opposite direction….The converter 106A converts the horizontal source qubit and vertical source qubit to a horizontal destination qubit (QDH) and a vertical destination qubit (QDV) respectively.”), transferring the selected polarization states of the first qubits to the second qubit (Bishop: para[27], “, the receiver 100 can be arranged that, when the measurement of the target qubit 110A from the CNOT gate 108A outputs a 0 (as measured by the measurement device 114), this measurement result heralds the successful receipt of the source qubit at the receiver 100, and accordingly, this means that the destination qubit (QD) (the control qubit 112A) has the same quantum state as the source qubit (QS). The source qubit can be polarization encoded in the form a|Hcustom-character+b|Vcustom-character, and the destination qubit can be photon-number encoded in the form a|0custom-character+b|1custom-character, where a|0custom-character+b|1custom-character is a superposition state between |0custom-character and |1custom-character.” ), and transferring the second qubits to the quantum capable edge (Bishop: para [22-30], “The (microwave) pair of qubits (horizontal destination qubit and vertical destination qubit) are transmitted over (two) microwave communication links 120 to the CNOT gate 108A, after exiting the converter 106A.”);
receiving, by the quantum capable (Bishop: para [22-30], “The (microwave) pair of qubits (horizontal destination qubit and vertical destination qubit) are transmitted over (two) microwave communication links 120 to the CNOT gate 108A, after exiting the converter 106A.”), determining measured polarization states of the second qubits (Bishop: para [26-27], “The CNOT gate 108A performs a NOT operation (flip the qubit state by angle 7C, from 0 to 1 or 1 to 0) on a target qubit 110A if the state of a control qubit 112A is 1. Continuing with the previous example, it can be assumed that the horizontal destination qubit becomes the control qubit 112A and the vertical destination qubit becomes the target qubit 110A for the CNOT 108A. A measurement device 114 measures the output of the target qubit 110A. The measurement device 114 can be a microwave measurement device. The measurement device 114 is configured to measure a “0” which corresponds to, e.g., a predefined low voltage/signal and a “1” which corresponds to, e.g., a predefined high voltage/signal.”).
Bishop does not explicitly teach a Unified Data Management (UDM) network function; a repeater based network, indicating the selected polarization states to a quantum capable edge, and indicating the measured polarization states to the quantum capable core network UDM.
However, in the related art, Van teaches quantum repeater nodes used to receive qubits transmitted over quantum channels (Van: 5.3., “We have identified quantum repeaters as the core building block of a quantum network. However, a quantum repeater will have to do more than just entanglement swapping in a functional quantum network. Its key responsibilities will include:1. Creating link-local entanglement between neighbouring nodes. 2. Extending entanglement from link-local pairs to long-range pairs through entanglement swapping, 3. Performing distillation to manage the fidelity of the produced pairs, 4. Participate in the management of the network (routing etc.).”)
Bishop in view of Van does not explicitly teach a Unified Data Management (UDM) network function; indicating the selected polarization states to a quantum capable edge, and indicating the measured polarization states to the quantum capable core network UDM.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to implement the node-based quantum state transfer of Bishop within the telecommunications network architecture of Tran because Tran teaches that the UDM manages authentication credentials and cryptographic material for network access, that would improve the security of authentication keys managed by the UDM (Tran: para [340]).
However, in the related art, Tran teaches a Unified Data Management (UDM) network function (Tran: para [189], “Various components of the 5G network can include, but are not limited to… a unified data management (UDM).”, para [304], “the UDM may manage subscriber data and authentication credentials used by network functions.”, para [275], “Network functions may provide utilization levels, capability information, locality information, etc., to other network functions”), communication between network entities (Tran: para [275], [283], “Network functions may provide utilization levels, capability information, locality information, etc., to other network functions.”, “Network functions exchange information with other functions within the service-based architecture.”, Thus it would have been obvious for UDM instances to exchange information related to quantum states), Tran also teaches deployment of network functions at different locations (Tran: para [275], “Network functions may be deployed in multiple instances across the network depending on utilization and locality.”, thus the second entity corresponds to an edge UDM instance ).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to implement the node-based quantum state transfer of Bishop within the telecommunications network architecture of Tran because Tran teaches that the UDM manages authentication credentials and cryptographic material for network access, that would improve the security of authentication keys managed by the UDM (Tran: para [340]).
Bishop in view of Van and Tran does not explicitly teach indicating the selected polarization states to a quantum capable edge, and indicating the measured polarization states to the quantum capable core network UDM.
However, in the related art, Vakili teaches indicating the selected polarization states to a quantum capable edge (Vakili: col. 15, “the qubit encoder transmit polarized photons over a polarization-maintaining optical fiber”), qubit generation hardware”, Vakili: col. 11, “The randomness server may determine a private set of quantum bases, generate a set of qubits based on the private set of quantum bases, and transmit the set of qubits over a quantum line.” “The qubit encoder 114 may transmit electronic information indicative of the private quantum basis or set of quantum bases to the qubit decoder 116”)
indicating the measured polarization states to the quantum capable core network (Vakili: col. 49, “The second apparatus includes means for decoding the set of qubits based on a second set of quantum bases to generate a decoded set of bits” “may be configured to transmit the decoded set of bits to session server 140A” ).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to implement the node-based quantum state transfer of the modified Bishop using polarization encoded qubits as taught by Vakili, it would provide enhanced cryptographic security and resistance to eavesdropping in authentication procedures (Vakili: col. 3).
As per claims 3, 13, and 18, Bishop in view of Van, Tran and Vakili teaches the independent claim 1. Vakili teaches generating, by the quantum capable core network UDM, a cryptography key for a user device based on the selected polarization states and the measured polarization states (Vakili: col. 49-50, “As shown by operation 514, a third apparatus (e.g., apparatus 200, apparatus 290) thereafter includes means for generating a number based on the decoded set of bits… the third apparatus (e.g., apparatus 200, apparatus 290) includes means for generating a session key based on the generated number. The means for generating the session key may be any suitable means, such as RNG circuitry 212, PRNG circuitry 214, session authentication circuitry 216, QKD circuitry 218, or a combination thereof.”); and
generating, by the quantum capable edge UDM, a copy of the cryptography key for the user device based on the selected polarization states and the measured polarization states and providing the copy of the cryptography key to the user device (Vakili: col. 49-50 “the decoded set of bits may comprise at least one error bit, and the session authentication circuitry 216 may generate the session key based at least in part on the at least one error bit”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to implement the node-based quantum state transfer of the modified Bishopusing polarization encoded qubits as taught by Vakili, it would provide enhanced cryptographic security and resistance to eavesdropping in authentication procedures (Vakili: col. 3).
As per claim 4, Bishop in view of Van, Tran and Vakili teaches the independent claim 1. Bishop teaches wherein transferring the selected polarization states from the first qubits to the second qubits comprises transferring vertical polarization states from the first qubits to the second qubits (Bishop: para[03], [23-27] “A qubit may be measured in basis states (or vectors), and a conventional Dirac symbol is used to represent the quantum state values of zero and one, such as for example |0custom-character and |1custom-character. For example, on a physical qubit this can be implemented by assigning the value “0” to a horizontal photon polarization and the value “1” to the vertical photon polarization”).
As per claim 5, Bishop in view of Van, Tran and Vakili teaches the independent claim 1. Bishop teaches wherein transferring the selected polarization states from the first qubits to the second qubits comprises transferring horizontal polarization states from the first qubits to the second qubits (Bishop: para[03], [23-27] “A qubit may be measured in basis states (or vectors), and a conventional Dirac symbol is used to represent the quantum state values of zero and one, such as for example |0custom-character and |1custom-character. For example, on a physical qubit this can be implemented by assigning the value “0” to a horizontal photon polarization and the value “1” to the vertical photon polarization”).
As per claim 6, Bishop in view of Van, Tran and Vakili teaches the dependent claim 3. Vakili teaches receiving, by the quantum capable core network UDM, an authentication data request for the user device from a network authentication system, generating authentication vectors based on the cryptography key, and providing the authentication vectors to the network authentication system; and utilizing, by the network authentication system, the authentication vectors to authenticate the user device (Tran: para [304] “The UDM may generate authentication vectors used for network authentication procedures.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to implement the node-based quantum state transfer of Bishop within the telecommunications network architecture of Tran because Tran teaches that the UDM manages authentication credentials and cryptographic material for network access, that would improve the security of authentication keys managed by the UDM (Tran: para [340]).
As per claims 7, 15, and 20, Bishop in view of Van, Tran and Vakili teaches the dependent claim 7. Tran teaches wherein the network authentication system comprises an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) and an Authentication Server Function (AUSF) (Tran: para [313] “Authentication Server Function (AUSF) interacts with UDM to obtain authentication data”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to implement the node-based quantum state transfer of Bishop within the telecommunications network architecture of Tran because Tran teaches that the UDM manages authentication credentials and cryptographic material for network access, that would improve the security of authentication keys managed by the UDM (Tran: para [340]).
As per claim 8, Bishop in view of Van, Tran and Vakili teaches the independent claim 1. Bishop teaches wherein: receiving the first qubits comprises receiving the first qubits over a first optical link; and transferring the second qubits comprises transferring the second qubits over a second optical link (Bishop: para[22-27] “the receiver system 100 is configured to receive over an optical communication link 302 a polarization encoded source qubit (QS). The optical communication like 302 can be a fiber optic link. The optical communication link 302 is a polarization preserving optical link.”)
As per claims 11 and 16, Bishop teaches a method of operating a quantum capable communication network, the method comprising (Bishop: fig. 1-2, para [19], “Embodiments of the present invention include a system and method to transmit a quantum state successfully across a lossy optical link by using a polarization encoding and taking advantage of the ability to perform quantum operations on the qubits for post-selection”):
generating, by a quantum capable c(source qubit) having selected polarization states (Bishop: fig. 2, para [22-23], , [35-39], “FIG. 2 illustrates how to encode a quantum state of a non-polarization encoded qubit to a polarization encoded qubit….The transmitter system 200 includes the polarization hardware 105B, the converter 106B…the transmitter system 200 can include a measurement device in the case when the transmitter system 200 is operating as a receiver system…After receiving the top and bottom qubits, the converter 106B converts the top and bottom qubits from, for example, the microwave domain to the optical domain…, the top qubit is referred to as the horizontal source qubit and the bottom qubit is referred to as the vertical source qubit (or vice versa) after polarization… After receiving the vertical source qubit and the horizontal source qubit, the polarization beam combiner 102B is configured to combine both the vertical and horizontal source qubits into the single source qubit in the form a|Hcustom-character+b|Vcustom-character. In some embodiments, the single source qubit is the polarization encoded source qubit that is sent from the transmitter system 200 over the optical communication link 302 to the receiver system 100 in FIG. 1.”),
transferring the first qubits to a first optical port of a quantum repeater (Bishop: para [39] “the single source qubit is the polarization encoded source qubit that is sent from the transmitter system 200 over the optical communication link 302 to the receiver system 100 in FIG. 1.”, para [21-23], “The receiver system 100 includes polarization hardware 105A, a converter 106A, and a CNOT gate 108A”, “The optical communication like 302 can be a fiber optic link. The optical communication link 302 is a polarization preserving optical link.”),
receiving, by the first optical port, the first qubits (Bishopo: para[22], “the receiver system 100 is configured to receive over an optical communication link 302 a polarization encoded source qubit (QS). The optical communication like 302 can be a fiber optic link. The optical communication link 302 is a polarization preserving optical link.”), generating by a qubit transmitter of the quantum repeater a second qubits (destination qubit) (Bishop: para[ 22-26], “The converter 106A is a transducer that converts the pair of qubits (which are the horizontal source qubit and vertical source qubit) from one form of energy to another form of energy. In some embodiments, the converter 106A (106B) functions as an optical-to-microwave converter in one direction and a microwave-to-optical converter in the opposite direction….The converter 106A converts the horizontal source qubit and vertical source qubit to a horizontal destination qubit (QDH) and a vertical destination qubit (QDV) respectively.”), transferring, by the qubit transmitter the selected polarization states of the first qubits to the second qubit (Bishop: para[27], “, the receiver 100 can be arranged that, when the measurement of the target qubit 110A from the CNOT gate 108A outputs a 0 (as measured by the measurement device 114), this measurement result heralds the successful receipt of the source qubit at the receiver 100, and accordingly, this means that the destination qubit (QD) (the control qubit 112A) has the same quantum state as the source qubit (QS). The source qubit can be polarization encoded in the form a|Hcustom-character+b|Vcustom-character, and the destination qubit can be photon-number encoded in the form a|0custom-character+b|1custom-character, where a|0custom-character+b|1custom-character is a superposition state between |0custom-character and |1custom-character.” ), and transferring, by a second optical port of the quantum repeater, the second qubits to the quantum capable edge (Bishop: para [22-30],[25] “The (microwave) pair of qubits (horizontal destination qubit and vertical destination qubit) are transmitted over (two) microwave communication links 120 to the CNOT gate 108A, after exiting the converter 106A.”);
receiving, by the quantum capable (Bishop: para [22-30], “The (microwave) pair of qubits (horizontal destination qubit and vertical destination qubit) are transmitted over (two) microwave communication links 120 to the CNOT gate 108A, after exiting the converter 106A.”), determining measured polarization states of the second qubits (Bishop: para [26-27], “The CNOT gate 108A performs a NOT operation (flip the qubit state by angle 7C, from 0 to 1 or 1 to 0) on a target qubit 110A if the state of a control qubit 112A is 1. Continuing with the previous example, it can be assumed that the horizontal destination qubit becomes the control qubit 112A and the vertical destination qubit becomes the target qubit 110A for the CNOT 108A. A measurement device 114 measures the output of the target qubit 110A. The measurement device 114 can be a microwave measurement device. The measurement device 114 is configured to measure a “0” which corresponds to, e.g., a predefined low voltage/signal and a “1” which corresponds to, e.g., a predefined high voltage/signal.”).
Bishop does not explicitly teach a Unified Data Management (UDM) network function; a repeater based network, indicating the selected polarization states to a quantum capable edge, and indicating the measured polarization states to the quantum capable core network UDM.
However, in the related art, Van teaches quantum repeater nodes used to receive qubits transmitted over quantum channels (Van: 5.3., “We have identified quantum repeaters as the core building block of a quantum network. However, a quantum repeater will have to do more than just entanglement swapping in a functional quantum network. Its key responsibilities will include:1. Creating link-local entanglement between neighbouring nodes. 2. Extending entanglement from link-local pairs to long-range pairs through entanglement swapping, 3. Performing distillation to manage the fidelity of the produced pairs, 4. Participate in the management of the network (routing etc.).”)
Bishop in view of Van does not explicitly teach a Unified Data Management (UDM) network function; indicating the selected polarization states to a quantum capable edge, and indicating the measured polarization states to the quantum capable core network UDM.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to implement the node-based quantum state transfer of Bishop within the telecommunications network architecture of Tran because Tran teaches that the UDM manages authentication credentials and cryptographic material for network access, that would improve the security of authentication keys managed by the UDM (Tran: para [340]).
However, in the related art, Tran teaches a Unified Data Management (UDM) network function (Tran: para [189], “Various components of the 5G network can include, but are not limited to… a unified data management (UDM).”, para [304], “the UDM may manage subscriber data and authentication credentials used by network functions.”, para [275], “Network functions may provide utilization levels, capability information, locality information, etc., to other network functions”), communication between network entities (Tran: para [275], [283], “Network functions may provide utilization levels, capability information, locality information, etc., to other network functions.”, “Network functions exchange information with other functions within the service-based architecture.”, Thus it would have been obvious for UDM instances to exchange information related to quantum states), Tran also teaches deployment of network functions at different locations (Tran: para [275], “Network functions may be deployed in multiple instances across the network depending on utilization and locality.”, thus the second entity corresponds to an edge UDM instance ).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to implement the node-based quantum state transfer of Bishop within the telecommunications network architecture of Tran because Tran teaches that the UDM manages authentication credentials and cryptographic material for network access, that would improve the security of authentication keys managed by the UDM (Tran: para [340]).
Bishop in view of Van and Tran does not explicitly teach indicating the selected polarization states to a quantum capable edge, and indicating the measured polarization states to the quantum capable core network UDM.
However, in the related art, Vakili teaches indicating the selected polarization states to a quantum capable edge (Vakili: col. 15, “the qubit encoder transmit polarized photons over a polarization-maintaining optical fiber”), qubit generation hardware”, Vakili: col. 11, “The randomness server may determine a private set of quantum bases, generate a set of qubits based on the private set of quantum bases, and transmit the set of qubits over a quantum line.” “The qubit encoder 114 may transmit electronic information indicative of the private quantum basis or set of quantum bases to the qubit decoder 116”)
indicating the measured polarization states to the quantum capable core network (Vakili: col. 49, “The second apparatus includes means for decoding the set of qubits based on a second set of quantum bases to generate a decoded set of bits” “may be configured to transmit the decoded set of bits to session server 140A” ).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to implement the node-based quantum state transfer of the modified Bishop using polarization encoded qubits as taught by Vakili, it would provide enhanced cryptographic security and resistance to eavesdropping in authentication procedures (Vakili: col. 3).
Furthermore, Vakili teaches the hardware components of claim 16, see Vakili, system of fig. 1, (Vakili: col. 11, “the RaaS system 102 may invoke use of the randomness server 104, central management device 112, one or more qubit encoders 114, one or more qubit decoders 116, and one or more session servers 140..The one or more randomness servers 104 receive, process, generate, and transmit data, signals, and electronic information to facilitate the operations of the RaaS system 102 (e.g., to facilitate on-demand delivery of unknown qubits, to facilitate session authentication, or both). For example, a randomness server 104 may be configured to determine a private set of quantum bases, generate a set of qubits based on the private set of quantum bases, and transmit the set of qubits over a quantum line to a remote device 142.. the randomness server 104 may be configured to generate and receive the qubit request from internal memory or circuitry.” ).
As per claims 14 and 19, Bishop in view of Van, Tran and Vakili teaches the dependent claim 21. Bishop teaches wherein the qubit transmitter is configured to transfer, from the first qubits to the second qubits, at least one of vertical polarization states and horizontal polarization states to transfer the selected polarization states from the first qubits to the second qubits (Bishop: para[27], “the receiver 100 can be arranged that, when the measurement of the target qubit 110A from the CNOT gate 108A outputs a 0 (as measured by the measurement device 114), this measurement result heralds the successful receipt of the source qubit at the receiver 100, and accordingly, this means that the destination qubit (QD) (the control qubit 112A) has the same quantum state as the source qubit (QS). The source qubit can be polarization encoded in the form a|Hcustom-character+b|Vcustom-character, and the destination qubit can be photon-number encoded in the form a|0custom-character+b|1custom-character, where a|0custom-character+b|1custom-character is a superposition state between |0custom-character and |1custom-character.” ).
As per claim 21, Bishop in view of Van, Tran and Vakili teaches the independent claim 1. Bishop teaches wherein: receiving the first qubits having the selected polarization statesanother quantum communication channel (Bishop: para[22-30], “the receiver system 100 is configured to receive over an optical communication link 302 a polarization encoded source qubit (QS). The optical communication like 302 can be a fiber optic link. The optical communication link 302 is a polarization preserving optical link.” “The (microwave) pair of qubits (horizontal destination qubit and vertical destination qubit) are transmitted over (two) microwave communication links 120 to the CNOT gate 108A, after exiting the converter 106A.”);)
As per claim 22, Bishop in view of Van, Tran and Vakili teaches the dependent claim 21. Bishop teaches wherein the quantum channel and the other quantum channel comprise one or more of optical links, vacuums, or metallic links (Bishop: para[22-25] “The optical communication like 302 can be a fiber optic link. The optical communication link 302 is a polarization preserving optical link”).
Claims 2, 12, 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bishop et al. (US. Pub. No. 2018/0262276 A1; Hereinafter “Bishop”) in view Van et al. (“Quantum Internet Research Group Internet-Draft” September 2020), Tran et al. (U.S. Pub. 20200358187 A1; Hereinafter “Tran”) and Vakili (US 11190349 B1; Hereinafter “Vakili”), and Ishizaka (U.S. Pub. 20110153257 A1; Hereinafter “Ishizaka”).
As per claims 2, 12, and 17, Bishop in view of Van, Tran and Vakili teaches the independent claim 1.
Bishopt in view of Van, Tran and Vakili does not teach wherein transferring the quantum state that represents the data network information from the first qubit to the second qubit comprises entangling the first qubit and the second qubit.
However, in the related art, Ishizaka teaches wherein transferring the quantum state that represents the data network information from the first qubit to the second qubit comprises entangling the first qubit and the second qubit (Ishizaka: fig. 10, para[81], [90-101], “a quantum state of the input qubit is transferred to one of the qubits included in the second qubit array …At first, the qubit generation device 63 generates 2N qubits A1 to AN and B1 to BN, and generates a quantum-mechanically entangled state |.phi.>=|.PHI..sup.+>.sub.A1B1|.PHI..sup.+>.sub.A2B2|.PHI..sup.+- >.sub.A3B3 . . . |.PHI..sup.+>.sub.ANBN from quantum states of these qubits. The qubit generation device 63 distributes the qubits A1 to AN as a first qubit array A to the transmitting device 61…Next, the quantum measurement unit 71 of the transmitting device 61 performs a generalized measurement on the input qubit C and the first qubit array A, through which N measurement results j (j=1 to N) are obtained as POVM (Positive Operator Valued Measure) elements .PI..sub.j. The POVM element .PI..sub.j is given as follows, .PI..sub.j=.chi..sup.-1/2.sigma..sub.j.chi..sup.-1/2. Furthermore, .chi.=.sigma..sub.1+.sigma..sub.2+ . . . +.sigma..sub.N, and .sigma..sub.m=(|.PHI..sup.+><.PHI..sup.+|).sub.Cam*I.sub.Am/2.sup.N- -1. In the above expression; (|.PHI..sup.+><.PHI..sup.+|).sub.Cam represents |.PHI..sup.+>.sub.Cam Cam<.PHI..sup.+|…. The communication unit 72 of the transmitting device 61 transits the measurement result j, which is based on the above generalized measurement, to the receiving device 62”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to have modified Bishop with the entangle process of Vakili, it will provide a secure and verifiable system, enable detection of eavesdropping or tampering, and ensure integrity of the authentication.
Conclusion
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/L.L.N./Examiner, Art Unit 2437
/MENG LI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2437