Prosecution Insights
Last updated: July 17, 2026
Application No. 18/539,927

DATA NETWORK AND METHOD FOR SCHEDULING DATA TRAFFIC IN DATA NETWORK

Final Rejection §102§103
Filed
Dec 14, 2023
Priority
Dec 16, 2022 — EU 22214269.7
Examiner
NGUYEN, LINH T
Art Unit
2459
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
Airbus Operations GmbH
OA Round
4 (Final)
71%
Grant Probability
Favorable
5-6
OA Rounds
4m
Est. Remaining
96%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 71% — above average
71%
Career Allowance Rate
255 granted / 361 resolved
+12.6% vs TC avg
Strong +26% interview lift
Without
With
+25.8%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 11m
Avg Prosecution
23 currently pending
Career history
394
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
1.3%
-38.7% vs TC avg
§103
94.6%
+54.6% vs TC avg
§102
1.2%
-38.8% vs TC avg
§112
2.2%
-37.8% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 361 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §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 . Response to Amendment Claims 1-4, 10-11, 15 are amended. Claim 16 is cancelled. Claims 1-15 and 16-20 are pending in the instant application. Response to Arguments Applicant’s arguments, see Remarks, filed 04/01/2026 have been fully considered. Claim Rejections under 35 U.S.C. § 102 Claims 1-3, 6, 10, 11, 15, 16 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ling et al. (US 2017/0054828), hereinafter Ling. Claims 1, 10 and 15 are amended as follows Claim 1 “…a message valuation module configured to assign a message value parameter to each of the communication messages received by the traffic scheduler from the at least some of the plurality of network devices and to queue up each of the communication messages to a respective message queue in a respective one of the plurality of message queues depending on the assigned message value parameter, wherein the message valuation module accesses from a network storage device and applies one or more policy rules to determine the message value parameter for each of the communication messages and the policy rules govern valuation of the communication messages,” (Emphasis added) Claim 10 “…A method for scheduling data traffic in a data network on board of an aircraft, the method comprising: receiving, by a traffic scheduler, communication messages from a first plurality of network devices on board the aircraft; determining a message value parameter for each of the communication messages received by the traffic scheduler, wherein the determination is based on one or more policy rules obtained from a network storage device, and the policy rules govern valuation of the communication messages; assigning, by a message valuation module of the traffic scheduler, the message value parameter corresponding to each of the communication messages.” (Emphasis added) Claim 15 “… determining a message value parameter to each of the communication messages received by the data traffic scheduler from the first group of network devices, wherein the message value parameter for each of the communication messages is determined based on one or more policy rules obtained from a network storage device and the policy rules govern valuation of the communication messages. (Emphasis added) On pages 9-10 of the Remarks, Applicant argues the combined cited prior art fails to teach elements recited in claim 1, especially the scheduler for communications messages flowing between data devices on a data network in an aircraft. Applicant’s arguments are persuasive, therefore, a new ground of rejections is made in light of the amendment. Applicant presents similar arguments regarding independent claims 10 and 15. Applicant’s arguments are persuasive, therefore, a new ground of rejections is made in light of the amendment. Dependent claims 2-5, 7-9, 11-14 and 16-19 Applicant argues these claims conditionally based on the argument presented to their parent claim(s). Applicant’s arguments are persuasive, therefore, a new ground of rejections 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 1-3, 6, 10, 11, 15, 16 and 20 are rejected for being unpatentable over Ling (US 2017/0054828) in view of Thubert et al. (US 2017/0006497), hereinafter Thubert. As for claim 1, Ling teaches a data network on board of an aircraft comprising (Fig. 1; paragraphs [0016] and [0039] describe a network): at least one network communication line on board the aircraft (paragraph [0042] describes the network is a local area network for an aircraft); a plurality of network devices on board the aircraft and connected to communicate with each other via the at least one network communication line (paragraph [0039] describes data is exchanged between end systems of the network. The data is transmitted along data links and an end system in a plurality of end systems includes a processor; paragraph [0048] describes an end system includes a processor and a memory), each of the network devices configured to feed communication messages into the at least one network communication line (paragraphs [0041]-[0042] describe an end system is capable of sending one or more messages to one or more end systems over the network); and at least one traffic scheduler on board the aircraft and interconnected between at least some of the plurality of network devices and the at least one network communication line (paragraphs [0043] and [0059]-[0060] describe each end system uses a scheduling system (i.e. scheduler – see paragraph [0074]) to schedule and transmit packetized messages, further each end system provides at least one network interface for transmitting packets and receiving packets), wherein communication messages from and to the plurality of the network devices flow through the traffic scheduler to the at least one communication line or to the at least one of the plurality of network devices (paragraphs [0063]-[0064] and [0068] describe the scheduling system is configured to handle both general messages and time-critical messages and messages are grouped into plurality of virtual links. Each virtual link in the plurality of virtual links defines a logical flow of data from the end system to one or more destination end systems of plurality of end systems), at least one processor is a traffic scheduler (paragraph [0060] describes the scheduling system is implemented using a portion of both a processor and a memory), wherein the traffic scheduler includes: a plurality of message queues in the traffic scheduler (paragraphs [0074]-[0075] describe the scheduler includes buffers; paragraph [0105] describes the scheduler places a packet in a packet buffer which includes a high priority queue and a low priority queue), a message valuation module configured to assign a message value parameter to the communication messages received by the traffic scheduler from the at least some of the plurality of network devices and to queue up each of the communication messages to a respective message queue in a respective one of the plurality of message queues depending on the assigned message value parameter (paragraphs [0142]-[0144] describe the scheduler adds packets to the packet buffer. A transmission controller operates concurrently with the scheduler. The transmission controller retrieves packets from packet buffer, gives priority to time-critical messages and serves the packets of time-critical messages in high priority queue before serving low priority queue), and a queue dispatcher coupled to the plurality of message queues and configured to dispatch the communication messages in the plurality of message queues to the at least one communication line or the at least some of the plurality of network devices, depending on a priority assignment of each of the plurality of message queues (paragraphs [0144]-[0145] describe the transmission controller serves packets of time-critical messages in high priority queue before serving low priority queue). Ling fails to teach wherein a message value parameter is assigned to each of communication messages; wherein the message valuation module accesses from a network storage device and applies one or more policy rules to determine the message value parameter for each of the communication messages and the policy rules govern valuation of the communication messages. Thubert discloses wherein a message value parameter is assigned to each of communication messages (paragraph [0056] describes a traffic policy table can indicate relative priorities or precedence for selection of data flows that should be marked as “overflow”; Fig. 6B; paragraph [0056]-[0057] describe a traffic policy table can indicate relative priorities or precedence for selection of data flows that should be marked as “overflow. The processor circuit of the edge node can determine operation with respect to the traffic table); wherein the message valuation module accesses from a network storage device and applies one or more policy rules to determine the message value parameter for each of the communication messages and the policy rules govern valuation of the communication messages (paragraphs [0055]-[0059] describe a policy stored in the traffic policy table can identify overload levels based on DSCP classification. The processor circuit of the edge node can determine that it wishes to reroute the associated identified flows away from the “proximate” edge 29 (e.g., away from itself and/or the connecting edge link) and toward a “second edge”). 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 Thubert for detecting a load balancing change event with respect to a class-based traffic value for an identified traffic class of an identified traffic flow. The teachings of Thubert, when implemented in the Ling system, will allow one of ordinary skill in the art to direct traffic to an entity. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to utilize the teachings of Thubert in the Ling system in order to redirect lower-priority traffic, allocate bandwidth or throughput among the selected subsets of the identified traffic classes, shape traffic among the selected subsets of the identified traffic classes (Thubert: paragraph [0016]). As for claim 2, the combined system of Ling and Thubert teaches wherein the network storage device connected to the at least one network communication line and configured to at least temporarily store data contained in communication messages sent by at least some of the plurality of network devices (Ling: Fig. 3; paragraph [0119] describes an application includes a writer and a reader. The writer writes a message into a particular entry within a particular message buffer section of the transmit message buffer). As for claim 3, the combined system of Ling and Thubert teaches wherein the network storage device includes a policy rule storage coupled to the message valuation module and the queue dispatcher (Thubert: Figs. 3 and 4A; paragraphs [0050]-[0051] describe each network device is configured for storing traffic policies for each identified traffic class and hash-based ranges in a traffic policy tables stored in a memory circuit; paragraphs [0055]-[0058] describe operations performed by a device based on the traffic policy table. For example, detecting load balancing change event; redirecting traffic flows), the policy rule storage being configured to store static policy rules with regard to dispatching and valuation of the communication messages (Ling: Fig. 2; Idle Policy 264 and Immediate Policy 266; paragraph [0099] describes the scheduler includes an idle policy and an immediate policy and the scheduler performs scheduling according to a policy that is selected from both listed policies; paragraphs [0104]-[0106] describe once the scheduler identifies an available instance of a message to schedule, the scheduler packetizes at least a portion of the message based on a selected packet size and places this packet in the packet buffer. The transmission controller controls the actual transmission of packetized messages; Thubert: paragraph [0055] describes the traffic policy table includes range-traffic values and policies). 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 Thubert for detecting a load balancing change event with respect to a class-based traffic value for an identified traffic class of an identified traffic flow. The teachings of Thubert, when implemented in the Ling system, will allow one of ordinary skill in the art to direct traffic to an entity. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to utilize the teachings of Thubert in the Ling system in order to redirect lower-priority traffic, allocate bandwidth or throughput among the selected subsets of the identified traffic classes, shape traffic among the selected subsets of the identified traffic classes (Thubert: paragraph [0016]). As for claim 6 the combined system of Ling and Thubert teaches wherein the data network is a wire-bound network (Ling: paragraph [0039] describes the network is a telecommunications network over which data is exchanged along data links that are established using cable media). As for claim 10, Ling teaches a method for scheduling data traffic in a data network on board of an aircraft (paragraph [0029] describes a method for unifying the scheduling of general messages and time-critical messages that are published by real-time applications in local area networks; paragraph [0042] describes the network is in the form of a local area network for an aircraft), the method comprising: receiving, by a traffic scheduler, communication messages from a first plurality of network devices on board the aircraft (paragraph [0059] describes the scheduling system is used to schedule the transmission of messages published by a set of the applications and to transmit the messages; paragraph [0074] describes the scheduling system includes a scheduler); assigning, by a message valuation module of the traffic scheduler, a message value parameter to the received communication messages (paragraphs [0142]-[0144] describe the scheduler adds packets to the packet buffer. A transmission controller operates concurrently with the scheduler. The transmission controller retrieves packets from packet buffer, gives priority to time-critical messages and serves the packets of time-critical messages in high priority queue before serving low priority queue); queuing, by the message valuation module of the traffic scheduler, the communication messages to respective ones of a plurality of message queues in the traffic scheduler depending on the message value parameter assigned to each of the communication messages (paragraphs [0143]-[0144] describe the scheduler places a packet in either a high priority queue or a low priority queue based on the scheduling type defined in a scheduling type column of a queue configuration table. The transmission controller operates concurrently with the scheduler to retrieve packets in the packet buffer and transmits these packets, giving priority to time-critical messages); and dispatching, by a queue dispatcher of the traffic scheduler coupled to the plurality of message queues, the communication messages in the plurality of message queues to a second plurality of network devices via at least one network communication line of the data network depending on a priority assignment of each of the plurality of message queues (paragraphs [0144]-[0145] describe the transmission controller serves packets of time-critical messages in high priority queue before serving low priority queue), wherein the traffic scheduler is connected to the at least one network communication line and to the first plurality of network devices such that the communication messages to and from the at least the first plurality of network devices flow through the traffic schedule to and from the at least one network communication line (paragraphs [0039] and [0043] describe data is exchanged between end systems of the network. The data is transmitted along data links. Each end system of the plurality of end systems uses a scheduling system to schedule and transmit packetized messages). Ling fails to teach determining a message value parameter for each of the communication messages received by a traffic scheduler, wherein the determination is based one or more policy rules obtained from a network storage device, and the policy rules govern valuation of the communication messages; the message value parameter corresponding to each of communication messages. Thubert discloses determining a message value parameter for each of the communication messages received by a traffic scheduler (paragraphs [0055]-[0056] describe the processor circuit of an edge node can determine whether there is a load balancing change event which can be based on rules stores in the traffic policy table. The rules stored in the traffic policy table can indicate relative priorities or precedence for selection of data flows that should be marked as “overflow”), wherein the determination is based one or more policy rules obtained from a network storage device, and the policy rules govern valuation of the communication messages (paragraphs [0055]-[0059] describe a policy stored in the traffic policy table can identify overload levels based on DSCP classification. The processor circuit of the edge node can determine that it wishes to reroute the associated identified flows away from the “proximate” edge 29 (e.g., away from itself and/or the connecting edge link) and toward a “second edge”); the message value parameter corresponding to each of communication messages (Fig. 6B; paragraph [0056]-[0057] describe a traffic policy table can indicate relative priorities or precedence for selection of data flows that should be marked as “overflow. The processor circuit of the edge node can determine operation with respect to the traffic table). 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 Thubert for detecting a load balancing change event with respect to a class-based traffic value for an identified traffic class of an identified traffic flow. The teachings of Thubert, when implemented in the Ling system, will allow one of ordinary skill in the art to direct traffic to an entity. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to utilize the teachings of Thubert in the Ling system in order to redirect lower-priority traffic, allocate bandwidth or throughput among the selected subsets of the identified traffic classes, shape traffic among the selected subsets of the identified traffic classes (Thubert: paragraph [0016]). As for claim 11, the combined system of Ling and Thubert teaches wherein the traffic scheduler further includes a policy rule storage coupled to the message valuation module and the queue dispatcher (paragraph [0099] describes the scheduler performs scheduling according to a policy that is selected from one of an idle policy and an immediate policy; paragraphs [0104]-[0106] describe once the scheduler identifies an available instance of a message to schedule, the scheduler packetizes at least a portion of the message based on a selected packet size and places this packet in the packet buffer. The transmission controller controls the actual transmission of packetized messages), the policy rule storage is included in the network storage device that stores the policy rules regarding dispatching and valuation of the communication messages (Fig. 2; Idle Policy 264 and Immediate Policy 266; paragraph [0099] describes the scheduler includes an idle policy and an immediate policy and the scheduler performs scheduling according to a policy that is selected from both listed policies; paragraphs [0104]-[0106] describe once the scheduler identifies an available instance of a message to schedule, the scheduler packetizes at least a portion of the message based on a selected packet size and places this packet in the packet buffer. The transmission controller controls the actual transmission of packetized messages; Thubert: Figs. 3 and 4A; paragraphs [0050]-[0051] describe each network device is configured for storing traffic policies for each identified traffic class and hash-based ranges in a traffic policy tables stored in a memory circuit). As for claim 15, Ling teaches a method comprising: a data traffic scheduler for a data network in an aircraft receiving and transmitting communication messages from and to a first group of network devices on the aircraft via a network communications line interconnecting the data traffic scheduler and the network devices in the data network (paragraph [0004] describes multiple end systems communicate over a network by exchanging messages. These end systems send and receive messages on behalf of applications hosted by end systems; paragraph [0029] describes a method for unifying the scheduling of general messages and time-critical messages that are published by real-time applications in local area networks; paragraph [0042] describes the network is in the form of a local area network for an aircraft; paragraphs [0051] describe the scheduling system is used to schedule the transmission of messages published by a set of the applications and to transmit the messages; paragraph [0074] describes the scheduling system includes a scheduler); determining a message value parameter to each of the communication messages received by the data traffic scheduler from the first group of network devices (paragraph [0059] describes the scheduling system is used to schedule the transmission of messages published by a set of the applications and to transmit the messages; paragraph [0074] describes the scheduling system includes a scheduler; paragraphs [0142]-[0144] describe the scheduler adds packets to the packet buffer. A transmission controller operates concurrently with the scheduler. The transmission controller retrieves packets from packet buffer, gives priority to time-critical messages and serves the packets of time-critical messages in high priority queue before serving low priority queue); assigning each of the communication messages received by the data traffic scheduler to one of a plurality of message queues in the data traffic scheduler based on the message value parameter assigned to the communication messages (paragraphs [0142]-[0144] describe the scheduler adds packets to the packet buffer. A transmission controller operates concurrently with the scheduler. The transmission controller retrieves packets from packet buffer, gives priority to time-critical messages and serves the packets of time-critical messages in high priority queue before serving low priority queue); queuing each of the communication messages to the message queue to which the communication message is assigned (paragraph [0142] describes the scheduler adds the packet to the packet buffer which includes a high priority queue and a low priority queue), and dispatching by the data traffic scheduler the communication messages from the message queues to a network communication line of the data network based on a priority assigned to each of the plurality of message queues (paragraph [0090] describes the scheduler handles the scheduling of messages, the scheduler schedules messages that are available for scheduling when the corresponding virtual links are eligible; paragraph [0144] describes a transmission controller operates concurrently with the scheduler. The transmission controller retrieves packets from the packet buffer and transmits these packets, giving priority to time-critical messages, serving the packets of time-critical messages in the high priority queue before serving low priority queue), wherein the communication messages are addressed to one or more of a second group of network devices which receive the communication messages via the network communication line (paragraph [0039] describes data is transmitted along data links that are established using cable media, wireless media or a combination of the two; paragraph [0064] describes a communication unit of an end system is used to transmit messages that have been scheduled using the scheduling system. The communication unit provides communications through physical communication links, wireless communication links, or both). Ling fails to teach wherein a message value parameter for each of communication messages is determined based one or more policy rules obtained from a network storage device and the policy rules govern valuation of the communication messages. Thubert discloses wherein a message value parameter for each of communication messages is determined based one or more policy rules obtained from a network storage device and the policy rules govern valuation of the communication messages (paragraphs [0055]-[0059] describe the processor circuit of the edge node can determine whether there is a load balancing change event which can be detected based on whether any one of the range-specific traffic values exceeds a corresponding policy value specified in the traffic policy table and a policy stored in the traffic policy table can identify overload levels based on DSCP classification. The processor circuit of the edge node can determine or detect operation with respect to the traffic policy table (see Fig. 6B). The processor circuit of the edge node can determine that it wishes to reroute the associated identified flows away from the “proximate” edge 29 (e.g., away from itself and/or the connecting edge link) and toward a “second edge”). 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 Thubert for detecting a load balancing change event with respect to a class-based traffic value for an identified traffic class of an identified traffic flow. The teachings of Thubert, when implemented in the Ling system, will allow one of ordinary skill in the art to direct traffic to an entity. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to utilize the teachings of Thubert in the Ling system in order to redirect lower-priority traffic, allocate bandwidth or throughput among the selected subsets of the identified traffic classes, shape traffic among the selected subsets of the identified traffic classes (Thubert: paragraph [0016]). As for claim 16, the combined system of Ling and Thubert teaches wherein the determination of the message value parameter uses policy rules regarding dispatching and valuation of the communication messages stored in the data network (Ling: paragraphs [0099]-[0102] and [0109] describe the scheduling system uses different types of policy to perform scheduling of messages based on the message identifiers). As for claim 20, the combined system of Ling and Thubert teaches wherein the at least one traffic scheduler is a plurality of traffic schedulers on board the aircraft and each of the traffic schedulers is interconnected between a respective group of one or more of the network devices assigned to the traffic scheduler and the at least one network communication line (Ling: paragraphs [0042]-[0043] describe multiple end systems include multiple processor modules that are distributed throughout the aircraft and these processor modules are connected through the network and communicate over an avionic data network. Each end system in the plurality of end systems uses a scheduling system to schedule and transmit packetized messages according to bandwidth constraints; paragraph [0064] describes a communication unit of an end system is used to transmit messages that have been scheduled using the scheduling system. The communication unit provides communications through physical communication links, wireless communication links, or both), and each of the traffic schedulers includes a processor of the at least one processor (paragraph [0060] describes the scheduling system is implemented using a portion of both a processor and a memory). Claims 4, 12 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ling (US 2017/0054828) in view of Thubert (US 2017/0006497) further in view of Papp et al. (US 2017/0006619), hereinafter Papp. As for claim 4, the combined system of Ling and Thubert fails to teach a rule configuration manager coupled to the at least one traffic scheduler, the rule configuration manager configured to adapt the stored static policy rules in the policy rule storages of the at least one traffic scheduler. Papp discloses a rule configuration manager coupled to the at least one traffic scheduler (Fig. 1, On-Board Message Broker 152 and policy storage 172; paragraph [0039] describes when the data link status monitor indicates that a given datalink is available, the on-board message broker takes that information, along with other information, and applies the rules defined by the air-space user policy to determine, which, on-ground or on-board message queues may be activated from Prioritize-and-Store to Prioritize-and-Forward), the rule configuration manager configured to adapt the stored static policy rules in the policy rule storages of the at least one traffic scheduler (paragraphs [0039]-[0040] describe the user defined policy determines which Class-of-Service that the given datalink belongs to. When a message queues is activated and transitioned to Prioritize-and-Forward, the queue broker will transmit messages in that queue in an order of priority assigned to each message). 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 Papp for having a storage with policy. The teachings of Papp, when implemented in the Ling and Thubert system, will allow one of ordinary skill in the art to send onboard message queue to a ground station. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to utilize the teachings of Papp in the Ling and Thubert system in order to provide rules to filter and categorize messages to be sent to a target. As for claim 12, the combined system of Ling and Thubert fails to teach a rule configuration manager coupled to the at least one traffic scheduler, the rule configuration manager configured to adapt the stored static policy rules in the policy rule storages of the at least one traffic scheduler. Papp discloses a rule configuration manager coupled to the at least one traffic scheduler (Fig. 1, On-Board Message Broker 152 and policy storage 172; paragraph [0039] describes when the data link status monitor indicates that a given datalink is available, the on-board message broker takes that information, along with other information, and applies the rules defined by the air-space user policy to determine, which, on-ground or on-board message queues may be activated from Prioritize-and-Store to Prioritize-and-Forward), the rule configuration manager configured to adapt the stored static policy rules in the policy rule storages of the at least one traffic scheduler (paragraphs [0039]-[0040] describe the user defined policy determines which Class-of-Service that the given datalink belongs to. When a message queues is activated and transitioned to Prioritize-and-Forward, the queue broker will transmit messages in that queue in an order of priority assigned to each message). 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 Papp for having a storage with policy. The teachings of Papp, when implemented in the Ling and Thubert system, will allow one of ordinary skill in the art to send onboard message queue to a ground station. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to utilize the teachings of Papp in the Ling system in order to provide rules to filter and categorize messages to be sent to a target. As for claim 17, the combined system of Ling and Thubert fails to teach modifying the policy rules stored in the network storage device. Papp discloses modifying policy rules stored in a network storage device (paragraph [0017] describes an air-space user is provided with an ability to configure rules that an on-board avionics air-ground messaging system applies to regulate the communication of messages between an aircraft and a ground station). 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 Papp for configuring rules that are on-board an aircraft. The teachings of Papp, when implemented in the Ling system, will allow one of ordinary skill in the art to send onboard message queue to a ground station. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to utilize the teachings of Papp in the Ling system in order to filter and categorize messages to be sent to a target. Claims 5, 13 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ling (US 2017/0054828) in view of Thubert (US 2017/0006497) further in view of Takagi et al. (US 2021/0258258), hereinafter Takagi As for claim 5, the combined system of Ling and Thubert teaches a priority manager coupled to the at least one traffic scheduler (Ling: paragraph [0091] describes the scheduler uses a schedule configuration table and a schedule status table to manage the scheduling of messages), the priority manager configured to adjust the assignment priority of the communication messages in the plurality of message queues of the at least one traffic scheduler based on the characteristic of the sending network devices (Ling: paragraphs [0065] – [0066] describe the scheduling system is used to manage the scheduling of messages published by set of applications that run on set of partitions in an end system. Time-critical messages are considered static because time-critical messages are published at a fixed time relative to the start of each run cycle of the application; paragraphs [0105] – [0107] describe the scheduler places packets of time-critical messages in high priority queue and packets of general messages in low priority queue). The combined system of Ling and Thubert fails to teach wherein characteristics of sending network devices are identifier. Tagaki discloses wherein characteristics of sending network devices are identifier (paragraph [0039] describes information of individual sensing devices are acquired and stored in a storage unit, the acquired information of a sensing device includes a device ID; paragraph [0081] describes if a large amount of data is transmitted from sensing devices, only data of a device having a specific device ID is transmitted with high priority). 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 Takagi for transmitting data that has a specific device ID. The teachings of Takagi, when implemented in the Ling and Thubert system, will allow one of ordinary skill in the art to selectively transmit data message when there is a large amount of data. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to utilize the teachings of Takagi in the Ling and Thubert system in order to prevent network congestion and priority data message that is originated from specific devices. As for claim 13, the combined system of Ling and Thubert teaches adjusting, by a priority manager coupled to the at least one traffic scheduler, the dispatch priority of the communication messages in the plurality of message queues of the traffic scheduler based on characteristic of sending network devices (Ling: paragraph [0091] describes the scheduler uses a schedule configuration table and a schedule status table to manage the scheduling of messages; paragraphs [0065] – [0066] describe the scheduling system is used to manage the scheduling of messages published by set of applications that run on set of partitions in an end system. Time-critical messages are considered static because time-critical messages are published at a fixed time relative to the start of each run cycle of the application; paragraphs [0105] – [0107] describe the scheduler places packets of time-critical messages in high priority queue and packets of general messages in low priority queue). The combined system of Ling and Thubert fails to teach wherein characteristics of sending network devices are identifier. Tagaki discloses wherein characteristic of sending network devices are identifier (paragraph [0039] describes information of individual sensing devices are acquired and stored in a storage unit, the acquired information of a sensing device includes a device ID; paragraph [0081] describes if a large amount of data is transmitted from sensing devices, only data of a device having a specific device ID is transmitted with high priority). 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 Takagi for transmitting data that has a specific device ID. The teachings of Takagi, when implemented in the Ling and Thubert system, will allow one of ordinary skill in the art to selectively transmit data message when there is a large amount of data. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to utilize the teachings of Takagi in the Ling and Thubert system in order to prevent network congestion and priority data message that is originated from specific devices. As for claim 18, the claim recites similar limitations of method claim 5, therefore, the rejection of claim 5 is equally applied to claim 18. Claims 7-9, 14 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ling (US 2017/0054828) in view of Thubert (US 2017/0006497) further in view of Chen et al. (US 2024/0146809), hereinafter Chen. As for claim 7, the combined system of Ling and Thubert fails to teach wherein communication messages sent by a plurality of network devices are IPv4 packets, IPv6 packets, Ethernet Powerlink packets, Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet packets, or MPLS packets. Chen discloses wherein communication messages sent by a plurality of network devices are IPv4 packets, IPv6 packets, Ethernet Powerlink packets, Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet packets, or MPLS packets (paragraph [0039] describes packet types). 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 Chen for conveying signals using different packet types. The teachings of Chen, when implemented in the Ling and Thubert system, will allow one of ordinary skill in the art to transmit messages originated from devices with different capabilities. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to utilize the teachings of Chen in the Ling and Thubert system in order to have a communication system that is able to implement different signaling protocols. As for claim 8, the combined system of Ling and Thubert fails to teach wherein a data network is a cabin network or a cargo bay network of an aircraft. Chen discloses wherein a network is a cabin network or a cargo bay network (paragraph [0038] describes a cabin network, a cargo bay network). 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 Chen for implementing a particular network on board an aircraft. The teachings of Chen, when implemented in the Ling and Thubert system, will allow one of ordinary skill in the art to transmit messages originated from onboard devices of an aircraft. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to utilize the teachings of Chen in the Ling and Thubert system in order to have a communication system that is able to manage and transmit messages originated from an aircraft. As for claim 9, the combined system of Ling, Thubert and Chen discloses an aircraft comprising the data network according to claim 8 (Chen: paragraphs [0038]-[0039] describes a cabin network). 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 Chen for implementing a particular network on board an aircraft. The teachings of Chen, when implemented in the Ling and Thubert system, will allow one of ordinary skill in the art to transmit messages originated from onboard devices of an aircraft. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to utilize the teachings of Chen in the Ling and Thubert system in order to have a communication system that is able to manage and transmit messages originated from an aircraft. As for claim 14, the combined system of Ling and Thubert fails to teach wherein a data network is a cabin network or a cargo bay network. Chen discloses wherein a data network is a cabin network or a cargo bay network (paragraph [0038] describes a cabin network, a cargo bay network). 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 Chen for implementing a particular network on board an aircraft. The teachings of Chen, when implemented in the Ling and Thubert system, will allow one of ordinary skill in the art to transmit messages originated from onboard devices of an aircraft. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to utilize the teachings of Chen in the Ling and Thubert system in order to have a communication system that is able to manage and transmit messages originated from an aircraft. As for claim 19, the claim recites similar limitations of method claim 14, therefore, the rejection of claim 14 is equally applied to claim 19. Conclusions The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Ahmed et al. (US 2016/0283135) teach resource allocation in networked storage systems Hermann et al. (US 2006/0109857) teach method for dynamically changing message priority or message sequence number in a messaging queuing system based on processing conditions Sood et al. (US 2006/0010217) teach method for dynamic adaptive user-based prioritization and display of electronic messages Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a). A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action. 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. /L. T. N/ Examiner, Art Unit 2459 /TONIA L DOLLINGER/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2459
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Prosecution Timeline

Show 9 earlier events
Nov 28, 2025
Request for Continued Examination
Dec 05, 2025
Response after Non-Final Action
Jan 12, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102, §103
Mar 20, 2026
Interview Requested
Mar 26, 2026
Examiner Interview Summary
Mar 26, 2026
Applicant Interview (Telephonic)
Apr 01, 2026
Response Filed
Jul 02, 2026
Final Rejection mailed — §102, §103 (current)

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

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Prosecution Projections

5-6
Expected OA Rounds
71%
Grant Probability
96%
With Interview (+25.8%)
2y 11m (~4m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
High
PTA Risk
Based on 361 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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