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
The Amendment filed on 2/5/2026 has been entered. Claims 1-5, 11 and 21-40 remain pending in the application. Applicant’s amendments to drawings and Claims have overcome each and every objection previously set forth in the Non-Final Office Action mailed on 11/12/2025.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments on pages 8-13 with respect to claims 1, 11, 21 and 31 have been considered but are moot upon a further consideration and a new ground of rejection made under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Park (US PGPub 2005/0198681).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5, 25, 26, 35 and 36 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-4, 11, 21-24, 27-34 and 37-40 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Park (US PGPub 2005/0198681).
Regarding claims 1 and 21, Park teaches a method performed by a base station for transmitting a data stream (Park, see abstract, A method of playout buffer management includes delivering AV data to a destination device), the method comprising:
receiving, from a video server, a data stream comprising a sequence of packets (Park, see paragraph 0037, The source device begins transmitting packets with AV program at (R+E) data rate for time T, 28);
detecting a packet of the sequence of packets is a restart packet indicating that the data stream needs to be restarted (Park, see paragraph 0037, the TTDnew of the first packet of the new program AV stream is set to a reduced time, 30. The TTDnew of the first packet of the new AV stream is far enough into the future to allow for delay jitter expected for only a single transmission);
determining which one or more packets of the sequence of packets are buffered for transmission in front of the restart packet (Park, see paragraph 0038, The receiving device detects … previously received packets … all packets stored in the playout buffer with TTDold values);
removing all of the one or more packets in front of the restart packet from the buffer (Park, see paragraph 0038, The receiving device detects that the TTDnew of the first packet of the new AV stream is earlier than previously received packets and flushes all packets stored in the playout buffer with TTDold values greater (later) than the new packet, 48); and
transmitting, to a user equipment, the restart packet and at least one packet in the sequence of packets that follows the restart packet (Park, see paragraph 0039, The receiving device continues to submit AV packets at rate R to the rendering service, and, after time T, the source device transmits new AV packets at rate R to the receiving device, 32).
Regarding claims 2 and 22, Park teaches wherein the data stream comprises a video stream (Park, see paragraph 0036, AV program).
Regarding claims 3 and 23, Park teaches wherein the sequence of packets is associated with a flow (Park, see paragraph 0036, AV program).
Regarding claims 4 and 24, Park teaches wherein detecting that the packet of the sequence of packets is the restart packet comprises detecting that the packet is marked as the restart packet (Park, see paragraph 0038, The receiving device detects that the TTDnew of the first packet of the new AV stream is earlier than previously received packets and flushes all packets stored in the playout buffer with TTDold values greater (later) than the new packet, 48).
Regarding claims 11 and 31, Park teaches a method performed by a video server for transmitting a data stream (Park, see abstract, A method of playout buffer management includes delivering AV data to a destination device), the method comprising:
transmitting, to a base station, a data stream comprising a sequence of packets (Park, see paragraph 0037, The source device begins transmitting packets with AV program at (R+E) data rate for time T, 28);
determining that the data stream needs to be restarted (Park, see paragraph 0036, The user commands change of AV program, e.g., select new channel, station or track, 22);
indicating a packet of the sequence of packets as a restart packet indicating that the data stream needs to be restarted (Park, see paragraph 0037, the TTDnew of the first packet of the new program AV stream is set to a reduced time, 30. The TTDnew of the first packet of the new AV stream is far enough into the future to allow for delay jitter expected for only a single transmission); and
transmitting, to the base station, the restart packet and at least one packet in the sequence of packets that follows the restart packet (Park, see paragraph 0037, the TTDnew of the first packet of the new program AV stream is set to a reduced time, 30. The TTDnew of the first packet of the new AV stream is far enough into the future to allow for delay jitter expected for only a single transmission).
Regarding claim 27, Park teaches wherein when detecting that the packet of the sequence of packets is the restart packet the base station is adapted to receive, from a video server, a message indicating that the packet is the restart packet (Park, see paragraph 0038, The receiving device detects that the TTDnew of the first packet of the new AV stream is earlier than previously received packets and flushes all packets stored in the playout buffer with TTDold values greater (later) than the new packet, 48).
Regarding claim 28, Park teaches wherein the message comprises a packet identifier that is associated with the restart packet (Park, see paragraph 0038, The receiving device detects that the TTDnew of the first packet of the new AV stream is earlier than previously received packets and flushes all packets stored in the playout buffer with TTDold values greater (later) than the new packet, 48).
Regarding claim 29, Park teaches wherein when determining which one or more packets of the sequence of packets are buffered for transmission in front of the restart packet the base station is adapted to identify the one or more packets buffered for transmission that include at least one value that is similar to at least one value of the restart packet (Park, see paragraph 0038, The receiving device detects that the TTDnew of the first packet of the new AV stream is earlier than previously received packets and flushes all packets stored in the playout buffer with TTDold values greater (later) than the new packet, 48).
Regarding claim 30, Park teaches wherein the at least one value comprises at least one of:
a source address;
a destination address;
a source port;
a destination port;
a protocol type; and
a quality of service indication (Park, see paragraph 0038, The receiving device detects that the TTDnew of the first packet of the new AV stream is earlier than previously received packets and flushes all packets stored in the playout buffer with TTDold values greater (later) than the new packet, 48).
Regarding claim 32, Park teaches wherein the data stream comprises a video stream (Park, see paragraph 0036, AV program).
Regarding claim 33, Park teaches wherein the sequence of packets is associated with a flow (Park, see paragraph 0036, AV program).
Regarding claim 34, Park teaches wherein when indicating the packet of the sequence of packets as the restart packet the video server is adapted to marking the packet as the restart packet (Park, see paragraph 0038, The receiving device detects that the TTDnew of the first packet of the new AV stream is earlier than previously received packets and flushes all packets stored in the playout buffer with TTDold values greater (later) than the new packet, 48).
Regarding claim 37, Park teaches wherein when indicating the packet of the sequence of packets as the restart packet the video server is adapted to transmit, to a network node, a message indicating that the packet is the restart packet (Park, see paragraph 0038, The receiving device detects that the TTDnew of the first packet of the new AV stream is earlier than previously received packets and flushes all packets stored in the playout buffer with TTDold values greater (later) than the new packet, 48).
Regarding claim 38, Park teaches wherein the message comprises a packet identifier that is associated with the restart packet (Park, see paragraph 0038, The receiving device detects that the TTDnew of the first packet of the new AV stream is earlier than previously received packets and flushes all packets stored in the playout buffer with TTDold values greater (later) than the new packet, 48).
Regarding claim 39, Park teaches adapted to receive, from the base station, a message acknowledging that the base station has received the data stream comprising the sequence of packets, and wherein determining that the data stream needs to be restarted is based on a time when the message is received (Park, see paragraph 0038, The receiving device detects that the TTDnew of the first packet of the new AV stream is earlier than previously received packets and flushes all packets stored in the playout buffer with TTDold values greater (later) than the new packet, 48).
Regarding claim 40, Park teaches wherein determining that the data stream needs to be restarted is based on at least one of:
frame loss or packet loss;
a change in data throughput rate of the data stream;
a reduction in signal quality;
a detection that a buffer includes an amount of data above a maximum threshold; and
a reduction in bandwidth (Park, see paragraph 0038, The receiving device detects that the TTDnew of the first packet of the new AV stream is earlier than previously received packets and flushes all packets stored in the playout buffer with TTDold values greater (later) than the new packet, 48).
Conclusion
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 CHONG G KIM whose telephone number is (571)270-0619. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri @ 9am - 5pm.
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, Nicholas R. Taylor can be reached at 571-272-3889. 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.
/CHONG G KIM/Examiner, Art Unit 2443
/CHRISTOPHER B ROBINSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2443
Prosecution Insights