DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 5-7, 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding claim 5, line 4, the term “the switch” lacks antecedent basis. Is the switch referring back to the “switch to a standby role” or the “switch to an active role” in line 14 of claim 1.
Similar issue exists in claim 19.
Depending claims 6, 7 are rejected by virtue of their dependency on a rejected based claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 4, 8-13, 15, 18, 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shieh et al. (Pub No.: 2012/0110393) in view of Kandasamy et al. (Pub No.: 2019/0327113).
Regarding claim 15, Shieh et al. discloses a system (see network environment 10 in fig. 1) comprising:
one or more processors (see processor 213 in fig. 6); and
one or more computer-readable storage media (see memory 212 in fig. 6) having computer-readable instructions stored thereon, wherein the computer-readable instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
provision a first access tunnel (see tunnel 24 in fig. 1) between a first fabric edge node (see switch 16 in fig. 1) and a wireless access point (AP) (see access point 12 in fig. 1) of an overlay access network (see network environment 10 in fig. 1), wherein the first access tunnel is configured as active based on an active role configured for the first fabric edge node (Shieh et al. see fig. 1, tunnel 24; para. 0035; The AP12 contacts its network server and a tunnel is formed, called Access Tunnel (AT) 24 between the two switches 12 and 16 which flows through the Layer2 Switch14 and will serve as the conduit for traffic initiated or destined to all the mobile units 28 and 30 served by this Access Point 12). The tunnel is initiated as the active conduit between the access point 12 and switch 16 based on active functions/role configured in switch 16;
provision a second access tunnel (see tunnel 32 in fig. 3) between a second fabric edge node (see switch 18 in fig. 3) and the wireless AP (see AP in fig. 3), wherein the second access tunnel is configured as standby based on a standby role configured for the second fabric edge node (Shieh et al. see fig. 3, tunnel 32; para. 0037; The first network switch 12 then establishes a new access tunnel 32 with the still active third network switch 18 and redirects all traffic via this new tunnel 32.). A backup tunnel 32 is established between the access point 12 and switch 18 based on redirect function/role configured in switch 18;
detect an active link or node failure associated with one or more of the first access tunnel or the first fabric edge node (Shieh et al. see fig. 2, tunnel 24; para. 0037, 0048; when the first network switch 12 realizes that the tunnel's cluster owner 16 is not responding to the tunnel control packets or the first network switch 12 is notified by third network switch 18 that network switch 16 is unavailable, the first network switch 12 preserves tunnel forwarding states and continues to forward tunnel traffic out the same interface and using the same tunnel encapsulation). The switch 16 is unavailable;
configure an Extended Node (EN) (see access point 12 and/or the switch 14 in fig. 3) of the overlay access network with information indicative of a switch to a standby role for the first fabric edge node and a switch to an active role for the second fabric edge node (Shieh et al. see para. 0040; At time 58, a failover message is received at the first network switch from the third network switch, … At time 62 the third network switch notifies the first network switch that is capable of performing tunnel failover.). In time 58, the first network switch (e.g., access point) and the switch 14 are notified of the configuration of a switch from active to a standby role for the second network switch (e.g., switch 16) and in time 62, the first network switch (e.g., access point) and the switch 14 are notified of the configuration of a switch to an active role for the third network switch (e.g., switch 18); and
use the EN to steer traffic on the first access tunnel and having the virtual IP address (read as each other's MAC addresses, ARP, IPv4 interface addresses, Access Tunnel assignments, Mobility VLAN associations and/or Access Point information in their own respective tables in para. 0034) to the second fabric edge node, based on the switch to the active role for the second fabric edge node and using at least a portion of the second access tunnel between the EN and the second fabric edge node (Shieh et al. see fig. 3, new tunnel 32; para. 0034, 0037, 0050; In para. 0034, … The Access Switch 14 performs the load-sharing function when forwarding traffic over the SMLT links which is flowing towards the network core. The two RSMLT peers in the cluster install each other's MAC addresses, ARP, IPv4 interface addresses, Access Tunnel assignments, Mobility VLAN associations and Access Point information in their own respective tables, thus making themselves capable of routing traffic destined for their peer, that due to the load-sharing function of the access switch could end up on themselves, in para. 0037, The first network switch 12 then establishes a new access tunnel 32 with the still active third network switch 18 and redirects all traffic via this new tunnel 32. In a similar fashion the third network switch 18 switches over the traffic intended for the first network switch 12 via the newly formed tunnel 32. In para. 0050, … Processing block 128 discloses forwarding packets destined for the third network switch via the new tunnel.). Thus, after the failure of the initial tunnel 24, a switching occurred, the access point 12 and/or the network switch 14 redirects/steers all traffic including traffic on the first access tunnel 24 (currently unavailable) via new tunnel 32, wherein the traffic or packets having the same destined mac address, access tunnel assignments, mobility VLAN associations, and etc. attached switch 16 and 18 via both tunnels 24 and 32, respectively.
However, Shieh et al. does not explicitly disclose the feature for transmitting, to the wireless AP, a virtual IP address attached to the first access tunnel and the second access tunnel, wherein the virtual IP address attached to the first access tunnel and the second access tunnel is the same.
Kandasamy et al. from the same or similar fields of endeavor discloses the feature for transmitting, to the wireless AP, a virtual IP address attached to the first access tunnel and the second access tunnel, wherein the virtual IP address attached to the first access tunnel and the second access tunnel is the same (Kandasamy et al. see fig. 4, see steps 454, 487; see para. 0016, 0024-0026; in para. 0016, … The AP 312 may provide VPN access to a client device by connecting to the primary VLAN tunnel of the first network controller 321-1. The client device may be wirelessly connected to the AP 312 using a PSK based SSID. In para. 0026, The VLAN hosted by the second network controller 421-2 is installed on the SSID of the client device that is stored by the AP 412). Thus, the VLAN hosted by the second network controller 421-2 includes the backup tunnel is received and installed on the SSID of the client device that is stored by the AP, wherein the SSID (e.g., installed with VLAN A mapped for primary tunnel) is also attached/associated with the primary tunnel hosted by the first network controller 421-1.
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the disclosure of Shieh et al. and to implement with the feature for receiving and storing SSID (e.g., SSID mapped to VLAN tunnels provided by first network controller 421-1 and 421-2 in fig. 4) at the access point to provide VPN services to client device.
The motivation would be to improve transmission reliability.
Claims 1 and 20 are rejected similarly to claim 15.
Regarding claims 4, 18, Shieh et al. discloses the feature wherein the EN is configured with information indicative of a switch to a standby role for the first access tunnel provisioned for the first fabric edge node and a switch to an active role for the second access tunnel provisioned for the second fabric edge node (Shieh et al. see para. 0040; At time 58, a failover message is received at the first network switch from the third network switch, … At time 62 the third network switch notifies the first network switch that is capable of performing tunnel failover.). In time 58, the first network switch (e.g., access point) and the switch 14 are notified of the configuration of a switch from active to a standby role for the second network switch (e.g., switch 16) including the tunnel 24 and in time 62, the first network switch (e.g., access point) and the switch 14 are notified of the configuration of a switch to an active role for the third network switch (e.g., switch 18) including the tunnel 32.
Regarding claim 8, Shieh et al. discloses the feature wherein the EN includes a fast active-standby link redundancy mechanism to reconfigure one or more of the first fabric edge node or the first access tunnel with the standby role based on detecting the active link or node failure, and to reconfigure one or more of the second fabric edge node or the second access tunnel with the active role based on detecting the active link or node failure (Shieh et al. see para. 0017; when Access Point detects the disruption of the tunnel session due to the SMLT failover, the Access Point would preserve all the tunnel forwarding states intact, and continue forwards the wireless traffic out to the same interface using the same tunnel encapsulation. Due to the SMLT setup, the traffic would be forwarded to the other SMLT Mobility Switch (peer-2) which is completely capable to handle and process the data traffic on behave of its SMLT peer (peer-1). The Access Point would re-establish a new tunnel connection to the other SMLT Mobility Switch (peer-2).). Thus, the AP and/or the access switch 14 includes a fast active-standby link redundancy method/mechanism to reconfigure the working tunnel 24 with a standby role once a failure is detected and to reconfigure the backup tunnel 32 with an active role once a failure is detected.
Regarding claim 9, Shieh et al. discloses the feature wherein detecting the active link or node failure is based on signaling between the EN and one or more of the first fabric edge node or the second fabric edge node (Shieh et al. see para. 0037; when the first network switch 12 realizes that the tunnel's cluster owner 16 is not responding to the tunnel control packets or the first network switch 12 is notified by third network switch 18 that network switch 16 is unavailable).
Regarding claim 10, Shieh et al. discloses the feature wherein the first access tunnel is provisioned based on an active role or a standby role configured for the first fabric edge node by the EN, and wherein the second access tunnel is provisioned based on a standby role or an active role configured for the second fabric edge node by the EN (Shieh et al. see fig. 4, steps 52 and 60; para. 0040; At time 52 an AT is established between the first network switch and a second network switch.). Thus, the tunnel at step 52 is established based on active role configured for the second network switch (e.g., switch 16). The tunnel at step 60 is established based on the standby/backup role configured for the third network switch (e.g., switch 18).
Regarding claim 11, Shieh et al. discloses the feature wherein the first fabric edge node and the second fabric edge node are included in an overlay core network associated with the overlay access network (Shieh et al. see para. 0034; Network switch 16 and network switch 18 are peers for each other and part of a cluster. On one side the cluster is connected to the network core 26 and on the other side each peer is connected via SMLT 20 to the Access Switch 14 which is running as a Layer 2 switch and is unaware of the fact that it is connecting to two distinct systems.).
Regarding claim 12, Shieh et al. discloses the feature wherein: the EN is included along a path of the first access tunnel between the first fabric edge node and the wireless AP; and the EN is included along a path of the second access tunnel between the second fabric edge node and the wireless AP (Shieh et al. see fig. 1 and fig. 3; para. 0035, 0037). The switch 14 is included along a path for tunnel 24 between the AP 12 and switch 16, while in fig. 3, the switch 14 is included along a path for tunnel 32 between the AP 12 and switch 18.
Regarding claim 13, Shieh et al. discloses the feature wherein the EN is configured to steer traffic from wireless clients of the wireless AP to the first fabric edge node or the second fabric edge node using a selected one of the first access tunnel or the second access tunnel, based on the EN being included along the path of the first access tunnel and being included along the path of the second access tunnel (Shieh et al. see fig. 3, new tunnel 32; para. 0034, 0037, 0050; In para. 0034, … The Access Switch 14 performs the load-sharing function when forwarding traffic over the SMLT links which is flowing towards the network core. The two RSMLT peers in the cluster install each other's MAC addresses, ARP, IPv4 interface addresses, Access Tunnel assignments, Mobility VLAN associations and Access Point information in their own respective tables, thus making themselves capable of routing traffic destined for their peer, that due to the load-sharing function of the access switch could end up on themselves, in para. 0037, The first network switch 12 then establishes a new access tunnel 32 with the still active third network switch 18 and redirects all traffic via this new tunnel 32. In a similar fashion the third network switch 18 switches over the traffic intended for the first network switch 12 via the newly formed tunnel 32. In para. 0050, … Processing block 128 discloses forwarding packets destined for the third network switch via the new tunnel.). Thus, after the failure of the initial tunnel 24, a switching occurred, the access point 12 and/or the network switch 14 redirects/steers all traffic from mobile 28, including traffic on the first access tunnel 24 (currently unavailable) via new tunnel 32 to switch 18, based on the AP and/or switch 14 being included along the path of the initial tunnel 24 and along the path of the backup tunnel 32.
Claim(s) 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shieh et al. (Pub No.: 2012/0110393) in view of Kandasamy et al. (Pub No.: 2019/0327113) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Jain et al. (Pub No.: 2011/0274037).
Regarding claim 14, Shieh et al. in view of Kandasamy et al. does not explicitly disclose the feature wherein the EN comprises a Policy Extended Node (PEN).
Jain et al. from the same or similar fields of endeavor discloses the feature wherein the EN comprises a Policy Extended Node (PEN) (Jain et al. see para. 0071; the access switch is configured to compare an identifier of the station with the information stored at the access switch to determine whether the station was previously located on another access switch in the switch peer group of which that access switch is a part. Thus, each access switch stores context and client policy information about all stations connected to any access switch in its switch peer group.). The access switch stores context and client policy information and thus it is broadly interpreted as an policy extended node.
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the disclosure of Shieh et al. in view of Kandasamy et al. and to implement with the feature as taught by Jain et al. wherein the EN (e.g., access switch) stores context and client policy information.
The motivation would be to improve transmission efficiency.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2, 3, 16, 17 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.
Claims 5-7, 19 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Examiner's Note
The Applicant is welcome to request a telephonic interview if the Applicant has any questions or requires any additional information that would further or expedite the prosecution of the application.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Bhagvath et al. (Pub No.: 2020/0036577) discloses a system, method, and computer program for providing tunneling redundancy is provided. The method may include using router redundancy protocols on routers at endpoints of virtual IP tunnels to allow for failover of a master router to a backup router that assumes control over a virtual IP address in order to keep packet transmission in the virtual IP tunnel flowing with minimal interruption and no remote reconfiguration.
Wang et al. (Pub No.: 2020/0021523) discloses a route processing method, a device, and a system, where the method includes: a network virtualization edge (NVE) device set including at least two NVE devices includes a common Virtual Etensible Local Area Network (VXLAN) Tunnel Endpoint (VTEP) address. The common VTEP address is used to identify a common VTEP, and the common VTEP is deployed on each NVE device in the NVE device set. In addition, each NVE device in the NVE device set includes a VTEP address, and the VTEP address is used to identify a VTEP included in a corresponding NVE device. An NVE device in the NVE device set establishes a VXLAN tunnel between the NVE devices in the NVE device set based on a VTEP address and the common VTEP address using an IMET route.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KAN YUEN whose telephone number is (571)270-1413. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 10:30am-7pm.
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/KAN YUEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2464