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 .
DETAILED ACTION
The instant application having Application No. 18/592,520 filed on 3/01/2024 is presented for examination.
Examiner Notes
Examiner cites particular columns and line numbers in the references as applied to the claims below for the convenience of the applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings in the art and are applied to the specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply as well. It is respectfully requested that, in preparing responses, the applicant fully consider the references in entirety as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention, as well as the context of the passage as taught by the prior art or disclosed by the examiner.
Drawings
The applicant’s drawings submitted are acceptable for examination purposes.
Authorization for Internet Communications
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“Recognizing that Internet communications are not secure, I hereby authorize the USPTO to communicate with the undersigned and practitioners in accordance with 37 CFR 1.33 and 37 CFR 1.34 concerning any subject matter of this application by video conferencing, instant messaging, or electronic mail. I understand that a copy of these communications will be made of record in the application file.”
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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, 4 and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Takahashi (US 2019/0297150) in view of Evenson (US 10,860,457).
As per claim 1, Takahashi discloses a data processing system, comprising:
a sequential microservice configured to sequentially process data arranged in a time series (Abstract “A control apparatus includes one or more memories; and one or more processors configured to in response to reception of a first message, by referring to a reception history of one or more messages received prior to the received first message, determine whether a second message having a second timestamp newer than a first timestamp of the received first message has been received, when the second message has been received, perform a first process on the first message and a second process on the second message in order indicated by the first timestamp and the second timestamp, and transmit, to an apparatus to which the first message is transmitted next, a first correction notification including an instruction to correct order of processes executed by the apparatus with respect to the first message and the second message.”);
a plurality of microservices connected in parallel to the sequential microservice (Paragraph 38 “A control apparatus includes one or more memories; and one or more processors configured to in response to reception of a first message, by referring to a reception history of one or more messages received prior to the received first message, determine whether a second message having a second timestamp newer than a first timestamp of the received first message has been received, when the second message has been received, perform a first process on the first message and a second process on the second message in order indicated by the first timestamp and the second timestamp, and transmit, to an apparatus to which the first message is transmitted next, a first correction notification including an instruction to correct order of processes executed by the apparatus with respect to the first message and the second message.”); and
an order manager configured to manage an order in which the sequential manager processes data processed in parallel by the plurality of microservices (Paragraph 39 “In the embodiment, a message control unit 102 is disposed, and the message control unit 102 performs arrival order control (rollback control) so as to correct the arrival order of messages in the plurality of microservice processing units 101 (101a to 101e). The message control unit 102 may be disposed independently from the microservice processing units 101 as illustrated in FIG. 1. In this case, it is possible for the message control unit 102 to be disposed independently from the service processing units 101 as a separate apparatus, for example, a message broker (a message control apparatus). As described later, the message control unit 102 may be disposed in the same apparatus (for example, a server) with each of the microservice processing units 101.”).
Takahashi does not expressly disclose but Evenson discloses
wherein the order manager is configured to repeat:
passing, to the sequential microservice, data corresponding to a minimum timestamp message having a minimum timestamp in a message queue containing a predetermined number of messages consumed from the plurality of microservices (Abstract “Methods, systems, and computer-readable media for globally ordered event stream logging are disclosed. A first host of a plurality of hosts generates an additional chain of a stream comprising a plurality of chains and representing a globally ordered sequence of events. The first host sends information describing the additional chain to a second host. The second host receives a request to store a data object representing an event. The request is associated with a stream identifier of the stream. The second host stores, in the additional chain, the data object, a timestamp associated with the data object, and an identifier of the second host. The data object in the additional chain is associated with a position in the globally ordered sequence across the plurality of chains.”);
continuing to consume a new message one by one from the plurality of microservices until a message with a timestamp greater than the minimum timestamp message is obtained (Column 8, lines 1-14 “FIG. 2A is a flowchart illustrating a method for globally ordered event stream logging, according to some embodiments. As shown in 200, a host may receive a request to add an event to a stream. The stream may have a plurality of chains, and the number of chains may be indicated in the stream identifier associated with the request. The event may include a byte array or other data structure. The request may be received via a load balancer that distributes traffic among a fleet of logging hosts or another host in the fleet. As shown in 205, the method may determine whether the request is an inbound request (e.g., from a load balancer) or a peer request (e.g., from another host). The host may process peer requests differently from inbound requests.”); and
adding the message with the greater timestamp to the message queue when the message with the greater timestamp is obtained (Column 8, line 57 – column 9, line 16 “If the chain was not previously modified by another host, then the ownership of the chain can be claimed by this host. Similarly, if the target of the peer request does not respond, then the ownership of the chain can be claimed by this host. As shown in 240, the host may log the event itself, a sequence number within the chain (increasing with each additional event), a timestamp, and the identifier of the host performing the logging. In one embodiment, the timestamp may be calculated based on one or more sources of input. For example, the timestamp may be using the wall clock time from the logging host and potentially also from one or more peer hosts, e.g., as acquired via peer discovery. In one embodiment, the timestamp of the current event may only be later than the timestamp of an earlier-logged event in this chain or in another chain and known to this host. In one embodiment, the host may also log a reference to an earlier event in another chain. This reference may represent “happens after” metadata that can be used to reconstruct a global order of events across different chains. The sequence numbers within a chain may be used to construct the order of events within that chain. In one embodiment, upon successful logging of the event, the host may respond to the load balancer (which may then respond to the client) with an acknowledgement of the successful logging and an event identifier that captures the stream, the chain, and the sequence number within the chain (e.g., ABC:3:0:0).”).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Takahashi to include the teachings of Evenson because it allows parallel distributed mircoservices to synchronize their timestamps together. In this way, the combination benefits from a faster service while still maintaining reliability.
As per claim 4, it is a method claim having similar limitations as cited in claim 1 and is thus rejected under the same rationale.
As per claim 5, it is a method claim having similar limitations as cited in claim 1 and is thus rejected under the same rationale.
Claims 2 and 3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Takahashi in view of Evenson in further view of Molina (US 2020/0097247).
As per claim 2, Molina discloses further comprising:
a message broker configured to broker metadata of a message between the plurality of microservices and the sequential microservice (Paragraph 20 “In exemplary embodiments, the database 104 stores or otherwise maintains data for integration with or invocation by a virtual application in objects organized in object tables 110. In this regard, the database 104 includes a plurality of different object tables 110 configured to store or otherwise maintain alphanumeric values, metadata, or other descriptive information that define a particular instance of a respective type of object associated with a respective object table 110. For example, the virtual application may support a number of different types of objects that may be incorporated into or otherwise depicted or manipulated by the virtual application, with each different type of object having a corresponding object table 110 that includes columns or fields corresponding to the different parameters or criteria that define a particular instance of that object.”); and
a database in which a payload corresponding to each message is stored (Paragraph 13 “A message brokering application or software agent, alternatively referred to herein as a message broker, continually monitors the conversation log associated with an active conversation to identify new message. In response to identifying a new message, the message broker queries the database to obtain the payload of the message and then parses or otherwise analyzes the payload of the message to identify the relevant database component(s), action(s), attribute(s), field(s), and the like that were included in the conversational user input. Thereafter, the message broker generates one or more query statements and then queries a database in accordance with the message payload (e.g., by querying for instances of an identified type of database object having associated attributes or fields matching those attributes or fields provided in the conversational user input). The message broker may also invoke or otherwise perform one or more actions indicated by the conversational user input on the data obtained as a result of the querying. Thereafter, the resulting data is utilized to generate or otherwise provide one or more updated GUI displays (or update an existing GUI element previously presented thereon) on the client device in a manner that is responsive to or otherwise reflects the most recently received conversational user input in real-time. In some embodiments, the message broker only monitors for messages tagged as corresponding to platform events and only generates GUI updates in response to such platform event messages without taking action with respect to message entries that are not designated as platform events.”),
wherein the order manager is configured to retrieve from the database the payload corresponding to the metadata consumed from the message broker (Paragraph 25 “As described in greater detail below in the context of FIGS. 2-6, in exemplary embodiments, the programming instructions stored or maintained in memory 122 also cause the processing system 120 to create, generate, or otherwise facilitate a message brokering application 130 that supports the conversational updating processes and related tasks, operations, and/or functions described herein to dynamically update one or more GUI displays (or components thereof) at the client device 106 responsive to conversational user input received from the client device 106. For purposes of explanation and without limitation, the message brokering application 130 is alternatively referred to herein as a message broker. Depending on the embodiment, the conversational interaction engine 126 can be integrated with or otherwise incorporated as part of a virtual application, or be realized as a separate or standalone process, application programming interface (API), software agent, or the like that monitors conversation log data 142 maintained in a platform event database 140 coupled to the network 108 to identify, substantially in real-time, new messages associated with a current conversational interaction between the client application 107 and the chatbot 126. In response to a new message associated with the current conversation session between the client application 107 and the chatbot 126, the message broker 130 retrieves or otherwise obtains, via the network 108, the payload or other content associated with that message that is stored in the conversation logs 142 at the platform event database 140 from the platform event database 140.”).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Takahashi as modified to include the teachings of Molina because it avoid repeatedly transmitting payloads across microservices so as to create a more efficient means of communication.
As per claim 3, it is a method claim having similar limitations as cited in claim 2 and is thus rejected under the same rationale.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Barnes (US 20240370444) discloses processing in-order messages. A message broker is provided with unique message keys to performing in-order ensuring that a batch of messages are sent on the same message broker partition or data flow. A reactive generic data streaming processor provides a parallel data stream uniquely grouped to each message broker partition or data flow. In-order processing is maintained on each parallel data stream by using downstream publishers that preserve strict order in each data stream. A terminal sync message with a unique message key to identifies end of in-order streaming a message group.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TIMOTHY A MUDRICK whose telephone number is (571)270-3374. The examiner can normally be reached 9am-5pm Central Time.
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, Pierre Vital can be reached at (571)272-4215. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/TIMOTHY A MUDRICK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2198 6/19/2026
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