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 Objections
Claim 13 is objected to because of the following informalities: on line 4, the phrase “control block” is repeated. Appropriate correction is required
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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, 2, 8, 9, 13, 14, 20, and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Dutta (US Publication 2024/0314226 A1).
Regarding to claims 1 and 13, Dutta discloses a transmitter 300/420-2 (fig. 3 and 7A) configured to transmit a control block (page 3 paragraph 0032; control message) over a communication network (page 5 paragraph 0045), the transmitter comprising: a processor 310; and a non-transitory storage device 320 containing instructions that, when executed by the processor (page 5 paragraph 0047), cause the processor to: detect an impending link-down event at the transmitter (page 8 paragraph 0063); encode the link-down event within a control block (fig. 12 page 12 paragraph 0074); transmit the control block via a physical layer of the communication network to a receiver 420-1/N (page 5 paragraph 0048); and initiate the link-down event at the transmitter (page 9 paragraph 0066; notifies control card 410 of failure path 701).
Regarding to claims 2 and 14, Dutta discloses generating an operational code opcode identifying the link-down event, wherein the opcode, when decoded at the receiver (fig. 12 page 12 paragraph 0074), triggers a responsive action at the receiver corresponding to the link-down event (page 11 paragraph 0075).
Regarding to claim 8 and 20, Dutta discloses the link-down event comprises at least one of a thermal event (page 11 paragraph 0075; port down event), a device reset, a forced device shutdown, a local command to sleep, a local command to disable, or a locked port.
Regarding to claims 9 and 21, Dutta discloses a transmitter 300/420-1/N (fig. 3 and 7A) configured to receive a control block (page 3 paragraph 0032; control message) over a communication network (page 5 paragraph 0045), the receiver comprising: a processor 310; and a non-transitory storage device 320 containing instructions that, when executed by the processor (page 5 paragraph 0047), cause the processor to: receive the control block via a physical layer of the communication network from a transmitter 420-2 (page 5 paragraph 0048); extract, from the control block, an operational code opcode identifying an impending link-down event at the transmitter (page 8 paragraph 0063); retrieve, from a database (page 5 paragraph 00048; tables), a responsive action (reroute packet flows) corresponding to the link-down event based on the extracted opcode (page 11 paragraph 0075); and execute the responsive action (page 8 paragraph 0063; initiates a reroute of packet flow).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-7, 10-12, 15-19, and 22-24 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.
Conclusion
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/DUC T DUONG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2467