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 § 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 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.
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 13, 15, 17, and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over S-11349769-B1 to Yonai et al., from hereon Yonai in view of WO-2024128945-A1 to Zanouda.
Regarding claim 1 Yonai teaches…a method for controlling a data communication link between a first device and a second device, comprising (Abs discloses…method for controlling device data flow on a destination device, Col 5, Lns 60-67 further disclose…The destination device 102 includes a system on a chip (SOC) 120 that is made up of at least a first die 122a and a second die 122b. A priority-based flow control cascade (PFCC) profile table (PFCC table) 124, a first state machine 126, a second state machine 128, and a threshold compare unit 130 are disposed on the first die 122a. The destination device 102 further includes a die-to-die (D2D) interconnect unit 132 (D2D 132) and a memory 134 containing buffers 136. Finally, the MAC units 114a, 116a, and 118a are disposed on the second die 122b): but does not teach…providing, by the first device, a first link downtime request; providing, by the first device, a first data traffic level indication; providing, by the first device, a first link downtime acknowledgement in response to the first link downtime request when the first data traffic level indication is less than a data traffic threshold; and controlling, by the first device, a link maintenance operation in response to the first link downtime acknowledgement.
Zanouda teaches…providing, by the first device, a first link downtime request (page 5, Lns. 4-9, step 115 a downtime request where and when the operational maintenance indicates a lowest network usage or low traffic threshold); providing, by the first device, a first data traffic level indication (page 5, Lns. 22-25 discloses… At step 125, a time period during which 22 each site performance metric is less than or equal to a low traffic threshold is selected); providing, by the first device, a first link downtime acknowledgement in response to the first link downtime request when the first data traffic level indication is less than a data traffic threshold (Page 16, Lns. 10-13 discloses the response to a maintenance period also known as a downtime when a threshold is not met… during which the at least one performance metric is less than or equal to a low traffic threshold is 10 identified for the particular one of the plurality of sites, at step 1415. At step 1420, and during the time period, 11 the at least one operational maintenance task is performed at the particular one of the plurality of sites. ); and controlling, by the first device, a link maintenance operation in response to the first link downtime acknowledgement (page 7, Lns. 40-46 discloses the response for the downtime acknowledgement also described as controlling actions and functions).
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 combination of Yonai by incorporating the teachings of Zanouda because the method and device allow solutions enabling systems and methods for Artificial Intelligence-assisted scheduling of operational maintenance tasks in a telecommunications network, providing optimized scheduling for operational maintenance tasks such as, for example, SW and HW upgrades, that causes minimal disruption time on the network (Zanouda, Page 3, Lns. 4-6). The motivation is that by applying a well-known standard or protocol or machine to a system provides the system with significantly improved industrial applicability.
Regarding claim 3 Yonai and Zanouda teach the method of claim 1, Zanouda teaches…wherein the first link downtime acknowledgement is provided when the first data traffic level indication is less than the data traffic threshold and a link quality indication indicates link communication quality impairment is less than a link quality threshold (Page 16, Lns. 30, 37, and Lns. 6-10 discloses the quality of the link based on the threshold ).
Regarding claim 5 Yonai and Zanouda teach the method of claim 1, Zanouda teaches…wherein the first link downtime request is provided in response to at least one of: a periodic timer; and a link communication quality measurement (P10, Lns. 55-57 discloses the method, system, responds to a measurement procedures such as monitoring a rate, threshold, delays, and various others. ).
Regarding claim 6 Yonai and Zanouda teach the method of claim 1, Zanouda teaches…wherein providing the first link downtime request comprises providing, by a first physical-layer controller in the first device, the first link downtime request to a first traffic monitoring controller in the first device; and providing the first link downtime acknowledgement comprises providing, by the first traffic monitoring controller, the first link downtime acknowledgement to the first physical-layer controller (Page 8, Lns. 13-15 discloses the use of a controller to provide the monitoring, processing requests, responding with commands, instructions within the UE).
Regarding claim 8 Yonai teaches…a system for controlling a device-to-device data communication link, comprising (Col. 5-6, discloses… The destination device 102 includes a system on a chip (SOC) 120 that is made up of at least a first die 122a and a second die 122b. A priority-based flow control cascade (PFCC) profile table (PFCC table) 124, a first state machine 126, a second state machine 128, and a threshold compare unit 130 are disposed on the first die 122a. The destination device 102 further includes a die-to-die (D2D) interconnect unit 132 (D2D 132) and a memory 134 containing buffers 136. Finally, the MAC units 114a, 116a, and 118a are disposed on the second die 122b): a first traffic network in a first device; first link circuitry in the first device coupled to the first traffic network and coupled to the data communication link (claim 1), but does not teach…the first link circuitry configured to provide a first link downtime request; and a first traffic monitoring controller in the first device coupled to the first traffic network and the first link circuitry and configured to provide a first data traffic level indication, the first traffic monitoring controller further configured to provide a first link downtime acknowledgement in response to the first link downtime request when the first data traffic level indication is less than a data traffic threshold; wherein the first link circuitry is further configured to control a link maintenance operation in response to the first link downtime acknowledgement.
Zanouda teaches… the first link circuitry configured to provide a first link downtime request(page 5, Lns. 4-9, step 115 a downtime request where and when the operational maintenance indicates a lowest network usage or low traffic threshold); and a first traffic monitoring controller in the first device coupled to the first traffic network and the first link circuitry and configured to provide a first data traffic level indication(page 5, Lns. 22-25 discloses… At step 125, a time period during which 22 each site performance metric is less than or equal to a low traffic threshold is selected), the first traffic monitoring controller further configured to provide a first link downtime acknowledgement in response to the first link downtime request when the first data traffic level indication is less than a data traffic threshold(Page 16, Lns. 10-13 discloses the response to a maintenance period also known as a downtime when a threshold is not met… during which the at least one performance metric is less than or equal to a low traffic threshold is 10 identified for the particular one of the plurality of sites, at step 1415. At step 1420, and during the time period, 11 the at least one operational maintenance task is performed at the particular one of the plurality of sites. ); wherein the first link circuitry is further configured to control a link maintenance operation in response to the first link downtime acknowledgement(page 7, Lns. 40-46 discloses the response for the downtime acknowledgement also described as controlling actions and functions).
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 combination of Yonai by incorporating the teachings of Zanouda because the method and device allow solutions enabling systems and methods for Artificial Intelligence-assisted scheduling of operational maintenance tasks in a telecommunications network, providing optimized scheduling for operational maintenance tasks such as, for example, SW and HW upgrades, that causes minimal disruption time on the network (Zanouda, Page 3, Lns. 4-6). The motivation is that by applying a well-known standard or protocol or machine to a system provides the system with significantly improved industrial applicability.
Regarding claim 10 Yonai and Zanouda teach the system of claim 8, Zanouda teaches…wherein the first traffic monitoring controller is configured to provide the first link downtime acknowledgement when the first data traffic level indication is less than the link traffic threshold and a link quality indication indicates link communication quality impairment is less than a link quality threshold(Page 16, Lns. 30, 37, and Lns. 6-10 discloses the quality of the link based on the threshold ). .
Regarding claim 12 Yonai and Zanouda teach the system of claim 8, Zanouda teaches…wherein the first link circuitry is configured to provide the first link downtime request in response to at least one of: a periodic timer; and a link communication quality measurement(P10, Lns. 55-57 discloses the method, system, responds to a measurement procedures such as monitoring a rate, threshold, delays, and various others. ).
Regarding claim 13 Yonai and Zanouda teach the system of claim 8, Zanouda teaches…wherein: the first link circuitry includes first physical-layer interface circuitry coupled to the data communication link and a first physical-layer controller configured to provide the first link downtime request; and the first traffic monitoring controller is configured to provide the first link downtime acknowledgement to the first physical-layer controller(Page 8, Lns. 13-15 discloses the use of a controller to provide the monitoring, processing requests, responding with commands, instructions within the UE).
Regarding claim 15 Yonai teaches…a system for controlling a device-to-device data communication link, comprising (Col. 5-6, discloses… The destination device 102 includes a system on a chip (SOC) 120 that is made up of at least a first die 122a and a second die 122b. A priority-based flow control cascade (PFCC) profile table (PFCC table) 124, a first state machine 126, a second state machine 128, and a threshold compare unit 130 are disposed on the first die 122a. The destination device 102 further includes a die-to-die (D2D) interconnect unit 132 (D2D 132) and a memory 134 containing buffers 136. Finally, the MAC units 114a, 116a, and 118a are disposed on the second die 122b): a first device coupled to the data communication link (claim 1), but does not teach…the first device configured to provide a device-to-device link downtime request message based on a first data traffic level, the first device further configured to control a first portion of a link maintenance operation; and a second device coupled to the data communication link, the second device configured to control a second portion of a link maintenance operation based on the device-to-device link downtime request message and a second data traffic level.
Zanouda teaches… the first device configured to provide a device-to-device link downtime request message based on a first data traffic level, the first device further configured to control a first portion of a link maintenance operation(page 5, Lns. 4-9, step 115 a downtime request where and when the operational maintenance indicates a lowest network usage or low traffic threshold); and a second device coupled to the data communication link, the second device configured to control a second portion of a link maintenance operation based on the device-to-device link downtime request message (page 5, Lns. 4-9, step 115 a downtime request where and when the operational maintenance indicates a lowest network usage or low traffic threshold); and a second data traffic level.
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 combination of Yonai by incorporating the teachings of Zanouda because the method and device allow solutions enabling systems and methods for Artificial Intelligence-assisted scheduling of operational maintenance tasks in a telecommunications network, providing optimized scheduling for operational maintenance tasks such as, for example, SW and HW upgrades, that causes minimal disruption time on the network (Zanouda, Page 3, Lns. 4-6). The motivation is that by applying a well-known standard or protocol or machine to a system provides the system with significantly improved industrial applicability.
Regarding claim 17 Yonai and Zanouda teach the system of claim 15, Zanouda teaches… wherein the first device is configured to provide the device-to-device link downtime request message based on the first data traffic level and a measurement of link quality(Page 16, Lns. 30, 37, and Lns. 6-10 discloses the quality of the link based on the threshold ).
Claim(s) 2, 9, and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US-11349769-B1 to Yonai et al., from hereon Yonai and WO-2024128945-A1 to Zanouda in view of WO-202204262-A1 to Brewer.
Regarding claim 2 Yonai and Zanouda teach the method of claim 1, but do not teach…wherein the first data traffic level indication represents an aggregate data traffic level among the first device and at least one other device coupled to the data communication link.
Brewer teaches… wherein the first data traffic level indication represents an aggregate data traffic level among the first device and at least one other device coupled to the data communication link (P. 42).
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 combination of Yonai and Zanouda by incorporating the teachings of Brewer because the method and device allow compilation, interpretation, of information that is combined using communicate between devices (Brewer, P96 ). The motivation is that by applying a well-known standard or protocol or machine to a system provides the system with significantly improved industrial applicability.
Regarding claim 9 Yonai and Zanouda teach the system of claim 8, but do not teach…wherein the first data traffic level indication represents an aggregate data traffic level among the first device and at least one other device coupled to the data communication link.
Brewer teaches…wherein the first data traffic level indication represents an aggregate data traffic level among the first device and at least one other device coupled to the data communication link(P. 42).
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 combination of Yonai and Zanouda by incorporating the teachings of Brewer because the method and device allow compilation, interpretation, of information that is combined using communicate between devices (Brewer, P96 ). The motivation is that by applying a well-known standard or protocol or machine to a system provides the system with significantly improved industrial applicability.
Regarding claim 16 Yonai and Zanouda teach the system of claim 15, but do not teach…wherein the first data traffic level indication represents an aggregate data traffic level among a plurality of devices coupled to the data communication link including the first device and the second device.
Brewer teaches… wherein the first data traffic level indication represents an aggregate data traffic level among a plurality of devices coupled to the data communication link including the first device and the second device.
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 combination of Yonai and Zanouda by incorporating the teachings of Brewer because the method and device allow compilation, interpretation, of information that is combined using communicate between devices (Brewer, P96 ). The motivation is that by applying a well-known standard or protocol or machine to a system provides the system with significantly improved industrial applicability.
Claim(s) 4, 11, and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US-11349769-B1 to Yonai et al., from hereon Yonai and WO-2024128945-A1 to Zanouda in view of US-20230035310-A1 to Denneman.
Regarding claim 4 Yonai and Zanouda teach the method of claim 1, but do not teach…wherein the first link downtime acknowledgement is provided after a time interval beginning when the data traffic level indication decreases below the data traffic threshold.
Denneman teaches… wherein the first link downtime acknowledgement is provided after a time interval beginning when the data traffic level indication decreases below the data traffic threshold (P. 114).
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 combination of Yonai and Zanouda by incorporating the teachings of Denneman because the method and device allow the configuration of specialized hardware that is trained in a centralized manner for scheduling information with an asynchronous protocol for maintenance dependencies (Denneman, Abs ). The motivation is that by applying a well-known standard or protocol or machine to a system provides the system with significantly improved industrial applicability.
Regarding claim 11 Yonai and Zanouda teach the system of claim 8, but do not teach…wherein the first traffic monitoring controller is configured to provide the first link downtime acknowledgement after a time interval beginning when the first data traffic level indication decreases below the data traffic threshold.
Denneman teaches… wherein the first traffic monitoring controller is configured to provide the first link downtime acknowledgement after a time interval beginning when the first data traffic level indication decreases below the data traffic threshold(P. 114).
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 combination of Yonai and Zanouda by incorporating the teachings of Denneman because the method and device allow the configuration of specialized hardware that is trained in a centralized manner for scheduling information with an asynchronous protocol for maintenance dependencies (Denneman, Abs ). The motivation is that by applying a well-known standard or protocol or machine to a system provides the system with significantly improved industrial applicability.
Regarding claim 18 Yonai and Zanouda teach the system of claim 15, but do not teach…wherein the first device is configured to begin the first portion of the link maintenance operation after a time interval beginning when the first data traffic level decreases below the data traffic threshold.
Denneman teaches… wherein the first device is configured to begin the first portion of the link maintenance operation after a time interval beginning when the first data traffic level decreases below the data traffic threshold(P. 114).
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 combination of Yonai and Zanouda by incorporating the teachings of Denneman because the method and device allow the configuration of specialized hardware that is trained in a centralized manner for scheduling information with an asynchronous protocol for maintenance dependencies (Denneman, Abs ). The motivation is that by applying a well-known standard or protocol or machine to a system provides the system with significantly improved industrial applicability.
Claim(s) 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US-11349769-B1 to Yonai et al., from hereon Yonai and WO-2024128945-A1 to Zanouda in view of US-11757685-B1 to Farkas et al., from hereon Farkas.
Regarding claim 20 Yonai and Zanouda teach the system of claim 15, but do not teach…wherein the link maintenance operation comprises data eye training.
Farkas teaches.. wherein the link maintenance operation comprises data eye training (Col. 4, Lns. 35-50).
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 combination of Yonai and Zanouda by incorporating the teachings of Farkas because the method and device allow the configuration of specialized hardware that is for each lane (link) determining a link score based on the line (link) quality (Farkas, Abs ). The motivation is that by applying a well-known standard or protocol or machine to a system provides the system with significantly improved industrial applicability.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7 and 14 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: the main reason for objection of the claims under discussion is the inclusion of “providing, by the first physical-layer controller, a device-to-device downtime request message to the second device; providing, by a second physical-layer controller in the second device, a second link downtime request to a second traffic monitoring controller in the second device in response to the device-to-device downtime request message; providing, by the second traffic monitoring controller, a second data traffic level indication; providing, by the second traffic monitoring controller, a second link downtime acknowledgement in response to the second link downtime request when the second data traffic level indication is less than the data traffic threshold; and providing, by the second physical-layer controller, a device-to-device downtime acknowledgement message to the first device; wherein the first physical-layer controller controls a first portion of the link maintenance operation in response to the device-to-device downtime acknowledgement message, and the second physical-layer controller controls a second portion of the link maintenance operation” and “the second link circuitry comprising second physical-layer interface circuitry coupled to the data communication link and a second physical-layer controller configured to provide a second link downtime request; and a second traffic monitoring controller in the second device coupled to the second traffic network and the second link circuitry, wherein the first physical-layer controller is configured to provide a device-to-device link downtime request message, and the second physical-layer controller is configured to provide a device-to-device link downtime acknowledgement message; wherein the first physical-layer controller is further configured to control a first portion of the link maintenance operation in response to the device-to-device link downtime acknowledgement message, and the second physical-layer controller is configured to control a second portion of the link maintenance operation” as the prior art of record in stand-alone form nor in combination read into the disclosed claims as supported by the specification. Furthermore, the nearest prior art such as US-20260056909-A1 to Hyatt, US-20250147665-A1 to Kim, WO-2023027921-A2 to Linsky disclose maintenance operation but are silent on providing, by the first physical-layer controller, a device-to-device downtime request message to the second device; providing, by a second physical-layer controller in the second device, a second link downtime request to a second traffic monitoring controller in the second device in response to the device-to-device downtime request message; providing, by the second traffic monitoring controller, a second data traffic level indication; providing, by the second traffic monitoring controller, a second link downtime acknowledgement in response to the second link downtime request when the second data traffic level indication is less than the data traffic threshold; and providing, by the second physical-layer controller, a device-to-device downtime acknowledgement message to the first device; wherein the first physical-layer controller controls a first portion of the link maintenance operation in response to the device-to-device downtime acknowledgement message, and the second physical-layer controller controls a second portion of the link maintenance operation.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See PTO form PTO-892: US-20260056909-A1 to Hyatt, US-20250147665-A1 to Kim, WO-2023027921-A2 to Linsky.
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/L.S./Examiner, Art Unit 2476
/PHIRIN SAM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2476
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