DETAILED ACTION
Response to Amendment
This is in response to Applicants amendment filed 05/14/2026 which has been entered. Claims 1, 8, 9, 15, 16 and 19 have been amended. No Claims have been cancelled. No Claims have been added. Claims 1-20 are still pending in this application, with Claims 1, 16 and 19 being independent.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-20 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim(s) 1-6, 8, 9 and 14-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kamel et al (2013/0134962 A1) in view of Wang et al (2023/0070701 A1).
As per Claims 1 and 19, Kamel teaches a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium (Page 11, Paragraph [0131]) comprising instructions that upon execution cause a network device to: receive first indicators of performances of a plurality of computing environments (Figure 1 – References 102, 104, 106, 112 and 114; Page 3, Paragraphs [0030], [0032], [0034] and [0035]; Page 4, Paragraph [0042]).
(Note: In paragraph [0030], Kamel describes dynamic assessment and optimization of energy usage for facility subsystem, facility or network of facilities [i.e. building, residence, factory, store, factory, data center, etc.] In paragraphs [0032] and [0034], Kamel describes facility system/subsystems [HVAC systems, electrical systems, data/Telco, electrical systems, mechanical systems, chemical systems, etc.] and the energy types utilized by said systems [thermal, mechanical, electrical, power, gas, etc.] In paragraph [0035], Kamel describes measurement devices [i.e. sensors] measuring real-time energy usage [e.g. kilowatt hours and spikes in electrical energy; cubic feet of gas used by a HVAC system])
Kamel also teaches the first indicators comprising one or more of a first metric representing an energy efficiency of a respective computing environment of the plurality of computing environments, or a second metric representing a throughput of machine-readable instructions or a throughput of a hardware resource of the respective computing environment (Figure 3 – Reference 328; Page 6, Paragraph [0065], [0069] and [0072]).
(Note: In paragraph [0065], Kamel describes the amount of energy wasted due to excessive cooling [i.e. an efficiency metric]. In paragraph [0069], Kamel describes a change in energy consumption of the facility compared to an energy baseline/energy benchmark/computed energy usage [i.e. utilization/efficiency metric]. In paragraph [0072], Kamel describes a series of efficiency metrics related to power quality, total energy generated, reliability of energy sources, power quality, etc.)
Kamel further teaches aggregating the first second indicators and second the first indicators comprising one or more of the first metric or the second metric to produce aggregate indicators of performances of the network paths (Page 4, Paragraph [0049]). (Note: In paragraph [0049], Kamel describes a score reflecting facility energy performance wherein the score is a weighted average of one or metrics calculated based at least in part on one or more energy variables)
Kamel does not teach receiving second indicators of performances of a plurality of network paths from the network device to the computing environments; and selecting, at the network device based on the aggregate indicators, a selected network path of the plurality of network paths for communication of data through the network device between a client and a computing environment of the plurality of computing environments.
Wang teaches receiving second indicators of performances of a plurality of network paths from the network device to the computing environments (Figure 1A – References 110A-I; Page 3, Paragraphs [0025], [0032] and [0033]; Page 12, Paragraphs [0096] – [0098]); and selecting, at the network device based on the aggregate indicators, a selected network path of the plurality of network paths for communication of data through the network device between a client and a computing environment of the plurality of computing environments (Page 4, Paragraph [0039]; Page 5, Paragraph [0048]; Page 7, Paragraph [0061]; Page 8, Paragraph [0065]).
(Note: In paragraphs [0025], [0032] and [0323], Wang describes network devices as including packet-based routers in accordance with a software defined networking [SDN] controller. In paragraphs [0096] – [0098], Wang describes indicators of performances of a plurality of network paths as including bandwidth, number of error packets, jitter, latency or loss)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the non-transitory machine-readable storage medium and method taught by Kamel with the non-transitory machine-readable storage medium and method taught by Wang to dynamically adjust network resources so that if an outage occurs traffic may be automatically rerouted to reduce downtime and eliminate the need for manual reconfiguration of individual devices.
As per Claims 2 and 17, the combination of Kamel and Wang teaches wherein the instructions upon execution cause the network device to: for each respective network path of the plurality of network paths: compute a baseline based on measured values of a metric representative of the performance of the respective network path, and compute the second indicator of the performance of the respective network path based on the baseline.
(Note: In paragraph [0098], Wang describes a WAN link health SLE metric engine that determines a baseline for a performance metric [e.g. jitter, latency and/or loss] of a logical path based on path data and then determines a failure state associated with the path based on that metric [i.e. second indicator of the performance of the respective network path based on the baseline])
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the non-transitory machine-readable storage medium and method taught by Kamel with the non-transitory machine-readable storage medium and method taught by Wang to dynamically adjust network resources so that if an outage occurs traffic may be automatically rerouted to reduce downtime and eliminate the need for manual reconfiguration of individual devices.
As per Claims 3 and 18, the combination of Kamel and Wang teaches computing a standard deviation of the measured values of the metric relative to the baseline, wherein the second indicator of the performance of the respective network path is based on the standard deviation. (Note: In paragraph [0108], Wang describes the calculation of averages and standard deviation for measurements across the network paths)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the non-transitory machine-readable storage medium and method taught by Kamel with the non-transitory machine-readable storage medium and method taught by Wang to dynamically adjust network resources so that if an outage occurs traffic may be automatically rerouted to reduce downtime and eliminate the need for manual reconfiguration of individual devices.
As per Claim 4, the combination of Kamel and Wang teaches wherein the metric is selected from among a bandwidth utilization of the respective network path, a jitter of the respective network path, a latency of the respective network path, or a packet loss of the respective network path as described in Claims 1 and 2 above.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the non-transitory machine-readable storage medium taught by Kamel with the non-transitory machine-readable storage medium taught by Wang to dynamically adjust network resources so that if an outage occurs traffic may be automatically rerouted to reduce downtime and eliminate the need for manual reconfiguration of individual devices.
As per Claim 5, the combination of Kamel and Wang teaches wherein the metric is a first metric and the baseline is a first baseline, and wherein the instructions upon execution cause the network device to: compute a second baseline based on measured values of a second metric representative of the performance of the respective network path, wherein the second indicator of the performance of the respective network path is further based on the second baseline.
(Note: In paragraph [0068], Wang describes a WAN link health SLE metric engine that is responsible for constantly monitoring the health condition of system network paths. In order to be able to reliably diagnosis real-time conditions [i.e. path performance degradation, weak or unstable interface signal strength, etc.]. This requires the calculation of multiple baselines at various points in time to evaluate the performance relative to that period’s baseline)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the non-transitory machine-readable storage medium taught by Kamel with the non-transitory machine-readable storage medium taught by Wang to dynamically adjust network resources so that if an outage occurs traffic may be automatically rerouted to reduce downtime and eliminate the need for manual reconfiguration of individual devices.
As per Claims 6 and 20, the combination of Kamel and Wang teaches computing the baseline using a machine learning model that receives as input the measured values of the metric. (Note: In paragraphs [0026] and [0057], Wang describes the use of machine learning and artificial intelligence to determine and evaluate network path parameters)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the non-transitory machine-readable storage medium and method taught by Kamel with the non-transitory machine-readable storage medium and method taught by Wang to dynamically adjust network resources so that if an outage occurs traffic may be automatically rerouted to reduce downtime and eliminate the need for manual reconfiguration of individual devices.
As per Claim 8, the combination of Kamel and Wang teaches wherein the aggregate indicators comprise: a first aggregate score computed based on combining a second indicator of the performance of a first network path of the plurality of network paths and a first indicator comprising one or more of the first metric or the second metric for a corresponding computing environment to which the first network path is connected, and a second aggregate score computed based on combining a second indicator of the performance of a second network path of the plurality of network paths and a first indicator comprising one or more of the first metric or the second metric for a corresponding computing environment to which the second network path is connected as described above.
(Note: In paragraph [0049], Kamel describes a score reflecting facility energy performance wherein the score is a weighted average of one or metrics calculated based at least in part on one or more energy variables. Figure 3 of Kamel is a flowchart illustrating a process by which an amount of energy used is determined. A plurality of variables are described in paragraphs [0063] – [0072] of Kamel. Taking the obtained and calculated energy values and the performance metrics described by Wang to develop an aggregated score reads on the claimed language)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the non-transitory machine-readable storage medium taught by Kamel with the non-transitory machine-readable storage medium taught by Wang to dynamically adjust network resources so that if an outage occurs traffic may be automatically rerouted to reduce downtime and eliminate the need for manual reconfiguration of individual devices.
As per Claim 9, the combination of Kamel and Wang teaches computing the first indicator of the performance of a first computing environment of the plurality of computing environments further based on a metric relating to one or more of a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) efficiency, a greenness measure, or a security measure of the first computing environment as described in Claim 1.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the non-transitory machine-readable storage medium taught by Kamel with the non-transitory machine-readable storage medium taught by Wang to dynamically adjust network resources so that if an outage occurs traffic may be automatically rerouted to reduce downtime and eliminate the need for manual reconfiguration of individual devices.
As per Claim 14, the combination of Kamel and Wang teaches wherein the selected network path is associated with a metric that satisfies a threshold profile for a data flow of the client. (Note: In paragraphs [0096] and [0097], Wang describes the use of a bandwidth threshold and an error threshold associated with client data flows)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the non-transitory machine-readable storage medium taught by Kamel with the non-transitory machine-readable storage medium taught by Wang to dynamically adjust network resources so that if an outage occurs traffic may be automatically rerouted to reduce downtime and eliminate the need for manual reconfiguration of individual devices.
As per Claim 15, the combination of Kamel and Wang teaches wherein the first indicators comprise first scores of the performances of the plurality of computing environments, the second indicators comprise second scores of the performances of the plurality of network paths, and the aggregate indicators comprise aggregate scores based on aggregating the second scores and the first scores. (Note: The combination of Kamel and Wang teaches the calculation of aggregate scores as described in Claim 1. The calculation of multiple scores in multiple categories to perform an optimization process is found to be obvious)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the non-transitory machine-readable storage medium taught by Kamel with the non-transitory machine-readable storage medium taught by Wang to dynamically adjust network resources so that if an outage occurs traffic may be automatically rerouted to reduce downtime and eliminate the need for manual reconfiguration of individual devices.
As per Claim 16, the combination of Kamel and Wang teaches a non-transitory storage medium comprising instructions as described in Claim 1. Wang also teaches a hardware processor (Figure 3 – Reference 306; Page 11, Paragraph [0083]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the non-transitory machine-readable storage medium and system taught by Kamel with the non-transitory machine-readable storage medium and system taught by Wang to dynamically adjust network resources so that if an outage occurs traffic may be automatically rerouted to reduce downtime and eliminate the need for manual reconfiguration of individual devices.
Claim(s) 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kamel et al (2013/0134962 A1) in view of Wang et al (2023/0070701 A1) as applied to Claim 1 above, and further in view of VASSEUR et al (2023/0164045 A1).
As per Claim 7, the combination of Kamel and Wang teaches the non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of Claim 1; but does not teach the network device to sending probe packets along the plurality of network paths; obtaining measured values of a metric representative of the performances of the plurality of network paths based on the probe packets; and deriving the second indicators based on the measured values of the metric.
However, Vasseur teaches sending probe packets along the plurality of network paths; obtaining measured values of a metric representative of the performances of the plurality of network paths based on the probe packets; and deriving the second indicators based on the measured values of the metric (Page 5, Paragraph [0057]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the non-transitory machine-readable storage medium taught by Kamel and Wang with the non-transitory machine-readable storage medium taught by Vasseur to allow for the prioritization of critical traffic over lower priority traffic thereby ensuring that messages arrive exactly when needed preventing catastrophic delays on the factory/facility floor.
Claim(s) 10-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kamel et al (2013/0134962 A1) in view of Wang et al (2023/0070701 A1) as applied to Claim 1 above, and further in view of GUPTA et al (2022/0255900 A1).
As per Claim 10, the combination of Kamel and Wang teaches the e non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of Claim 1; but does not teach identifying priorities associated with a plurality of clients, wherein the selected network path is for the client associated with a higher priority than another client of the plurality of clients. However, Gupta teaches identifying priorities associated with a plurality of clients, wherein the selected network path is for the client associated with a higher priority than another client of the plurality of clients (Page 7, Paragraphs [0054] – [0056]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the non-transitory machine-readable storage medium taught by Kamel and Wang with the non-transitory machine-readable storage medium taught by Gupta to ensure that clients who are engaged in critical business tasks are able to have access the bandwidth necessary to be able to have the required speed and computing power to perform tasks required by an enterprise.
As per Claim 11, the combination of Kamel, Wang and Gupta teaches wherein the selected network path is a first selected network path for communication of data of a set of clients, and wherein the aggregate indicators determine a selection, at the network device based on the aggregate indicators, a second selected network path of the plurality of network paths for communication of data through the network device between the set of clients and the computing environment (Page 7, Paragraphs [0054] – [0056]).
(Note: In paragraphs [0054] – [0056], Gupta describes determining priority based on bandwidth consumption differentiating between critical and non-critical applications. The Examiner is considering a minimum of two different paths where at least one network path is utilized for critical applications and a second network path is utilized for non-critical applications)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the non-transitory machine-readable storage medium taught by Kamel and Wang with the non-transitory machine-readable storage medium taught by Gupta to ensure that clients who are engaged in critical business tasks are able to have access the bandwidth necessary to be able to have the required speed and computing power to perform tasks required by an enterprise.
As per Claim 12, the combination of Kamel, Wang and Gupta teaches wherein the second indicator of the performance of the first selected network path has a first value, and the second indicator of the performance of the second selected network path has a second value, and wherein the network device is to apportion data from the set of clients to the computing environment across the first selected network path and the second selected network path according to a ratio based on the first value and the second value.
(Note: In paragraphs [0056] and [0057], Gupta describes determining priority based on bandwidth consumption differentiating between critical and non-critical applications. Gupta also describes a bandwidth score where 70% of bandwidth is dedicated to critical application and 30% is allocated to non-critical applications which when combined make up 100% of bandwidth. The use of a percentage inherently teaches a ratio)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the non-transitory machine-readable storage medium taught by Kamel and Wang with the non-transitory machine-readable storage medium taught by Gupta to ensure that clients who are engaged in critical business tasks are able to have access the bandwidth necessary to be able to have the required speed and computing power to perform tasks required by an enterprise.
As per Claim 13, the combination of Kamel, Wang and Gupta teaches wherein the first value is based on a first standard deviation of a metric of the performance of the first selected network path, and the second value is based on a second standard deviation of a metric of the performance of the second selected network path. (Note: Thew calculation of standard deviation is taught by the prior art and is incorporated in the calculations as described above)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the non-transitory machine-readable storage medium taught by Kamel and Wang with the non-transitory machine-readable storage medium taught by Gupta to ensure that clients who are engaged in critical business tasks are able to have access the bandwidth necessary to be able to have the required speed and computing power to perform tasks required by an enterprise.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Vitullo (2018/0113482 A1), Bhattacharya et al (2020/0226525 A1), Krokiewicz et al (2017/0108851 A1), SAGE et al (2019/0236508 A1), Henderson et al (2018/0150917 A1), Vasseur et al (2023/0171181 A1), Pasupathy et al (2020/0382387 A1), Vasseur et al (2023/0008106 A1). Each of these describes systems and methods of routing communications within packet-based networks.
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 KHARYE POPE whose telephone number is (571)270-5587. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8AM - 4PM.
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, Ahmad Matar can be reached at 571-272-7488. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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KHARYE POPE
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2693
/KHARYE POPE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2693
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