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 2,3,5,6,10,13,14,16,17 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.
All these claims suffer from the same issue of undefined metes and bounds. Each of the claims comprise language stating “at most…preferably at most…most preferably at most”. None of these limitations provides a defined limitation, thus making the claims indefinite and confusing.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 4, 8, 9, 11, 12, 15, 19 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Ivanov (Adaptive Phase Stabilization System for Microwave Signals Transmitted via Fiber Optic).
Regarding claim 1 and similar claim 20, Ivanov teaches an optical phase change apparatus (Fig. 2) comprising: an optical fiber link along which an optical signal propagates (Fig. 2, fiber link FL); a first phase change device coupled with a first fiber portion of the optical fiber link and configured for imparting a phase changing contribution to the first fiber portion via said coupling, the first phase change device operating within a first response frequency range (Fig. 2, first phase change device PFS; Page 36, Col. 1, paragraph 1, The PFS compensates for relatively fast fluctuations of a small amount of delay, benefiting from a short response time and precise adjustment); a second phase change device coupled with a second fiber portion of the optical fiber link (Fig. 2, second phase change device VDL) and configured for imparting a phase changing contribution to the second fiber portion via said coupling, the second phase change device operating within a second response frequency range, the second response frequency range having a maximum response frequency value greater than a maximum response frequency value of the first response frequency range (Page 36, Col. 1, paragraph 1, Slow changes of large magnitude delays are compensated by VDL having a large range of delay variations…; paragraph 2, A line of type VDL-001 (General Photonics, USA) [10] was used as manually tuned delay line with a delay range 0– 330 ps and extended optical wavelength range 1260-1650 nm); and a controller communicatively connected to the first and second phase change devices (Fig. 2, controller PC+USRP), the controller configured for: upon determining that said optical signal experiences a given phase change (Page 35, Col. 2, paragraph 5, As noted above, for active compensations of the link’s electrical length changes as part of the closed-loop automatic control system there are generally used: thermally controlled fiber coil, tunable wavelength laser and tunable delay line or fiber piezoelectric stretcher) including a given frequency value greater than the first response frequency range, instructing the first phase change device to impart, along the first fiber portion, a first phase change at a first response frequency value within the first response frequency range (Page 37, Col. 1, paragraph 2, Input signals of ACS controller are a reference microwave signal VNA and manageable microwave signal from the receiving module Rc output); and instructing the second phase change device to impart (Page 36, Col. 1, paragraph 2, If for changing the length of tunable delay line a precision servo is used, VDL can be used as part of a controller of a closed-loop automatic control system), along the second fiber portion, a second phase change at a second response frequency value within the second response frequency range and greater than the first response frequency range (Page 36, Col. 1, paragraph 2, A line of type VDL-001 (General Photonics, USA) [10] was used as manually tuned delay line with a delay range 0– 330 ps and extended optical wavelength range 1260-1650 nm), the first and second phase changes corresponding to the given phase change (Page 37, Col. 2, paragraph 1, At the first stage of testing, a harmonic disturbing signal with an amplitude close to the maximum permissible and a frequency of 0.03 Hz was fed to the control input of the stretcher Ch1-2. This signal created a corresponding phase modulation in the FOL with an amplitude of 5.25 degrees. Input of stretcher Ch3-4 was used to feed a control signal to control the regulator of the closed-loop ACS).
Regarding claim 4, Ivanov teaches the optical phase change apparatus of claim 1 wherein the first phase change device operates within a first phase range and the second phase change device operates within a second phase range, the first phase range greater than the second phase range, said first phase change imparted within the first phase range and said second phase change imparted within the second phase range (Page 36, Col. 1, paragraph 1, The PFS compensates for relatively fast fluctuations of a small amount of delay, benefiting from a short response time and precise adjustment. Slow changes of large magnitude delays are compensated by VDL having a large range of delay variations i.e. the coarse and fine responses discloses a slow and fast response thus two different phase ranges).
Regarding claim 8, Ivanov teaches the optical phase change apparatus of claim 1 wherein the first phase change device has a thermoelectric element thermally coupled to the first fiber portion (Page 35, Col. 2, paragraph 5, thermally controlled fiber coil…).
Regarding claim 9, Ivanov teaches the optical phase change apparatus of claim 1 wherein the first phase change device has an electro-mechanical actuator mechanically coupled to the first fiber portion (Page 36, Col. 3, paragraph 3, For piezoelectric control we have used the model FST-001- B (General Photonics Corp., USA) [10] as fiber stretcher coupled with a driver. The optical signal delay variations in this stretcher are based on the reverse piezoelectric effect in the spool on which a fiber coil is wound. The stretcher has 4 sequentially connected executive channels with independent control of each channel).
Regarding claim 11, Ivanov teaches the optical phase change apparatus of claim 1 wherein the controller monitors a current phase signal indicative of a current phase of the optical signal, said instructing being based on said monitored current phase signal (Abstract: The regulator of the developed closed-loop automatic control system includes a three-channel radio system made of technology software defined radio with frequency range up to 6 GHz and PID controller, the output of which is fed to the fiber stretcher driver. The basic parameters of volt-degree characteristic of piezoelectric stretcher which determine how it should work in the channel of signal phase control have been experimentally investigated. The results of measuring the statistical characteristics of the microwave signal phase fluctuations during its transmission over a fiber-optic communication link with a length of up to 1 km with the developed closed-loop automatic control system are presented).
Regarding claim 12, Ivanov teaches a method of changing a phase of an optical signal, the method comprising: propagating the optical signal along an optical fiber link (Fig. 2, fiber link FL); coupling a first fiber portion of the optical fiber link to a first phase change device, the first phase change device configured for imparting a phase changing contribution to the first fiber portion via said coupling, the first phase change device operating within a first response frequency range (Fig. 2, first phase change device PFS; Page 36, Col. 1, paragraph 1, The PFS compensates for relatively fast fluctuations of a small amount of delay, benefiting from a short response time and precise adjustment); coupling a second fiber portion of the optical fiber link to a second phase change device (Fig. 2, second phase change device VDL), the second phase change device configured for imparting a phase changing contribution to the second fiber portion via said coupling, the second phase change device operating within a second response frequency range, the second response frequency range having a maximum response frequency value greater than a maximum response frequency value of the first response frequency range (Page 36, Col. 1, paragraph 1, Slow changes of large magnitude delays are compensated by VDL having a large range of delay variations…; paragraph 2, A line of type VDL-001 (General Photonics, USA) [10] was used as manually tuned delay line with a delay range 0– 330 ps and extended optical wavelength range 1260-1650 nm); and upon determining that said optical signal experiences a given phase change (Page 35, Col. 2, paragraph 5, As noted above, for active compensations of the link’s electrical length changes as part of the closed-loop automatic control system there are generally used: thermally controlled fiber coil, tunable wavelength laser and tunable delay line or fiber piezoelectric stretcher) including a frequency greater than the first response frequency range: the first phase change device imparting, along the first fiber portion, a first phase change at a first response frequency value within the first response frequency range (Page 37, Col. 1, paragraph 2, Input signals of ACS controller are a reference microwave signal VNA and manageable microwave signal from the receiving module Rc output), and the second phase change device imparting (Page 36, Col. 1, paragraph 2, If for changing the length of tunable delay line a precision servo is used, VDL can be used as part of a controller of a closed-loop automatic control system), along the second fiber portion, a second phase change at a second response frequency value within the second response frequency range and greater than the first response frequency range, the first and second phase changes corresponding to the given phase change (Page 36, Col. 1, paragraph 2, A line of type VDL-001 (General Photonics, USA) [10] was used as manually tuned delay line with a delay range 0– 330 ps and extended optical wavelength range 1260-1650 nm), the first and second phase changes corresponding to the given phase change (Page 37, Col. 2, paragraph 1, At the first stage of testing, a harmonic disturbing signal with an amplitude close to the maximum permissible and a frequency of 0.03 Hz was fed to the control input of the stretcher Ch1-2. This signal created a corresponding phase modulation in the FOL with an amplitude of 5.25 degrees. Input of stretcher Ch3-4 was used to feed a control signal to control the regulator of the closed-loop ACS).
Regarding claim 15, Ivanov teaches the method of claim 12 wherein the first phase change device operates within a first phase range and the second phase change device operates within a second phase range, the first phase range greater than the second phase range, said first phase change imparted within the first phase range and said second phase change imparted within the second phase range (Page 36, Col. 1, paragraph 1, The PFS compensates for relatively fast fluctuations of a small amount of delay, benefiting from a short response time and precise adjustment. Slow changes of large magnitude delays are compensated by VDL having a large range of delay variations i.e. the coarse and fine responses discloses a slow and fast response thus two different phase ranges).
Regarding claim 19, Ivanov teaches the method of claim 12 further comprising monitoring a current phase signal indicative of a current phase of the optical signal, said operating based on said monitored current phase signal (As taught within the teachings of claim 12, the measurements for the compensation are made based on the current phase signal indicative of a current measured phase).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See the notice of reference cited (PTO-892).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PRANESH K BARUA whose telephone number is (571)270-1017. The examiner can normally be reached on Mon-Sat: 11-8pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, David Payne can be reached on 5712723024. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/PRANESH K BARUA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2635