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 .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(5) because they do not include the following reference sign(s) mentioned in the description: “RXD interface 288” in [0044]. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities: “media independent interface (MII) module 162” in [0019] should be replaced with “media independent interface (MII) module”. Examiner notes that 166 is for the interface module and 162 is for the network interface in Figure 2.
Appropriate correction is required.
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities: “RXD interface 288” in [0044] should be replaced with “RXD input interface 258”. Examiner notes that 258 is for the RXD input interface and 288 is not shown in Figure 3.
Appropriate correction is required.
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities: “second RXD frame 138” in [0075], [0076] and [0079] should be replaced with “second TXD frame 138”. Examiner notes that 138 is for the TXD frame in Figure 7.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Objections
Claim 23 is objected to because of the following informalities: “second transceiver” in line 20 should be replaced with “second transceiver;”. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 33 is objected to because of the following informalities: “second transceiver” in line 21 should be replaced with “second transceiver;”. Appropriate correction is required.
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 22 and 26 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.
Regarding claim 22, the phrase "preferably" in line 5 renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitation(s) following the phrase are part of the claimed invention. “preferably” is an optional language.
Regarding claim 26, the phrase "preferably" in line 5 renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitation(s) following the phrase are part of the claimed invention. “preferably” is an optional language.
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)(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.
Claims 16, 17, 19-28 and 30-35 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Biederman et al. (US Pub. 2008/0025344).
Regarding claims 16, 27 and 34, Biederman teaches a module for a communication device comprising a transceiver (see 304 in Figure 3A, “Analog circuitry 304 performs the standard functionality of transmitting and receiving frames to/from a medium” in [0042]) and a data processing unit (see 302 and 310 in Figure 3A), wherein the module comprises: a receive data, RXD, input interface, an RXD output interface, an interface referred to as a first trigger interface a further interface referred to as a first character interface, and a further interface referred to as a control interface (see the interfaces between the circuitries in the Figure 3A and the interfaces to/from processor, mac and medium in Figure 3A), wherein the module is configured to perform the following steps: a) receiving, at the first trigger interface, a first trigger signal representing a first time of reception, at the transceiver (see “319 CAPTURE” in Figure 3A), of a frame referred to as a first RXD frame, wherein the first RXD frame comprises a plurality of bits (“a frame that is being received or transmitted” in [0042]); b) generating a first character string in response to receiving the first trigger signal (“signature” in [0039]) and “identifying when to timestamp a frame” in [0041]); c) transmitting the first character string via the first character interface to the data processing unit configured to generate a frame, referred to as the first data frame, based on the first RXD frame (see [0039] and “frame is processed to identify whether or not to keep the timestamp. Thus, a timestamp as close as possible to the actual start of frame is available, if desired as determined by the parsing of the frame” in [0048]); and d) simultaneously receiving at the RXD input interface both the first data frame and the first character string [0039]; e) reading out metadata, referred to as first metadata, of the first data frame (metadata are always present in a frame to identify the frame and to indicate one or more or port identifier, host identifier, cryptography information, time of transmission and so on); f) generating a first data group by associating the first time with the first metadata (“associating timestamps with frames” in [0047]); g) transmitting and/or providing the first data group via the control interface (“digital frame is forwarded to the MAC” in [0047]); and h) transmitting the first data frame via the RXD output interface (“digital frame is forwarded to the MAC” in [0047]).
Regarding claims 17 and 28, Biederman teaches the module is configured to perform step b) directly after step a), and to perform step c) directly after step b) (“capture signal 319 to digital circuitry to capture and store a timestamp for a frame that is being received” in [0042]).
Regarding claims 19 and 30, Biederman teaches the module is configured to generate a unique character string in step b) (“signature” in [0039]).
Regarding claims 20 and 31, Biederman teaches the module comprises a first generator configured to generate the first character string (“retrieve timestamps of frames of interest. For example, processor 120 will send a request to the appropriate PHY device (110, 111), which will retrieve the corresponding timestamp(s) (e.g., identified by a specified signature (e.g., hash value or value of a field from a frame, etc.) of a frame with an associated timestamp being stored in memory in PHY device 110, 111)” in [0039]).
Regarding claims 21 and 32, Biederman teaches the first generator is coupled to the first character interface, and wherein the first generator is configured to transmit the first character string via the first character interface (“retrieve timestamps of frames of interest. For example, processor 120 will send a request to the appropriate PHY device (110, 111), which will retrieve the corresponding timestamp(s) (e.g., identified by a specified signature (e.g., hash value or value of a field from a frame, etc.) of a frame with an associated timestamp being stored in memory in PHY device 110, 111)” in [0039]).
Regarding claim 22, Biederman teaches the module is configured to perform the following steps d.1) to d.2) between step d) and step g): d.1) detecting whether the first data frame represents a first timestamp; d.2) if the first data frame does not represent a first time stamp, preventing and/or skipping step g) and preferably at least one of steps e) to f) (see “only a selected portion of the frames have timestamps associated with them. Therefore PHY devices 110, 111 may perform some parsing of the frames to identify whether or not to associate a timestamp with a particular frame, or possibly, to identify whether or not to drop a generated timestamp corresponding to the start of the frame” in [0038] and “frame is processed to identify whether or not to keep the timestamp. Thus, a timestamp as close as possible to the actual start of frame is available, if desired as determined by the parsing of the frame” in [0048]).
Regarding claims 23, 33 and 35, Biederman teaches the module further comprises: a transmit data, TXD, input interface, a TXD output interface, an interface referred to as a second trigger interface, and a further interface referred to as a second character interface (see the interfaces between the circuitries in the Figure 3A and the interfaces to/from processor, mac and medium in Figure 3A), wherein the module is configured to perform the following steps: k) receiving a second TXD frame at the TXD input interface, the second TXD frame comprising a plurality of bits (“frame is received from the medium (or MAC)” in [0048]); l) reading out metadata, referred to as second metadata, of the second TXD frame (metadata are always present in a frame to identify the frame and to indicate one or more or port identifier, host identifier, cryptography information, time of transmission and so on); m) generating a second character string in response to receiving the second TXD frame (“signature” in [0039]) and “identifying when to timestamp a frame” in [0041]); n) simultaneously transmitting, via the TXD output interface, both the second TXD frame and the second character string to the data processing unit configured to generate a frame, referred to as a second data frame, based on the second TXD frame [0039]; o) simultaneously receiving both the second character string (“signature” in [0039]) at the second character interface from the data processing unit and a second trigger signal at the second trigger interface from a second transceiver of the communication device (see “319 CAPTURE” in Figure 3A), wherein the second trigger signal represents a second time of a reception of the second data frame at the second transceiver (“a frame that is being received or transmitted” in [0042]); p) generating a second data group by associating the second time with the second metadata (“associating timestamps with frames” in [0047]); and q) transmitting and/or providing the second data group via the control interface (“digital frame is forwarded to the MAC” in [0047]).
Regarding claim 24, Biederman teaches the module comprises a second generator configured to generate the second character string (“retrieve timestamps of frames of interest. For example, processor 120 will send a request to the appropriate PHY device (110, 111), which will retrieve the corresponding timestamp(s) (e.g., identified by a specified signature (e.g., hash value or value of a field from a frame, etc.) of a frame with an associated timestamp being stored in memory in PHY device 110, 111)” in [0039]).
Regarding claim 25, Biederman teaches the second generator is configured to transmit the second character string via the TXD output interface (“retrieve timestamps of frames of interest. For example, processor 120 will send a request to the appropriate PHY device (110, 111), which will retrieve the corresponding timestamp(s) (e.g., identified by a specified signature (e.g., hash value or value of a field from a frame, etc.) of a frame with an associated timestamp being stored in memory in PHY device 110, 111)” in [0039]).
Regarding claim 26, Biederman teaches the module is configured to perform the following steps k.1) to k.2) between step k) and step q): k.1) detecting whether the second TXD frame represents a second timestamp; and k.2) if the second TXD frame does not represent a second time stamp, preventing and/or skipping step q) and preferably at least one of steps l) to p) (see “only a selected portion of the frames have timestamps associated with them. Therefore PHY devices 110, 111 may perform some parsing of the frames to identify whether or not to associate a timestamp with a particular frame, or possibly, to identify whether or not to drop a generated timestamp corresponding to the start of the frame” in [0038] and “frame is processed to identify whether or not to keep the timestamp. Thus, a timestamp as close as possible to the actual start of frame is available, if desired as determined by the parsing of the frame” in [0048]).
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 18 and 29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Biederman et al. in view of Karivaradaswamy (US Pub. 2019/0356897).
Regarding claims 18 and 29, Biederman teaches the limitations in claims 16 and 27 as shown above. Biederman, however, does not teach the first metadata is suitable for identifying the first data frame. Karivaradaswamy teaches the first metadata is suitable for identifying the first data frame (“packet metadata may include a frame identifier” in [0025]). It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Biederman to have the first metadata is suitable for identifying the first data frame as taught by Karivaradaswamy in order to have metadata associated with the frame and/or the specific frame packet and a frame data portion of the frame data (e.g., a frame identifier, a frame packet identifier, frame sequence information, etc.) [0023].
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CLEMENCE S HAN whose telephone number is (571)272-3158. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8AM-5PM EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Edan Orgad can be reached at (571)272-7884. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CLEMENCE S HAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2414
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