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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Claim Interpretation
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The claims in this application are given their broadest reasonable interpretation using the plain meaning of the claim language in light of the specification as it would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim element (also commonly referred to as a claim limitation) is limited by the description in the specification when 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is invoked.
As explained in MPEP § 2181, subsection I, claim limitations that meet the following three-prong test will be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
(A) the claim limitation uses the term “means” or “step” or a term used as a substitute for “means” that is a generic placeholder (also called a nonce term or a non-structural term having no specific structural meaning) for performing the claimed function;
(B) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is modified by functional language, typically, but not always linked by the transition word “for” (e.g., “means for”) or another linking word or phrase, such as “configured to” or “so that”; and
(C) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is not modified by sufficient structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function.
Use of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim with functional language creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites sufficient structure, material, or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Absence of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is not to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is not interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites function without reciting sufficient structure, material or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Claim limitations in this application that use the word “means” (or “step”) are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action. Conversely, claim limitations in this application that do not use the word “means” (or “step”) are not being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action.
This application includes one or more claim limitations that do not use the word “means,” but are nonetheless being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because the claim limitation(s) uses a generic placeholder that is coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to perform the recited function and the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier. Such claim limitation(s) is/are:
“an acquisition module acquiring at least one data message, each message being according to a communication protocol and including a header and a payload including a plurality of successive fields” In claim 1, the corresponding structure can be found in paragraph [0047].
“a filter module connected to the output of said acquisition module and configured to filter each respective acquired message, validating the message if it complies with a set of filter criteria and blocking it as soon as a filter criterion of the set is not complied with” in claim 1, the corresponding structure can be found in paragraphs [0048] and [0050]-[0057]
“a transmission module connected to the output of said filter module and configured to transmit each message validated by said filter module to a corresponding recipient” in claim 1, the corresponding structure can be found in paragraph [0049]
“a generation unit configured to generate a main table for each acquired message, the main table representing a tree of the fields of the payload of the message according to a set of levels related to the communication protocol, the tree including one or more branches” in claim 1, the corresponding structure can be found in paragraph [0051] and Figure 2 described in paragraph [0061]
“a calculation unit configured to calculate, for each acquired message, a dictionary table and at least one auxiliary table from among a first auxiliary table, a second auxiliary table and a third auxiliary table,” in claim 1, the corresponding structure can be found in paragraphs [0052]-[0057]
Because this/these claim limitation(s) is/are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, it/they is/are being interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof.
If applicant does not intend to have this/these limitation(s) interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, applicant may: (1) amend the claim limitation(s) to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph (e.g., by reciting sufficient structure to perform the claimed function); or (2) present a sufficient showing that the claim limitation(s) recite(s) sufficient structure to perform the claimed function so as to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph.
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
Claims 1-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over Bush et
al. (EP 3226479 A1, hereinafter “Bush”), in view of Cabos (US 2013/0028174 A1 , hereinafter “Cabos”)
Regarding Claim 1, Bush teaches, an electronic communication gateway carried on board an aircraft, the gateway comprising: “The present disclosure provides a system and method for the automatic generation of filter rules to prevent unauthorized data flows between systems on an e-Enabled aviation platform.” [0014], and “These onboard embedded systems and controllers may be networked via Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and Aeronautical Radio, Inc. (ARINC) standards-based protocols such as the Internet Protocol (IP) and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) wired and wireless communications and networking protocols.” [0002], and “deep packet filtering rules 437 may prevent unauthorized data flows on e-Enabled aviation platforms” [0078]
an acquisition module acquiring at least one data message, each message being according to a communication protocol and including a header and a payload including a plurality of successive fields, “At step 305, the network packets are parsed into network messages.” [0030], and “At step 307, each network message is examined and further parsed to determine the source address, destination address, and/or protocol of each network message” [0030], and “identify a plurality of attributes. In some examples, the plurality of attributes correspond to the header and data fields of the one or more network packets corresponding to the network message” [0006]
a filter module connected to the output of said acquisition module and configured to filter each respective acquired message, validating the message if it complies with a set of filter criteria and blocking it as soon as a filter criterion of the set is not complied with, “The attributes may then be automatically classified or classified by a user. Filter rules are generated from the classified network data flows.” [0015], and “the table includes one or more filter rules and the table may be used to determine which communications are authorized during a particular context of the networked aviation system” [0008], and “The one or more deep packet filtering rules may prevent unauthorized data flows on e-Enabled aviation platforms by examining the payloads of the one or more network packets.” [0008]
a transmission module connected to the output of said filter module and configured to transmit each message validated by said filter module to a corresponding recipient, “the source in address, destination IP address, and protocol of a functional network flow may be used to generate DAC rules” [0065], and “the table includes one or more filter rules and the table may be used to determine which communications are authorized during a particular context of the networked aviation system” [0009]
wherein said filter module is configured to use the at least one auxiliary table to implement the filter criteria, “automatically generating a table corresponding to the one or more network messages corresponding to the functional network flow, wherein the table includes one or more filter rules, and wherein the table is used to determine which communications are authorized during a particular context of the networked aviation system” [0086]
However, Bush does not expressly teach, a payload including a plurality of successive fields; a generation unit configured to generate a main table for each acquired message, the main table representing a tree of the fields of the payload of the message according to a set of levels related to the communication protocol, the tree including one or more branches; a calculation unit configured to calculate, for each acquired message, a dictionary table and at least one auxiliary table from among a first auxiliary table, a second auxiliary table and a third auxiliary table, the dictionary table comprising, for each of the levels, a list of fixed values contained in the message, each fixed value belonging to a set of predefined values related to the communication protocol, the first auxiliary table comprising, for each of the levels and each fixed value of the dictionary table, an identifier of each field containing the fixed value, the second auxiliary table comprising, for each message branch, a list of the fixed values contained in the fields of the branch, and the third auxiliary table comprising, for each of the levels, a list of values representative of the variable value(s) contained in the message, each variable value being distinct from the set of predefined values related to the communication protocol.
In the same field of endeavor, Cabos teaches, a payload including a plurality of successive fields, “a message parser identifies the various data fields of a TAF message and reads in the values of the data fields” [0163], and “Words in this sense are groups of Bits or characters which have a predefined meaning and which can be uniquely identified” [0043]
a generation unit configured to generate a main table for each acquired message, the main table representing a tree of the fields of the payload of the message according to a set of levels related to the communication protocol, the tree including one or more branches, “FIGS. 4 and 5 show a syntax diagram for the parsing of METAR messages with a parser.” [0162], and “The decoder uses a decoded data field to identify a following or a preceding numerical data field according to a set of rules” [0145]
a calculation unit configured to calculate, for each acquired message, a dictionary table and at least one auxiliary table from among a first auxiliary table, a second auxiliary table and a third auxiliary table, “ Both the text substitution and the template type substitution are based on lookup tables” [0097], and “a static dictionary or look-up table which is preloaded as per airline/aircraft/route definition” [0099], and “a context driven dictionary which is built dynamically” [0099]
the dictionary table comprising, for each of the levels, a list of fixed values contained in the message, each fixed value belonging to a set of predefined values related to the communication protocol, “Words in this sense are groups of Bits or characters which have a predefined meaning and which can be uniquely identified” [0043], and “Words or group of words in the message are replaced by entries of the look-up table” [0043], and “Meta codes are retrieved from a look-up table” [0043]
the first auxiliary table comprising, for each of the levels and each fixed value of the dictionary table, an identifier of each field containing the fixed value, “a message parser identifies the various data fields of a TAF message and reads in the values of the data fields” [0163], and “The decoder uses a decoded data field to identify a following or a preceding numerical data field according to a set of rules” [0145]
the second auxiliary table comprising, for each message branch, a list of the fixed values contained in the fields of the branch, “FIGS. 4 and 5 show a syntax diagram for the parsing of METAR messages with a parser.” [0162], and “Data elements of the METAR message are read into variables in a computer readable memory.” [0162]
the third auxiliary table comprising, for each of the levels, a list of values representative of the variable value(s) contained in the message, each variable value being distinct from the set of predefined values related to the communication protocol, “Data elements of the METAR message are read into variables in a computer readable memory.” [0162], and “Words in this sense are groups of Bits or characters which have a predefined meaning” [0043]
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to modify Bush with Cabos because Bush teaches avionic-platform filter rule generation and table-based authorization, while Cabos teaches parsing aviation messages into structured data fields, syntax relationships, predefined-value look-up tables, and variable data. The combination would improve Bush’s aviation filtering system by providing structured message-field parsing and lookup-based message analysis for implementing filter rules.
Regarding Claim 2, Bush and Cabos disclose the limitations of claim 2 as recited above in the rejection of claim 1. However, Bush does not expressly teach, wherein said filter module is configured to use at least two distinct auxiliary tables from among the first auxiliary table, the second auxiliary table and the third auxiliary table, for implementing the filter criteria.
Cabos teaches multiple distinct lookup-table and dictionary-table structures for aviation-message processing, wherein said filter module is configured to use at least two distinct auxiliary tables from among the first auxiliary table, the second auxiliary table and the third auxiliary table, for implementing the filter criteria, “Both the text substitution and the template type substitution are based on lookup tables” [0097], and “a static dictionary or look-up table which is preloaded as per airline/aircraft/route definition” [0099], and “a context driven dictionary which is built dynamically” [0099]
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to modify Bush with the multiple lookup-table teaching of Cabos because Cabos teaches multiple distinct lookup-table structures for aviation-message processing, which would improve the organization and filtering efficiency of Bush’s aviation communication filtering system.
Regarding Claim 3, Bush and Cabos disclose the limitations of claim 3 as recited above in the rejection of claim 2. However, Bush does not expressly teach, wherein said filter module is configured to use each of the auxiliary tables from among the first auxiliary table, the second auxiliary table and the third auxiliary table, to implement the filter criteria.
Cabos teaches multiple distinct lookup-table and dictionary-table structures used during aviation-message processing, wherein said filter module is configured to use each of the auxiliary tables from among the first auxiliary table, the second auxiliary table and the third auxiliary table, to implement the filter criteria, “Both the text substitution and the template type substitution are based on lookup tables” [0097], and “a static dictionary or look-up table which is preloaded as per airline/aircraft/route definition” [0099], and “a context driven dictionary which is built dynamically” [0099], and “Meta codes are retrieved from a look-up table, also known as substitution dictionary” [0043]
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to modify Bush with the multiple lookup-table teachings of Cabos because Cabos teaches multiple lookup-table structures for aviation-message processing, which would improve the organization and filtering efficiency of Bush’s aviation communication filtering system.
Regarding Claim 4, Bush and Cabos disclose the limitations of claim 4 as recited above in the rejection of claim 1. However, Bush does not expressly teach, wherein said calculation unit is further configured to order according to a monotonic order the lists of fixed values of the second auxiliary table, starting by comparing the first fixed value of each of the lists, then successively moving on to the next values of the lists.
Cabos teaches sequential rule-based parsing and ordered comparison of successive message fields according to predefined parsing rules, wherein said calculation unit is further configured to order according to a monotonic order the lists of fixed values of the second auxiliary table, starting by comparing the first fixed value of each of the lists, then successively moving on to the next values of the lists, “The decoder uses a decoded data field to identify a following or a preceding numerical data field according to a set of rules” [0145], and “FIGS. 4 and 5 show a syntax diagram for the parsing of METAR messages with a parser.” [0162], and “a message parser identifies the various data fields of a TAF message and reads in the values of the data fields” [0163]
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to modify Bush with the ordered parsing teachings of Cabos because Cabos teaches sequential protocol-field processing according to parsing rules, which would improve the structured processing and filtering efficiency of Bush’s aviation communication filtering system.
Regarding Claim 5, Bush and Cabos disclose the limitations of claim 5 as recited above in the rejection of claim 1. However, Bush does not expressly teach, wherein the dictionary table comprises, for each fixed value, an identifier of the fixed value, and in the second auxiliary table, for each message branch, the list of fixed values is stored in the form of a list of identifiers of the fixed values.
Cabos teaches uniquely identifiable message values and lookup-table-based identifier processing, wherein the dictionary table comprises, for each fixed value, an identifier of the fixed value, and in the second auxiliary table, for each message branch, the list of fixed values is stored in the form of a list of identifiers of the fixed values, “Words in this sense are groups of Bits or characters which have a predefined meaning and which can be uniquely identified” [0043], and “Meta codes are retrieved from a look-up table, also known as substitution dictionary” [0043], and “Words or group of words in the message are replaced by entries of the look-up table” [0043]
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to modify Bush with the identifier-based lookup teachings of Cabos because Cabos teaches using identifiers and lookup-table entries for aviation-message processing, which would improve the organization and filtering efficiency of Bush’s aviation communication filtering system.
Regarding Claim 6, Bush and Cabos disclose the limitations of claim 6 as recited above in the rejection of claim 1. Bush and Cabos do not explicitly teach, wherein said calculation unit calculates each value representative of the variable value by applying an OR EXCLUSIVE operation to the variable value.
However, Cabos teaches processing and transforming aviation-message variable values using lookup-table and variable-processing operations, “Words or group of words in the message are replaced by entries of the look-up table” [0043], and “Meta codes are retrieved from a look-up table, also known as substitution dictionary” [0043], and “Data elements of the METAR message are read into variables in a computer readable memory.” [0162]
Official Notice is taken that exclusive OR (XOR) operations were well-known data-processing operations conventionally used to generate encoded or representative values from variable data in communication and computer-processing system.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to apply known XOR processing operations to the variable-value processing system of Bush and Cabos because XOR operations were conventionally used for generating representative encoded values from variable data during communication-data processing.
Regarding Claim 7, Bush and Cabos disclose the limitations of claim 7 as recited above in the rejection of claim 1. However, Bush does not expressly teach, wherein the third auxiliary table further comprises, for each value representative of the variable value(s), the identifier of each of the fields containing a variable value represented by the representative value.
Cabos teaches identifying message data fields and associating decoded variable values with identified fields, wherein the third auxiliary table further comprises, for each value representative of the variable value(s), the identifier of each of the fields containing a variable value represented by the representative value, “a message parser identifies the various data fields of a TAF message and reads in the values of the data fields” [0163], and “Data elements of the METAR message are read into variables in a computer readable memory.” [0162], and “The decoder uses a decoded data field to identify a following or a preceding numerical data field according to a set of rules” [0145]
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to modify Bush with the filed-identification teachings of Cabos because Cabos teaches identifying message fields associated with processed variable values, which would improve the organization and filtering efficiency of Bush’s aviation communication filtering system.
Regarding Claim 8, Bush and Cabos disclose the limitations of claim 8 as recited above in the rejection of claim 1. In addition, Bush further teach aircraft network systems including secure in-aircraft network systems and other communicating entities/devices, wherein the aircraft comprises a communication installation compartmentalized into an avionics domain, “In some examples, the in-aircraft network systems may include a secure data network that is secured by a firewall, such as firewall filter 112.” [0020], and “some entities connected in the e-Enabled aviation platform 200 may be trusted entities and some entities may be untrusted entities.” [0024]
and an open domain external to the avionics domain, wherein the communication installation comprises several avionics systems belonging to the avionics domain, and one or more electronic devices belonging to the open domain, “computers 102 and/or 106 may be specialized avionic devices, such as line replaceable units (LRUs), that include configurable controls and interface systems for operating in a networked aviation system, platform, and/or architecture” [0016], and “Figure 1 shows system 110 made up of a Flight Management Computer 120 (FMC) and an On Board Network System 122 (ONS) communicating through a router 116. System 114 is made up of three LRUs including a Central Maintenance computer 124 (CMC), Maintenance Laptop 126 (ML) and a Printer 130 communicating through a router 128.” [0017], and “, aircraft 202 may include various in-aircraft network systems with corresponding communication radios including global position system (GPS) 206, embedded systems 208, radio frequency identification (RFID) tags 210, wireless sensor network 212, 802.11 access points 214, and passenger devices 216” [0020]
and wherein the gateway is connected between the electronic device(s) and the avionics systems, “One of the purposes of the present disclosure is to provide a means to automatically create the firewall filter rules for firewall 112 to control the flow of information between system 110 and system 114.” [0018], and “ The connection between system 110 and system 114 over network 104 is depicted by arrow A” [0018]
Regarding Claim 9, Bush and Cabos disclose the limitations of claim 9 as recited above in the rejection of claim 8. In addition, Bush further teaches, wherein the avionics domain is a domain corresponding to the highest level of security on board the aircraft, “In some examples, the in-aircraft network systems may include a secure data network that is secured by a firewall, such as firewall filter 112.” [0020], and “some entities connected in the e-Enabled aviation platform 200 may be trusted entities and some entities may be untrusted entities” [0024]
Regarding Claim 10, Bush and Cabos disclose the limitations of claim 10 as recited above in the rejections of claim 8. Bush and Cabos do not explicitly teach, wherein the avionics domain is the ACD domain according to the ARINC 811 standard of December 20, 2005.
Bush teaches avionics communication systems using ARIN-based aircraft networking standards, “These onboard embedded systems and controllers may be networked via Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and Aeronautical Radio, Inc. (ARINC) standards-based protocols” [0002]
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to implement Bush’s avionics communication domain using the known ARINC 811 ACD-domain standard because ARINC standards were well-known standardized avionics-domain communication architectures used to ensure interoperability and secure aircraft communications.
Regarding Claim 11, Bush and Cabos disclose the limitations of claim 11 as recited above in the rejection of claim 1. In addition, Bush further teaches, an aircraft comprising a communication installation compartmentalized into an avionics domain and an open domain external to an avionics domain, “In some examples, the in-aircraft network systems may include a secure data network that is secured by a firewall, such as firewall filter 112.” [0020], and “some entities connected in the e-Enabled aviation platform 200 may be trusted entities and some entities may be untrusted entities.” [0024]
the communication installation comprising: several avionics systems belonging to the avionics domain, “ computers 102 and/or 106 may be specialized avionic devices, such as line replaceable units (LRUs)” [0016], and “ system 110 made up of a Flight Management Computer 120 (FMC) and an On Board Network System 122 (ONS)” [0017]
one or more electronic devices belonging to the open domain, “aircraft 202 may include various in-aircraft network systems with corresponding communication radios including global position system (GPS) 206, embedded systems 208, radio frequency identification (RFID) tags 210, wireless sensor network 212, 802.11 access points 214, and passenger devices 216” [0020]
and an electronic communication gateway according to claim 1, connected between said one or more electronic devices and said avionics systems, “One of the purposes of the present disclosure is to provide a means to automatically create the firewall filter rules for firewall 112 to control the flow of information between system 110 and system 114.” [0018], and “The connection between system 110 and system 114 over network 104 is depicted by arrow A.” [0018]
Regarding Claim 12, Bush teaches, a filtering method for data message(s) within an avionics communications installation carried on board an aircraft, the filtering method being implemented by an electronic communications gateway and comprising: “The present disclosure provides a system and method for the automatic generation of filter rules to prevent unauthorized data flows between systems on an e-Enabled aviation platform.” [0014], and “One of the purposes of the present disclosure is to provide a means to automatically create the firewall filter rules for firewall 112 to control the flow of information between system 110 and system 114” [0018]
acquiring at least one data message, each message being according to a communication protocol and including a header, “At step 305, the network packets are parsed into network messages.” [0030], and “At step 307, each network message is examined and further parsed to determine the source address, destination address, and/or protocol of each network message” [0030], and “identify a plurality of attributes. In some examples, the plurality of attributes correspond to the header and data fields of the one or more network packets corresponding to the network message” [0006]
filtering each respective acquired message, “The present disclosure provides a system and method for the automatic generation of filter rules to prevent unauthorized data flows between systems on an e-Enabled aviation platform.” [0014], and “One of the purposes of the present disclosure is to provide a means to automatically create the firewall filter rules for firewall 112 to control the flow of information between system 110 and system 114.” [0018]
the at least one auxiliary table being used to implement the filter criteria, “automatically generating a table corresponding to the one or more network messages corresponding to the functional network flow. In some examples, the table includes one or more filter rules and the table may be used to determine which communications are authorized during a particular context of the networked aviation system.” [0008]
validating the message if it complies with a set of filter criteria, “the table may be used to determine which communications are authorized during a particular context of the networked aviation system.” [0008]
blocking the message as soon as a filter criterion of the set is not complied with, “The present disclosure provides a system and method for the automatic generation of filter rules to prevent unauthorized data flows” [0014], and “deep packet filtering rules 437 may prevent unauthorized data flows on e-Enabled aviation platforms by examining the payloads of the one or more network packets.” [0078]
and transmitting, to a corresponding recipient, of each validated message, “the source in address, destination IP address, and protocol of a functional network flow may be used to generate DAC rules” [0065], and “the table may be used to determine which communications are authorized during a particular context of the networked aviation system” [0008]
However, Bush does not expressly teach, a payload including a plurality of successive fields; generating a main table for each acquired message, the main table representing a tree of the fields of the payload of the message according to a set of levels related to the communication protocol, the tree including one or more branches; calculating, for each acquired message, a dictionary table and at least one auxiliary table from among a first auxiliary table, a second auxiliary table and a third auxiliary table; the dictionary table including, for each of the levels, a list of fixed values contained in the message, each fixed value belonging to a set of predefined values related to the communication protocol; the first auxiliary table including, for each of the levels and each fixed value of the dictionary table, the identifier of each field containing the fixed value; the second auxiliary table including, for each message branch, a list of the fixed values contained in the fields of the branch; and the third auxiliary table including, for each of the levels, a list of values representative of the variable value(s) contained in the message; each variable value being distinct from the set of predefined values related to the communication protocol.
In the same field of endeavor, Cabos teaches, a payload including a plurality of successive fields, “a message parser identifies the various data fields of a TAF message and reads in the values of the data fields.” [0163], and “Words in this sense are groups of Bits or characters which have a predefined meaning and which can be uniquely identified,” [0043]
generating a main table for each acquired message, the main table representing a tree of the fields of the payload of the message according to a set of levels related to the communication protocol, the tree including one or more branches, “FIGS. 4 and 5 show a syntax diagram for the parsing of METAR messages with a parser.” [0162], and “The decoder uses a decoded data field to identify a following or a preceding numerical data field according to a set of rules.” [0145]
calculating, for each acquired message, a dictionary table and at least one auxiliary table from among a first auxiliary table, a second auxiliary table and a third auxiliary table, “Both the text substitution and the template type substitution are based on lookup tables” [0097], and “a static dictionary or look-up table which is preloaded as per airline/aircraft/route definition” [0099], and “a context driven dictionary which is built dynamically” [0099], and “Meta codes are retrieved from a look-up table, also known as substitution dictionary” [0043]
the dictionary table including, for each of the levels, a list of fixed values contained in the message, each fixed value belonging to a set of predefined values related to the communication protocol, “Words in this sense are groups of Bits or characters which have a predefined meaning and which can be uniquely identified” [0043], and “Words or group of words in the message are replaced by entries of the look-up table” [0043], and “Meta codes are retrieved from a look-up table” [0043]
the first auxiliary table including, for each of the levels and each fixed value of the dictionary table, the identifier of each field containing the fixed value, “a message parser identifies the various data fields of a TAF message and reads in the values of the data fields.” [0163], and “The decoder uses a decoded data field to identify a following or a preceding numerical data field according to a set of rules” [0145]
the second auxiliary table including, for each message branch, a list of the fixed values contained in the fields of the branch, “FIGS. 4 and 5 show a syntax diagram for the parsing of METAR messages with a parser.” [0162], and “Data elements of the METAR message are read into variables in a computer readable memory.” [0162]
and the third auxiliary table including, for each of the levels, a list of values representative of the variable value(s) contained in the message, “Data elements of the METAR message are read into variables in a computer readable memory.” [0162], and “Words in this sense are groups of Bits or characters which have a predefined meaning and which can be uniquely identified” [0043]
each variable value being distinct from the set of predefined values related to the communication protocol, “Data elements of the METAR message are read into variables in a computer readable memory.” [0162], and “Words in this sense are groups of Bits or characters which have a predefined meaning and which can be uniquely identified” [0043]
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to modify Bush with the hierarchical parsing, lookup-table, and dictionary-processing teachings of Cabos because Cabos teaches structured aviation-message parsing and lookup-table processing, which would improve the protocol-field interpretation and filtering efficiency of Bush’s aviation communication filtering system.
Regarding Claim 13, Bush and Cabos disclose the limitations of claim 13 as recited above in the rejection of claim 12. In addition, Bush further teaches: A non-transitory computer-readable medium including a computer program including software instructions which, when executed by a computer, implement a method according to claim 12, “Because such information and program instructions may be employed to implement the systems/methods described herein, the present disclosure relates to tangible, or non-transitory, machine readable media that include program instructions, state information, etc. for performing various operations described herein” [0082], and “Examples of program instructions include both machine code, such as produced by a compiler, and files containing higher level code that may be executed by the computer using an interpreter.” [0082], and “ Memory 612, or alternately the non-volatile memory device(s) within memory 612, comprises a non-transitory computer readable storage medium” [0083]
Conclusion
The prior art made of record not relied upon and considered pertinent to Applicant’s disclosure:
McRae (US 6970462 B1, hereinafter “McRae”) discloses Method for high speed packet classification
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SANG PHUOC LE whose telephone number is (571)272-3659. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday 7:00 am - 5:30 pm.
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, Charles Appiah can be reached at 571-272-7904. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
SANG PHUOC. LE
Examiner
Art Unit 2641
/CHARLES N APPIAH/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2641
Prosecution Insights