DETAILED ACTION
Applicant’s Application filed on February 5, 2024 has been reviewed.
Claims 10, 13-15, 22 and 24-27 were cancelled in the Preliminary Amendment filed on February 28, 2024..
Claim 29 was newly added in the Preliminary Amendment.
Claims 6-7, 9, 11, 16-19, 21, 23 and 28 are amended in the amendment.
Claims 1-9, 11-12, 16-21, 23 and 28-29 have been examined.
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 .
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 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.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in Application No. CN 202110903278.X, filed on August 6, 2021.
The effective priority date for the subject matter in the pending claims in this application is August 6, 2021.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on February 5, 2024 and January 16, 2025 were filed. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
Claim Interpretation
As per claim 6, the broadest reasonable interpretation of a method (or process) claim having contingent limitations requires only those steps that must be performed and does not include steps that are not required to be performed because the condition(s) precedent are not met (as explained in MPEP § 2111.04, subsection II).
In the instant case, with respect to claim 6, at least in part, recites “wherein the verification request message is an Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP)-based message, or is carried in an Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) packet header; or the verification result message is an Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP)-based message or is carried in an Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) packet header.”, the broadest reasonable interpretation of claim 6 requires only one of “the verification request message is an ICMP-based message, OR is carried in an IPv6 packet header; OR the verification result message is an ICMP-based message OR is carried in an IPv6 packet header. ”
For examination purposes, based on the broadest reasonable interpretation described above, the Examiner elects “wherein the verification request message is carried in an Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) packet header;….” Therefore, the Examiner is not required to address/examine any limitations (i.e., wherein the verification request message is an Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP)-based message,… OR the verification result message is an Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP)-based message OR is carried in an Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) packet header.) or dependent claims (i.e., claims 7-9) that depend from the non-elected limitations (i.e., wherein the verification request message is an Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP)-based message,… OR the verification result message is an Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP)-based message OR is carried in an Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) packet header.) because these limitations and dependent claims do not provide any patentable weight to the claimed invention.
If the Applicant believes, for any reason, that personal communication will expedite prosecution of this application, the Applicant is invited to schedule an interview with the Examiner using the number provided below.
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 of this title, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-9, 16-21, 23 and 28-29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lu et al. (US 2023/0102984 A1), hereinafter referred to as Lu, in view of Xie et al. (US 2023/0155906 A1), hereinafter referred to as Xie.
With respect to claim 1, Lu teaches An information verification method, comprising:
receiving a verification request message, wherein the verification request message comprises an address to be verified and attribute information (a node R1 obtains a packet 1, where the packet 1 is an SRv6 packet which includes an AH and at least one SRH, the packet 1 carries indication information 1, and the indication information 1 indicates a node R2 to perform AH verification on the packet 1, para. 0129; when receiving the packet 1, the node R2 definitely parses the destination address of the packet 1; the indication information 1 may be carried in the destination address of the packet 1, para. 0137; the node R1 may further add indication information 2, to obtain a packet 1 including the indication information 1 and the indication information 2. The indication information 2 indicates that the verification range of the AH verification includes the at least one SRH, para. 0143); and
verifying the attribute information based on the address to be verified (the node R2 parse the destination address field, obtain the indication information 1, and perform the AH verification based on the indication information 1, para. 0156), and
Lu does not explicitly teach
sending a verification result message.
However, Xie teaches
sending a verification result message (after the first request message is received, the leaf node verifies validity of the first request message based on a second identifier; the leaf node sends, in response to that validity verification on the second identifier succeeds, the first response message to the root node, para. 0029) in order to improve verification reliability and security as taught by Xie (para. 0030).
Therefore, based on Lu in view of Xie, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teaching of Xie to the method of Lu in order to improve verification reliability and security as taught by Xie (para. 0030).
With respect to claim 2, Lu teaches The method according to claim 1, wherein verifying the attribute information based on the address to be verified comprises:
in a case where it is determined that the address to be verified is a local address, verifying whether the attribute information in the verification request message matches locally stored attribute information associated with the address to be verified (after receiving the SRv6 packet, the egress node determine whether a mapping relationship including the first SID exists locally, to obtain the first indication information, the first indication information obtained based on the arguments field or the function field of the first SID, para. 0016).
With respect to claim 3, Lu teaches The method according to claim 2, wherein verifying whether the attribute information in the verification request message matches the locally stored attribute information associated with the address to be verified comprises one of:
verifying whether the attribute information in the verification request message is consistent with the locally stored attribute information associated with the address to be verified (after receiving the SRv6 packet, the egress node determine whether a mapping relationship including the first SID exists locally, to obtain the first indication information, the first indication information obtained based on the arguments field or the function field of the first SID, para. 0016);
verifying whether the attribute information in the verification request message is a subset of the locally stored attribute information associated with the address to be verified.
With respect to claim 4, Lu in view of Xie teaches The method according to claim 1 as described above,
Further, Xie teaches wherein the verification result message comprises one of:
a verification success message, wherein the verification success message carries at least one of: a success indicator and the attribute information in the verification request message (it indicates that the first request message passes the verification, and the leaf node sends, based on a verification success result, a response message in response to the first request message, to implement verifying a data plane by the control plane, para. 0128) in order to improve verification reliability and security as taught by Xie (para. 0030);
a verification failure message, wherein the verification failure message carries at least one of: a failure indicator, entire or partial failure indication information, failure cause information, and the locally stored attribute information associated with the address to be verified.
Therefore, based on Lu in view of Xie, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teaching of Xie to the method of Lu in order to improve verification reliability and security as taught by Xie (para. 0030).
With respect to claim 5, Lu in view of Xie teaches The method according to claim 1 as described above,
Further, Xie teaches wherein the verification request message and the verification result message carry index information, wherein the index information is used for associating the verification result message with the verification request message (an inner OAM header of the first request message carries the Replication-ID; the leaf node use the Replication-ID to verify validity of the first request message; when a Replication-ID value carried in the OAM header of the first request message is the same as a Replication-ID value of a control plane corresponding to the P2MP tree, it indicates that the first request message passes the verification, and the leaf node sends, based on a verification success result, a response message in response to the first request message, to implement verifying a data plane by the control plane, para. 0128) in order to improve verification reliability and security as taught by Xie (para. 0030).
Therefore, based on Lu in view of Xie, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teaching of Xie to the method of Lu in order to improve verification reliability and security as taught by Xie (para. 0030).
With respect to claim 6, Lu teaches The method according to claim 1, wherein the verification request message is an Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP)-based message, or is carried in an Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) packet header (the SRv6 packet includes a segment routing header (SRH) and an authentication header (AH), the SRv6 packet carries first indication information, where the first indication information indicates the egress node to perform AH verification on the SRv6 packet, para. 0006); or the verification result message is an Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP)-based message or is carried in an Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) packet header.
With respect to claims 7-9, claims 7-9 are rejected based on the explanation provided in the Claim Interpretation Section above.
With respect to claim 16, Lu teaches The method according to claim 1,wherein the verification request message comprises one or more addresses to be verified (the destination address of the packet 1 may be an egress IP address R2, para. 0139), and types of the addresses to be verified comprise an Internet Protocol (IP) address and/or a Segment Routing over IPv6 dataplane (SRv6).
With respect to claim 17, Lu teaches The method according to claim 1, wherein after receiving the verification request message, the method further comprises one of.
forwarding the verification request message according to an address list corresponding to the verification request message (the destination address is a binding segment identifier of the node R2, and is used to identify a path starting from the node R2; when the destination address of the packet 1 is the R2.SID, an SID list of the packet 1; when the destination address of the packet 1 is the R2. BSID, an SID list of the packet 1, para. 0139);
discarding the verification request message in a case where validity check of the verification request message fails.
With respect to claim 18, Lu teaches The method according to claim 1
indication information used for indicating, among the multiple pieces of attribute information, attribute information that needs to be verified by a node corresponding to each address to be verified (the SRv6 packet includes an IPv6 header (IPv6 Header) 101, an SRH 102, and a payload 103; the SRH 102 includes a segment identifier list (SID list) indicating a packet forwarding path, the SID list include several node SIDs, include several IPv6 addresses; the node SID indicates a node through which a packet passes in a packet forwarding process, the SID list include several adjacent link SID, para. 0087).
With respect to claim 19, Lu teaches The method according to claim 1
a network programming function type;
Service Function (SF) information;
a Segment Routing (SR) proxy type;
slice information;
resource information;
path intent information ((the SRv6 packet includes an IPv6 header (IPv6 Header) 101, an SRH 102, and a payload 103; the SRH 102 includes a segment identifier list (SID list) indicating a packet forwarding path, the SID list include several node SIDs, include several IPv6 addresses; the node SID indicates a node through which a packet passes in a packet forwarding process, the SID list include several adjacent link SID, para. 0087));
Virtual Private Network (VPN) service information;
algorithm information; and
a Multi-Topology Identifier (MT-ID).
With respect to claim 20, Lu teaches An information verification method, comprising:
sending a verification request message, wherein the verification request message comprises an address to be verified and attribute information (a node R1 obtains a packet 1, where the packet 1 is an SRv6 packet which includes an AH and at least one SRH, the packet 1 carries indication information 1, and the indication information 1 indicates a node R2 to perform AH verification on the packet 1, para. 0129; when receiving the packet 1, the node R2 definitely parses the destination address of the packet 1; the indication information 1 may be carried in the destination address of the packet 1, para. 0137; the node R1 may further add indication information 2, to obtain a packet 1 including the indication information 1 and the indication information 2. The indication information 2 indicates that the verification range of the AH verification includes the at least one SRH, para. 0143); and
verifying the attribute information based on the address to be verified (the node R2 parse the destination address field, obtain the indication information 1, and perform the AH verification based on the indication information 1, para. 0156)).
Lu does not explicitly teach
receiving a verification result message returned after the attribute information is verified.
However, Xie teaches
receiving a verification result message returned after the attribute information is verified (after the first request message is received, the leaf node verifies validity of the first request message based on a second identifier; the leaf node sends, in response to that validity verification on the second identifier succeeds, the first response message to the root node, para. 0029) in order to improve verification reliability and security as taught by Xie (para. 0030).
Therefore, based on Lu in view of Xie, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teaching of Xie to the method of Lu in order to improve verification reliability and security as taught by Xie (para. 0030).
With respect to claim 21, Lu in view of Xie teaches The method according to claim 20 as described above,
Further, Xie teaches wherein
before sending the verification request message, the method further comprises:
sending an attribute information acquisition request to a database or a controller, so as to acquire the attribute information associated with the address to be verified;
or,
the verification request message and the verification result message carry index information, wherein the index information is used for associating the verification result message with the verification request message (an inner OAM header of the first request message carries the Replication-ID; the leaf node use the Replication-ID to verify validity of the first request message; when a Replication-ID value carried in the OAM header of the first request message is the same as a Replication-ID value of a control plane corresponding to the P2MP tree, it indicates that the first request message passes the verification, and the leaf node sends, based on a verification success result, a response message in response to the first request message, to implement verifying a data plane by the control plane, para. 0128) in order to improve verification reliability and security as taught by Xie (para. 0030).
Therefore, based on Lu in view of Xie, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teaching of Xie to the method of Lu in order to improve verification reliability and security as taught by Xie (para. 0030).
With respect to claim 23, Lu in view of Xie teaches The method according to claim 21,wherein after receiving the verification result message returned after the attribute information is verified based on the address to be verified, the method further comprises:
determining, according to the index information carried in the verification result message, the verification request message corresponding to the verification result message (an inner OAM header of the first request message carries the Replication-ID; the leaf node use the Replication-ID to verify validity of the first request message; when a Replication-ID value carried in the OAM header of the first request message is the same as a Replication-ID value of a control plane corresponding to the P2MP tree, it indicates that the first request message passes the verification, and the leaf node sends, based on a verification success result, a response message in response to the first request message, to implement verifying a data plane by the control plane, para. 0128);
determining a verification result corresponding to the verification request message according to the verification result message (an inner OAM header of the first request message carries the Replication-ID; the leaf node use the Replication-ID to verify validity of the first request message; when a Replication-ID value carried in the OAM header of the first request message is the same as a Replication-ID value of a control plane corresponding to the P2MP tree, it indicates that the first request message passes the verification, and the leaf node sends, based on a verification success result, a response message in response to the first request message, to implement verifying a data plane by the control plane, para. 0128) in order to improve verification reliability and security as taught by Xie (para. 0030).
Therefore, based on Lu in view of Xie, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teaching of Xie to the method of Lu in order to improve verification reliability and security as taught by Xie (para. 0030).
With respect to claim 28, Lu teaches An electronic device (network apparatus, para. 0219), comprising a memory (memory 1501, para. 0219), a processor (the processor 1502, para. 0219), and a computer program stored in the memory and capable of running on the processor (the memory 1501 is configured to store program code; the processor 1502 is configured to execute instructions in the program code, para. 0219), wherein the processor, when executing the computer program (the processor 1502 is configured to execute instructions in the program code, para. 0219), implements the operations of the method according to claim 1 in view of Xie.
With respect to claim 29, Lu teaches An electronic device (network apparatus, para. 0219), comprising a memory (memory 1501, para. 0219), a processor (the processor 1502, para. 0219), and a computer program stored in the memory and capable of running on the processor (the memory 1501 is configured to store program code; the processor 1502 is configured to execute instructions in the program code, para. 0219), wherein the processor, when executing the computer program (the processor 1502 is configured to execute instructions in the program code, para. 0219), implements the operations of the method according to claim 20 in view of Xie.
Claims 11 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lu et al. (US 2023/0102984 A1), hereinafter referred to as Lu, in view of Xie et al. (US 2023/0155906 A1), hereinafter referred to as Xie, and further in view of Xie et al. (US 2021/0266189 A1), hereinafter referred to as Xie 189’.
With respect to claim 11, Lu in view of Xie teaches The method according to claim 6 as described above,
Lu in view of Xie does not explicitly teach wherein the verification request message is carried in the IPv6 packet header in one of the following manners:
the verification request message is carried in an IPv6 Routing Header (RH) as a Type-Length-Value (TLV), wherein a value of Type in the TLV is set to be equal to a preset value used for indicating that the TLV carries the attribute information;
the verification request message is carried in a Destination Options Header (DOH), wherein a value of an Option Type in the DOH is set to be equal to a preset value used for indicating that the DOH carries the attribute information;
the verification request message is carried in a Hop-By-Hop Options Header (HBH), wherein a value of an Option Type in the HBH is set to be equal to a preset value used for indicating that the HBH carries the attribute information;
the verification request message is carried in an extension header dedicated to attribute verification;
or,
the verification result message is carried in the IPv6 packet header in one of the following manners:
the verification result message is carried in an IPv6 Routing Header (RH) as a Type-Length-Value (TLV), wherein a value of Type in the TLV is set to be equal to a preset value used for indicating that the TLV carries a verification result;
the verification result message is carried in a Destination Options Header(DOH), wherein a value of an Option Type in the DOH is set to be equal to a preset value used for indicating that the DOH carries a verification result;
the verification result message is carried in a Hop-By-Hop Options Header (HBH), wherein a value of an Option Type in the HBH is set to be equal to a preset value used for indicating that the HBH carries a verification result;
the verification result message is carried in an extension header dedicated to attribute verification.
However, Xie 189’ teaches wherein the verification request message is carried in the IPv6 packet header in one of the following manners:
the verification request message is carried in an IPv6 Routing Header (RH) as a Type-Length-Value (TLV), wherein a value of Type in the TLV is set to be equal to a preset value used for indicating that the TLV carries the attribute information;
the verification request message is carried in a Destination Options Header (DOH), wherein a value of an Option Type in the DOH is set to be equal to a preset value used for indicating that the DOH carries the attribute information;
the verification request message is carried in a Hop-By-Hop Options Header (HBH), wherein a value of an Option Type in the HBH is set to be equal to a preset value used for indicating that the HBH carries the attribute information;
the verification request message is carried in an extension header dedicated to attribute verification (both the SRH and the IPv6 destination option header are existing IPv6 extension headers, and the SRH is placed before the IPv6 destination option header, para. 0119) in order to improve packet forwarding performance as taught by Xie 189’ (para. 0332);
or,
the verification result message is carried in the IPv6 packet header in one of the following manners:
the verification result message is carried in an IPv6 Routing Header (RH) as a Type-Length-Value (TLV), wherein a value of Type in the TLV is set to be equal to a preset value used for indicating that the TLV carries a verification result;
the verification result message is carried in a Destination Options Header(DOH), wherein a value of an Option Type in the DOH is set to be equal to a preset value used for indicating that the DOH carries a verification result;
the verification result message is carried in a Hop-By-Hop Options Header (HBH), wherein a value of an Option Type in the HBH is set to be equal to a preset value used for indicating that the HBH carries a verification result;
the verification result message is carried in an extension header dedicated to attribute verification.
Therefore, based on Lu in view of Xie, and further in view of Xie 189’, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teaching of Xie 189’ to the method of Lu in view of Xie in order to improve packet forwarding performance as taught by Xie 189’ (para. 0332).
With respect to claim 12, Lu in view of Xie, and further in view of Xie 189’ teaches The method according to claim 11 as described above,
Further, Xie 189’ teaches wherein in a case where the verification request message is carried in the DOH or the HBH,
the DOH or the HBH that carries the verification request message is placed before the RH (the routing header such as SRH and the IPv6 destination option header are existing IPv6 extension headers, and the SRH is placed before the IPv6 destination option header, para. 0119) in order to improve packet forwarding performance as taught by Xie 189’ (para. 0332); or,
the DOH or the HBH that carries the verification request message is placed after the RH.
Therefore, based on Lu in view of Xie, and further in view of Xie 189’, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teaching of Xie 189’ to the method of Lu in view of Xie in order to improve packet forwarding performance as taught by Xie 189’ (para. 0332).
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HAO NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-2666. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday through Friday from 7:30 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. (EST).
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Joon H. Hwang can be reached on 571-272-4036. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/H.H.N/Examiner, Art Unit 2447
April 18, 2026
/JOON H HWANG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2447
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