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 .
Preliminary Amendment
Receipt is acknowledged of the preliminary amendment filed 2/9/2024.
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.
Claim(s) 1-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over further Kawakita et al. (USPGPub 2019/0363505, from hereinafter “Kawakita”) in view of Padmaraju et al. (USPGPub 2015/0323818, from hereinafter “Padmaraju).
Regarding claims 1 and 4-5, Kawakita teaches a light source unit comprising:
a semiconductor optical amplifier (gain part 411a) configured to amplify an input light;
an external resonator (gain 411a together with ring resonator filter RF1 form resonator configuration, see paragraphs 16-42) configured to form an optical resonator in which the light travels back and forth together with the semiconductor optical amplifier, includes a wavelength-tunable filter (ring resonator filter RF1) that can tune a wavelength of a transmitted light, and configured to output a laser light oscillated by the optical resonator and transmitted through the wavelength-tunable filter;
a heater (micro heater 425, 426) provided in an optical waveguide of the external resonator through which the laser light is propagated and configured to control a phase of the laser light;
a drive signal output unit (controller 21) configured to output a drive signal to the heater;
a control unit (controller 21) configured to control the drive signal to be provided to the heater by the drive signal output unit; and
a light monitoring unit (power monitoring PD 14) configured to monitor intensity of the laser light,
wherein the control unit controls the drive signal output unit such that a dither signal having a periodic rectangular wave is superimposed on the drive signal (see paragraphs 64-65),
the light monitoring unit detects an amplitude of a fluctuation in intensity of the laser light caused by the dither signal and outputs a detection result to the control unit (see paragraph 29), and
the control unit monitors the detection result from the light monitoring unit while controlling the drive signal output unit so that power of the drive signal changes, and searches for the power at which the amplitude of the fluctuation in the intensity of the laser light becomes a minimum, and
determines the searched minimum power as the power of the drive signal (see paragraphs 64-65).
Further regarding specifically claim 4, Kawakita specifically teaches a light source unit configured to output a laser light (wavelength tunable laser outputs laser light) and a light modulation unit (resonator mode wavelength dithering in paragraph 60) configured to modulate the laser light according to a data signal, and outputs an optical signal. Further regarding specifically claim 5, Kawakita teaches a pluggable electrical connector configured to be insertable into and removable from an optical transmission apparatus and enabling bidirectional communication with the optical transmission apparatus (see Figure 1, paragraph 16 wherein the end portion of an optical fiber 20 is inserted into housing/casing 1). See Kawakita, Figures 1-2, paragraphs 16-42 for above referenced citations.
Regarding claims 1 and 4-5, although Kawakita teaches that the controller may be configured to serve as a wavelength dithering generation unit, Kawakita fails to specifically teach that the dither signal has a periodic rectangular wave superimposed on the drive signal.
In the same field of endeavor, Padmaraju teaches a method for tuning a coupled resonator to match a wavelength of electromagnetic radiation emitting from an applied laser source wherein a square-wave dithering signal is utilized rather than a sinusoidal dithering signal (see paragraph 48).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to apply the teaches of Padmaraju to the system of Kawakita because it is well known in the art that dithering signals can be composed of any periodic waveform and the square/rectangle variety is favorable to use since it can be synthesized easily in electronic circuitry, thus allowing for a better outcome.
Regarding claim 2, Kawakita further teaches, wherein the drive signal output unit is configured as an analog-digital converter that converts an analog signal provided from the control unit into a digital signal and outputs the converted digital signal to the heater as the drive signal (see paragraphs 33-35).
Regarding claim 3, Kawakita further teaches wherein the external resonator is configured as a silicon photonics semiconductor device (semiconductor layered part 412 of Figure 2, see paragraph 38).
Conclusion
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/LISA M CAPUTO/Primary Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2874