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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I, claims 26-36 in the reply filed on 03/19/2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 37-44 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected group II, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 03/19/2026.
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed. The examiner notes that the title itself is long, however it amounts to defining a field of art, optical time domain reflectometry. As such it is requested applicant link the title at least some specifics of the instant invention.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(4) because reference character “320” has been used to designate both two distinct black boxes in figure 3. 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.
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) 26-36 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Eiselt et al. (U.S. PGPub No. 2021/0242936 A1) in view of Fleuren (U.S PGPub No. 5,570,217).
As to claims 26 and 36, Eiselt discloses an apparatus for performing optical time domain reflectometry (OTDR) on an optical fibre, the apparatus comprising:
a photodetector (104) ([0054], ll. 5-10); and
processing circuitry (106) configured to obtain a plurality of correlation signals (as noted “at least one correlation signal” implies two, further clearly the system is not intended to measure a single OTDR pulse, but rather monitor via multiple pulses over time) corresponding to different decision thresholds of the photodetector, wherein, to obtain each correlation signal, the processing circuitry is configured to ([0051]; [0055]):
transmit a first signal (TXopt) into the optical fibre (116), using an optical source (102), wherein the first signal comprises a plurality of optical radiation pulses (i.e. probe signals TXopt for each of the respective series of electrical probe signals Tel explicitly disclosed) each comprising a coded sequence (i.e. probe bit sequence) ([0053], ll. 1-4; [0062]);
detect optical radiation backscattered and/or reflected from the optical fibre using the photodetector ([0054]);
obtain a measurement signal comprising bit sequences based on the detected optical radiation and the decision threshold (as modified below) of the photodetector ([0054]-[0055]); and
compare the measurement signal with the first signal to obtain a correlation signal Scor ([0055]; [0077]); and
wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to combine the plurality of correlation signals to obtain an OTDR trace of the optical fibre ([0033]; [0084]; [0087]).
Eiselt does not explicitly disclose obtaining a plurality of correlation signals corresponding to different decision thresholds of the photodetector or set the decision threshold of the photodetector, lastly where the measurement signal is a function of the decision threshold.
However, Fleuren does disclose in (col. 4, ll. 11-23) the use of a common preset threshold value used to determine whether to move to a new fiber line for detection, or in contrast if below a threshold to trigger an alarm and setup/decide for the detector to use a correlation based OTDR measurement. Lastly the examiner takes Office Notice of setting up a basic decision threshold to require a predetermined level of intensity measured to ensure a sufficient signal to noise ratio is achieved for measuring a fiber under test.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Eiselt with a plurality of correlation signals corresponding to different decision thresholds of the photodetector or set the decision threshold of the photodetector, lastly where the measurement signal is a function of the decision threshold in order to provide the advantage of expected results and increased efficiency, as noted by Fleuren this method is both known and advantageous in not requiring an additional signal to be launched into the communication fiber which could disturb the regular communication signals (col. 2, ll. 12-20).
The subject matter of claims 26 and 36 relate in that the technical features of apparatus claim 36 are in each case suitable for implementing the method of claim 26, therefore the method is obvious in view of the above apparatus rejection.
As to claim 27, Eiselt discloses a method, wherein the coded sequence is based on one or more codewords and comparing the measurement signal with the first signal to obtain the correlation signal comprises correlating the measurement signal with the one or more codewords (as noted by applicant, Golay sequences consist of two complementary codewords) ([0084]; [0087]).
As to claim 28, Eiselt discloses a method, wherein the one or more codewords comprise pairs of bipolar codewords (i.e. bipolar Golay sequence, further disclosed as a “quasi bi-polar” signal which the examiner also is interpreting under the broadest reasonable interpretation as a form of bipolar) and the plurality of optical radiation pulses each comprise a sequence of pairs of unipolar codewords derived from the pairs bipolar codewords ([0086]).
As to claim 29, Eiselt discloses a method, wherein the one or more codewords comprise pairs of complimentary Golay sequences ([0085]-[0086]).
As to claim 30, Eiselt discloses a method, wherein each pulse of the sequence of optical radiation pulses comprises one bit of the coded sequence ([0081]; [0086], clearly each pulse/probe signal has at least one bit as disclosed).
As to claim 31, Eiselt discloses a method, wherein each of the plurality of optical radiation pulses are separated by a fill pattern (i.e. fill signal as disclosed) ([0086]).
As to claim 32, Eiselt discloses a method, wherein the fill pattern separating each of the plurality of optical radiation pulses is identical ([0086], ll. 24-26).
As to claim 33, Eiselt discloses a method, wherein the fill pattern comprises a binary sequence comprising high and low values (0s and 1s as explicitly disclosed). of the binary sequence ([0086]).
As to claim 34, Eiselt discloses a method, wherein transmitting the first signal into the optical fibre comprises: transmitting a plurality of signals (i.e. four different probe signals) corresponding to the first signal into the optical fibre, wherein the plurality of signals are phase shifted with respect to each other (i.e. in-phase vs out-of-phase); and wherein obtaining the measurement signal comprises oversampling the detected optical radiation from the plurality of signals ([0064]; [0086]).
As to claim 35, Eiselt discloses a method, wherein combining the plurality of correlation signals to obtain an OTDR trace of the optical fibre comprises averaging the plurality of correlation signals to obtain the OTDR trace of the optical fibre (i.e. trace averages as disclosed) ([0074]; [0084]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL P LAPAGE whose telephone number is (571)270-3833. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8-5:30.
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, Tarifur Chowdhury can be reached at 571-272-2287. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Michael P LaPage/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2877
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