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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claim 18 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) as being anticipated by Hehmann et al.(EP 1986350 A1).
Considering Claim 18 Hehmann discloses an ONU among a plurality of optical network units (ONUs) in an optical fiber sensing system including an optical line terminal (OLT), the plurality of ONUs, a first optical fiber transmission line connected to the OLT((See Paragraph 24, fig. 1 i.e. an ONU(8.1) among a plurality of optical network units (ONUs)(8.1,8.2,8.3) in an optical fiber sensing system(1) including an optical line terminal (OLT)(4)), the plurality of ONUs(8.1,8.2,8.3), a first optical fiber transmission line(3) connected to the OLT(4)), a plurality of second optical fiber transmission lines connected to each of the plurality of ONUs(See Paragraph 24, fig. 1 i.e. a plurality of second optical fiber transmission lines(6.1,6.2,6.3) connected to each of the plurality of ONUs(8.1,8.2,8.3)), and a branching device connecting the first optical fiber transmission line and each of the plurality of second optical fiber transmission lines(See Paragraph 24, fig. 1 i.e. a branching device which is a passive optical distribution network(5) connecting the first optical fiber transmission line(3) and each of the plurality of second optical fiber transmission lines(6.1,6.2,6.3)), the ONU comprising a reflector, wherein the reflector individually switches execution of reflection of pulsed light from the second optical fiber transmission line(See Paragraph 24,26,31, fig. 1,2a i.e. the ONU(8.1) comprising a switchable reflector(16 of fig. 2a) in a respective monitoring unit(10.1,10.2,10.3)), wherein the reflector(16 of fig. 2a) individually switches execution of reflection of pulsed light(binary data) from the second optical fiber transmission line(6.1 of fig. 2a)).
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.
Claims 1-2,4,8,9,11,13,17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hehmann et al.(EP 1986350 A1) in view of DVIR(US 2013/0202290).
Considering Claim 1 Hehmann discloses an optical fiber sensing system comprising: an optical line terminal (OLT)(See Paragraph 24, fig. 1 i.e. OLT(4)); a plurality of optical network units (ONUs)(See Paragraph 24, fig. 1 i.e. a plurality of optical network units (ONUs)(8.1…8.3)); a first optical fiber transmission line connected to the OLT(See Paragraph 24, fig. 1 i.e. a first optical fiber transmission line(3) connected to the OLT(3)); a plurality of second optical fiber transmission lines connected to each of the plurality of ONUs(See Paragraph 24, fig. 1 i.e. a plurality of second optical fiber transmission lines(6.1,6.2,6.3) connected to each of the plurality of ONUs(8.1,8.2,8.3)); a plurality of reflectors provided in each of the plurality of second optical fiber transmission lines(See Paragraph 24,26, fig. 1,2a i.e. a plurality of reflectors(16 of fig. 2a) provided in each of the plurality of second optical fiber transmission lines(6.1,6.2,6.3 of fig. 1)): and at least one processor(See Paragraph 26, fig. 2a i.e. at least one processor which is a control unit(14)) configured to execute the instructions to; output pulsed light to the first optical fiber transmission line(See Paragraph 21,26, fig. 1,2a i.e. output pulsed light(binary data )(11 of fig. 1) to the first optical fiber transmission line(3 of fig. 1)); connect the first optical fiber transmission line and each of the plurality of second optical fiber transmission lines(See Paragraph 24,26, fig. 1,2a i.e. connect the first optical fiber transmission line(3 of fig. 1) and each of the plurality of second optical fiber transmission lines(6.1,6.2,6.3 of fig. 1) via optical distribution network(5)), output the pulsed light output to the first optical fiber transmission line to each of the plurality of second optical fiber transmission lines(See Paragraph 24,26, fig. 1,2a i.e. output the pulsed light output to the first optical fiber transmission line(3 of fig. 1) to each of the plurality of second optical fiber transmission lines(6.1,6.2,6.3 of fig. 1)), and output reflected light obtained by reflecting the pulsed light in any of the plurality of reflectors to the first optical fiber transmission line(See Paragraph 24,26, fig. 1,2a i.e. output reflected light(17) obtained by reflecting the pulsed light(11) in any of the plurality of reflectors(16 of fig. ) to the first optical fiber transmission line(3)); receive the reflected light from the first optical fiber transmission line(See Paragraph 24,26, fig. 1,2a i.e. OLT(4) to receive the reflected light(17) from the first optical fiber transmission line(3));wherein each of the plurality of reflectors can individually switch execution of reflection of the pulsed light(See Paragraph 24,26,31, fig. 1,2a i.e. wherein each of the plurality of reflectors(16 of fig. 2a) in the respective monitoring unit(10.1) can individually switch execution of reflection of the pulsed light(binary data)(11b of fig. 2a) based on the control signal received from the control unit(14 of fig. 2a)).
Hehmann does not explicitly disclose analyze a pattern of the reflected light to detect a failure of the second optical fiber transmission line provided with the reflector that has output the reflected light.
Dvir teaches at least one memory storing instructions(See Paragraph 74 i.e. at least one memory storing instructions); and analyze a pattern of the reflected light to detect a failure of the second optical fiber transmission line provided with the reflector that has output the reflected light(See Paragraph 12,50,56,57,72,fig. 3B,4,6 i.e. a processing module(340 of fig. 3b) to analyze a pattern of the reflected light to detect a failure of the second optical fiber transmission line(410 of fig. 4) provided with the reflector(reflected from fiber(410)) that has output the reflected light).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the invention of Hehmann, and have at least one memory to store instructions; and analyze a pattern of the reflected light to detect a failure of the second optical fiber transmission line provided with the reflector that has output the reflected light, as taught by Dvir, thus improving transmission signal quality by determining fiber strength, optical loss, fault location, by analyzing the pattern of the reflected light, as discussed by Dvir(Paragraph 12).
Considering Claim 2 Hehmann and Dvir disclose the optical fiber sensing system according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of reflectors are sequentially switched one by one to execute the reflection of the pulsed light(See Hehmann: Paragraph 20,21,26,fig. 1,2a i.e. the plurality of reflectors(16) in the respective monitoring unit(10.1,10.2,10.3) are sequentially switched one by one to execute the reflection of the pulsed light( controlling the switchable reflective element(16) to block or unblock the optical path in a time sequence)).
Considering Claim 4 Hehmann and Dvir disclose the optical fiber sensing system according to claim 2, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the instructions to transmit a control signal instructing whether to execute reflection of the pulsed light to each of the plurality of reflectors, wherein each of the plurality of reflectors executes the reflection of the pulsed light based on the control signal(See Hehmann: Paragraph 20,21,26,fig. 1,2a i.e. wherein the at least one processor(14 of fig. 2a) is further configured to execute the instructions to transmit a control signal instructing whether to execute reflection of the light(block or unblock) to each of the plurality of reflectors(16 of fig. 2a), wherein each of the plurality of reflectors(16 of fig. 2a) executes the reflection of the pulsed light based on the control signal received from the processor(14 of fig. 2a)).
Considering Claim 8 Hehmann and Dvir disclose the optical fiber sensing system according to claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the instructions to receive, from the first optical fiber transmission line, backscattered light generated as the pulsed light is transmitted through the first optical fiber transmission line, and detect a failure in the first optical fiber transmission line by analyzing a pattern of the backscattered light(See Dvir: Paragraph 12, 52,56,57,fig. 3a,4 i.e. wherein the at least one processor which is ONU processing module(340) is further configured to execute the instructions to receive, from the first optical fiber transmission line, backscattered light(reflected back light) generated as the pulsed light is transmitted through the first optical fiber transmission line(410 of fig. 4), and detect a failure in the first optical fiber transmission line by analyzing a pattern of the backscattered light).
Considering Claim 9 Hehmann and Dvir disclose the optical fiber sensing system according to claim 1, wherein the at least one memory and the at least one processor are included in the OLT(See Dvir: Paragraph 74,39,fig. 3a i.e. wherein the at least one memory and the at least one processor(340,323,310) are included in the OLT(300)).
Considering Claim 11 Hehmann discloses an optical fiber sensing method by an optical fiber sensing system, the optical fiber sensing system including an optical line terminal (OLT) )(See Paragraph 24, fig. 1 i.e. OLT(4))), a plurality of optical network units (ONUs)(See Paragraph 24, fig. 1 i.e. a plurality of optical network units (ONUs)(8.1…8.3)), a first optical fiber transmission line connected to the OLT(See Paragraph 24, fig. 1 i.e. a first optical fiber transmission line(3) connected to the OLT(3)), a plurality of second optical fiber transmission lines connected to each of the plurality of ONUs(See Paragraph 24, fig. 1 i.e. a plurality of second optical fiber transmission lines(6.1,6.2,6.3) connected to each of the plurality of ONUs(8.1,8.2,8.3)), a branching device configured to connect the first optical fiber transmission line and each of the plurality of second optical fiber transmission lines(See Paragraph 24, fig. 1 i.e. a branching device which is a passive optical distribution network(5) configured to connect the first optical fiber transmission line(3) and each of the plurality of second optical fiber transmission lines(6.1,6.2,6.3)), and a plurality of reflectors provided in each of the plurality of second optical fiber transmission lines and capable of individually switching execution of reflection of pulsed light from the second optical fiber transmission line(See Paragraph 24,26,31, fig. 1,2a i.e. a plurality of reflectors(16 of fig. 2a) provided in each of the plurality of second optical fiber transmission lines(6.1,6.2,6.3 of fig. 1) and capable of individually switching execution of reflection of pulsed light(binary data)(11b of fig. 2a) from the second optical fiber transmission line(6.1of fig. 2a) based on the control signal received from a controller(14)), the optical fiber sensing method comprising: a switching step of sequentially switching the plurality of reflectors one by one so as to execute the reflection of the pulsed light(See Paragraph 20,21,26,fig. 1,2a i.e. a switching step of sequentially switching the plurality of reflectors(16) in the respective monitoring unit(10.1,10.2,10.3) one by one so as to execute the reflection of the pulsed light (by receiving a control signal from a controller(14) and by controlling the switchable reflective element(16) to block or unblock the optical path in a time sequence)); an optical output step of outputting the pulsed light from the first optical fiber transmission line to each of the plurality of second optical fiber transmission lines via the branching device(See Paragraph 21,24,26, fig. 1,2a i.e. an optical output step of outputting the pulsed light(binary data) from the first optical fiber transmission line(3 of fig. 1) to each of the plurality of second optical fiber transmission lines(6.1,6.2,6.3 of fig. 1) via the branching device(5 of fig. 1)); a reflection step of outputting, to the first optical fiber transmission line, reflected light obtained by reflecting the pulsed light in one of the plurality of reflectors switched to execute the reflection of the pulsed light(See Paragraph 24,26,31, fig. 1,2a i.e. a reflection step of outputting, to the first optical fiber transmission line(3 of fig. 1), reflected light(17) obtained by reflecting the pulsed light in one of the plurality of reflectors(16 of fig. 2a in the respective monitoring unit(10.1,10.2,10.3 of fig. 1)) switched to execute the reflection of the pulsed light based on the control signal received from the controller(14 of fig. 2a)); an optical reception step of receiving the reflected light from the first optical fiber transmission line(See Paragraph 24,26, fig. 1,2a i.e. an optical reception step(at the OLT(4)) of receiving the reflected light(17) from the first optical fiber transmission line(3)).
Hehmann does not explicitly disclose a detection step of detecting a failure in the second optical fiber transmission line including one of the reflectors by analyzing a pattern of the reflected light.
Dvir teaches a detection step of detecting a failure in the second optical fiber transmission line including one of the reflectors by analyzing a pattern of the reflected light(See Paragraph 12,50,56,57,72,fig. 3B,4,6 i.e. a processing module(340 of fig. 3b) at a detection step of detecting a failure in the second optical fiber transmission line(410 of fig. 4) including one of the reflectors by analyzing a pattern of the reflected light ).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the invention of Hehmann, and have a detection step to detect a failure in the second optical fiber transmission line to include one of the reflectors by analyzing a pattern of the reflected light, as taught by Dvir, thus improving transmission signal quality by determining fiber strength, optical loss, fault location, by analyzing the pattern of the reflected light, as discussed by Dvir(Paragraph 12).
Considering Claim 13 Hehmann and Dvir disclose the optical fiber sensing method according to claim 11, wherein in the switching step, a control signal instructing whether to execute reflection of the pulsed light is transmitted to each of the plurality of reflectors, and each of the plurality of reflectors executes the reflection of the pulsed light based on the control signal(See Hehmann: Paragraph 20,21,26,fig. 1,2a i.e. in the switching step, a control signal from the controller(14 of fig. 2a) instructing whether to execute reflection of the pulsed light is transmitted to each of the plurality of reflectors(16 of fig. 2a), and each of the plurality of reflectors(16 of fig. 2a) in the respective monitoring unit(10.1,10.2,10.3) executes the reflection of the pulsed light based on the control signal).
Considering Claim 17 Hehmann and Dvir disclose the optical fiber sensing method according to claim 11, wherein in the optical reception step, backscattered light generated as the pulsed light is transmitted through the first optical fiber transmission line is further received from the first optical fiber transmission line, and in the detection step, the failure in the first optical fiber transmission line is further detected by analyzing a pattern of the backscattered light(See Dvir: Paragraph 12, 52,56,57,fig. 3a,4 i.e. wherein in the optical reception step, backscattered light(back reflected back light) generated as the pulsed light is transmitted through the first optical fiber transmission line(410 of fig. 4) is further received from the first optical fiber transmission line(410 of fig. 4), and in the detection step, the failure in the first optical fiber transmission line(410 of fig. 4) is further detected by analyzing a pattern of the backscattered light(back reflected light)).
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over
Hehmann et al.(EP 1986350 A1) in view of DVIR(US 2013/0202290) in further in view of Huang et al.(US 2020/0200592).
Considering Claim 10 Hehmann and Dvir do not explicitly disclose the optical fiber sensing system according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of reflectors are provided in each of the plurality of ONUs.
Huang teaches the optical fiber sensing system according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of reflectors are provided in each of the plurality of ONUs(See Paragraph 40,46, fig. 7 i.e. the plurality of reflector(a reflective semiconductor optical amplifier (RSOA)) are provided in each of the plurality of ONUs(ONU/RRH1, ONU/RRH2)).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the invention of Hehmann and Dvir, and have the plurality of reflectors to be provided in each of the plurality of ONUs, as taught by Huang, thus providing an efficient transmission system by simultaneous data transmission with optical fiber sensing by incorporating a low cost RSOA in the respective ONU, as discussed by Huang(Paragraph 40,41).
Claim 19 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over
Hehmann et al.(EP 1986350 A1) in view of Huang et al.(US 2020/0200592).
Considering Claim 19 Hehmann disclose the ONU according to claim 18, wherein the plurality of reflectors is sequentially switched one by one so as to execute the reflection of the pulsed light(See Hehmann: Paragraph 20,21,26,fig. 1,2a i.e. the plurality of reflectors(16) in the respective monitoring unit(10.1,10.2,10.3) are sequentially switched one by one so as to execute the reflection of the pulsed light( controlling the switchable reflective element(16) to block or unblock the optical path in a time sequence)).
Hehmann does not explicitly disclose the plurality of reflectors included in each of the plurality of ONUs.
Huang teaches the plurality of reflectors included in each of the plurality of ONUs (See Paragraph 40,46, fig. 7 i.e. the plurality of reflector(a reflective semiconductor optical amplifier (RSOA)) are included in each of the plurality of ONUs(ONU/RRH1, ONU/RRH2)).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the invention of Hehmann, and have the plurality of reflectors to be included in each of the plurality of ONUs, as taught by Huang, thus providing an efficient transmission system by simultaneous data transmission with optical fiber sensing by incorporating a low cost RSOA in the respective ONU, as discussed by Huang(Paragraph 40,41).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3,5-7,12,14-16,20 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HIBRET A WOLDEKIDAN whose telephone number is (571)270-5145. The examiner can normally be reached 9-5:30.
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/HIBRET A WOLDEKIDAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2635