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 .
Specification
The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
Claim Interpretation
Claim 1 recites a preamble including first and second subscriber devices with particular structures and connections in an optical communication system. When reading the preamble in the context of the entire claim, the preamble is limiting because the body of the claim relies on the preamble to define the claimed invention's limitations. See, for example, lines 8-10 which rely on the first subscriber device to define the transmission/reception separator, and lines 12-15 which rely on the first and second subscriber devices to define the optical switch.
Claim 8 is a method that generally corresponds to the operation of apparatus claim 1 and recites a preamble including first and second subscriber devices with particular structures and connections in an optical communication system. When reading the preamble in the context of the entire claim, the preamble is limiting because the body of the claim relies on the preamble to define the claimed invention's limitations. See, for example, lines 8-10 which rely on the first subscriber device to define the transferring step, and lines 12-16 which rely on the first and second subscriber devices to define the controlling step.
Thus, the preambles are considered limitations of the claims of claims 1 and 8.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112 - Indefinite
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1, line 8 recites “a transmission/reception separator configured to ...”. The Examiner can find no evidence that “transmission/reception separator” is a term of art conveying particular structure to one of ordinary skill in this context. The application teaches that the “transmission/reception separator” can be a circulator 51 with at least three ports connected in a particular way with an optical switch 50 and mux/demuxes 52 as illustrated in FIG. 1. See:
[0042] The transmission/reception separators 51-1 and 51-2 are circulators, for example. The transmission/reception separators 51-1 and 51-2 have at least three ports. In the following description, it is assumed that the transmission/reception separators 51-1 and 51-2 have three ports. A first port 53-1 included in the transmission/reception separator 51-1 is connected to the port 6 (port 6-2 in FIG. 1) of the optical SW 50. A second port 53-2 included in the transmission/reception separator 51-1 is connected to the wavelength multiplexer/demultiplexer 52-2. A third port 53-3 included in the transmission/reception separator 51-1 is connected to the wavelength multiplexer/demultiplexer 52-1. An optical signal input to the first port 53-1 is output from the second port 53-2. An optical signal input to the second port 53-2 is output from the third port 53-3. An optical signal input to the third port 53-3 is output from the first port 53-1.
However, this teaching is an open-ended example (“The transmission/reception separators 51-1 and 51-2 are circulators, for example.”), and the claim does not recite this or any other particular structure. As a result, it is not clear what particular structure is within the scope of “transmission/reception separator configured to ...” as recited in the claim. If Applicant does not wish to recite the particular structure/configuration, then the Examiner suggests writing this element in “means plus function” form.
Claim 1, line 11 inferentially claims “ports” in the middle of the functional language of the optical switch. It is not clear if the ports are required limitations of the claim (in which case the Examiner suggests affirmatively reciting them to avoid confusion) or if they are non-limiting intended use (in which case the Examiner suggests deleting them to avoid confusion).
Furthermore, it is not clear if the ports are part of the optical switch, or part of the first and second subscriber devices, or part of something else. As a result, the structure being claimed is unclear.
Claim 1, line 12 recites “an optical signal transmitted from the first subscriber device”. It is not clear if this is the same optical signal transmitted from the first subscriber device in lines 8-9 (in which case the Examiner suggests amending line 12 to “the optical signal transmitted from the first subscriber device”) or if it is a different signal (in which case the Examiner suggests using different terms for the different signals).
Claim 1, lines 12-13 recites “an optical signal addressed to the first subscriber device”. It is not clear if this is the same optical signal addressed to the first subscriber device in lines 9-10 (in which case the Examiner suggests amending lines 12-13 to “the optical signal addressed to the first subscriber device”) or if it is a different signal (in which case the Examiner suggests using different terms for the different signals).
Claim 1, last paragraph recites a series of functional elements, some of which are separated by “or” and some of which are separated by “and”:
an optical switch configured to control a connection relationship between ports such that an optical signal transmitted from the first subscriber device OR an optical signal addressed to the first subscriber device passes through the transmission/reception separator AND an optical signal transmitted from the second subscriber device OR an optical signal addressed to the second subscriber device does not pass through the transmission/reception separator, AND outputs an optical signal input from a certain optical transmission line from another optical transmission line.
(emphasis by Examiner). To illustrate the confusion, this paragraph can be simplified as:
an optical switch configured to ... such that A or B and C or D and E.
It is not clear how to group the “or” and the “and” functionality (i.e., the order of operations is not clear). For example, it is not clear if this should be interpreted as:
an optical switch configured to ... such that:
(A or B) and
(C or D) and
E;
or if it should be interpreted as:
an optical switch configured to ... such that:
A or
(B and C) or
(D and E);
or if it should be interpreted some other way. In any event, it is not clear how to interpret this language.
Claim 1, last two lines recites:
... and outputs an optical signal input from a certain optical transmission line from another optical transmission line
The “certain optical transmission line” and the “another optical transmission line” are inferentially claimed and it is not clear if they are required limitations (in which case the Examiner suggests affirmatively claiming them to avoid confusion) or if they are non-limiting intended use (in which case the Examiner suggests deleting them to avoid confusion).
Furthermore, it is not clear if the last two lines are connections between the optical switch and the first and second subscriber devices or if they are connections to other elements.
The following is a suggested amendment to the last paragraph:
an optical switch including:
a first port of the optical switch connected to the first subscriber device via the transmission/reception separator and
a second port of the optical switch connected to the second subscriber devices without a connection through the transmission/reception separator,
wherein the optical switch is configured to control a connection relationship between the first and second ports and the first and second subscriber devices such that:
an optical signal transmitted either from the first subscriber device or from an optical signal addressed to the first subscriber device passes through the transmission/reception separator; and
an optical signal transmitted either from the second subscriber device or from an optical signal addressed to the second subscriber device does not pass through the transmission/reception separator; [[,]] and
the optical switch outputs an optical signal input from a certain optical transmission line from another optical transmission line.
This does not address all of the issues, but it illustrates how some of the inferentially claimed elements can be affirmatively claimed, and it illustrates how the “or” and “and” functionality can be written more clearly. Other issues are not addressed because the Examiner cannot make a reasonable guess as to what is intended.
Claim 2, line 5 inferentially claims “a first wavelength multiplexer/demultiplexer” in the recitation of the functionality of the second port. It is not clear if the mux/demux is a required limitation of the claim (in which case the Examiner suggests affirmatively reciting it) or if it is non-limiting intended use (in which case the Examiner suggests deleting it to avoid confusion).
Claim 2, line 8 inferentially claims “a second wavelength multiplexer/demultiplexer” in the recitation functionality of the third port. It is not clear if the mux/demux is a required limitation of the claim (in which case the Examiner suggests affirmatively reciting it) or if it is non-limiting intended use (in which case the Examiner suggests deleting it to avoid confusion).
Claims 2-6 are rejected because they depend from one or more of the claims rejected above and they fail to further limit the scope in a manner to overcome the rejection.
Claim 7, line 7 recites “a transmission/reception separator configured to ...”. It is not clear what is being claimed. See the discussion in claim 1 for the same term.
Claim 7, line 10 inferentially claims “ports” in the recitation of the functionality of the optical switch. It is not clear if the ports are required limitations of the claim (in which case the Examiner suggests affirmatively reciting them) or if they are non-limiting intended use (in which case the Examiner suggests deleting them to avoid confusion).
Claim 7, line 11 inferentially claims “destination optical transmission lines” in the recitation of the functionality of the optical switch. It is not clear if these lines are required limitations of the claim (in which case the Examiner suggests affirmatively reciting them) or if they are non-limiting intended use (in which case the Examiner suggests deleting them to avoid confusion).
Claim 8, line 8 recites “a transmission/reception separator”. It is not clear what is being claimed. See the discussion in claim 1 for the same term. The Examiner suggests reciting “transferring” in connection with particular structure of the transmission/reception separator to achieve the recited functionality/results, or reciting the operational steps of the transmission/reception separator to achieve the recited functionality/results, or writing this element in “step plus function” form.
Claim 8, line 11 recites:
controlling a connection relationship between ports such that ...
It is not clear what is being controlled. The ports are not claimed as being part of any other structure in the claim. This seems to correspond to the ports in the optical switch of claim 1, and the application uses the term “connection relationship” as the connection state of a switch (e.g., see [0039]), but the claim does not recite an optical switch and it does not recite “switching”, and it does not connect the ports to any other structure in the claim. It is not clear if the ports are structures of an unclaimed optical switch, of if they are structures of the first and second subscriber devices, or if they limit the claim in some other way.
Claim 8, line 16 recites “a certain optical transmission line”. It is not clear what is being claimed. See the discussion in claim 1 for the same term.
Claim 8, line 17 recites “another optical transmission line”. It is not clear what is being claimed. See the discussion in claim 1 for the same term.
Claim 8, last paragraph recites a series of functions separated by “or” and “and”. It is not clear what is being claimed. See the discussion in claim 1 for the same term.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 - Obvious
Although the scope of the claims is unclear, as discussed above, the following art rejection is presented in an effort to assist Applicant in preparing the most complete response. For the purposes of this Action, the uncertainty in the scope of the claims is interpreted to be consistent with the teachings of the cited art.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP 2008-259131 (Nippon; cited by Applicant).
Regarding claim 7, Nippon teaches an optical communication system comprising:
a plurality of subscriber devices (FIG. 6: plural, parallel devices in UNI 400 including circulators 321); and
an optical node device to which the plurality of subscriber devices is connected (FIG. 6: network side interface (NNI) 100 and/or other structures including switches 130),
wherein each of the subscriber devices includes:
a transmitter configured to transmit an optical signal; and
a transmission/reception separator configured to transfer the optical signal transmitted by the transmitter and a received optical signal without interference (FIG. 6: circulator 321 transferring signals to/from UNI 300), and
the optical node device includes an optical switch that controls a connection relationship between ports such that optical signals transmitted from the subscriber devices are output to destination optical transmission lines, and optical signals addressed to the subscriber devices are output to the subscriber devices (FIG. 5: one or more optical switches 130 or WSSs 110 controlling signals between UNI 400 and the optical transmission lines in/out of the left side of NNI 100).
FIG. 5 is reproduced for reference.
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Subscriber Devices.
FIG. 6 illustrates user network interface devices that can include, for example, a user terminal. See:
[0001] The present invention relates to an optical cross-connect system in a wavelength division multiplexing transmission system and a signal control method in an optical cross-connect system, and more particularly to an optical cross-connect system and a signal control method in an optical cross-connect system that accommodate an optical network side interface (NNI) and a user network interface (UNI) such as a user terminal, using a wavelength selection switch that edits each wavelength into a certain group and selects and extracts a signal of a specific wavelength from wavelength division multiplexed signal light for signal processing such as path setting for each generated wavelength group.
Transmitter.
FIG. 6 illustrates optical signals being received by circulators 321 in UNI 400. It would have been obvious that the optical signals are generated by a devices that transmits optical signals (e.g., a “transmitter”). Therefore, the transmitters and circulators collectively form the subscriber devices.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 2007/0286605 (Feuer) at FIG. 4 illustrated a device with plural transceivers 436, each connected to a circulator 438, and the circulators connected to WSSs 424, 422.
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See also:
[0024] Referring now to FIG. 4, there is depicted an alternative embodiment of a bidirectional MUX/DEMUX assembly 419, comprising a first optical circulator 418 (coupled to add port 408 and drop port 414), WSS assembly 420 and a plurality of second optical circulators 438.sub.1, 438.sub.2, 438.sub.3, 438.sub.4 . . . 438.sub.N. WSS assembly 420 includes a pair of WSSs 422 and 424 as described above in the first exemplary embodiment. In this embodiment, the WSS assembly 420 and optical circulators 438.sub.1, 438.sub.2, 438.sub.3, 438.sub.4 . . . 438.sub.N are disposed or packaged within the same housing. WSS 422 has a single input/output port 426 coupled to port 2 of an optical circulator 418 that communicates with an optical transmission system (not shown) via the transmission system's add port 408 and drop port 414. WSS 422 has a plurality of input/output ports 428.sub.1, 428.sub.2, 428.sub.3, 428.sub.4 . . . 428.sub.N. The Nth input/output port 428.sub.N of WSS 422 is shown coupled to a single input/output port 430 of WSS 424. WSS 424 further comprises a plurality of input/output transceiver ports 432.sub.1, 432.sub.2, 432.sub.3, 432.sub.4 . . . 432.sub.N, which are coupled to port 2 of each optical circulator 438.sub.1, 438.sub.2, 438.sub.3, 438.sub.4 . . . 438.sub.N, respectively. Port 1 of each optical circulator 438.sub.1, 438.sub.2, 438.sub.3, 438.sub.4 . . . 438.sub.N receives signals that are to be added to the optical transmission system from a local terminal from a line transmitter 440.sub.1, 440.sub.2, 440.sub.3, 440.sub.4 . . . 440.sub.N of transceivers 436.sub.1, 436.sub.2, 436.sub.3, 436.sub.4 . . . 436.sub.N, respectively. Conversely, signals that are dropped from the optical transmission system are communicated from port 3 of each optical circulator 438.sub.1, 438.sub.2, 438.sub.3, 438.sub.4 . . . 438.sub.N to a line receiver 442.sub.1, 442.sub.2, 442.sub.3, 442.sub.4 . . . 442.sub.N of transceivers 436.sub.1, 436.sub.2, 436.sub.3, 436.sub.4 . . . 436.sub.N, respectively.
US 2012/0008945 (Singla) at FIG. 2 illustrates an optical device including a transmitter including a WSS 124 and circulators 126 and a receiver side having circulators 136.
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See also:
[0034] FIG. 2 shows in more details the optical component 110. To make full use of the MEMS ports, each circuit over the MEMS is bidirectional. For this, optical circulators 126 and 136 are placed between the ToR and MEMS ports. A circulator 126 connects the send channel of the transceiver from a ToR 120 to the MEMS port 102 (after the channel has passed through the WSS 124). It simultaneously delivers the traffic incoming towards a ToR from the MEMS, to this ToR. Even though the MEMS edges are bidirectional, the capacities of the two directions are independent of each other. The inter-ToR ports attach themselves to two transceivers so that they can send and receive data simultaneously. As shown in the left half of FIG. 2, the optical fiber from the "send" transceivers from each of the 32 ports at a ToR 120 is connected to an optical multiplexer 122. Each port is associated with a wavelength, unique across ports at the ToR 120, in order to exploit wavelength division multiplexing (WDM). This allows data from different ports to be multiplexed into one fiber without contention. This fiber is then connected to a 1.times.4 Wavelength Selective Switch (WSS) 124. The WSS 124 is typically an optical component, consisting of one common port and wavelength ports. It partitions the set of wavelengths coming in through the common port among the wavelength ports and the mapping is runtime-configurable (in a few milliseconds). The WSS 124 can split the set of 32 wavelengths it sees into four groups, each group being transmitted out on its own fiber. This fiber is connected to the MEMS optical switch 102 through a circulator 126 to enable bidirectional traffic through it. The circulators enable bidirectional optical transmission over a fiber, allowing more efficient use of the ports of optical switches. An optical circulator is a three-port device: one port is a shared fiber or switching port, and the other two ports serve as send and receive ports. Optical transceivers can be of two types: coarse WDM (CWDM) and dense WDM (DWDM). One embodiment uses DWDM-based transceivers, which support higher bit-rates and more wavelength channels in a single piece of fiber compared to CWDM.
US 2020/0195365 (MIYABE) at FIG. 12 illustrates an optical device including plural transceivers 4, each with a circulator 36 and connected to an ROADM including WSSs 53.
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See also:
[0029] The optical transceiver 4 in the optical transmission apparatus 2 includes a C-form-factor pluggable (CFP) 31, an optical transport network (OTN) framer 32, a laser unit 33, a modulation unit 34, and a demodulation unit 35. The optical transceiver 4 further includes an optical circulator 36, an input connector 37A (37), and an output connector 37B (37). The optical transceiver 4 includes a communication control unit 39, an optical time domain reflectometer (OTDR) control unit 40, a generation unit 41, a detection unit 42, an analysis unit 43, an arrival distance table 44, and a setting unit 45.
[0086] The CD-ROADM 5A includes an input connector 51A (51), an output connector 51B (51), an optical coupler 52, a plurality of wavelength selective switches (WSS) 53, and an optical splitter 54. The input connector 51A of the CD-ROADM 5A allows all assignable wavelengths to be transmitted therethrough, is connected to the output connector 37B of the optical transceiver 4, and is connected to the optical coupler 52. The output connector 51B of the CD-ROADM 5A allows all assignable wavelengths to be transmitted therethrough, is connected to the input connector 37A of the optical transceiver 4, and is connected to the optical splitter 54. The optical coupler 52 multiplexes signal lights having different wavelengths from the respective optical transceivers 4, and outputs the WDM light after multiplexing to the WSS 53. The WSS 53 outputs the WDM light of any wavelength group in the WDM light to the optical fiber 3.
[0087] The WSS 53 receives the WDM light from the optical fiber extracts the WDM light of any wavelength group out of the WDM light after receiving the light, and outputs the WDM light of the extracted any wavelength group to the optical splitter 54. The optical splitter 54 outputs the WDM light from the WSS 53 to the respective optical transceivers 4. Each optical transceiver 4 extracts the signal light having the assigned wavelength from the WDM light, and demodulates the extracted signal light.
US 8,971,709 (Liu) at FIG. 7 illustrates a clockwise, three port circulator (left circulator) in which signals received on the left side are conveyed to the right side, and signals received on the right side are conveyed to the bottom side.
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Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DARREN WOLF whose telephone number is (571)270-3378. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday, 7:00 AM to 3:00 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, KENNETH N. VANDERPUYE can be reached at 571-272-3078. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DARREN E WOLF/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2634
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