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 .
DETAILED ACTION
The amendment filed 03/17/2026 has been entered. Claims 1-21, 43, 54 and 58 are pending. Claims 1, 9, 11-12, 15-16, and 18-19 have been amended. No claim added or cancelled.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 03/17/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
In that remark, the applicant argued in substance:
That: Zhang in view of Retana do not disclose or suggest “A packet processing method, which is applied to a control plane of a network device and comprises: receiving a first packet sent by a data plane of the network device, wherein the first packet comprises a first Segment Identifier (SID), first encapsulation information, and notification information that comprises a first head node address; if there is a first cache entry associated with the first SID locally and a second head node address comprised in the first cache entry is the same as the first head node address, sending the first SID and the first encapsulation information to the data plane, so that the data plane updates stored second encapsulation information associated with the first SID to the first encapsulation information.
In response to the applicant’s argument Zhang in [0203], teaches the first proxy node, in [0161], a control plane on the SFC, in [0203], the first proxy node generates a second packet based on the endpoint dynamic proxy SID, the first packet, and a first bypass SID corresponding to the second proxy node, and in [0204] the second packet is a packet used to transmit the SRH of the first packet to a peer proxy node. In this embodiment, the second packet may be a control packet. The payload of the second packet may be the payload of the first packet. The second packet may include the first bypass SID, control information, and the SRH of the first packet. A source address of the second packet may be a second bypass SID corresponding to the first proxy node or other information that can identify the first proxy node. The second packet may be an SRv6 packet, and the second packet may include an IPv6 header, an SRH, and a payload. The IPv6 header may include the source address of the second packet and a destination address of the second packet, in, [0229] and the control information is used to indicate the second proxy node to store the SRH of the first packet. In an embodiment, the control information may include a first flag and a second flag. The first flag is used to identify whether the packet is a copied packet. For example, the first flag may be denoted as a copy flag (Copy flag, C-flag). The second packet may include a copy flag field, and the first flag may be carried in the copy flag field. For example, a length of the first flag may be 1 bit, in [00196], a manner of detecting whether the SRH of the first packet is already stored in the cache may include: The first proxy node compares an SRH in each cache entry with the SRH of the first packet, and if the SRH in any cache entry is the same as the SRH of the first packet, determines that the SRH of the first packet is stored in the cache entry, in [0354], a corresponding acknowledgment (ACK) packet may be designed for the second packet, so that a receive end of the second packet returns the ACK packet to notify a transmit end of the second packet that the transmit end of the second packet has received the second packet, in [0356], the sixth packet is an ACK packet corresponding to the second packet, and the sixth packet indicates that it is acknowledged that the second packet is received. The sixth packet is forwarded to the first proxy node, so that an event that the second proxy node receives the second packet can be notified to the first proxy node. An encapsulation format of the sixth packet may be similar to that of the second packet, in [0196], if the SRH in any cache entry is the same as the SRH of the first packet, determines that the SRH of the first packet is stored in the cache entry; or if the SRH in each cache entry is different from the SRH of the first packet, determines that the SRH of the first packet is not stored in the cache, and needs to update the cache to store the SRH of the first packet. In an embodiment, the first proxy node may compare all content of the SRH in the cache entry with all content of the SRH of the first packet, or may compare some content of the SRH in the cache entry with some content of the SRH of the first packet.
Therefore, Zhang clearly teaches that a data plane on the SFC that is controlled by a control plane on the SFC perform a process of generating the packet and sending the packet that includes SID, control information, and the SRH of the packet. The SFF node (second proxy node) and the SF node (second proxy node) each may be used as a data plane on the SFC, so that the SFC that corresponds to the network device of the claim contains both the control and data planes to transmit the SRH and other information with each other and performing a comparison, if the SRH in any cache entry is the same as the SRH of the packet, determines that the SRH of the packet is stored in the cache entry; or if the SRH in each cache entry is different from the SRH of the packet, determines that the SRH of the packet is not stored in the cache, and needs to update the cache to store the SRH of the first packet.
However, Zhang does not explicitly disclose updates stored second encapsulation information associated with the first SID.
However, Retana in [0083], teaches router local forwarding tables are updated based on the information received. For example, forwarding table at router R4 is updated to reflect the encapsulation information 1408 specifying the source address and in [0065], IPv6 encapsulation+8 bytes SRH+(16*4) bytes IPv6 SIDs=112 bytes.
Based on Zhang in view of Retana, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teaching of Retana to the system of Zhang in order to avoid requiring hardware changes for segment routing.
Therefore, the combination of Zhang and Retana clearly makes the claim limitations obvious.
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) 1-21, 43, 54 and 58 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang et al. (US 20220263758) hereinafter Zhang in view of Retana et al. (US 20210243107) hereinafter Retana.
Regarding claim 1, Zhang teaches a packet processing method, which is applied to a control plane of a network device (i.e. the first proxy node, [0203] and a control plane on the SFC, [0161]) and comprises: receiving a first packet sent by a data plane of the network device (i.e. the control plane on the SFC, [0161] and the first proxy node generates a second packet based on the endpoint dynamic proxy SID, the first packet, and a first bypass SID corresponding to the second proxy node, [0203] and the second packet is a packet used to transmit the SRH of the first packet to a peer proxy node. In this embodiment, the second packet may be a control packet. The payload of the second packet may be the payload of the first packet, [0204]), wherein the first packet comprises a first Segment Identifier (SID), first encapsulation information, and a notification information that comprises a first head node address (i.e. The second packet may include the first bypass SID, control information, and the SRH of the first packet. A source address of the second packet may be a second bypass SID corresponding to the first proxy node or other information that can identify the first proxy node. The second packet may be an SRv6 packet, and the second packet may include an IPv6 header, an SRH, and a payload. The IPv6 header may include the source address of the second packet and a destination address of the second packet, [0204] and the control information is used to indicate the second proxy node to store the SRH of the first packet. In an embodiment, the control information may include a first flag and a second flag. The first flag is used to identify whether the packet is a copied packet. For example, the first flag may be denoted as a copy flag (Copy flag, C-flag). The second packet may include a copy flag field, and the first flag may be carried in the copy flag field. For example, a length of the first flag may be 1 bit, [0229]); if there is a first cache entry associated with the first SID locally and a second head node address comprised in the first cache entry is the same as the first head node address (i.e. A manner of detecting whether the SRH of the first packet is already stored in the cache may include: The first proxy node compares an SRH in each cache entry with the SRH of the first packet, and if the SRH in any cache entry is the same as the SRH of the first packet, determines that the SRH of the first packet is stored in the cache entry, [0196], sending the first SID and the first encapsulation information to the data plane (i.e. A corresponding acknowledgment (ACK) packet may be designed for the second packet, so that a receive end of the second packet returns the ACK packet to notify a transmit end of the second packet that the transmit end of the second packet has received the second packet, [0354], and the sixth packet is an ACK packet corresponding to the second packet, and the sixth packet indicates that it is acknowledged that the second packet is received. The sixth packet is forwarded to the first proxy node, so that an event that the second proxy node receives the second packet can be notified to the first proxy node. An encapsulation format of the sixth packet may be similar to that of the second packet, [0356]), so that the data plane updates stored second encapsulation information to the first encapsulation information (i.e. if the SRH in any cache entry is the same as the SRH of the first packet, determines that the SRH of the first packet is stored in the cache entry; or if the SRH in each cache entry is different from the SRH of the first packet, determines that the SRH of the first packet is not stored in the cache, and needs to update the cache to store the SRH of the first packet. In an embodiment, the first proxy node may compare all content of the SRH in the cache entry with all content of the SRH of the first packet, or may compare some content of the SRH in the cache entry with some content of the SRH of the first packet, [0196]).
However, Zhang does not explicitly disclose updates stored second encapsulation information associated with the first SID.
However, Retana teaches updates stored second encapsulation information associated with the first SID (i.e. router local forwarding tables are updated based on the information received. For example, forwarding table at router R4 is updated to reflect the encapsulation information 1408 specifying the source address, [0083] and IPv6 encapsulation+8 bytes SRH+(16*4) bytes IPv6 SIDs=112 bytes, [0065]).
Based on Zhang in view of Retana, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teaching of Retana to the system of Zhang in order to avoid requiring hardware changes for segment routing.
Regarding claim 2, Zhang teaches wherein the first cache entry further comprises third encapsulation information, and the third encapsulation information and the second encapsulation information comprise same content (i.e. The state machine can determine a currently executed action in real time based on the status in which the local proxy node sends a packet to the peer proxy node, to transmit the SRH to the peer proxy node in a timely manner, so as to ensure that synchronization of the cache entry is maintained between the local proxy node and the peer proxy node, and implement SRH consistency between the proxy nodes that are dual-homed to the same SF node, [0455]); before sending the first encapsulation information to the data plane, the method further comprises determining whether the third encapsulation information is the same as the first encapsulation information; if the third encapsulation information is different from the first encapsulation information, updating the third encapsulation information to the first encapsulation information (i.e. If a fifth event is detected and the state machine is in a first state, it is determined, through comparison, whether an SRH that is of the first packet and that is carried in the second packet is the same as an SRH stored in the cache, and if the SRH that is of the first packet and that is carried in the second packet is different from the stored SRH, the SRH that is of the first packet and that is carried in the second packet is stored in the cache entry, to update the cache, set an aging flag (aging flag) to 1, [0441]-[0449]).
Regarding claim 3, Zhang teaches wherein after receiving the first packet sent by the data plane of the network device, the method further comprises: if there is a first cache entry associated with the first SID locally and the second head node address comprised in the first cache entry is different from the first head node address (i.e. If the destination address of the packet does not match any SID in the local SID table, [0166] and a destination address of the packet received by the proxy node is different from the destination address of the packet previously sent by the local proxy node or the peer proxy node to the SF node, [0477]), sending a network configuration error prompt to a management platform (i.e. After detecting the fault event, the routing node may determine that the payload of the first packet cannot be temporarily forwarded by the first proxy node to the SF node. In this case, the routing node sends the first packet to the second proxy node by using a dual-homing access networking architecture, to transmit the payload of the first packet to the second proxy node, so that the payload of the first packet is forwarded by the second proxy node to the SF node, [0643] and The configuration operation may be performed by a user on the first proxy node or the second proxy node, or may be performed by a control plane on the SFC, [0206]).
Regarding claim 4, Zhang teaches the notification information further comprises first indication information (i.e. the control information may include a first flag, [0229]), a first sequence number (i.e. a sequence from a SID 0 to the SID 5, [0282]) and first life time (i.e. an aging timer, [0437]); after receiving the first packet sent by the data plane of the network device, the method further comprises: if a value of the first indication information is a first value, determining whether there is a first cache entry associated with the first SID locally (i.e. the first proxy node may identify a value of a first flag in the second packet and the value of the second flag in the second packet, and if the value of the first flag is set to 1 and the value of the second flag is set to 1, determine that the control information indicates that the second packet is received, [0361]); if there is no first cache entry associated with the first SID locally, creating a second cache entry associated with the first SID (i.e. If the cache originally does not include the first cache entry, and the first cache entry is newly added to the cache after the first packet is received, it is detected that the first cache entry is generated, [0314]), wherein the second cache entry comprises the first head node address, the first sequence number, the first life time and the first encapsulation information; sending the first SID, the first sequence number and the first encapsulation information to the data plane (i.e. [0441]-[0449]).
Regarding claim 5, Zhang teaches the first cache entry further comprises a timestamp; after determining whether there is a first cache entry associated with the first SID locally, the method further comprises: if there is a first cache entry associated with the first SID locally, updating the timestamp to current time (i.e. the first proxy node may start the aging timer, and set a corresponding aging flag (aging flag) for the first cache entry, where a value of the aging flag may be 1 or 0. In addition, the first proxy node may periodically scan the first cache entry by using the aging timer. If the first proxy node finds that the aging flag corresponding to the first cache entry is 1, the first proxy node changes the aging flag to 0, [0437]).
Regarding claim 6, Zhang teaches the first cache entry further comprises second life time; the method further comprises: if it is determined according to the timestamp of the first cache entry that the first cache entry has not been updated within the second life time, deleting the first cache entry (i.e. if the first proxy node finds that the aging flag corresponding to the first cache entry is 0, the first proxy node deletes the first cache entry, [0437]); sending the first SID to the data plane, so that the data plane deletes the encapsulation information associated with the first SID (i.e. the second proxy node deletes the first bypass SID from the SRH of the second packet, to strip encapsulation of the first bypass SID, and restore the SRH of the second packet to the SRH of the first packet, [0382] and delete a first bypass SID from a segment list of an SRH of the second packet; and decrease an SL of the SRH of the second packet by one, to obtain the SRH, [0681]).
Regarding claim 7, Zhang teaches after receiving the first packet sent by the data plane of the network device, the method further comprises: if the value of the first indication information is a second value, determining whether there is a third cache entry associated with the first SID locally (i.e. the second proxy node may store the SRH of the first packet in the second cache entry by using the flow identifier corresponding to the second packet and the endpoint dynamic proxy SID in the SRH as indexes, [0071] and the second proxy node may identify a value of a first flag in the second packet, a value of a second flag in the second packet, and a value of a third flag in the second packet, and if the value of the first flag is set to 1, the value of the second flag is set to 0, and the value of the third flag is set to 1, determine that the control information indicates to store the SRH of the first packet, [0498]), wherein the third cache entry comprises third encapsulation information and a third head node address (i.e. the control information is further used to indicate the second proxy node to store a mapping relationship between the identifier of the first cache entry and the identifier of the second cache entry, and the second cache entry is a cache entry used by the second proxy node to store the SRH of the first packet, [0524]); if there is a third cache entry associated with the first SID locally, and the third head node address is the same as the first head node address, deleting the third cache entry; sending the first SID to the data plane, so that the data plane deletes the encapsulation information associated with the first SID (i.e. the second proxy node deletes the first bypass SID from the SRH of the second packet, to strip encapsulation of the first bypass SID, and restore the SRH of the second packet to the SRH of the first packet, [0382] and delete a first bypass SID from a segment list of an SRH of the second packet; and decrease an SL of the SRH of the second packet by one, to obtain the SRH, [0681]).
Regarding claim 8, Zhang teaches wherein the notification information further comprises second indication information; the method further comprises: if a value of the second indication information is a second value, sending a second packet to a first head node indicated by the first head node address, wherein the second packet comprises a processing result of the control plane on the first encapsulation information (i.e. the sixth packet is an ACK packet corresponding to the second packet, and the sixth packet indicates that it is acknowledged that the second packet is received. The sixth packet is forwarded to the first proxy node, so that an event that the second proxy node receives the second packet can be notified to the first proxy node. An encapsulation format of the sixth packet may be similar to that of the second packet. A difference lies in that the sixth packet includes the second bypass SID corresponding to the first proxy node. For example, a destination address of the sixth packet may be the second bypass SID. The sixth packet may carry a second flag, and the second flag in the sixth packet may indicate that the sixth packet is an acknowledgment packet, [0356]).
Regarding claim 9, Zhang teaches the first packet is a specified protocol packet; or, the first packet is a Bidirectional Forwarding Detection (BFD) packet (i.e. the first proxy node sends a BFD packet, [0610]); the first packet further comprises a first Destination Option Header (DOH) that carries the notification information (i.e. the packet carries the destination option header, [0232]); or, the first packet further comprises a first Segment Routing Header (SRH) comprising a first Type-Length- Value (TLV) structure that carries the notification information (i.e. SRH of the second packet may include a type length value (TLV), and the control information may be carried in the TLV in the SRH, [0021]).
Regarding claim 10, Zhang teaches the notification information comprises a flags field, a sequence number field, a life time field, and a head node address field (i.e. the control information may include a first flag, [0229], a sequence from a SID 0 to the SID 5, [0282] and. an aging timer, [0437]); the head node address field comprises 128 bits for carrying a head node address (i.e. The bypass SID may be in a form of an IPv6 address, and the bypass SID may include 128 bits, [0214]).
However, Zhang does not explicitly disclose wherein, the flags field comprises 16 bits, wherein two bits are occupied to carry first indication information and second indication information respectively, and remaining bits are reserved fields; the sequence number field comprises 16 bits for carrying a sequence number; the life time field comprises 32 bits for carrying life time of encapsulation information.
However, Retana teaches wherein, the flags field comprises 16 bits, wherein two bits are occupied to carry first indication information and second indication information respectively, and remaining bits are reserved fields (i.e. The field of bits including the network functions should be treated as an opaque container, and the exact function encodings are defined by the control plane. Different networks may have different encodings. Even in the same network, encodings may change over time for security. Sample encodings may include the SRv6 Functions defined in Section 4 of the SRv6 specifications. Another simple way to encode the network functions is to use bit encodings where setting a bit indicates that a function corresponding to a particular bit is to be performed. For example, to use one bit for one function, if there are 64 bits available, then 64 functions can be carried at the same time. Another way is to divide these 64 bits into groups, say 4*16 bits, so for one router there can be 4 functions at a time and the function varieties are 2.sup.16, [0081]); the sequence number field comprises 16 bits for carrying a sequence number; the life time field comprises 32 bits for carrying life time of encapsulation information (i.e. explicit Routing Path Field 1200 includes 8-bits that are Unused (1202), the 48-bit path ID field 1204, and an 8-bit flag field 1206. The path ID field 1204 may have other lengths (e.g., 32 bits or 20 bits) and uniquely identifies the explicit routing path. As illustrated in FIG. 13, the flags in the flag field, [0075]). Therefore, the limitations of claim 10 are rejected in the analysis of claim 1 above, and the claim is rejected on that basis.
Regarding claim 11, Zhang teaches the first packet comprises an IPv6 header and an Segment Routing Header (SRH) (i.e. The second packet includes an IPv6 header, an extension header, an SRH, [0266]), and the first encapsulation information comprises information indicated by the IPv6 header and information indicated by the SRH (i.e. perform an End.B6.Encaps operation (an encapsulation operation in SRv6) to insert an outer IPv6 header that includes the SRH into the second packet, [0308]).
Regarding claim 12, Zhang teaches a packet processing method, which is applied to a data plane of a network device and comprises: receiving a first packet (i.e. A routing node sends a first packet to a first proxy node, [0459] and The first proxy node receives the first packet from the routing node, and the first proxy node stores an SRH of the first packet in a first cache entry, [0460]), wherein the first packet comprises a first Segment Identifier (SID), first encapsulation information, and notification information that comprises a first head node address (i.e. The first proxy node receives the first packet from the routing node, and the first proxy node stores an SRH of the first packet in a first cache entry, the destination address of the first packet may be an endpoint dynamic proxy SID (End.AD SID, where AD represents a dynamic proxy). That is, the active SID of the first packet may be the End.AD SID, [0188] and the source address in the IPv6 header of the first packet may be used to identify a device that encapsulates the SRH. For example, the source address may be an address of a traffic classifier, or the source address may be an address of a head node, [0189]); if the first SID is a locally configured proxy SID (i.e. For an operation performed by the first proxy node on the first packet, in an embodiment, the first proxy node may read the destination address of the first packet, and the first proxy node may query a local SID table based on the destination address of the first packet, to determine whether the destination address matches a SID in the local SID table. When the destination address matches the End.AD SID in the local SID table, that is, the destination address hits the End.AD SID in the local SID table, the first proxy node may determine that the first packet is an SRv6 packet, and perform a dynamic proxy operation corresponding to the End.AD SID, [0194]), sending a copied first packet to a control plane of the network device (i.e. the first proxy node generates a second packet based on the endpoint dynamic proxy SID, the first packet, and a first bypass SID corresponding to the second proxy node, [0203] and The second packet is a packet used to transmit the SRH of the first packet to a peer proxy node. In this embodiment, the second packet may be a control packet. The second packet may include the first bypass SID, control information, and the SRH of the first packet, [0204], and the control information is used to indicate the second proxy node to store the SRH of the first packet. In an embodiment, the control information may include a first flag and a second flag. The first flag is used to identify whether the packet is a copied packet. For example, the first flag may be denoted as a copy flag (Copy flag, C-flag). The second packet may include a copy flag field, and the first flag may be carried in the copy flag field. For example, a length of the first flag may be 1 bit. Optionally, in the embodiment in FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B, the second packet may be a packet obtained by encapsulating a copy of the first packet. Therefore, the first flag may be set to 1, and the first flag may identify that the second packet is the copied packet, [0229]); receiving the first SID and the first encapsulation information sent by the control plane (i.e. a corresponding acknowledgment (ACK) packet may be designed for the second packet, so that a receive end of the second packet returns the ACK packet to notify a transmit end of the second packet that the transmit end of the second packet has received the second packet, [0354], and the sixth packet is an ACK packet corresponding to the second packet, and the sixth packet indicates that it is acknowledged that the second packet is received. The sixth packet is forwarded to the first proxy node, so that an event that the second proxy node receives the second packet can be notified to the first proxy node. An encapsulation format of the sixth packet may be similar to that of the second packet, [0356]), and using the first encapsulation information to update locally stored second encapsulation information (i.e. if the SRH in any cache entry is the same as the SRH of the first packet, determines that the SRH of the first packet is stored in the cache entry; or if the SRH in each cache entry is different from the SRH of the first packet, determines that the SRH of the first packet is not stored in the cache, and needs to update the cache to store the SRH of the first packet. In an embodiment, the first proxy node may compare all content of the SRH in the cache entry with all content of the SRH of the first packet, or may compare some content of the SRH in the cache entry with some content of the SRH of the first packet, [0196]); wherein, the first SID and the first encapsulation information are sent by the control plane when determining that there is a first cache entry associated with the first SID locally and a second head node address comprised in the first cache entry is the same as the first head node address (i.e. a corresponding acknowledgment (ACK) packet may be designed for the second packet, so that a receive end of the second packet returns the ACK packet to notify a transmit end of the second packet that the transmit end of the second packet has received the second packet, [0354], and the sixth packet is an ACK packet corresponding to the second packet, and the sixth packet indicates that it is acknowledged that the second packet is received. The sixth packet is forwarded to the first proxy node, so that an event that the second proxy node receives the second packet can be notified to the first proxy node. An encapsulation format of the sixth packet may be similar to that of the second packet, [0356]).
However, Zhang does not explicitly disclose update locally stored second encapsulation information associated with the first SID
However, Retana teaches update locally stored second encapsulation information associated with the first SID (i.e. router local forwarding tables are updated based on the information received. For example, forwarding table at router R4 is updated to reflect the encapsulation information 1408 specifying the source address, [0083] and IPv6 encapsulation+8 bytes SRH+(16*4) bytes IPv6 SIDs=112 bytes, [0065]).
Based on Zhang in view of Retana, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teaching of Retana to the system of Zhang in order to avoid requiring hardware changes for segment routing.
Regarding claim 13, Zhang teaches the notification information further comprises a first sequence number (i.e. a sequence from a SID 0 to the SID 5, [0282]); sending the copied first packet to the control plane of the network device comprises: if the first sequence number is different from a second sequence number recorded locally, or the first head node address is different from a second head node address recorded locally, or if there is no encapsulation information associated with the first SID locally, sending the copied first packet to the control plane (i.e. A manner of detecting whether the SRH of the first packet is already stored in the cache may include: The first proxy node compares an SRH in each cache entry with the SRH of the first packet, and if the SRH in any cache entry is the same as the SRH of the first packet, determines that the SRH of the first packet is stored in the cache entry; or if the SRH in each cache entry is different from the SRH of the first packet, determines that the SRH of the first packet is not stored in the cache, [0196] and [0312]-[0318]).
Regarding claim 14, Zhang teaches receiving a second SID cached by the control plane and third encapsulation information associated with the second SID; caching the second SID and the third encapsulation information (i.e. the second proxy node may receive a configuration instruction, and obtain the second bypass SID from the configuration instruction, for example, store the second bypass SID in a local SID table of the second proxy node, [0122] and the second proxy node to store the SRH of the first packet, [0229]).
Regarding claim 15, Zhang teaches the first packet further comprises a first Segment Routing Header (SRH) comprising a first segment list used to indicate a forwarding path (i.e. The one or more target SIDs are used to indicate a target forwarding path, [0299] and the segment list may indicate a forwarding path, [0165]); after receiving the first packet, the method further comprises: forwarding the first packet on the forwarding path (i.e. a forwarding path of the second packet, so that the second packet can be transmitted to the peer end through the peer link, [0044]).
Regarding claim 16, Zhang teaches a packet processing method, which is applied to a first head node (i.e. a head node in SRv6 may be a traffic classifier on the SFC, [0167]) and comprises: sending a first packet on a forwarding path indicated by an Segment Routing Internet Protocol Version 6 (SRv6) policy (i.e. The source address in the IPv6 header of the first packet may be used to identify a device that encapsulates the SRH. For example, the source address may be an address of a traffic classifier, or the source address may be an address of a head node, [0189]); wherein, the first packet comprises a first Segment Identifier (SID), first encapsulation information, and notification information that comprises a first head node address (i.e. The first proxy node receives the first packet from the routing node, and the first proxy node stores an SRH of the first packet in a first cache entry, the destination address of the first packet may be an endpoint dynamic proxy SID (End.AD SID, where AD represents a dynamic proxy). That is, the active SID of the first packet may be the End.AD SID, [0188] and the source address in the IPv6 header of the first packet may be used to identify a device that encapsulates the SRH. For example, the source address may be an address of a traffic classifier, or the source address may be an address of a head node, [0189]); the notification information is used to make a data plane of the network device receiving the first packet to send a copied first packet to the control plane of the network device after determining that the first SID is a locally configured proxy SID, and receive the first encapsulation information sent by the control plane, and use the first encapsulation information to encapsulation information (i.e. The End.AD SID is used to indicate the first proxy node or the second proxy node to perform a dynamic proxy operation. The dynamic proxy operation is also referred to as an End.AD operation, and the dynamic proxy operation may specifically include operations such as stripping an SRH of a packet, caching the SRH of the packet, and sending a packet from which the SRH is stripped. The End.AD SID may be pre-configured on the first proxy node or the second proxy node, and the End.AD SID may be pre-stored in a local SID table of the first proxy node or the second proxy node. The End.AD SID may be published to a network by the first proxy node or the second proxy node. The traffic classifier may receive the published End.AD SID, and add the End.AD SID to the packet, so that after the packet that carries the End. AD SID is forwarded to the first proxy node or the second proxy node, the first proxy node or the second proxy node is triggered to perform a dynamic proxy operation on the packet, [0191]).
However, Zhang does not explicitly disclose update locally cached second encapsulation information.
However, Retana teaches update locally cached second encapsulation information (i.e. router local forwarding tables are updated based on the information received. For example, forwarding table at router R4 is updated to reflect the encapsulation information 1408 specifying the source address, [0083] and IPv6 encapsulation+8 bytes SRH+(16*4) bytes IPv6 SIDs=112 bytes, [0065]).
Based on Zhang in view of Retana, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teaching of Retana to the system of Zhang in order to avoid requiring hardware changes for segment routing.
Regarding claim 17, Zhang teaches before sending the first packet on the forwarding path indicated by the SRv6, the method further comprises: receiving a first configuration instruction (i.e. The control plane on the SFC may include one or more SFC controllers. For example, refer to FIG. 1. The SFC controller may be an SDN controller, an NFV management node 1, or an NFV management node 1. In an embodiment, before packet transmission, a client on the SFC may send information such as an attribute, a configuration, and a policy of the service function chain to the SFC controller, and the SFC controller may generate information about the service function chain based on the information sent by the client and a topology of the SFC, for example, a classification rule of a packet to enter the SFC and an identifier of each SF node corresponding to the service function chain, and send the information about the service function chain to the traffic classifier and another node on the SFC, so that the traffic classifier classifies received packets and adds SFC information based on the information sent by the SFC controller, [0161]) and a second configuration instruction (i.e. The traffic classifier may be an ingress router on the SFC. The traffic classifier is configured to classify received traffic according to a classification rule, [0157]), wherein the first configuration instruction comprises the SRv6 policy (i.e. The first proxy node may receive a configuration instruction, and obtain the End.AD SID from the configuration instruction. The first proxy node may store the End.AD SID, for example, store the End.AD SID in a local SID table of the first proxy node. Similarly, a configuration operation may be performed on the second proxy node in advance. The second proxy node may receive a configuration instruction, and obtain the End.AD SID from the configuration instruction, [0206] and the first proxy node may receive the following configuration instructions, to configure the End.AD SID as an anycast End.AD SID, and configure an anycast index corresponding to the End.AD SID, [0208] ad=nd In the foregoing configuration instructions, proxy1 represents the first proxy node; the first row of configuration instruction means that IPv6 SR needs to be configured, [0213]); starting a notification function according to the second configuration instruction (i.e. In the foregoing configuration instructions, proxy1 represents the first proxy node; the first row of configuration instruction means that IPv6 SR needs to be configured; and the second row of configuration instruction means that an outbound interface corresponding to a peer link on a service function chain is an Ethernet port 0 with a slot 2 and a subboard 0, and a next hop, [0332]); sending the first packet on the forwarding path indicated by the SRv6 policy comprises: sending the first packet on the forwarding path indicated by the SRv6 policy with the notification function (i.e. after generating the second packet, the first proxy node may select the second outbound interface corresponding to the second link, and send the second packet through the second outbound interface, so that the second packet is transmitted to the second proxy node through the second link, [0339]).
Regarding claim 18, Zhang teaches after receiving the first configuration instruction and the second configuration instruction, the method further comprises: creating a notification instance, and binding the notification instance to the SRv6 policy (i.e. the second packet may be generated in another implementation. For example, a binding SID (BSID) may be used to identify the target forwarding path. In this case, the first proxy node may insert the first bypass SID and the BSID into the segment list of the SRH of the first packet, update the destination address of the IPv6 header of the first packet to the BSID, and increase the SL of the first packet, [0308]); wherein, the notification instance comprises a head node address (i.e. the source address may be an address of a traffic classifier, [0189]), life time (i.e. an aging timer, [0437]), a packet sending time interval, whether the network device responds to a packet (i.e. response packet is received within preset duration, [0610]) and a type of a packet (i.e. a type of a field in the first packet, [0190]); determining the type of the first packet and generating the first notification information according to the notification instance (i.e. Insert operation (an insertion operation in SRv6) to insert a new SRH into the second packet, or perform an End.B6.Encaps operation (an encapsulation operation in SRv6) to insert an outer IPv6 header that includes the SRH into the second packet, [0308]); generating an Segment Routing Header (SRH) based on the SRv6 policy (i.e. a new SRH, [0034] and Insert operation (an insertion operation in SRv6) to insert a new SRH into the second packet, [0308]); generating the first packet according to the type of the first packet (i.e. , wherein the first packet comprises the SRH (i.e. the second packet may be generated in another implementation. For example, a binding SID (BSID) may be used to identify the target forwarding path. In this case, the first proxy node may insert the first bypass SID and the BSID into the segment list of the SRH of the first packet, update the destination address of the IPv6 header of the first packet to the BSID, [0308]); sending the first packet on the forwarding path indicated by the SRv6 policy comprises: sending the first packet on the forwarding path indicated by the SRv6 policy according to the packet sending time interval (i.e. The first proxy node may periodically send the second packet. Specifically, the first proxy node may set a sending period for the second packet, and generate the second packet and send the second packet each time a sending period elapses, [0321]).
Regarding claim 19, Zhang teaches the type of the first packet is a specified protocol packet or a Bidirectional Forwarding Detection (BFD) packet (i.e. the first proxy node sends a BFD packet, [0610]); when the type of the first packet is a specified protocol packet (i.e. an IPv6 packet, [0181]), the first packet comprises an IPv6 header, a Destination Option Header (DOH) and the SRH (i.e. the first packet may include an IPv6 header, an SRH, and a payload. The IPv6 header may include a source address and a destination address, the SRH may include a segment list, an SL, and one or more TLVs, and the segment list may include one or more SIDs, [0188] and the packet carries the destination option header, [0232]); when the type of the first packet is a BFD packet, the first packet comprises an IPv6 header, a DOH, the SRH and a BFD payload (i.e. the first proxy node sends a BFD packet, [0610] and (i.e. the first packet may include an IPv6 header, an SRH, and a payload. The IPv6 header may include a source address and a destination address, the SRH may include a segment list, an SL, and one or more TLVs, and the segment list may include one or more SIDs, [0188] and the packet carries the destination option header, [0232]); wherein, the DOH carries the notification information (i.e. the control information may be carried in the destination option header, [0233]); the BFD payload carries BFD information (i.e. After establishing the BFD session, the first proxy node sends a BFD packet through the third outbound interface at an interval of a preset time period, [0610]); or, when the type of the first packet is a specified protocol packet, the first packet comprises an IPv6 header and the SRH; when the type of the first packet is a BFD packet, the first packet comprises an IPv6 header, the SRH and a BFD payload; wherein, the SRH comprises a Type-Length-Value (TLV) structure that carries the notification information; the BFD payload carries BFD information.
Regarding claim 20, Zhang teaches the notification information comprises a flags field, a sequence number field, a life time field, and a head node address field (i.e. the control information may include a first flag, [0229], a sequence from a SID 0 to the SID 5, [0282] and. an aging timer, [0437]); when the first indication information takes a value of a first value, it indicates an operation of updating a cache entry (i.e. the SRH that is of the first packet and that is carried in the second packet is stored in the cache entry, to update the cache, set an aging flag to 1, and switch the state machine to a first state, [0440] and If the first proxy node finds that the aging flag corresponding to the first cache entry is 1, the first proxy node changes the aging flag to 0, [0437]), and when the first indication information takes a value of a second value, it indicates an operation of deleting a cache entry (i.e. if the first proxy node finds that the aging flag corresponding to the first cache entry is 0, the first proxy node deletes the first cache entry, [0437]); when the second indication information takes a value of the second value, it indicates that the network device shall respond to a packet (i.e. response packet is received within preset duration, [0610]), and when the second indication information takes a value of the first value, it indicates that the network device shall not respond to a packet (i.e. A transmit end may set a value of the reserved field to 0, and a receive end may ignore the reserved field, [0240]);; the head node address field comprises 128 bits for carrying a head node address (i.e. The bypass SID may be in a form of an IPv6 address, and the bypass SID may include 128 bits, [0214]).
However, Retana teaches wherein, the flags field comprises 16 bits, wherein two bits are occupied to carry first indication information and second indication information respectively, and remaining bits are reserved fields, the sequence number field comprises 16 bits, which are used to carry a sequence number and are used to indicate whether the forwarding path indicated by the SRv6 policy is changed (i.e. The field of bits including the network functions should be treated as an opaque container, and the exact function encodings are defined by the control plane. Different networks may have different encodings. Even in the same network, encodings may change over time for security. Sample encodings may include the SRv6 Functions defined in Section 4 of the SRv6 specifications. Another simple way to encode the network functions is to use bit encodings where setting a bit indicates that a function corresponding to a particular bit is to be performed. For example, to use one bit for one function, if there are 64 bits available, then 64 functions can be carried at the same time. Another way is to divide these 64 bits into groups, say 4*16 bits, so for one router there can be 4 functions at a time and the function varieties are 2.sup.16, [0081]); the life time field comprises 32 bits for carrying life time of the encapsulation information (i.e. explicit Routing Path Field 1200 includes 8-bits that are Unused (1202), the 48-bit path ID field 1204, and an 8-bit flag field 1206. The path ID field 1204 may have other lengths (e.g., 32 bits or 20 bits) and uniquely identifies the explicit routing path. As illustrated in FIG. 13, the flags in the flag field, [0075]). Therefore, the limitations of claim 20 are rejected in the analysis of claim 16 above, and the claim is rejected on that basis.
Regarding claim 21, Zhang teaches after sending the first packet on the forwarding path indicated by the SRv6, the method further comprises: receiving a second packet sent by the network device, wherein the second packet comprises a processing result of the control plane of the network device on the first encapsulation information (i.e. the sixth packet is an ACK packet corresponding to the second packet, and the sixth packet indicates that it is acknowledged that the second packet is received. The sixth packet is forwarded to the first proxy node, so that an event that the second proxy node receives the second packet can be notified to the first proxy node. An encapsulation format of the sixth packet may be similar to that of the second packet. A difference lies in that the sixth packet includes the second bypass SID corresponding to the first proxy node. For example, a destination address of the sixth packet may be the second bypass SID. The sixth packet may carry a second flag, and the second flag in the sixth packet may indicate that the sixth packet is an acknowledgment packet, [0356]).
Regarding claims 43, 54, and 58, the limitations of claims 43, 54, and 58 are similar to the limitations of claims 1, 12 and 16. Zhang further teaches a network device, comprising: a processor (i.e. The proxy node includes a processor, [0697]); a transceiver (i.e. the proxy node may further include a transceiver, [0702]); a machine-readable storage medium, which stores machine executable instructions that can be executed by the processor (i.e. the computer instructions may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or may be transmitted from a computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium, [0794]); a head node (i.e. a head node in SRv6 may be a traffic classifier, [0167]) comprising: a processor (i.e. a processor, [0697]); a transceiver (a transceiver, [0702]); a machine-readable storage medium, which stores machine executable instructions that can be executed by the processor (i.e. the computer instructions may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or may be transmitted from a computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium, [0794]). Therefore, the limitations of claims 43, 54, and 58 are rejected in the analysis of claims 1, 12 and 16 above, and the claims are rejected on that basis.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AYELE F WOLDEMARIAM whose telephone number is (571)270-5196. The examiner can normally be reached M_F 8:30AM-5:00PM.
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/AW/
AYELE F. WOLDEMARIAM
Examiner
Art Unit 2447
4/27/2026
/SURAJ M JOSHI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2447
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