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 Objections
Claim 8 is objected to because it is a dependent claim but says “comprising” instead of “further comprising”. Appropriate correction is required.
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(s) 1-5, 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by ‘663 (JP 2005/091663A).
Regarding Claim 1, ‘663 teaches A light pulse generation device comprising: a light intensity modulator that outputs light pulses (FIG. 1: 12); [0024]) in which a signal intensity of a photocarrier output by a light source is modulated (FIG. 1: 14); [0024]) in accordance with a magnitude of a drive signal with an operation bias point as the center ([0063]); a measurement unit that measures an inter-pulse phase component that is an amplitude between the light pulses (FIG. 1, 18 [0025]); a bias control unit that controls the operation bias point on the basis of a magnitude of the inter-pulse phase component (FIG. 1: 20); [0026]); and a drive signal control unit that controls the magnitude of the drive signal on the basis of the magnitude of the inter-pulse phase component (FIG. 1: 21); [0025]).
Regarding Claim 2, ‘663 teaches The light pulse generation device according to claim 1, wherein the drive signal control unit controls the drive signal such that an amplitude of the drive signal is twice an amplitude between a maximum value and a minimum value of a transmission characteristic of the light intensity modulator. ([0039]; FIG. 4).
Regarding Claim 3, ‘663 teaches The light pulse generation device according to claim 1, wherein the bias control unit performs control to set the operation bias point to the maximum value of the transmission characteristic of the light intensity modulator. ([0055-0056]).
Regarding Claim 4, ‘663 teaches The light pulse generation device according to claim 1, wherein the measurement unit includes a phase separation unit that extracts the inter-pulse phase component, and a light intensity measurement unit that measures an intensity of an optical signal output by the phase separation unit. (FIG. 1, 18 [0025])
Regarding Claim 5, ‘663 teaches The light pulse generation device according to claim 4, wherein the phase separation unit includes a Mach-Zehnder interferometer to which the light pulse is input. ([0005])
Regarding Claim 7, ‘663 teaches A light pulse generation method comprising: a light intensity modulation step of outputting light pulses (FIG. 1: 12); [0024]) in which a signal intensity of a photocarrier output by a light source is modulated (FIG. 1: 14); [0024]) in accordance with a magnitude of a drive signal with an operation bias point as the center ([0063]); a measurement step of measuring an inter-pulse phase component that is an amplitude between the light pulses (FIG. 1, 18 [0025]); a bias control step of controlling the operation bias point on the basis of a magnitude of the inter-pulse phase component (FIG. 1: 20); and a drive signal control step of controlling the magnitude of the drive signal on the basis of the magnitude of the inter-pulse phase component. (FIG. 1: 21); [0025])
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) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ‘663 (JP 2005/091663A) in light of ‘746 (JP 2001/027746A).
Regarding Claim 6, ‘663 teaches The light pulse generation device according to claim 5, wherein the Mach-Zehnder interferometer includes a first Mach-Zehnder interferometer that delays a time of one cycle of a frequency of the light pulse, and a second Mach-Zehnder interferometer that is connected to an output of the first Mach- Zehnder interferometer ([0005]; FIG. 7)
‘663 does not teach and delays a time of a cycle of 1/2 of the frequency.
‘746 teaches and delays a time of a cycle of 1/2 of the frequency. ([0026])
‘663 and ‘746 both teach apparatuses that modulate optical signals and are therefore analogous art.
Before the filing date of the instant application, it would have obvious for a person of ordinary skill in the art to apply the delaying technique taught in ‘746 to the Mach- Zehnder interferometers already included in the apparatus taught in ‘663. The suggestion/motivation would have been to synchronize output signals from both modulators such that the combined signal includes limited noise.
Claim(s) 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ‘663 (JP 2005/091663A) in light of ‘428 (WO 2018/143428).
Regarding Claim 8, ‘663 teaches The light pulse generation method according to claim 7,
‘663 does not teach comprising: a test signal transmission step of transmitting, to a receiver, a test signal indicating that either the drive signal control step or the bias control step is being performed; and a test signal notification step of notifying the receiver of a start position of the test signal.
‘428 teaches comprising: a test signal transmission step of transmitting, to a receiver, a test signal indicating that either the drive signal control step or the bias control step is being performed; ([0022]) and a test signal notification step of notifying the receiver of a start position of the test signal. ([0036])
‘428 and ‘663 both relate to transmitting modulated optical signals and are therefore analogous art.
Before the filing date of the instant application, it would have obvious for a person of ordinary skill in the art to further include transmitting test signals as taught in ‘428 to the method taught by ‘663. The suggestion/motivation would have been to enable to receiver to prepare to receive the modulated signal being transmitted.
Conclusion
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/PAUL MORGAN BROCK/Examiner, Art Unit 2634 March 13, 2026
/KENNETH N VANDERPUYE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2634