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 INTERPRETATION
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f): (FP 7.30.03)
(f) ELEMENT IN CLAIM FOR A COMBINATION.—An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The claims in this application are given their broadest reasonable interpretation using the plain meaning of the claim language in light of the specification as it would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim element (also commonly referred to as a claim limitation) is limited by the description in the specification when 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is invoked.
As explained in MPEP 2181, subsection I, claim limitations that meet the following three-prong test will be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
(A) the claim limitation uses the term “means” or “step” or a term used as a substitute for “means” that is a generic placeholder (also called a nonce term or a non-structural term having no specific structural meaning) for performing the claimed function;
(B) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is modified by functional language, typically, but not always linked by the transition word “for” (e.g., “means for”) or another linking word or phrase, such as "configured to" or "so that"; and
(C) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is not modified by sufficient structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function. Use of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim with functional language creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites sufficient structure, material, or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Absence of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is not to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is not interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites function without reciting sufficient structure, material or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Claim limitations in this application that use the word “means” (or “step”) are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action. Conversely, claim limitations in this application that do not use the word “means” (or “step”) are not being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action. (FP 7.30.05)
This application includes one or more claim limitations that do not use the word “means,” but are nonetheless being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because the claim limitation(s) uses a generic placeholder that is coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to perform the recited function and the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier. Such claim limitation(s) is/are: a sequence information acquisition unit that acquires sequence information of the communication packet for a communication flow; a transmission order correspondence information storage unit that stores a correspondence relationship between a transmission order of the communication packet and the sequence information of the communication packet; a delivery confirmation information acquisition unit that acquires delivery confirmation information indicating a delivery state of the communication packet; a packet loss determination unit that determines whether a packet loss has occurred; a confirmation information reconstruction unit that reconstructs the delivery confirmation information; a packet retransmission unit that retransmits the communication packet in which the packet loss has been specified; a packet generation unit that generates the communication packet and a packet reception unit that receives the communication packet from an outside device as mentioned throughout claims 1-8.
Because this/these claim limitation(s) is/are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, it/they is/are being interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof.
If applicant does not intend to have this/these limitation(s) interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, applicant may: (1) amend the claim limitation(s) to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph (e.g., by reciting sufficient structure to perform the claimed function); or (2) present a sufficient showing that the claim limitation(s) recite(s) sufficient structure to perform the claimed function so as to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. (FP 7.30.06)
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) 1-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sevindik et al. (Sevindik), U.S. Publication No. 2021/0204169 in view of Xiong et al. (Xiong), U.S. Publication No. 2018/0295555.
Regarding Claims 1, 10 and 11, Sevindik discloses a communication device for
transmitting a communication packet to a destination device via a plurality of routes and receiving a delivery confirmation packet with respect to the communication packet from the destination device, the communication device comprising:
a sequence information acquisition unit that acquires sequence information of the communication packet for a communication flow (in other words, at the Wi-Fi Access Point the MAC layer conversion operation is performed by the Wi-Fi Access Point and the 5G PDCP (e.g., 1002) is encapsulated in the Wi-Fi MAC-PDU and then sent over the Wi-Fi communication link to the user equipment device having the IMSI 2510. When the Wi-Fi interface (e.g., Wi-Fi chipset) of the user equipment with the IMSI 2510 receives the Wi-Fi packet and decodes it, it determines that the Wi-Fi MAC-PDU includes the 5G PDCP (e.g., 1002) and forwards it to the 5G interface of the user equipment device over a wire or trace. The 5G interface of the user equipment device decodes the 5G PDCP (e.g., 1002) and uses the packet ID 2502 or a sequence number in the 5G PDCP to properly sequence or order the packet with the other packets received for the packet stream to which the packet belongs therefore, the wireless base station has a sequence information acquisition unit; see paragraph [0134]);
a transmission order correspondence information storage unit that stores a correspondence relationship between a transmission order of the communication packet and the sequence information of the communication packet acquired by the sequence information acquisition unit for each route as transmission order correspondence information (in other words, when the 5G packet flag=1, Wi-Fi packet flag=1, this is a 5G over Wi-Fi packet in which the packet is sent from the wireless base station to the CPE device in the first wireless protocol format which in this case is 5G wireless protocol format and then sent over the wired connection to the Wi-Fi Access Point having the Wi-Fi AP ID 2508 therefore, the wireless base station has a transmission order correspondence information storage unit; see paragraph [0134]).
Sevindik fails to disclose a delivery confirmation information acquisition unit that acquires delivery confirmation information indicating a delivery state of the communication packet; and a packet loss determination unit that determines whether a packet loss has occurred based on the transmission order correspondence information stored in the transmission order correspondence information storage unit and the delivery confirmation information acquired by the delivery confirmation information acquisition unit.
Xiong discloses a delivery confirmation information acquisition unit that acquires delivery confirmation information indicating a delivery state of the communication packet (i.e., the receiving node adds a sequence number of the detected lost data packet to a NACK (Negative Acknowledge) control packet (NACK for short below), and sends the NACK control packet to the sending node therefore, the sending node has a delivery confirmation information acquisition unit; see paragraph [0066]); and a packet loss determination unit that determines whether a packet loss has occurred based on the transmission order correspondence information stored in the transmission order correspondence information storage unit and the delivery confirmation information acquired by the delivery confirmation information acquisition unit (i.e., the NACK includes a packet loss indication field, and the field is used to carry a rolling sequence number of a lost data packet. For example, if the receiving node determines, according to a sequence number of a data packet that is already received currently, that a data packet whose PKT.SEQ is 2 is lost, the packet loss indication field of the NACK is immediately filled with 2, and the NACK is sent to the sending node therefore, the sending node has a packet loss determination unit; see paragraph [0066]).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to consider Xiong’s invention with Sevindik’s invention to ensure reliable and efficient data transmission in a network as described throughout Xiong.
Regarding Claim 8, Sevindik discloses a communication system comprising:
a communication device that transmits a communication packet to a destination device via a plurality of routes (in other words, when the 5G packet flag=1, Wi-Fi packet flag=1, this is a 5G over Wi-Fi packet in which the packet is sent from the wireless base station to the CPE device in the first wireless protocol format which in this case is 5G wireless protocol format and then sent over the wired connection to the Wi-Fi Access Point having the Wi-Fi AP ID 2508; see paragraph [0134]); and
wherein:
the communication device includes:
a sequence information acquisition unit that acquires sequence information of the communication packet for a plurality of communication flows (in other words, at the Wi-Fi Access Point the MAC layer conversion operation is performed by the Wi-Fi Access Point and the 5G PDCP (e.g., 1002) is encapsulated in the Wi-Fi MAC-PDU and then sent over the Wi-Fi communication link to the user equipment device having the IMSI 2510. When the Wi-Fi interface (e.g., Wi-Fi chipset) of the user equipment with the IMSI 2510 receives the Wi-Fi packet and decodes it, it determines that the Wi-Fi MAC-PDU includes the 5G PDCP (e.g., 1002) and forwards it to the 5G interface of the user equipment device over a wire or trace. The 5G interface of the user equipment device decodes the 5G PDCP (e.g., 1002) and uses the packet ID 2502 or a sequence number in the 5G PDCP to properly sequence or order the packet with the other packets received for the packet stream to which the packet belongs therefore, the wireless base station has a sequence information acquisition unit; see paragraph [0134]);
a transmission order correspondence information storage unit that stores, for each route, a correspondence relationship between a transmission order of the communication packet, flow identification information that identifies the communication flows (i.e., the packet ID 2502; see figure 12), and the sequence information of the communication packet acquired by the sequence information acquisition unit as transmission order correspondence information (in other words, when the 5G packet flag=1, Wi-Fi packet flag=1, this is a 5G over Wi-Fi packet in which the packet is sent from the wireless base station to the CPE device in the first wireless protocol format which in this case is 5G wireless protocol format and then sent over the wired connection to the Wi-Fi Access Point having the Wi-Fi AP ID 2508 therefore, the wireless base station has a transmission order correspondence information storage unit; see paragraph [0134]).
Sevindik fails to disclose a destination device that transmits a delivery confirmation packet of the communication packet to the communication device, a delivery confirmation information acquisition unit that acquires delivery confirmation information indicating a delivery state of the communication packet; and a packet loss determination unit that determines whether a packet loss has occurred based on the transmission order correspondence information stored in the transmission order correspondence information storage unit and the delivery confirmation information acquired by the delivery confirmation information acquisition unit; the destination device transmits the delivery confirmation packet with thinning out data of the delivery confirmation packet during a period in which the destination device receives the communication packet having a same communication flow and consecutive sequence information.
Xiong discloses a destination device that transmits a delivery confirmation packet of the communication packet to the communication device, a delivery confirmation information acquisition unit that acquires delivery confirmation information indicating a delivery state of the communication packet (i.e., the receiving node adds a sequence number of the detected lost data packet to a NACK (Negative Acknowledge) control packet (NACK for short below), and sends the NACK control packet to the sending node therefore, the sending node has a delivery confirmation information acquisition unit; see paragraph [0066]); and a packet loss determination unit that determines whether a packet loss has occurred based on the transmission order correspondence information stored in the transmission order correspondence information storage unit and the delivery confirmation information acquired by the delivery confirmation information acquisition unit (i.e., the NACK includes a packet loss indication field, and the field is used to carry a rolling sequence number of a lost data packet. For example, if the receiving node determines, according to a sequence number of a data packet that is already received currently, that a data packet whose PKT.SEQ is 2 is lost, the packet loss indication field of the NACK is immediately filled with 2, and the NACK is sent to the sending node therefore, the sending node has a packet loss determination unit; see paragraph [0066]); the destination device transmits the delivery confirmation packet with thinning out data of the delivery confirmation packet during a period in which the destination device receives the communication packet having a same communication flow and consecutive sequence information (for example, the NACK may include a packet loss start field START and a packet loss end field END. The packet loss start field START and the packet loss end field END are respectively used to carry rolling sequence numbers of the first packet and the last packet of multiple consecutive lost packets.; see paragraph [0066]).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to consider Xiong’s invention with Sevindik’s invention to ensure reliable and efficient data transmission in a network as described throughout Xiong.
Regarding Claim 2, Sevindik and Xiong disclose the communication device as described above. Sevindik further discloses wherein: the transmission order correspondence information storage unit stores a correspondence relationship between the transmission order of the communication packet, flow identification information that identifies the communication flow, and the sequence information of the communication packet acquired by the sequence information acquisition unit for each route as the transmission order correspondence information (see paragraph [0134] and see figure 12).
Regarding Claim 3, Sevindik and Xiong disclose the communication device as described above. Sevindik further discloses wherein: the communication device functions as a relay device that transmits the communication packet received from a transmission device to the destination device (in other words, the wireless base station communicates all packets belonging to a packet stream over a single transmission path to a user equipment device (e.g., all packets of a packet stream communicated via CBSD to CPE to WI-FI Access Point to UE transmission path; see paragraph [0020] and see figure 1). Sevindik fails to disclose the communication device further comprising a confirmation information reconstruction unit that reconstructs the delivery confirmation information acquired by the delivery confirmation information acquisition unit when the packet loss determination unit determines that the packet loss has occurred, and transmits a reconstructed delivery confirmation information to the transmission device. Xiong discloses the communication device further comprising a confirmation information reconstruction unit that reconstructs the delivery confirmation information acquired by the delivery confirmation information acquisition unit when the packet loss determination unit determines that the packet loss has occurred, and transmits a reconstructed delivery confirmation information to the transmission device (see paragraphs [0066] and [0073]). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to consider Xiong’s invention with Sevindik’s invention to ensure reliable and efficient data transmission in a network as described throughout Xiong.
Regarding Claim 4, Sevindik and Xiong disclose the communication device as described above. Sevindik further discloses wherein: the communication device functions as a relay device that transmits the communication packet received from a transmission device to the destination device (in other words, the wireless base station communicates all packets belonging to a packet stream over a single transmission path to a user equipment device (e.g., all packets of a packet stream communicated via CBSD to CPE to WI-FI Access Point to UE transmission path; see paragraph [0020] and see figure 1). Sevindik fails to disclose the communication device further comprising a packet retransmission unit that retransmits the communication packet in which the packet loss has been specified to the destination device when the packet loss determination unit determines that the packet loss has occurred. Xiong discloses the communication device further comprising a packet retransmission unit that retransmits the communication packet in which the packet loss has been specified to the destination device when the packet loss determination unit determines that the packet loss has occurred (see paragraphs [0066] and [0073]). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to consider Xiong’s invention with Sevindik’s invention to ensure reliable and efficient data transmission in a network as described throughout Xiong.
Regarding Claim 5, Sevindik and Xiong disclose the communication device as
described above. Sevindik further discloses further comprising: a packet generation unit that generates the communication packet, wherein: the sequence information acquisition unit acquires the sequence information of the communication packet generated by the packet generation unit (see paragraph [0134]).
Regarding Claim 6, Sevindik and Xiong disclose the communication device as
described above. Sevindik further discloses further comprising: a packet reception unit that receives the communication packet from an outside device, wherein: the sequence information acquisition unit acquires the sequence information of the communication packet received by the packet reception unit from the outside device (see figure 1 and paragraph [0134]).
Regarding Claim 7, Sevindik and Xiong disclose the communication device as described above. Sevindik further discloses further comprising: at least one of (i) a circuit (i.e., an assembly of hardware components 408, e.g., an assembly of circuits; see figure 4) and (ii) a processor (i.e., a processor 406; see figure 4) having a memory (i.e., memory 412; see figure 4) storing computer program code, wherein: the at least one of the circuit and the processor having the memory is configured to cause the communication device to provide at least one of: the sequence information acquisition unit; the transmission order correspondence information storage unit (see paragraph [0134]). Sevindik fails to disclose the delivery confirmation information acquisition unit; and the packet loss determination unit. Xiong discloses the delivery confirmation information acquisition unit; and the packet loss determination unit (see figures 2-3 and paragraph [0066]). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to consider Xiong’s invention with Sevindik’s invention to ensure reliable and efficient data transmission in a network as described throughout Xiong.
Regarding Claim 9, Sevindik and Xiong disclose the communication device as
described above. Sevindik further discloses further comprising: at least one of (i) a circuit (i.e., an assembly of hardware components 408, e.g., an assembly of circuits; see figure 4) and (ii) a processor having a memory storing computer program code, wherein: the at least one of the circuit and the processor having the memory is configured to cause the communication system to provide at least one of: the communication device (i.e., wireless base station 400; see figure 4); and the destination device.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SHANTELL LAKETA HEIBER whose telephone number is (571)272-0886. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F from 9am to 5pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Anthony Addy, can be reached at telephone number 571-272-7795. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/SHANTELL L HEIBER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2645
June 19, 2026
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