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 .
Response to Amendment
Claims 1, 16 and 20 are amended.
Response to Arguments
On page 7 of Remarks filed September 2, 2026, Applicant asserts Shen fails to generate the local path data at remote devices. Examiner finds applicant’s argument persuasive and withdraws previous rejections.
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.
Claims 1-7 and 16-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shen et al. U.S. Patent Application publication 2022/0255836 in view of Kaliyamoorthy et al. U.S. Patent Application publication 2021/0218663.
Claim 1,
Shen discloses
A device, comprising:
a processor; and a memory communicatively coupled to the processor, wherein the memory (para 0232-0234) comprises a topology discovery logic (para 0236) that is configured to:
detect a plurality of adjacent devices (Fig. 3, para 0063-root node performs links discovery to detect child nodes, also see para 0092- The root node device discovers that links corresponding to a plurality of downlink ports of the root node device are connected, and sequentially performs link discovery based on a port sequence number);
retrieve remote path data associated with a plurality of remote devices (para 0136- The root node device discovers a link Root device.1<->AGG1.1<->ACC1.1 based on the identifier of the port ACC 1.1 and a discovered link Root device.1<->AGG1.1.
Also see para 0130-0135)
wherein the remote path data comprises at least local path data generated by the plurality of remote devices(fig. 6A- S304- acknowledgement message is generated by AGG1); and
identify, based on the remote path data, at least one of the plurality of remote devices connected to at least one of the plurality of adjacent devices (para 0136, fig.9- discloses the root device has discover a plurality of paths in the topology. AGG1 and AGG2 are mapped to the adjacent devices, ACC1 and ACC2 are mapped to the remote devices).
Although Shen discloses substantial limitations of the claimed invention, it fails to disclose
The local path data indicative of adjacent peer topologies of the plurality of remote devices
In an analogous art, Kaliyamoorthy discloses
the local path data indicative of adjacent peer topologies of the plurality of remote devices. (para 0030-0031- iBGP communication are used to discover any other iBGP peer device and its adjacent/directly connected neighbor devices).
One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention would find it obvious to combine the topology information from the iBGP message of Kaliyamoorthy with the Shen network to produce the predictable result of sharing topology information with adjacent nodes.
Claim 2,
The device of claim 1, wherein the topology discovery logic is further configured to determine at least one adjacent device identifier associated with the at least one of the plurality of adjacent devices. (Shen para 0066- The link discovery acknowledge message includes an identifier of the child node device and an identifier of the second port. Kaliyamoorthy fig.6, item 602.)
One of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention would have found it obvious to combine the port information of Shen with the collection of topology information of Kaliyamoorthy to produce the predictable result of collecting sub-topologies and attributes from neighboring devices to determine an entire topology. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to combine Shen and Kaliyamoorthy to acquire a topology with port information to enable a network manager to determine network configurations.
Claim 3
The device of claim 2, wherein the topology discovery logic is further configured to identify a first set of adjacent device ports of the at least one of the plurality of adjacent devices connected to a set of system ports. (Shen para 0068- The root node device receives the link discovery acknowledge message through the connected link, parses a type of the message, and identifies that the message is a link discovery acknowledge message. The root node device parses out the identifier of the child node device and the identifier of the second port and determines the first link. The first link is the link between the first port and the second port.)
Same motivation as claim 3.
Claim 4,
The device of claim 3, wherein the topology discovery logic is further configured to determine a set of system port identifiers associated with the set of system ports. (Shen para 0099- The root node device discovers a link: Root device.1<->AGG1.1 based on an identifier of the port 1 of the AGG 1 and an identifier of the port 1 of the root node device. )
Claim 5,
The device of claim 4, wherein the topology discovery logic is further configured to determine a first set of adjacent device port identifiers associated with the first set of adjacent device ports. (Shen para 0099- After receiving the link discovery message, the AGG 1 parses a message type field. If the message is a link discovery message, the AGG 1 constructs the link discovery acknowledge message. The message carries a device identifier of the AGG 1 and an identifier of a receiving port AGG 1.1. The AGG 1 sends the link discovery acknowledge message through the AGG 1.1.)
Claim 6,
The device of claim 5, wherein the topology discovery logic is further configured to generate local path data indicative of at least one of: the at least one adjacent device identifier; the set of system port identifiers; or the first set of adjacent device port identifiers. (Shen para 0099- The root node device discovers a link: Root device.1<->AGG1.1 based on an identifier of the port 1 of the AGG 1 and an identifier of the port 1 of the root node device. Kaliyamoorthy fig.6, item 604)
Claim 7,
The device of claim 6, wherein the topology discovery logic is further configured to retrieve, from the remote path data, at least one remote device identifier associated with the at least one of the plurality of remote devices. (Shen para 0137- After receiving the link discovery acknowledge message, the root node device parses a type of the message, identifies that the message is a link discovery acknowledge message, and parses out the identifier of the ACC 1 and the identifier of the port ACC 1.1 that are carried in the link discovery acknowledge message. Based on the discovered topology (Root device.1<->AGG1.1), the link: Root device.1<->AGG1.1<->ACC1.1 is discovered. Kaliyamoorthy fig.6, item 604)
Claim 16,
Shen discloses
A device, comprising:
a processor; and a memory communicatively coupled to the processor, wherein the memory (Shen para 0232-0234) comprises a topology discovery logic (para 0236) that is configured to:
detect an adjacent device connected to a system port (Shen Fig. 3, para 0063-root node performs links discovery to detect child nodes, also see para 0092- The root node device discovers that links corresponding to a plurality of downlink ports of the root node device are connected, and sequentially performs link discovery based on a port sequence number);
generate local path data associated with the adjacent device (Shen para 0099- The root node device discovers a link: Root device.1<->AGG1.1 based on an identifier of the port 1 of the AGG 1 and an identifier of the port 1 of the root node device.);
retrieve remote path data associated with a plurality of remote devices (para 0137- After receiving the link discovery acknowledge message, the root node device parses a type of the message, identifies that the message is a link discovery acknowledge message, and parses out the identifier of the ACC 1 and the identifier of the port ACC 1.1 that are carried in the link discovery acknowledge message. Based on the discovered topology (Root device.1<->AGG1.1), the link: Root device.1<->AGG1.1<->ACC1.1 is discovered.)
wherein the remote path data comprises at least local path data generated by the plurality of remote devices(fig. 6A- S304- acknowledgement message is generated by AGG1);
determine, based on the remote path data, at least one of the plurality of remote devices connected to the adjacent device (para 0137); and
generate, based on the local path data and the remote path data, a plurality of network paths connecting to the at least one of the plurality of remote devices (para 0137- After receiving the link discovery acknowledge message, the root node device parses a type of the message, identifies that the message is a link discovery acknowledge message, and parses out the identifier of the ACC 1 and the identifier of the port ACC 1.1 that are carried in the link discovery acknowledge message. Based on the discovered topology (Root device.1<->AGG1.1), the link: Root device.1<->AGG1.1<->ACC1.1 is discovered. The method discloses capture the topology information for each of the child devices of the root node)
Although Shen discloses substantial limitations of the claimed invention, it fails to disclose
The local path data indicative of adjacent peer topologies of the plurality of remote devices
In an analogous art, Kaliyamoorthy discloses
The local path data indicative of adjacent peer topologies of the plurality of remote devices. (para 0030-0031- iBGP communication are used to discover any other iBGP peer device and its adjacent/directly connected neighbor devices).
One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention would find it obvious to combine the topology information of Kaliyamoorthy with the Shen network to produce the predictable result of sharing topology information with adjacent nodes.
Claim 17,
The device of claim 16, wherein the local path data comprises at least one of:
an adjacent device identifier associated with the adjacent device,
a system port identifier associated with the system port, or
an adjacent device port identifier associated with an adjacent device port of the adjacent device connected to the system port. (Shen para 0099- The root node device discovers a link: Root device.1<->AGG1.1 based on an identifier of the port 1 of the AGG 1 and an identifier of the port 1 of the root node device. Kaliyamoorthy fig.6, item 602)
One of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention would have found it obvious to combine the port information of Shen with the collection of topology information of Kaliyamoorthy to produce the predictable result of collecting sub-topologies and attributes from neighboring devices to determine an entire topology. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to combine Shen and Kaliyamoorthy to acquire a topology with port information to enable a network manager to determine network configurations.
Claim 18,
The device of claim 17, wherein the topology discovery logic is further configured to retrieve, from the remote path data, at least one remote device identifier associated with the at least one of the plurality of remote devices. (Shen para 0137- After receiving the link discovery acknowledge message, the root node device parses a type of the message, identifies that the message is a link discovery acknowledge message, and parses out the identifier of the ACC 1 and the identifier of the port ACC 1.1 that are carried in the link discovery acknowledge message. Based on the discovered topology (Root device.1<->AGG1.1), the link: Root device.1<->AGG1.1<->ACC1.1 is discovered. Kaliyamoorthy fig.6, item 604)
Claim 19,
The device of claim 18, wherein the topology discovery logic is further configured to:
identify a set of adjacent device ports of the adjacent device connected to the at least one of the plurality of remote devices; and determine a set of adjacent device port identifiers associated with the set of adjacent device ports (Shen para 0086- After receiving the device discovery message, the child node device parses a type of the message, identifies that the type of the message is a device discovery message type, and constructs the device discovery acknowledge message. The device acknowledgement message carries the identifier of the child node device, and device information such as the identifiers, statuses (up/down), and capabilities (for example, link bandwidths) of all ports of the child node device. The child node device sends the device discovery acknowledge message to the root node device through the second port. Para 0132-0136- discloses a method to discover devices at the end of a port selected by a root node. Upon reception of a discovery confirmation, the root node has determined the egress port of the aggregation switch [mapped to adjacent node] and the ingress node of the access switch mapped to remote node]).
Claim 20,
Shen discloses
A method, comprising:
detecting one or more adjacent devices Fig. 3, para 0063-root node performs links discovery to detect child nodes, also see para 0092- The root node device discovers that links corresponding to a plurality of downlink ports of the root node device are connected, and sequentially performs link discovery based on a port sequence number);
retrieve remote path data associated with a plurality of remote devices (para 0136- The root node device discovers a link Root device.1<->AGG1.1<->ACC1.1 based on the identifier of the port ACC 1.1 and a discovered link Root device.1<->AGG1.1.
Also see para 0130-0135)
wherein the remote path data comprises at least local path data generated by the plurality of remote devices (fig. 6A- S304- acknowledgement message is generated by AGG1)
determining at least one remote device connected to the one or more adjacent devices (para 0136-AGG1.1 is remote device).;
and generating a plurality of network paths connecting to the at least one remote device (para 0136- generates a network path).
In re Harza, 274 F.2d 669, 124 USPQ 378 (CCPA 1960) (Claims at issue were directed to a water-tight masonry structure wherein a water seal of flexible material fills the joints which form between adjacent pours of concrete. The claimed water seal has a "web" which lies in the joint, and a plurality of "ribs" projecting outwardly from each side of the web into one of the adjacent concrete slabs. The prior art disclosed a flexible water stop for preventing passage of water between masses of concrete in the shape of a plus sign (+). Although the reference did not disclose a plurality of ribs, the court held that mere duplication of parts has no patentable significance unless a new and unexpected result is produced.)
In the present application the duplication of the step to generate a network path to a remote device is not new and does not produce an unexpected result. Thus, there is no patentable significance.
Although Shen discloses substantial limitations of the claimed invention, it fails to disclose
The local path data indicative of adjacent peer topologies of the plurality of remote devices
In an analogous art, Kaliyamoorthy discloses
The local path data indicative of adjacent peer topologies of the plurality of remote devices. (para 0030-0031- iBGP communication are used to discover any other iBGP peer device and its adjacent/directly connected neighbor devices).
One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention would find it obvious to combine the topology information of Kaliyamoorthy with the Shen network to produce the predictable result of sharing topology information with adjacent nodes.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8-15 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Related Prior art:
Goetje et al. U.S. Patent Application publication 2015/0304164- discloses method to query neighbors for topology information to form information for entire network.
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/SCHQUITA D GOODWIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2459
/JMC/Examiner, Art Unit 2459
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