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 .
Status of claims
Claims 5-15 and 20-27 are pending in this Office Action.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed in the amendment on 04/14/2026, have been fully considered but are moot in view of new grounds of rejection. The reasons set forth below.
Drawings
The formal drawings received on 07/29/2024 have been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 5-7, 10, 11, 14, 15, 20, 21-24, 26, 27 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li (WO 2015101003) in view of Woo (US 7263091).
5, 20, 21. Li teaches:
A data forwarding device comprising: – on pages 1-49 (The network device provided by the embodiment of the present invention can separate the forwarding engine from the line card, and can increase the flexibility of the configuration of the interface and the forwarding engine.)
a plurality of Ethernet MAC group (EMG) modules, – on pages 1-49 (The line card 104.)
each EMG module of the plurality of EMG modules comprising a processor and an interface to a group of one or more Ethernet ports associated with one or more MAC addresses; – on pages 1-49 (As shown in FIG. 1, the network device 100 includes multiple forwarding engines 102. The network device 100 further includes a mapper 103 and a line card 104. The line card 104 includes a physical interface, such as a Gigabit Ethernet (GE) interface.)
a plurality of packet forwarding engines (PFEs), – on pages 1-49 (As shown in FIG. 1, the network device 100 includes multiple forwarding engines 102.)
each PFE of the plurality of PFEs comprising a memory to store a forwarding table, and a processor to forward a packet received from an EMG module of the plurality of EMG modules using the forwarding table; – on pages 1-49 (The network device 100 may also include more than two forwarding engines. The network device 100 shown in FIG. 1 is exemplified by two line cards. The forwarding engine 102 sends the packet to other forwarding engines for processing. The first forwarding engine sends the second packet to a second forwarding engine, or sends the second packet to the mapper.)
a set of interconnect data links between the plurality of EMG modules and the plurality of PFEs, – on pages 1-49 (The forwarding engine and the line card of the network device 100 may be in a one-to-one relationship, or may be a one-to-one relationship, or may be a one-to-many relationship, which may be specifically according to the network device 100.)
wherein an EMG module of the plurality of EMG modules is to transmit packets to a selectable one of at least two of the plurality of PFEs; and – on pages 1-49 (The mapper 103 is configured to send the packet from the line card to the corresponding forwarding engine 102. The second forwarding engine receives the second packet, and processes the second packet to obtain a third packet.)
a controller to: receive, from a user interface, a configuration configuring an association of the plurality of EMG modules with the plurality of PFEs to define a set of active interconnect data links within the set of interconnect data links; – on pages 1-49 (The predefined policy includes: a service configuration, a bandwidth of a physical interface, a state of a forwarding engine, and a load of a forwarding engine. The main control board 105 is further configured to generate a correspondence between the forwarding engine and the physical interface according to a predefined policy. For example, the predefined policy may be based on a service configuration, a bandwidth of a physical interface, and a forwarding engine.)
apply the first and second PFE sharing configurations in which the first and second PFEs receive packets from respective EMG modules over the set of active interconnect data links. – on pages 1-49 (The predefined policy includes: a service configuration, a bandwidth of a physical interface, a state of a forwarding engine, and a load of a forwarding engine. The main control board 105 is further configured to generate a correspondence between the forwarding engine and the physical interface according to a predefined policy. For example, the predefined policy may be based on a service configuration, a bandwidth of a physical interface, and a forwarding engine.)
Li does not explicitly teach:
receive, from a user interface, a configuration; receive, from the user interface, a first PFE sharing configuration specifying that sharing of a first PFE by multiple EMG modules of the plurality of EMG modules is enabled; receive, from the user interface, a second PFE sharing configuration specifying that sharing of a second PFE by multiple EMG modules of the plurality of EMG modules is disabled.
However, Woo teaches:
receive, from a user interface, a configuration – on lines 1-67 in column 3, on lines 1-67 in column 6 (The CLI is a user interface process that allows a client 52, such as a remote system administrator or script, to configure the chassis 32, 33.)
receive, from the user interface, a first PFE sharing configuration specifying that sharing of a first PFE by multiple EMG modules of the plurality of EMG modules is enabled; – on lines 1-67 in column 3, on lines 1-67 in column 6 (Each of routing engines 12 can be coupled to one or more of packet-forwarding engines 14 in a non-exclusive manner. In other words, multiple ones of routing engines 12 can share common packet-forwarding engines 14. The CLI is a user interface process that allows a client 52, such as a remote system administrator or script, to configure the chassis 32, 33.)
receive, from the user interface, a second PFE sharing configuration specifying that sharing of a second PFE by multiple EMG modules of the plurality of EMG modules is disabled; and – on lines 1-67 in column 3, on lines 1-67 in column 6 (Each of routing engines 12 can be coupled to one or more of packet-forwarding engines 14 in a non-exclusive manner. In other words, multiple ones of routing engines 12 can be mapped exclusively to respective subsets of packet-forwarding engines 14. The CLI is a user interface process that allows a client 52, such as a remote system administrator or script, to configure the chassis 32, 33.)
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Li with Woo to include receive, from a user interface, a configuration; receive, from the user interface, a first PFE sharing configuration specifying that sharing of a first PFE by multiple EMG modules of the plurality of EMG modules is enabled; receive, from the user interface, a second PFE sharing configuration specifying that sharing of a second PFE by multiple EMG modules of the plurality of EMG modules is disabled, as taught by Woo, on lines 1-67 in columns 1-3, to provide a scalable routing system in which routing functionality is decoupled from packet forwarding functionality.
6, 23. The data forwarding device of 5, – refer to the indicated claim for reference(s).
Li teaches:
wherein the first PFE is to service plural EMG modules, and the second PFE is to service a single EMG module. – on pages 1-49 (The predefined policy includes: a service configuration, a bandwidth of a physical interface, a state of a forwarding engine, and a load of a forwarding engine. The main control board 105 is further configured to generate a correspondence between the forwarding engine and the physical interface according to a predefined policy. For example, the predefined policy may be based on a service configuration, a bandwidth of a physical interface, and a forwarding engine.)
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.). See MPEP 2144 (VI)(B).
7, 24. The data forwarding device of 5, – refer to the indicated claim for reference(s).
Li teaches:
wherein the processor of an EMG module of the plurality of EMG modules is to perform a security operation with respect to a packet. – on pages 1-49 (The mapper 103 is configured to send the packet from the line card to the corresponding forwarding engine 102. The second forwarding engine receives the second packet, and processes the second packet to obtain a third packet.)
10. The data forwarding device of 5,
Li teaches:
wherein an active interconnect data link of the set of active interconnect data links is to transfer a packet from an EMG module to a PFE. – on pages 1-49 (The mapper 103 is configured to send the packet from the line card to the corresponding forwarding engine 102. The second forwarding engine receives the second packet, and processes the second packet to obtain a third packet.)
11, 21, 26. The data forwarding device of 5, – refer to the indicated claim for reference(s).
Li teaches:
wherein the controller is to: check whether the first PFE is able to support a total bandwidth associated with plural EMG modules sharing the first PFE. – on pages 1-49 (The mapper 103 is configured to send the packet from the line card to the corresponding forwarding engine 102. The second forwarding engine receives the second packet, and processes the second packet to obtain a third packet.)
14. The data forwarding device of 5 – refer to the indicated claim for reference(s).
Li teaches:
wherein a first EMG module of the plurality of EMG modules is associated with a first set of at least one first interface module providing a first number of lanes of data, wherein a second EMG module of the plurality of EMG modules is associated with a second set of at least one second interface module providing a second number of lanes of data, and wherein the second number of lanes of data is greater than the first number of lanes of data. – on pages 1-49 (The network device 100 may also include more than two forwarding engines. The network device 100 shown in FIG. 1 is exemplified by two line cards. The forwarding engine 102 sends the packet to other forwarding engines for processing. The first forwarding engine sends the second packet to a second forwarding engine, or sends the second packet to the mapper.)
15, 22, 27. The data forwarding device of 11, – refer to the indicated claim for reference(s).
Li teaches:
wherein the controller is to: based on determining that the first PFE is unable to support the total bandwidth associated with the plural EMG modules, disable the first PFE sharing configuration. – on pages 1-49 (A network device is provided, including a plurality of forwarding engines, a mapper and a line card; the line card includes a physical interface; the mapper includes an uplink port and a downlink port; and the uplink port is the mapper connection a port of the forwarding engine; a downlink port is a port to which the mapper connects the line card;)
Claim(s) 8, 9, 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li (WO 2015101003) in view of Woo (US 7263091), and further in view of Poon (US 8509069).
8. The data forwarding device of 5, – refer to the indicated claim for reference(s).
Combination of Li and Woo does not explicitly teach:
wherein the Ethernet ports are connected to physical interface cards (PICs).
However, Poon teaches:
wherein the Ethernet ports are connected to physical interface cards (PICs). – on lines 1-67 in columns 4-19 (Interfaces 34 couple PFE 30 to other network devices in a network via network links (not shown in FIG. 3) to enable PFE 30, and thereby the router in which PFE 30 resides, to exchange network packets with the coupled network devices.)
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Li and Woo with Poon to include wherein the Ethernet ports are connected to physical interface cards (PICs), as taught by Poon, on lines 1-67 in columns 1-4, allow a packet forwarding engine (PFE) of a network device, such as a high-speed router, to dynamically determine whether to cell-share for each packet.
9. The data forwarding device of 5, – refer to the indicated claim for reference(s).
Poon teaches:
wherein the controller is part of a control plane of the data forwarding device, and the plurality of EMG modules and the plurality of PFEs are part of a data plane of the data forwarding device. – on lines 1-67 in columns 4-19 (As PFE 30 maintains a fabric queue 48 for each fabric destination, control module 46 may enable cell sharing on a per-queue basis. PFE 30 may therefore maintain separate cell-sharing state 40 for each of fabric queues 48. As one example, an administrator may program PFE 30 to set whether cell-sharing is enabled for each fabric destination.)
13. The data forwarding device of 5, – refer to the indicated claim for reference(s).
Combination of Li and Woo does not explicitly teach:
wherein the processor of a PFE of the plurality of PFEs is to provide a firewall.
However, Poon teaches:
wherein the processor of a PFE of the plurality of PFEs is to provide a firewall. – on lines 1-67 in columns 4-19 (Interfaces on IFC 21A send packet data, such as a packet header, to a lookup module of PFE 20A for processing.)
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Li and Woo with Poon to include wherein the processor of a PFE of the plurality of PFEs is to provide a firewall., on lines 1-67 in columns 1-4, allow a packet forwarding engine (PFE) of a network device, such as a high-speed router, to dynamically determine whether to cell-share for each packet.
Claim(s) 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li (WO 2015101003) in view of Woo (US 7263091), and further in view of Tripathi (US 7664938).
12. The data forwarding device of 5, – refer to the indicated claim for reference(s).
Combination of Li and Woo does not explicitly teach:
wherein the plurality of EMG modules is greater in number than the plurality of PFEs, and wherein at least two of the plurality of PFEs are provided as slices sharing on-chip memory.
However, Tripathi teaches:
wherein the plurality of EMG modules is greater in number than the plurality of PFEs, and wherein at least two of the plurality of PFEs are provided as slices sharing on-chip memory. – on lines 1-67 in columns 6-28 (Each channel is shown to maintain context information of a number of flows internally on the on-chip memory (not shown) in order to provide fast switching among the flows. It should be understood that the number of slices and the number of channels shown are arbitrary and can vary according to the desired functionality. The details of the use of contexts will be described in detail below. Lexer 208 and filter 212 are shown to share one processor 228 and 232 among the channels 226a-226c within each slice, while each of the channels 226a-226c of the parser is shown to have its own processor 230.)
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Li and Woo with Tripathi to include wherein the plurality of EMG modules is greater in number than the plurality of PFEs, and wherein at least two of the plurality of PFEs are provided as slices sharing on-chip memory, as taught by Tripathi, on lines 1-67 in columns 1-5, to provide an acceleration device which can implement middleware functions at the rate of the incoming data would increase the throughput.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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 MUHAMMAD RAZA whose telephone number is (571)272-7734. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 7:00 A.M.-5:00 P.M..
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Vivek Srivastava can be reached on (571)272-7304. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MUHAMMAD RAZA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2449
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