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 .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the “frequency generator” and “multiplier” must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1-3, 5-7, and 9-12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yuki (US8693890B2) in view of Sobu et al. (US20220019120A1).
Regarding claim 1, Yuki discloses A delay control circuit (Fig. 11) comprising:
a delay circuit (Fig. 11; the delay control unit 15) configured to delay (Fig. 11; Column 12, lines 53-64; Based on the monitor result from the second signal light monitor 14, the delay control unit 15 controls the modulation timings in the second phase modulating unit 4B-1 and the second intensity modulating unit 4B-2 constructing the second modulating unit 4A by the delay amount varying units 16B-1 and 16B-2, respectively), by a predetermined delay (Fig. 11; Fig. 5; Fig. 6; Column 7, lines 3-9; The delay amount varying unit 8b depicted in FIGS. 5 and 6 varies the timing of supplying a data signal (DATA2) for light modulation to the second modulating unit 4B, thereby giving a predetermined delay time difference to the modulation timings in the first and second modulating units 4A and 4B), a signal input to one or both of two waveguides of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer of an optical modulator (Fig. 11; Column 11, lines 16-24; the modulator of Mach-Zehnder interferometer structure is shown. A second phase modulating unit 4B-1 in the second modulating unit 4B performs phase modulation such as DQPSK modulation based on a data signal (drive signal #2-1) independent of the first phase modulating unit 4A-1. A second intensity modulating unit 4B-2 performs RZ intensity modulation using a drive signal #2-2 (clock signal) on phase modulated light from the second phase modulating unit 4B-1, thereby obtaining an RZ light signal which enters a quenched state at an inter-symbol timing);
a power monitor (Fig. 11; the power monitor unit 14c) configured to monitor a power of a baud rate frequency component including a frequency having a value that is equal to a baud rate or an integer multiple of the baud rate, or a power of a beat frequency component of the baud rate frequency component, from output light of the optical modulator (Fig. 11; Column 11, line 60-Column 12, line 7; The first signal light monitor 12 monitors the signal light modulated by the first modulating unit 4A, that is, signal light prior to combining operation in the optical combining unit 5. Concretely, the power of a frequency component derived from the baud rate (for example, a frequency component corresponding to the baud rate) or the power of a low-frequency component of a frequency lower than the frequency corresponding to the baud rate is monitored. For example, in the case of performing RZ-DQPSK modulation of 20 Gb/s in the first modulating unit 4A as depicted in FIG. 12, the power of a frequency component B1 of 10 GHz corresponding to the baud rate, or the power of a low-frequency component C is monitored. The description applies to the second signal light monitor 14 (reference numerals 14a to 14c).); and
a control circuit (Fig. 11; the delay amount varying unit 16B-1) configured to control a delay amount of the delay circuit so as to maximize a monitored power of the baud rate frequency component or the beat frequency component (Fig. 11; Column 14, lines 8-13; in the case of monitoring the power of the frequency component corresponding to the baud rate in the first and second signal light monitors 12 and 14, the delay control unit 15 controls the modulation timings so that the monitor power in each of the power monitor units 12c and 14c becomes the maximum power).
However, the present system does not expressly disclose a plurality of electrode segments provided in series along one or both of two waveguide.
Sobu et al. discloses a plurality of electrode segments provided in series along one or both of two waveguide (Fig. 4; Para. 47; Segments S1-S4 are provided for each of the arm waveguides. Each of the segments S1-S4 corresponds to an electrode to which an electric signal is applied).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Yuki to utilize a multi-segment electrode Mach-Zehnder modulator, as taught by Sobu et al., in order to realize independently controllable sections of Mach-Zehnder modulator to enables high-speed multi-level modulation.
Regarding claim 2, the present combination discloses The delay control circuit as claimed in claim 1, as described and applied above, further comprising:
a baud rate frequency filter (Yuki, Fig. 11; the band-limitation unit 147b) configured to extract the baud rate frequency component from an electrical output of a photodetector that detects a portion of the output light of the optical modulator (Yuki, Fig. 11; Column 12, lines 13-21 and lines 42-45; The band-limitation unit 12b performs band limiting process for passing frequency components to be monitored on the electric signal from the photoelectric converting unit 12a, and outputs the process signal to the power monitor unit 12c. In the case where the first signal light monitor 12 monitors the frequency component (B1 in FIG. 12) corresponding to the baud rate, as the band-limitation unit 12b, a band-pass filter which passes the frequency component is used), wherein the power monitor monitors a power of the baud rate frequency component passed through the baud rate frequency filter (Yuki, Fig. 11; Column 12, lines 13-21; The band-limitation unit 12b performs band limiting process for passing frequency components to be monitored on the electric signal from the photoelectric converting unit 12a, and outputs the process signal to the power monitor unit 12c. The power monitor unit 12c monitors the power of the frequency component to be measured in the signal from the band-limitation unit 12b, and outputs the monitor result to the delay control unit 15).
Regarding claim 3, the present combination discloses The delay control circuit as claimed in claim 1, as described and applied above, wherein:
the delay control circuit receives, as an input, a detection result of an optical frequency component (Yuki, Fig. 11; Column 12, lines 13-21; The band-limitation unit 12b performs band limiting process for passing frequency components to be monitored on the electric signal from the photoelectric converting unit 12a, and outputs the process signal to the power monitor unit 12c. The power monitor unit 12c monitors the power of the frequency component to be measured in the signal from the band-limitation unit 12b, and outputs the monitor result to the delay control unit 15) that is spaced apart from a center frequency of a carrier wave included in an optical spectrum of the output light of the optical modulator by the baud rate frequency component (Yuki, Fig. 2; the baud rate component is at 11 GHz away from the center frequency of an optical signal as shown), and the power monitor monitors a power of an electrical signal representing the detection result (Yuki, Fig. 11; Column 12, lines 13-21; The band-limitation unit 12b performs band limiting process for passing frequency components to be monitored on the electric signal from the photoelectric converting unit 12a, and outputs the process signal to the power monitor unit 12c. The power monitor unit 12c monitors the power of the frequency component to be measured in the signal from the band-limitation unit 12b, and outputs the monitor result to the delay control unit 15).
Regarding claim 5, Yuki discloses An optical transmitter (Fig. 11) comprising:
a delay control circuit (Fig. 11; the delay control unit 15) configured to control a delay amount of the signal input to the optical modulator (Fig. 11; Column 12, lines 53-64; Based on the monitor result from the second signal light monitor 14, the delay control unit 15 controls the modulation timings in the second phase modulating unit 4B-1 and the second intensity modulating unit 4B-2 constructing the second modulating unit 4A by the delay amount varying units 16B-1 and 16B-2, respectively); and
a photodetector (Fig. 11; Column 5, lines 23-24; the photoelectric converting unit. A photodiode (PD) can be used as an example of the photoelectric converting unit 7a) configured to detect a portion of output light of the optical modulator and output a detection result to the delay control circuit (Yuki, Fig. 11; Column 12, lines 13-21; The optical branching units 11 and 13 direct a portion of optical light as shown. The band-limitation unit 12b performs band limiting process for passing frequency components to be monitored on the electric signal from the photoelectric converting unit 12a, and outputs the process signal to the power monitor unit 12c. The power monitor unit 12c monitors the power of the frequency component to be measured in the signal from the band-limitation unit 12b, and outputs the monitor result to the delay control unit 15), wherein the delay control circuit controls the delay amount of the signal so as to maximize a power of a baud rate frequency component including a frequency having a value equal to a baud rate or an integer multiple of the baud rate or a power of a beat frequency component of the baud rate frequency component, included in a detection result of the photodetector (Fig. 11; Column 14, lines 8-13; in the case of monitoring the power of the frequency component corresponding to the baud rate in the first and second signal light monitors 12 and 14, the delay control unit 15 controls the modulation timings so that the monitor power in each of the power monitor units 12c and 14c becomes the maximum power).
However, the present system does not expressly disclose a digital signal processor; an optical modulator driven by signal bits output from the digital signal processor.
Sobu et al. discloses a digital signal processor (Fig. 4; the DSP 10 is shown); an optical modulator driven by signal bits output from the digital signal processor (Fig. 4; Para. 47; Para. 48; A DSP 10 generates transmission data. In this example, each symbol carries four bits of data. Thus, the DSP 10 generates transmission data b0-b3 for each symbol. A signal b0 indicating bit b0 is applied to the input ends of the segments S1. Similarly, a signal b1 is applied to the input ends of the segments S2, a signal b2 is applied to the input ends of the segments S3, and a signal b3 is applied to the input ends of the segments S4).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Yuki to utilize a multi-segment electrode Mach-Zehnder modulator, as taught by Sobu et al., in order to realize independently controllable sections of Mach-Zehnder modulator to enables high-speed multi-level modulation.
Regarding claim 6, the present combination discloses The optical transmitter as claimed in claim 5, as described and applied above, wherein the delay control circuit includes:
a baud rate frequency filter (Yuki, Fig. 11; the band-limitation unit 147b) configured to extract the baud rate frequency component from the detection result of the photodetector (Yuki, Fig. 11; Column 12, lines 13-21 and lines 42-45; The band-limitation unit 12b performs band limiting process for passing frequency components to be monitored on the electric signal from the photoelectric converting unit 12a, and outputs the process signal to the power monitor unit 12c. In the case where the first signal light monitor 12 monitors the frequency component (B1 in FIG. 12) corresponding to the baud rate, as the band-limitation unit 12b, a band-pass filter which passes the frequency component is used), and a power monitor configured to monitor a power of the baud rate frequency component passed through the baud rate frequency filter (Yuki, Fig. 11; Column 12, lines 13-21; The band-limitation unit 12b performs band limiting process for passing frequency components to be monitored on the electric signal from the photoelectric converting unit 12a, and outputs the process signal to the power monitor unit 12c. The power monitor unit 12c monitors the power of the frequency component to be measured in the signal from the band-limitation unit 12b, and outputs the monitor result to the delay control unit 15).
Regarding claim 7, the present combination discloses The optical transmitter as claimed in claim 5, as described and applied above, further comprising: an optical filter (Yuki, Fig. 11; the optical branching unit 13 (The optical branching unit 13 separates a portion of the light and redirects it to the photoelectric converting unit 14a. Accordingly, in a broad sense, optical branching unit 13 functions as an optical filter because it selectively directs a portion of the optical signal to a designated optical path)) configured to extract an optical frequency component spaced apart from a center frequency of a carrier wave by the baud rate frequency component from the output light of the optical modulator (Yuki, Fig. 2; the baud rate component is at 11 GHz away from the center frequency of an optical signal as shown), wherein the photodetector detects the optical frequency component transmitted through the optical filter (Yuki, Fig. 11; Column 11, lines 48-52; The optical branching unit 13 branches a light signal of one of the systems modulated by the second modulating unit 4B and guides one of the branched light signals to the optical combining unit 5 and the other light signal to the second signal light monitor 14 with photoelectric converting unit 14a), and the delay control circuit controls the delay amount of the signal bits so as to maximize the power of the baud rate frequency component included in the detection result of the photodetector (Yuki, Fig. 11; Column 14, lines 8-13; in the case of monitoring the power of the frequency component corresponding to the baud rate in the first and second signal light monitors 12 and 14, the delay control unit 15 controls the modulation timings so that the monitor power in each of the power monitor units 12c and 14c becomes the maximum power).
Regarding claim 9, the present combination discloses The optical transmitter as claimed in claim 5, as described and applied above, wherein:
the optical modulator includes a plurality of electrode segments provided in series along one or both of two waveguides forming a Mach-Zehnder interferometer (Sobu et al., Fig. 4; Para. 47; Segments S1-S4 are provided for each of the arm waveguides. Each of the segments S1-S4 corresponds to an electrode to which an electric signal is applied), and the delay control circuit controls the delay amount of each of the signal bits output from the digital signal processor (Yuki, Fig. 11; Column 12, lines 53-64; Based on the monitor result from the second signal light monitor 14, the delay control unit 15 controls the modulation timings in the second phase modulating unit 4B-1 and the second intensity modulating unit 4B-2 constructing the second modulating unit 4A by the delay amount varying units 16B-1 and 16B-2, respectively).
Regarding claim 10, the present combination necessarily teach a device that performs this method claim in light of the rejection of Claim 1.
Regarding claim 11, the present combination necessarily teach a device that performs this method claim in light of the rejection of Claim 2.
Regarding claim 12, the present combination discloses The delay control method as claimed in claim 10, as described and applied above, further comprising:
extracting, by an optical filter (Yuki, Fig. 11; the optical branching unit 13 (The optical branching unit 13 separates a portion of the light and redirects it to the photoelectric converting unit 14a. Accordingly, in a broad sense, optical branching unit 13 functions as an optical filter because it selectively directs a portion of the optical signal to a designated optical path)), an optical frequency component that is spaced apart from a center frequency of a carrier wave included in an optical spectrum of the output light of the optical modulator by the baud rate frequency component (Yuki, Fig. 2; the baud rate component is at 11 GHz away from the center frequency of an optical signal as shown); and detecting the optical frequ4ency component transmitted through the optical filter by a photodetector (Yuki, Fig. 11; Column 11, lines 48-52; The optical branching unit 13 branches a light signal of one of the systems modulated by the second modulating unit 4B and guides one of the branched light signals to the optical combining unit 5 and the other light signal to the second signal light monitor 14 with photoelectric converting unit 14a); and monitoring a power of an electrical signal representing the optical frequency component from a detection result of the photodetector (Yuki, Fig. 11; Column 14, lines 8-13; in the case of monitoring the power of the frequency component corresponding to the baud rate in the first and second signal light monitors 12 and 14, the delay control unit 15 controls the modulation timings so that the monitor power in each of the power monitor units 12c and 14c becomes the maximum power).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 4, 8, and 13 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
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAI M LEE whose telephone number is (571)272-5870. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:5:30 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Kenneth Vanderpuye can be reached at 571-272-3078. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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JAI M. LEE
Examiner
Art Unit 2634
/JAI M LEE/Examiner, Art Unit 2634
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