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 .
Priority
Acknowledgement is made to applicant’s claim for the priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 18/234,276, filed on Aug. 15, 2023, which claims priority to and is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/344,477, filed Jun. 10, 2021, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Nos. 63/119,938, 63/119,964, 63/119,992, and 63/120,002, each of which were filed on Dec. 1, 2020.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
As to claim 1,
The claim recites the limitation “that is associated with the first node”, in line 9. However, it is not clear what part of the claim the limitation is referring to. The examiner suggests replacing the pronoun “that” with the actual noun the limitation is referring to.
The claim further recites the limitation “that is associated with the second node”, in line 14. However, it is not clear what part of the claim the limitation is referring to. The examiner suggests replacing the pronoun “that” with actual noun the limitation is referring to.
As to claims 5, 12 and 19, the claims further recite the same unclear limitations, as identified in claim 1 above, in lines 4 and 10 in each respective claim.
As to claims 8 and 15, the claims recite similar limitations to claim 1 and are likewise rejected under 112(b) for the same reason as shown above.
As to the claim(s) that are dependent on claim(s) 1, 8 or 15, the dependent claim(s) are also rejected under 112(b) for the same reason of their base claim(s).
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, 4-8, 11-15 and 18-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Manghirmalani et al. (Pub. No.: US 20160330111 A1).
As to claim 1, Manghirmalani teaches a method comprising:
receiving, at a first node of a network, a packet that is to be sent to at least a second node of the network (paragraph [0064], “…a classifier receives a packet…” and fig. 2), the packet comprising:
a first indication of a specific type of telemetry data that the first node is to append to the packet (paragraph [0073], “timestamp marker” teaches a first indication of timestamp type of telemetry data);
a second indication of a first location within a header of the packet where the first node is to append the specific type of the telemetry data (paragraph [0073], “offset 705 includes an offset value indicating where the next timestamp is to be inserted in timestamp marker 700 by the recipient of the marked packet”, “offset value” teaches a second indication);
determining, by the first node and based at least in part on the first indication, first telemetry data of the specific type that is associated with the first node (paragraph [0073], i.e. determining the timestamp for the node);
appending, by the first node and based at least in part on the second indication, the first telemetry data at the first location within the header (paragraph [0073], “…in this example, the first recipient of the marked packet will insert a timestamp at a location that is 0 bytes after offset 705…”);
modifying, by the first node, the second indication of the packet to indicate a second location within the header where the second node is to append second telemetry data of the specific type that is associated with the second node (paragraph [0073], “…the classifier which inserted the timestamp is also configured to update the value in offset 705 by adding the offset value with a value corresponding to the size of the inserted timestamp…”); and
sending the packet to the second node, the packet including the first telemetry data and the second indication indicating the second location (paragraph [0066], “once the markers have been processed and the required operations have been performed, the SFF or SF associated with the classifier forwards the marked (or re-marked) packet to the next node” and fig. 4).
As to claim 4, Manghirmalani teaches wherein the specific type of telemetry data comprises timestamp data representing a time at which the first node handled the packet, the timestamp data comprising at least one of a full timestamp or a short timestamp representing a portion of the full timestamp (paragraph [0075], “a classifier is to insert a timestamp of when the marked packet was received”).
As to claim 5, Manghirmalani teaches receiving the packet at the second node (paragraph [0064], “…a classifier receives a packet…” and fig. 2, i.e. another classifier), the packet comprising:
determining, by the second node and based at least in part on the first indication, the second telemetry data of the specific type that is associated with the second node (paragraph [0073], i.e. determining the timestamp for the node);
appending, by the second node and based at least in part on the second indication indicating the second location, the second telemetry data at the second location within the header (paragraph [0073], “…in this example, the first recipient of the marked packet will insert a timestamp at a location that is 0 bytes after offset 705…”);
modifying, by the second node, the second indication of the packet to indicate a third location within the header where a third node is to append third telemetry data of the specific type that is associated with the third node (paragraph [0073], “…the classifier which inserted the timestamp is also configured to update the value in offset 705 by adding the offset value with a value corresponding to the size of the inserted timestamp…”); and
sending the packet to the third node, the packet including the first telemetry data, the second telemetry data, and the second indication indicating the third location (paragraph [0066], “once the markers have been processed and the required operations have been performed, the SFF or SF associated with the classifier forwards the marked (or re-marked) packet to the next node” and fig. 4).
As to claim 6, Manghirmalani teaches the first indication comprises one or more action bits that indicate the specific type of the telemetry data that the first node is to append to the packet (paragraph [0006], “a set of zero or more markers that are to be included as part of packets belonging to the class”); and
the second indication comprises one or more offset bits that indicate an offset for the first location where the first node is to append the specific type of the telemetry data (paragraph [0008], “… an offset value indicating a location in the first marker where a timestamp is to be inserted”).
As to claim 7, Manghirmalani teaches wherein the second node is a sink node, the method further comprising: receiving the packet at the second node (paragraph [0101], “When a classifier at a SFF and/or SF detects the intercept marker”);
sending, by the second node, the telemetry data to a collector associated with the network (paragraph [0101], “The collected bytes are then forwarded, sent, mirrored to a collector and/or database”); and
sending, by the second node, the packet to a destination (paragraph [0101], “collected along the path”).
As to claim 8, Manghirmalani further teaches a system associated with a network, the system comprising: one or more processors; and one or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing instructions that, when executed, cause the one or more processors to perform operations (paragraph [0118]). Therefore, the limitations of claim 8 are substantially similar to claim 1. Please refer to claim 1 above.
As to claims 11-14, the limitations of the claims are substantially similar to claims 4-7, respectively. Please refer to each respective claim above.
As to claim 15, Manghirmalani further teaches One or more non-transitory computer readable media storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations (paragraph [0118]). Therefore, the limitations of claim 15 are substantially similar to claim 1. Please refer to claim 1 above.
As to claims 18-20, the limitations of the claims are substantially similar to claims 4-6, respectively. Please refer to each respective claim above.
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) 2, 9 and 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Manghirmalani et al. (Pub. No.: US 20160330111 A1) in view of Previdi (Pub. No.: US 20150256456 A1) (Previdi was cited in the 8/15/2024 IDS).
As to claim 2, Manghirmalani teach wherein the header is a routing header of the packet and the first indication, and the second indication are included within a first field of the routing header, the method further comprising: determining, by the first node, that a flag field of the routing header is enabled (paragraph [0065], “the classifier determines whether the packet is marked for measurement and/or monitoring”); and
based at least in part on the flag field being enabled, reading, by the first node, the first field including the first indication and the second indication (paragraph [0065], “the classifier reads/processes the marker(s)”).
Manghirmalani does not explicitly segment routing header.
However, in the same field of endeavor (route tracing) Previdi teaches a header is a segment routing header of a packet and a first indication, and a second indication are included within a first field of the segment routing header (paragraph [0098]), the method further comprising: determining, by a first node, that a flag field of the segment routing header is enabled (paragraph [0074], “Transit nodes can inspect flags, forward the packet, and, in some cases, update an SR trace extension header”).
Based on Manghirmalani in view of Previdi, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate segment routing header (taught by Previdi) with data collection headers (taught by Manghirmalani) in order to extend the trace functionality to support different network node types.
As to claim 9, the limitations of the claim are substantially similar to claim 2. Please refer to claim 2 above.
As to claim 16, the limitations of the claim are substantially similar to claim 2. Please refer to claim 2 above.
Claim(s) 3, 10 and 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Manghirmalani et al. (Pub. No.: US 20160330111 A1) in view of Polland (Pub. No.: US 20160142291 A1).
As to claim 3, Manghirmalani does not explicitly teach interface identifier telemetry type.
However, in the same field of endeavor (route tracing) Polland teaches specific type of telemetry data comprises an interface identifier that the first node used to either one of send the packet or receive the packet (paragraph [0022], “each intermediate node 106 is further configured to insert additional details regarding the route the packet travels, such as ingress and egress port information, cable information, etc., as described in more detail below”).
Based on Manghirmalani in view of Polland, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate interface identifier telemetry type (taught by Polland) with data collection telemetry types (taught by Manghirmalani) in order to add additional details regarding the route the packet travels as motivated by Polland (paragraph [0022]).
As to claim 10, the limitations of the claim are substantially similar to claim 3. Please refer to claim 3 above.
As to claim 17, the limitations of the claim are substantially similar to claim 3. Please refer to claim 3 above.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The following references teach tracing network packets by utilizing controlled packet headers.
Bshara et al. (Patent No.: US 10284460 B1), see fig. 7.
Farinacci et al. (Patent No.: US 7016351 B1), see abstract and fig. 2B.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ABDULKADER M ALRIYASHI whose telephone number is (313)446-6551. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 8AM - 5PM Alt, Friday, EST.
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/Abdulkader M Alriyashi/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2447 1/4/2026