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
Preliminary amendment filed September 27, 2024 is acknowledged.
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because
Fig. 2 contains unreadable text that is unacceptable for reproduction. There are numerous boxes with text that lacks reasonable spacing.
Fig. 4 contains unreadable text that is unacceptable for reproduction.
Fig. 5 contains unreadable text that is unacceptable for reproduction.
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.
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
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Claims 1,3 & 4-5 are provisionally rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1 & 5-6 of copending Application No. 17/913,313 in view of Kim et al. (KR 20170069759 A), hereinafter Kim [Citations mapped to attached English translation for purposes of examination]. This is a provisional nonstatutory double patenting rejection.
Present Application
17/931,131
Claim 1
A control system for controlling traffic in a wireless network, the control system comprising:
a terminal and an access point configured to transmit packets to each other via the wireless network;
a controller configured to perform transmission control on the terminal and the access point,
wherein the controller is configured to determine a band control value for each traffic flow on the basis a required band for each traffic flow notified of by the terminal, and
notify the terminal and the access point of the band control value.
Claim 1
A control system for controlling traffic over a wireless network, the system comprising:
a terminal and an access point which transmit a packet to each other over the wireless network; and
a controller which carries out transmission control to the terminal and the access point,
the controller determining a band control value for each traffic flow according to a required band for the traffic flow notified at least from the terminal and
notifying the terminal and the access point of the band control value.
Claim 3
A control method for controlling traffic of a wireless network,
the control method being: transmission control performed on a terminal and an access point transmitting packets to each other via the wireless network by a controller, and
comprising:
determining a band control value for each traffic flow on the basis the required band for each traffic flow notified of by the terminal, and
notifying the terminal and the access point of the band control value.
Claim 5
A control method for controlling traffic over a wireless network,
the control method being transmission control carried out by a controller to a terminal and an access point which transmit a packet to each other over the wireless network,
the method comprising:
determining a band control value for each traffic flow according to a required
band for the traffic flow notified at least from the terminal; and
notifying the terminal and the access point of the band control value.
Claim 4,
A controller for controlling traffic of a wireless network,
wherein the controller is an apparatus configured to perform transmission control on a terminal and an access point configured to transmit packets to each other via the wireless network, and
includes a function of determining a band control value for each traffic flow on the basis of the maximum throughput of the wireless network and at least the required band for each traffic flow notified of by the terminal, and
notifying the terminal and the access point of the band control value.
Claim 6,
A controller for controlling traffic over a wireless network,
the controller being a device which carries out transmission control to a terminal and an access point which transmit a packet to each other over the wireless network,
the controller having the function of determining a band control value for each of traffic flows according to a required band for the traffic flow notified at least from the terminal,
and
notifying the terminal and the access point of the band control value.
Claim 1,
Application 17/931,131 discloses substantial limitations of the invention. However, it fails to explicitly discloses
a telemetry apparatus configured to ascertain a maximum throughput of the wireless network; and
determine a band control value for each traffic flow on the basis of the maximum throughput notified of by the telemetry apparatus.
In an analogous art, Kim discloses
a telemetry apparatus configured to ascertain a maximum throughput of the wireless network (para 0027- the controller 200 includes the dynamic bandwidth controller 201 to control and process a function for dynamically allocating a bandwidth to a terminal connected to each WLAN. The dynamic bandwidth controller 201 may detect the number of terminals accessing each WLAN domain from information collected from a plurality of APs 111 to 116 . The dynamic bandwidth controller 201 determines, for each WLAN domain, a basic bandwidth to be allocated to each terminal accessing the WLAN domain based on the available bandwidth and the number of accessing terminals. For example, as shown in FIG. 3 , if the total bandwidth available in the first WLAN is Bt 300 and the number of terminals accessing the first WLAN is Ns, the dynamic bandwidth controller 201 sets Bt 300 to Ns. By performing a division operation (Bt/Ns), a basic bandwidth Bs 310 to be allocated to each terminal accessing the first WLAN may be obtained (Bt=Bt/Ns). The maximum throughput is mapped to the available bandwidth for the WLAN domain); and
determine a band control value for each traffic flow on the basis of the maximum throughput notified of by the telemetry apparatus. (para 0027- For each WLAN domain, the dynamic bandwidth controller 201 determines a basic bandwidth to be allocated to each of the terminals connected to the WLAN domain based on the available bandwidth and the number of connected terminals.)
One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention would find it obvious to combine the maximum throughput of Kim with the present invention to produce the predictable result of optimizing network throughput by dynamically adjusting traffic flows.
Claim 3,
Although Application 17/931,131 discloses substantial limitations of the invention, it fails to explicitly discloses
determining a band control value for each traffic flow on the basis of the maximum throughput of the wireless network.
In an analogous art, Kim discloses
determining a band control value for each traffic flow on the basis of the maximum throughput of the wireless network. (para 0027- For each WLAN domain, the dynamic bandwidth controller 201 determines a basic bandwidth to be allocated to each of the terminals connected to the WLAN domain based on the available bandwidth and the number of connected terminals.)
One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention would find it obvious to combine the maximum throughput of Kim with the present invention to produce the predictable result of optimizing network throughput by dynamically adjusting traffic flows.
Claim 4,
Application 17/931,131 discloses substantial limitations of the invention. However, it fails to explicitly discloses
includes a function of determining a band control value for each traffic flow on the basis of the maximum throughput of the wireless network.
In an analogous art, Kim discloses
includes a function of determining a band control value for each traffic flow on the basis of the maximum throughput of the wireless network (para 0027- For each WLAN domain, the dynamic bandwidth controller 201 determines a basic bandwidth to be allocated to each of the terminals connected to the WLAN domain based on the available bandwidth and the number of connected terminals.)
One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention would find it obvious to combine the maximum throughput of Kim with the present invention to produce the predictable result of optimizing network throughput by dynamically adjusting traffic flows.
Claim 5 is rejected under similar rationale as claim 4.
Claim Interpretation
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(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.
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 are:
Claim 1:
a telemetry apparatus configured to ascertain a maximum throughput of the wireless network; and
a controller configured to perform transmission control on the terminal and the access point,
wherein the controller determines a band control value for each traffic flow on the basis of the maximum throughput notified of by the telemetry apparatus and at least a required band for each traffic flow notified of by the terminal, and notifies the terminal and the access point of the band control value.
Claim 2:
a scheduling unit configured to determine the transmission time and the transmission amount of the transmission packet for each traffic flow on the basis of the maximum throughput and the accumulated amount.
Because these claim limitations are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, they 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.
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 1-2 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.
Claim limitations “
Claim 1:
a telemetry apparatus configured to ascertain a maximum throughput of the wireless network; and
a controller configured to perform transmission control on the terminal and the access point,
wherein the controller determines a band control value for each traffic flow on the basis of the maximum throughput notified of by the telemetry apparatus and at least a required band for each traffic flow notified of by the terminal, and notifies the terminal and the access point of the band control value.
Claim 2:
a scheduling unit configured to determine the transmission time and the transmission amount of the transmission packet for each traffic flow on the basis of the maximum throughput and the accumulated amount.
” invoke 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. However, the written description fails to disclose the corresponding structure, material, or acts for performing the entire claimed function and to clearly link the structure, material, or acts to the function. Therefore, the claims are indefinite and is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, second paragraph.
Applicant may:
(a) Amend the claim so that the claim limitation will no longer be interpreted as a limitation under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph;
(b) Amend the written description of the specification such that it expressly recites what structure, material, or acts perform the entire claimed function, without introducing any new matter (35 U.S.C. 132(a)); or
(c) Amend the written description of the specification such that it clearly links the structure, material, or acts disclosed therein to the function recited in the claim, without introducing any new matter (35 U.S.C. 132(a)).
If applicant is of the opinion that the written description of the specification already implicitly or inherently discloses the corresponding structure, material, or acts and clearly links them to the function so that one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize what structure, material, or acts perform the claimed function, applicant should clarify the record by either:
(a) Amending the written description of the specification such that it expressly recites the corresponding structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function and clearly links or associates the structure, material, or acts to the claimed function, without introducing any new matter (35 U.S.C. 132(a)); or
(b) Stating on the record what the corresponding structure, material, or acts, which are implicitly or inherently set forth in the written description of the specification, perform the claimed function. For more information, see 37 CFR 1.75(d) and MPEP §§ 608.01(o) and 2181.
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1 and 3-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a) (1) as being anticipated by Korean Patent Application publication 2017/0069759.
Claim 1,
Kim discloses
A control system for controlling traffic in a wireless network, the control system comprising:
a terminal and an access point configured to transmit packets to each other via the wireless network (para 0003- a plurality of terminals and APs);
a telemetry apparatus configured to ascertain a maximum throughput of the wireless network . (para 0027- For each WLAN domain, the dynamic bandwidth controller 201 determines a basic bandwidth to be allocated to each of the terminals connected to the WLAN domain based on the available bandwidth and the number of connected terminals.); and
a controller configured to perform transmission control on the terminal and the access point,( para 0027: the dynamic bandwidth control unit 201 can allocate a basic bandwidth Bs 310 to terminals in a state in which traffic is not generated among terminals connected to the first WAN. The bandwidth can be allocated to each of the access terminals 121 to 123 as a basic bandwidth.)
wherein the controller determines a band control value for each traffic flow on the basis of the maximum throughput notified of by the telemetry apparatus and at least a required band for each traffic flow notified of by the terminal(para 0027- the control unit 200 includes the dynamic bandwidth control unit 201, thereby controlling and processing the function for dynamically allocating the bandwidth to the terminals connected to each WLAN. The dynamic bandwidth control unit 201 can detect the number of terminals accessing each WLAN domain from the information collected from the plurality of APs 111 to 116. [ For each WLAN domain, the dynamic bandwidth controller 201 determines a basic bandwidth to be allocated to each of the terminals connected to the WLAN domain based on the available bandwidth and the number of connected terminals. 3, if the total bandwidth available in the first WLAN is Bt 300 and the number of terminals connected to the first WLAN is Ns, the dynamic bandwidth controller 201 sets Bt 300 to Ns By the division operation (Bt / Ns), a base bandwidth Bs 310 to be allocated to each of the terminals connected to the first WLAN can be obtained (Bt = Bt / Ns). That is, the dynamic bandwidth control unit 201 can guarantee the bandwidth of all the terminals connected to the first WLAN regardless of whether the terminal generates traffic. In other words, the dynamic bandwidth control unit 201 can allocate a basic bandwidth Bs 310 to terminals in a state in which traffic is not generated among terminals connected to the first WAN. 1, when the first WLAN domain 140 is configured to include all the APs 111 to 116 accessing the AP, the dynamic bandwidth controller 201 transmits the available bandwidth of the APs 111 to 116 to the access terminal And allocates the resulting bandwidth to the access terminals 121 to 125 as a basic bandwidth. In addition, when the first WLAN domain 130 is configured to include AP 1 111 and AP 2 112, the dynamic bandwidth controller 201 divides the usable bandwidth of AP 1 111 and AP 2 112 by the number of access terminals 3, The bandwidth can be allocated to each of the access terminals 121 to 123 as a basic bandwidth), and
notifies the terminal and the access point of the band control value (para 0027: the dynamic bandwidth controller 201 transmits the available bandwidth of the APs 111 to 116 to the access terminal and allocates the resulting bandwidth to the access terminals 121 to 125 as a basic bandwidth.)
Claim 3,
A control method for controlling traffic of a wireless network, the control method being:
transmission control performed on a terminal and an access point transmitting packets to each other via the wireless network by a controller (para 0027: the dynamic bandwidth control unit 201 can allocate a basic bandwidth Bs 310 to terminals in a state in which traffic is not generated among terminals connected to the first WAN. The bandwidth can be allocated to each of the access terminals 121 to 123 as a basic bandwidth.),
and comprising:
determining a band control value for each traffic flow on the basis of the maximum throughput of the wireless network and at least the required band for each traffic flow notified of by the terminal (para 0027- the control unit 200 includes the dynamic bandwidth control unit 201, thereby controlling and processing the function for dynamically allocating the bandwidth to the terminals connected to each WLAN. The dynamic bandwidth control unit 201 can detect the number of terminals accessing each WLAN domain from the information collected from the plurality of APs 111 to 116. [ For each WLAN domain, the dynamic bandwidth controller 201 determines a basic bandwidth to be allocated to each of the terminals connected to the WLAN domain based on the available bandwidth and the number of connected terminals. 3, if the total bandwidth available in the first WLAN is Bt 300 and the number of terminals connected to the first WLAN is Ns, the dynamic bandwidth controller 201 sets Bt 300 to Ns By the division operation (Bt / Ns), a base bandwidth Bs 310 to be allocated to each of the terminals connected to the first WLAN can be obtained (Bt = Bt / Ns). That is, the dynamic bandwidth control unit 201 can guarantee the bandwidth of all the terminals connected to the first WLAN regardless of whether the terminal generates traffic. In other words, the dynamic bandwidth control unit 201 can allocate a basic bandwidth Bs 310 to terminals in a state in which traffic is not generated among terminals connected to the first WAN. 1, when the first WLAN domain 140 is configured to include all the APs 111 to 116 accessing the AP, the dynamic bandwidth controller 201 transmits the available bandwidth of the APs 111 to 116 to the access terminal And allocates the resulting bandwidth to the access terminals 121 to 125 as a basic bandwidth. In addition, when the first WLAN domain 130 is configured to include AP 1 111 and AP 2 112, the dynamic bandwidth controller 201 divides the usable bandwidth of AP 1 111 and AP 2 112 by the number of access terminals 3, The bandwidth can be allocated to each of the access terminals 121 to 123 as a basic bandwidth), and notifying the terminal and the access point of the band control value. (para 0027: the dynamic bandwidth controller 201 transmits the available bandwidth of the APs 111 to 116 to the access terminal and allocates the resulting bandwidth to the access terminals 121 to 125 as a basic bandwidth.)
Claims 4-5 are rejected under similar rationale as claim 3.
Allowable Subject Matter
But for the preceding 35 USC 112 issues, Claim 2 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, and would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 2, the prior art fails to disclose in the context of the claimed invention:
wherein each of the terminal and the access point includes
a buffer configured to accumulate transmission packets for each traffic flow;
an apparatus-side transmission and reception unit configured to
transmit an accumulated amount of transmission packets for each traffic flow accumulated in the buffer to the controller as the required band, and
receive a transmission time and a transmission amount of the transmission packets for each traffic flow from the controller as the band control value; and
a main signal transmission unit configured to
transmit the transmission packet for each traffic flow in the buffer to the wireless network according to the transmission time and the transmission amount, and
the controller includes:
a control-side transmission and reception unit configured to:
receive the maximum throughput from the telemetry apparatus,
receive the accumulated amount as the required band from each of the terminal and the access point, and
transmit the transmission time and the transmission amount to each of the terminal and the access point as the band control value; and a
scheduling unit configured to determine the transmission time and the transmission amount of the transmission packet for each traffic flow on the basis of the maximum throughput and the accumulated amount.
Kim et al. Korean Patent Application publication 2017/0069759- discloses a method to dynamically adjust bandwidth of wireless communication between Access points and Terminals.
Lu et al. U.S. Patent publication 9,641,452- discloses optimization of bandwidth allocation in a distributed system to determine the ideal bandwidth for each endpoint to achieve maximum throughput at the server side.
Kits van Heyningen et al. U.S. Patent Application publication 2018/0131456- discloses using maximum throughput to perform bandwidth allocation.
The prior cited art singly or in combination does not teach the totality of the independent claims when read in light of the specification.
Conclusion
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/SCHQUITA D GOODWIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2459
/JMC/Examiner, Art Unit 2459