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 .
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 15-16 and 19-20 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 15 recites the limitation "the plurality of distinct wavelength bands that are demultiplexed from a first multi-band optical signal" in lines 10-11. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claims 16 and 19-20 depend from claim 15, and are therefore rejected for the same reason(s) of indefiniteness as stated above.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7-13, 17-18, and 21-22 allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
Regarding Independent Claim 7, Nakagawa et al. NPL “Adaptive Link-by-Link Band Allocation: A Novel Adaptation Scheme in Multi-Band Optical Networks” (hereinafter Nakagawa) is considered to be the closest prior art reference of record. Nakagawa teaches a wavelength cross connect device (see Fig. 1a and II. MULTI-BAND OPTICAL NETWORK WITH WAVELENGTH SELECTIVE BAND SWITCHING) comprising: one or more input ports (Ingress 1-2); one or more output ports (Egress 1-2); a wavelength conversion unit comprising one or more input-side wavelength switches (WSSs on Ingress side), a plurality of wavelength converters (AO-WCs), and a plurality of output-side wavelength switches (WSS on Egress side); wherein each of the one or more input-side wavelength switches is configured to output an optical signal input from a corresponding one of the one or more input ports to a selected one of the plurality of wavelength converters (Ingress WSSs output to AO-WCs), wherein each of the plurality of wavelength converters is configured to convert a wavelength band of the optical signal input from each of the one or more input-side wavelength switches into another wavelength band (AO-WCs convert between S, C, and L bands) and output the converted optical signal to a respective one of the plurality of output-side wavelength switches (AO-WCs output to Egress WSSs), wherein each of the plurality of output-side wavelength switches is configured to perform route switching on the optical signal input from a respective one of the plurality of wavelength converters toward a selected one of the one or more output ports of the wavelength cross connect device (Egress WSSs output to Egress 1 or 2).
Nakagawa does not teach a controller, wherein the controller is configured to: manage, for each of the plurality of wavelength converters, whether the wavelength converter is in an in-use state or an unused state to identify zero or more unused wavelength converters among the plurality of wavelength converters; and control each of the one or more input-side wavelength switches to output the optical signal input to the input-side wavelength switch to one of the zero or more unused wavelength converter. Additionally, it would not have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Nakagawa to include such features in view of any of the cited prior art references of record.
Regarding Independent Claims 17 and 21-22, claims 17 and 21-22 recite subject matter similar to that which is recited in claim 7. As such, claims 17 and 21-22 are considered to be allowable over the cited prior art references of record for the same reason(s) as indicated above.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Claims 15-16 and 19-20 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: Regarding Independent Claim 15, Nakagawa is considered to be the closest prior art reference of record. Nakagawa does not teach a controller, wherein the controller is configured to: manage, for each of the plurality of wavelength converters, whether the wavelength converter is in an in-use state or an unused state to identify zero or more unused wavelength converters among the plurality of wavelength converters; and control each of the one or more input-side wavelength switches to output the optical signal input to the input-side wavelength switch to one of the zero or more unused wavelength converter. Additionally, it would not have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Nakagawa to include such features in view of any of the cited prior art references of record.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DAVID W LAMBERT whose telephone number is (571)272-7692. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Friday, 10-6.
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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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/DAVID W LAMBERT/Examiner, Art Unit 2634
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