DETAILED ACTION
Claims 4, 5, 7, 9 and 10 have been preliminarily amended.
Claim 8 has been preliminarily cancelled.
Claims 11-21 have been preliminarily added.
Claims 1-7 and 9-21 are pending.
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
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d).
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 12/27/24 and 07/24/26 have been acknowledged and considered by the examiner.
Examiner Comment
The examiner recommends filing a written authorization for Internet communication in response to the present action. Doing so permits the USPTO to communicate with Applicant using Internet email to schedule interviews or discuss other aspects of the application. Without a written authorization in place, the USPTO will not respond via Internet email to any Internet correspondence which contains information subject to the confidentiality requirement as set forth in 35 U.S.C. 122. The preferred method of providing authorization is by filing form PTO/SB/439, available at: https://www.uspto.gov/patent/forms/forms. See MPEP § 502.03 for other methods of providing written authorization.
Claim Interpretation
Regarding claims 1, 4, 6, 12, 16 and 19, the claims recite alternative language, i.e. using the term “one or more” and “at least one of”, and as such, the Examiner interprets certain features to not be required due to the claim language listing the features in the alternative. The rejection below specifies the particular limitations.
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.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1, 2, 5, 7, 9, 10, 13, 14, 17, 20 and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gujar et al. (U.S. 2017/0286799 A1) in view of Zhang et al. (U.S. 2022/0075337 A1).
Regarding claims 1, 9 and 10, Gujar discloses a method and device for processing a network topology graph, comprising:
obtaining a network topology graph by drawing according to a user's network topology drawing operation (see Gujar; paragraphs 0019, 0022 and 0035; Gujar discloses a user may draw a network topology, i.e. “a user's network topology drawing operation”, and a topologizer receives an image of the hand-drawn topology, i.e. “obtaining a network topology graph”. The image may also be generated using a computer, i.e. “a user's network topology drawing operation”), wherein the network topology drawing operation complies with a preset standard network topology expression rule (see Gujar; paragraphs 0019 and 0026; Gujar discloses the user may draw the network topology indicating rules, i.e. “a preset standard network topology expression rule”, and relationships for network entities. Also, the topologizer maps each shape of the image based on predefined mappings, i.e. “a preset standard network topology expression rule”, of shapes to corresponding components, e.g. network entities);
analyzing the network topology graph (see Gujar; paragraphs 0020 and 0022; Gujar discloses receiving the image of the hand-drawn topology and analyzes the topology).
While Gujar discloses “analyzing the network topology graph”, as discussed above, Gujar does not explicitly disclose generating one or more of a power consumption detailed list, a network installation space statistics list, a device cost list, or a device cable connection relationship list according to an analysis result.
In analogous art, Zhang discloses generating one or more of a power consumption detailed list (see Zhang; paragraphs 0032, 0041, 0044 and 0049; Zhang discloses power monitors determine power consumption for devices in a topology. In particular, an automatic discovery is done to build a power device list, i.e. “power consumption detailed list”, based on change in power, including the rated power level), a network installation space statistics list, a device cost list, or a device cable connection relationship list according to an analysis result (The claim list features in the alternative. While the claim lists a number of optional features only one feature from the list is required and needs to be met by the prior art. The Examiner has chosen the “power consumption detailed list” alternative).
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine Gujar and Zhang because they both disclose features of a network topology diagram, and as such, are within the same environment.
Therefore, 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 the feature of power discovery as taught by Zhang into the system of Gujar in order to provide the benefit of efficiency by allowing the powering management of VMs in the host computer (Gujar; paragraph 0015) to include changes in power for entities in a virtual network (Zhang; paragraphs 0049 and 0088).
Further, Gujar discloses the additional limitations of claim 9, a processor, a memory, wherein the processor is configured to perform (see Gujar; ).
Further, Gujar discloses the additional limitations of claim 10, a non-transitory computer storage medium, wherein the storage medium stores at least one executable instruction, and the executable instruction causes a processor to perform operations (see Gujar; ).
Regarding claims 2, 14 and 21, Gujar and Zhang disclose all the limitations of claims 1, 9 and 10, as discussed above, and further the combination of Gujar and Zhang clearly discloses wherein analyzing the network topology (see Gujar; paragraphs 0020 and 0022; Gujar discloses receiving the image of the hand-drawn topology and analyzes the topology), and generating one or more of the power consumption detailed list (see Zhang; paragraphs 0032, 0041, 0044 and 0049; Zhang discloses power monitors determine power consumption for devices in a topology. In particular, an automatic discovery is done to build a power device list, i.e. “power consumption detailed list”, based on change in power, including the rated power level), the network installation space statistics list, the device cost list, and the device cable connection relationship list according to the analysis result, comprise:
determining working state relationships between devices by analyzing device information of each device in the network topology graph (see Zhang; paragraphs 0045, 0052 and 0075; Zhang discloses identifying upstream/downstream relationships, i.e. “working state relationships”, in the topological diagram, i.e. “network topology graph”);
obtaining a standard power consumption corresponding to each device from a pre- constructed database according to the device information (see Zhang; paragraphs 0032 and 0044; Zhang discloses monitoring power consumption and identifying a rated power level, i.e. “standard power consumption”); and
calculating an overall power consumption requirement for network planning and construction according to the standard power consumption corresponding to each device and the working state relationships between devices (see Zhang; paragraphs 0032, 0043, 0044 and 0066; Zhang discloses monitoring power consumption once power data is collected for the networked devices, an estimation for an effective power change, i.e. “calculating an overall power consumption” is determined based on a rated power level), and generating the power consumption detailed list according to a device type of each device (see Zhang; paragraphs 0032, 0041, 0044, 0048 and 0049; Zhang discloses power monitors determine power consumption for devices in a topology. In particular, an automatic discovery is done to build a power device list, i.e. “power consumption detailed list”, based on change in power, including the rated power level as well as, information as the type, i.e. “device type of each device”).
The prior art used in the rejection of the current claim is combined using the same motivation as was applied in claims 1, 9 and 10.
Regarding claims 5 and 17, Gujar and Zhang disclose all the limitations of claims 2 and 14, as discussed above, and further the combination of Gujar and Zhang clearly discloses wherein the pre-constructed database at least comprises a network element library and a network device library (see Gujar; paragraph 0026; Gujar discloses templates that include mappings of shapes, i.e. “element”, to corresponding components, i.e. “device”, and a library of the templates, i.e. “network element library and network device library”).
Regarding claims 7, 13 and 20, Gujar and Zhang disclose all the limitations of claims 2, 11 and 14, as discussed above, and further the combination of Gujar and Zhang clearly discloses wherein the working state relationship between devices at least comprises a conflict working state relationship and a cooperative working state relationship (see Zhang; paragraphs 0045, 0052 and 0075; Zhang discloses identifying upstream/downstream relationships, i.e. “cooperative working state relationships”, in the topological diagram and detecting matching and un-matching changes, wherein un-matching changes indicate no direct relation between devices, i.e. “conflict working state relationship”).
The prior art used in the rejection of the current claim is combined using the same motivation as was applied in claims 2, 11 and 14.
Claims 3, 11, 15 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gujar et al. (U.S. 2017/0286799 A1) in view of Zhang et al. (U.S. 2022/0075337 A1), as applied to claims 1, 9 and 10 above, and further in view of Shipman (U.S. 2003/0181210 A1).
Regarding claims 3 and 15, Gujar and Zhang disclose all the limitations of claims 1 and 9, as discussed above. While the combination of Gujar and Zhang discloses wherein analyzing the network topology graph (see Gujar; paragraphs 0020 and 0022; Gujar discloses receiving the image of the hand-drawn topology and analyzes the topology), and generating one or more of the power consumption detailed list (see Zhang; paragraphs 0032, 0041, 0044 and 0049; Zhang discloses power monitors determine power consumption for devices in a topology. In particular, an automatic discovery is done to build a power device list, i.e. “power consumption detailed list”, based on change in power, including the rated power level), the network installation space statistics list, the device cost list, and the device cable connection relationship list according to the analysis result, comprise: obtaining device information, connection relationships, a number of connections of devices, and relative position relationships between different devices in the network topology graph (see Zhang; paragraphs 0045, 0048, 0054 and 0071 ; Zhang discloses indicators, i.e. “a number of connections of devices”, of upstream/downstream connections between devices, i.e. “connection relationships…relative position relationships between different devices”, on the graph, i.e. “in the network topology graph”. And discovering device information, such as type and load, i.e. “obtaining device information”), the combination of Gujar and Zhang does not explicitly disclose obtaining device size information of each device from a pre-constructed database according to the device information; and calculating a occupied space requirement for network planning and construction according to the device size information of each device, the connection relationships between devices, the number of connections, and the relative position relationships between different devices, and generating the network installation space statistics list based on a preset requirement for the network planning and construction and an overall power consumption requirement for the network planning and construction, wherein the network installation space statistics list comprises an overall physical space and a quantity demand of device cabinets corresponding to the network planning and construction.
In analogous art, Shipman discloses obtaining device size information of each device from a pre-constructed database according to the device information (see Shipman; paragraph 0048; determining network device specifications for parameters, such as, size and configuration of data queues and the physical space required to accommodate the device. In other words, the size of the data queues is “device size information”; and
calculating a occupied space requirement for network planning and construction according to the device size information of each device, the connection relationships between devices, the number of connections, and the relative position relationships between different devices (see Shipman; paragraphs 0044, 0046 and 0048; Shipman discloses a network planning, i.e. “network planning and construction”, tool for determining devices that are fully interconnected by links, i.e. “connection relationships between devices…”, and the physical space required to accommodate the network device according to size information, i.e. “device size information”), and
generating the network installation space statistics list based on a preset requirement for the network planning and construction and an overall power consumption requirement for the network planning and construction, wherein the network installation space statistics list comprises an overall physical space and a quantity demand of device cabinets corresponding to the network planning and construction (see Shipman; paragraphs 0046, 0048, 0082; Shipman discloses determining the physical space, i.e. “an overall physical space”, required to accommodate the device and network design relating to site information).
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine Gujar, Zhang and Shipman because they all disclose features of a network topology, and as such, are within the same environment.
Therefore, 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 the feature of network planning as taught by Shipman into the combined system of Gujar and Zhang in order to provide the benefit of scalability by allowing devices in a network topology to be combined in numerous ways, such as, capacities of links between the devices, size and configuration of data queues and the physical space required to accommodate the devices (see Shipman; paragraph 0048).
Regarding claim 11, Gujar, Zhang and Shipmon disclose all the limitations of claim 3, as discussed above, and further the combination of Gujar, Zhang and Shipmon clearly discloses wherein the pre-constructed database at least comprises a network element library and a network device library (see Gujar; paragraph 0026; Gujar discloses templates that include mappings of shapes, i.e. “element”, to corresponding components, i.e. “device”, and a library of the templates, i.e. “network element library and network device library”).
Regarding claim 18, Gujar, Zhang and Shipmon disclose all the limitations of claim 15, as discussed above, and further the combination of Gujar, Zhang and Shipmon clearly discloses wherein the pre-constructed database at least comprises a network element library and a network device library (see Gujar; paragraph 0026; Gujar discloses templates that include mappings of shapes, i.e. “element”, to corresponding components, i.e. “device”, and a library of the templates, i.e. “network element library and network device library”).
Claims 4, 6, 12, 16 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gujar et al. (U.S. 2017/0286799 A1) in view of Zhang et al. (U.S. 2022/0075337 A1), as applied to claims 1, 9 and 10 above, and further in view of Price et al. (U.S. 2002/0032762 A1).
Regarding claims 4 and 16, Gujar and Zhang disclose all the limitations of claims 1, 9 and 10, as discussed above. While Gujar discloses “a preset standard network topology expression rule”, as discussed above, the combination of Gujar and Zhang does not explicitly disclose wherein the preset standard network topology expression rule at least comprises: expression rules of network elements, and the network elements comprise: a point element, a line element, an area element and a group element; wherein the point element is used to express device information of a device; the line element is used to express a connection relationship between devices, wherein the connection relationship between devices at least comprises a cable connection; the area element is used to wrap up at least one of the point element, the line element, the area element and/or the group element to form a network topology service section in network planning and construction; and the group element is used to wrap up at least one of the point element and/or the line element to express a repeated network topology structure
In analogous art, Price discloses wherein the preset standard network topology expression rule at least comprises: expression rules of network elements (see Price; paragraphs 0026 and 0028; Price discloses automatically translating a user’s drawn network topology into actual configurable topology by determining if Network Description Language, i.e. NDL, expressions, i.e. “expression rules”, are valid related to a library of elements, i.e. “network elements”), and the network elements comprise: a point element, a line element, an area element and a group element (see Price; paragraph 0028; Price discloses a library of elements);
wherein the point element is used to express device information of a device (see Price; paragraph 0026; Price discloses expressions for device configuration descriptions, i.e. “express device information of a device”);
the line element is used to express a connection relationship between devices, wherein the connection relationship between devices at least comprises a cable connection (see Price; paragraphs 0026-0029; Price discloses expression for interface configurations, i.e. “connection relationship”, including translating a user’s description of the network topology into a constructed configurable topology in a physical laboratory, i.e. “…comprises a cable connection”);
the area element is used to wrap up at least one of the point element, the line element, the area element and/or the group element to form a network topology service section in network planning and construction (see Price; paragraphs 0026-0029; Price discloses device configuration descriptions and interface configurations creating a lab network topology, i.e. “form a network topology service section…”) (The claim list features in the alternative. While the claim lists a number of optional features only one feature from the list is required and needs to be met by the prior art. The Examiner has chosen the “point element” and “line element” alternatives); and
the group element is used to wrap up at least one of the point element and/or the line element to express a repeated network topology structure (see Price; paragraph 0026, 0050 and 0061; Price discloses device configuration descriptions and interface configurations to create a topology that is requested by groups of users, i.e. “a repeated network topology structure”. In other words, a the topology is repeatedly requested by groups of users).
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine Gujar, Zhang and Price because they all disclose features of a network topology, and as such, are within the same environment.
Therefore, 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 the feature of network topology descriptions as taught by Price into the combined system of Gujar and Zhang in order to provide the benefit of efficiency by allowing to post condition states of the topology and devices (see Price; paragraph 0026).
Regarding claims 6, 12 and 19, Gujar and Zhang disclose all the limitations of claims 5, 11 and 17, as discussed above. While Gujar discloses “a preset standard network topology expression rule”, as discussed above, the combination of Gujar and Zhang does not explicitly disclose structurally storing a plurality of network elements for constituting the network topology graph according to the preset standard network topology expression rule; constructing the network element library according to the plurality of network elements, wherein element information of each network element stored in the network element library at least comprises: type information of the network element, description information of the network element and a network icon of the network element; and structurally storing device information entries corresponding to point elements in the network elements, and constructing the network device library according to the device information entries; wherein each device information entry of a device comprises one or more of following fields: a service domain to which the device belongs, a device type classification, a manufacturer, a device model, a device space, a device image, configuration description, a rated power consumption, a maximum number of optical ports, a maximum number of electrical ports, and a source of information.
In analogous art, Price discloses structurally storing a plurality of network elements for constituting the network topology graph according to the preset standard network topology expression rule (see Price; paragraphs 0026 and 0028; Price discloses automatically translating a user’s drawn network topology into actual configurable topology by determining if Network Description Language, i.e. NDL, expressions, i.e. “expression rules”, are valid related to a library of elements, i.e. “storing a plurality of network elements”);
constructing the network element library according to the plurality of network elements, wherein element information of each network element stored in the network element library at least comprises: type information of the network element, description information of the network element and a network icon of the network element (see Price; paragraphs 0026-0029; Price discloses expression for interface configurations, i.e. “connection relationship” and device configurations, i.e. “type information…”, including translating a user’s description, i.e. “description information of the network element”, of the network topology into a constructed configurable topology in a physical laboratory. Further, the NDL description includes providing shapes, i.e. “a network icon of the network element”); and
structurally storing device information entries corresponding to point elements in the network elements (see Price; paragraphs 0026 and 0028; Price discloses expressions for device configuration descriptions, i.e. “point elements”, as related library elements), and constructing the network device library according to the device information entries (see Price; paragraph 0028; Price discloses related library elements);
wherein each device information entry of a device comprises one or more of following fields: a service domain to which the device belongs, a device type classification, a manufacturer, a device model, a device space, a device image, configuration description (see Price; paragraph 0026; Price discloses device configuration descriptions), a rated power consumption, a maximum number of optical ports, a maximum number of electrical ports, and a source of information (The claim list features in the alternative. While the claim lists a number of optional features only one feature from the list is required and needs to be met by the prior art. The Examiner has chosen the “configuration description” alternatives).
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine Gujar, Zhang and Price because they all disclose features of a network topology, and as such, are within the same environment.
Therefore, 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 the feature of network topology descriptions as taught by Price into the combined system of Gujar and Zhang in order to provide the benefit of efficiency by allowing to post condition states of the topology and devices (see Price; paragraph 0026).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Wan et al. (U.S. 2015/0244583 A1) discloses network planning tools used to draw a network diagram which reflects the actual intended topology.
Wang et al. (U.S. 10,462,014 B1) discloses a network topology analyzer determines installation locations for end devices and communication connections between the end devices and user devices.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ADAM A COONEY whose telephone number is (571)270-5653. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30am-5:00pm (every other Fri off).
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/A.A.C/Examiner, Art Unit 2458 07/25/26
/UMAR CHEEMA/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2458
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