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 .
1. This office action, in response to the amendment filed 1/3/2026, is a final office action.
Response to Amendment and Arguments
2. Claims 1 and 10 have been amended. These amendments have overcome the previous rejections under 35 USC 101, statutory double patenting. The statutory double patenting rejections have been withdrawn. The amendments necessitate the rejections under 35 USC 103 stated below.
3. A terminal disclaimer has received 1/3/2026. The terminal disclaimer has been approved.
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.
4. Claims 6-8 and 9 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 6 recites the limitation "the processing device" in line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. The phrase “processing device” was removed from claim 1 in the amendment. Claims 7 and 8 depend on claim 6 and are also rejected due to that dependency.
Claim 9 recites the limitation "the processing device" in line 1. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. The phrase “processing device” was removed from claim 1 in the amendment.
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.
5. Claims 1, 4, 5 and 9-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shulman et al (US 2016/0182265) in view of Akula (US 2016/0218852).
Regarding claim 1, Shulman discloses a node of a CATV network (Paragraph 0021: system 100 may include a cable television (CATV) communication system capable of communicating data between CMTS 104 and client devices via RF signals transmitted through network 106. Network 106 may include optical fibers if network 106 includes a hybrid fiber coaxial (HFC) infrastructure.) comprising:
a first input port and a second input port, the node configured to receive an upstream signal from a service group (Figures 2 and paragraphs 0044 and 0046: Figure 2 is an illustrative diagram of an example DS converter 200. Converter 200 may also include a plurality of digital downconverters (DDCs) 212 to down convert samples into complex baseband signals. The converter discloses a plurality of input ports, where a first input port is coupled to the input of the first of the plurality of digital down converters 212, a second input port is coupled to the input of the second of the plurality of digital down converters and so on.); and
a downconverter (Figure 2: DDCs 212) capable of receiving the upstream signal and down converting selective portions of the upstream signal (Figure 2: DDCs 212. Each digital down converter 212 comprises a filter that receives the output from the ADC 208. The filter will remove unwanted signal components from the input signal and will pass a selected portion of the upstream signal, as determined by the filter, to the mixer for down conversion.).
Shulman further discloses the receiver of figure 2 causes all portions of the upstream signal to be received in the first input port and causes all portions of the upstream signal to be received in the second input port and so on. Shulman does not disclose a switch that, in either a first or second configuration, prevents the upstream signal from being provided to any of the plurality of digital down converters 212.
Akula discloses a receiver as shown in figure 3. Paragraph 0022 described figure 3. Paragraph 0022 discloses the LNA system includes a multiplexer 330 and further includes three LNAs 310, 312, 314 and a reconfigurable 3x3 switch apparatus 320 comprising multiple switches 322, 324, 326 that are independently controlled. The controller selects an LNA 310, 312 or 314 tuned to a particular frequency band (e.g., low, mid, high) using the triplexer 300. In one embodiment, the controller 250 uses the reconfigurable switch apparatus 320 to allow each LNA 310, 312, 314 to utilize one, two or all three demodulators 242, 244, 246. Therefore, in one configuration, a LNA can be configured to one demodulator 242 comprising the digital downconverter shown in figure 3. The multiplexer will act as a switch and will provide the input signal to be received by the selected LNA and the selected demodulator with the downconverter. Paragraph 0022 also discloses, in another embodiment, the controller 250 uses reconfigurable switch apparatus 320 to use one, two or all three LNAs 310, 312, 314 and demodulators 242, 244, 246 to enable inter-band CA.
Therefore, Akula discloses receiving an upstream signal comprising either a low, a mid or a high band upstream signal and providing the signal to switch 320 where the switch provides the upstream signal to be received by a first input port of a first downconverter when the LNA utilizes one of the demodulators in a first configuration. In a second configuration, the received upstream signal comprising either a low, a mid or a high band upstream signal is provided to switch 320 where the switch provides the upstream signal to be received by first input port of a first downconverter and a second input port of a second downconverter when the LNA utilizes two demodulators. The signal received by the first of these demodulators will comprises a first portion of signal as well as other signal components. The signal received by the second of these demodulators will comprises a second portion of the signal as well as other signal components.
Akula discloses the disadvantages of previous prior art systems in paragraphs 0004 and 0005. These disadvantages can be overcome utilizing the teachings of the invention. Paragraphs 0023, 0024, 0025 and 0027 describe how to utilize the switches in the receiver to operate on different bands at different times. By utilizing the switch configurations, the complexity of the receiver can be reduced, reducing the cost of the receiver. The effectiveness of the receiver is also improved due to the additional capabilities of the receiver. For these reasons, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Akula into the receiver of Shulman.
Regarding claim 4, the combination discloses a bandpass filter associated with the downconverter which separates the first portion from the second portion (Shulman: figure 2: The filter provides a signal to the downconverter. The filter will remove a portion of the signal that has been input.).
Regarding claim 5, the combination discloses the downconverter operates in the digital domain. Shulman discloses the use of the digital downconverter 212 shown in figure 2.
Regarding claim 9, the combination discloses where the first processing device is an ASIC configured to process DOCSIS 3.1 signals (Shulman: paragraph 0022: one or more elements of system 100 may be configured to communicate in accordance with the DOCSIS, e.g., DOCSIS 3.0 and/or any other cable communication standard and/or specification.).
Regarding claim 11, Shulman discloses a node in a hybrid fiber-coax (HFC) network (Paragraph 0021: system 100 may include a cable television (CATV) communication system capable of communicating data between CMTS 104 and client devices via RF signals transmitted through network 106. Network 106 may include optical fibers if network 106 includes a hybrid fiber coaxial (HFC) infrastructure.) comprising:
a first and second input port, together configured to receive an upstream signal from a service group comprising a plurality of cable modems (Figures 2 and paragraphs 0044 and 0046: Figure 2 is an illustrative diagram of an example DS converter 200. Converter 200 may also include a plurality of digital downconverters (DDCs) 212 to down convert samples into complex baseband signals. The converter discloses a plurality of input ports, where a first input port is coupled to the input of the first of the plurality of digital down converters 212, a second input port is coupled to the input of the second of the plurality of digital down converters and so on. In addition, the converter can disclose a plurality of input ports where a first input port is coupled to the output of the first of the plurality of digital down converters 212, a second input port is coupled to a second of the plurality of digital down converters 212 and so on. The cable modems are external to the recited node and do not limit the structure of the recited node.).
Shulman further discloses the receiver of figure 2 causes all portions of the upstream signal to be received in the first input port and causes all portions of the upstream signal to be received in the second input port and so on. Shulman does not disclose a switch that, in either a first configuration causes the upstream signal to be received only in a first input port, and in a second configuration causes the selectively downconverted portions of the signal to be received in the first input port and causes the remaining portions of the upstream signal to be received in the second input port.
Akula discloses a receiver as shown in figure 3. Paragraph 0022 described figure 3. Paragraph 0022 discloses the LNA system includes a multiplexer 330 and further includes three LNAs 310, 312, 314 and a reconfigurable 3x3 switch apparatus 320 comprising multiple switches 322, 324, 326 that are independently controlled. The controller selects an LNA 310, 312 or 314 tuned to a particular frequency band (e.g., low, mid, high) using the triplexer 300. In one embodiment, the controller 250 uses the reconfigurable switch apparatus 320 to allow each LNA 310, 312, 314 to utilize one, two or all three demodulators 242, 244, 246. Therefore, in one configuration, a LNA can be configured to one demodulator 242 comprising the digital downconverter shown in figure 3. The multiplexer will act as a switch and will provide the input signal to be received by the selected LNA and the selected demodulator with the downconverter. Paragraph 0022 also discloses, in another embodiment, the controller 250 uses reconfigurable switch apparatus 320 to use one, two or all three LNAs 310, 312, 314 and demodulators 242, 244, 246 to enable inter-band CA.
Therefore, Akula discloses receiving an upstream signal comprising either a low, a mid or a high band upstream signal and providing the signal to switch 320 where the switch provides the upstream signal to be received by a first input port of a first downconverter when the LNA utilizes one of the demodulators in a first configuration. In a second configuration, the received upstream signal comprising either a low, a mid or a high band upstream signal is provided to switch 320 where the switch provides the upstream signal to be received by first input port of a first downconverter and a second input port of a second downconverter when the LNA utilizes two demodulators. The signal received by the first of these demodulators will comprises a first portion of signal as well as other signal components. The signal received by the second of these demodulators will comprises a second portion of the signal as well as other signal components. The second configuration will also cause selective downconversion to take place in the first demodulator and will output the selectively downconverted portion of the signal to the first input port at the output of the first downconverter. The second demodulator will downconvert its input signal and will output the remaining portions of the upstream signal to the second input port at the output of the second downconverter.
Akula discloses the disadvantages of previous prior art systems in paragraphs 0004 and 0005. These disadvantages can be overcome utilizing the teachings of the invention. Paragraphs 0023, 0024, 0025 and 0027 describe how to utilize the switches in the receiver to operate on different bands at different times. By utilizing the switch configurations, the complexity of the receiver can be reduced, reducing the cost of the receiver. The effectiveness of the receiver is also improved due to the additional capabilities of the receiver. For these reasons, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Akula into the receiver of Shulman.
Regarding claim 11, the combination discloses a bandpass filter associated with the downconverter and which separates the first portion from the second portion (Shulman: figure 2: The filter provides a signal to the downconverter. The filter will remove a portion of the signal that has been input. Akula: paragraph 0022. The LNAs 310, 312, 314 are tuned to a particular band class (e.g., low, mid, high). The LNAs will pass the band it has been tuned to.).
Regarding claim 12, the combination discloses the downconverter operates in the digital domain. Shulman discloses the use of the digital downconverter 212 shown in figure 2.
6. Claims 6 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shulman et al (US 2016/0182265) in view of Akula (US 2016/0218852) further in view of Shahar et al (US 6,112,232).
Regarding claims 6 and 13, the combination of Shulman and Akula discloses the apparatus and node stated above. The combination does not disclose the apparatus includes an upconverter that upconverts a downstream signal received from the processing device. Shahar discloses the data communication device for CATV networks. Figure 2 shows the communication interface unit for receiving and transmitting signals to the CATV network. The RF tuner 80 will down convert the received signal from the RF splitter. The signal to be transmitted will be upconverted for data transmission. Claim 1 of the reference discloses the down converter and up converter in the same device.
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Shahar into the device and node of the combination of Shulman and Akula to expressly disclose the device and both transmit and receive signals on the network. This will allow the device or node to be fully implemented in the network and desired information can be conveyed from the apparatus or node, improving the efficiency of the network.
7. Claims 7, 8, 14-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shulman et al (US 2016/0182265) in view of Akula (US 2016/0218852) in view of Shahar et al (US 6,112,232) further in view of Jeong et al (US 2006/0126569).
Regarding claims 7 and 14, the combination of Shulman, Akula and Shahar discloses the apparatus or node stated above. The combination does not disclose including a second processing device that adds content to the downstream signal after upconversion. Jeong discloses the terminal shown in figure 1B. The terminal includes components for transmitting and receiving RF signals. Jeong discloses the DUC and DDC 171 digitally filters a digital signal and digitally upconverts the digital signal, combines an inphase/quadrature signal to the digital signal and transmits the data signal to the D/A 172 in the uplink path in paragraph 0031.
Jeong discloses adding desired information to a signal to be transmitted to a desired destination. It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention to include desired information in transmission signals to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of a communication system.
Regarding claims 8 and 15, the combination discloses where the second processing device includes the downconverter and includes the upconverter (Shahar: Figure 2 and claim 1 discloses the up converter and down converter in the same device. Jeong: Figure 1B and paragraph 0031: Jeong discloses the DUC and DDC 171 digitally filters a digital signal and digitally upconverts the digital signal, combines an inphase/quadrature signal to the digital signal and transmits the data signal to the D/A 172 in the uplink path.).
Regarding claim 16, the combination discloses where the first processing device is an ASIC configured to process DOCSIS 3.1 signals (Shulman: paragraph 0022: one or more elements of system 100 may be configured to communicate in accordance with the DOCSIS, e.g., DOCSIS 3.0 and/or any other cable communication standard and/or specification.).
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KEVIN M. BURD whose telephone number is (571)272-3008. The examiner can normally be reached 9:30 - 5:00.
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/KEVIN M BURD/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2632 3/2/2026