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
This Office action is in response to communications filed on 6/18/2026.
Claims 1, 3, 12, 15-17, and 19-20 have been amended.
Claims 1-20 are pending.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed on 6/18/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. In the response filed applicant argues, in substance:
a) In pages 1-3 of the response filed, applicant argues that the combination of Rangappagowda et al. (US 20190123993 A1, hereinafter Rangappagowda) with Xiao et al. (US 9419889 B2, hereinafter Xiao), and Thibaut Probst ("flyingroutes: a faster alternative to traceroute", thibautprobst.fr, 9/13/2024, hereinafter thibautprobst) fails to teach or disclose the claimed limitations because a “mere disclosure regarding probe packets with TTL values that are decremented as in Rangappagowda cannot be considered to teach or suggest” the limitations of “generate a first packet having a field comprising a first value indicative of a first number of hops that the first packet is set to exist inside a network; generate a second packet having the field comprising a second value indicative of a second number of hops that the second packet is set to exist inside the network” and “cause the transmitter to transmit the first packet to a first routing device associated with the first number of hops at a first time” in view of the clause “the first value is unchanged.”
In response to argument (a), the examiner respectfully disagrees.
The limitations do not specify a frame or period for when the limitations “wherein the first value is unchanged” is to take effect.
While the specification provides examples on which the first and second value remain constant for the duration of the packet’s life, limitations from the specification are not read into the claims. See In re Van Geuns, 988 F.2d 1181, 26 USPQ2d 1057 (Fed. Cir. 1993).
Therefore, the limitations as claimed may be disclosed by a reference that teaches a first and second value that remain unchanged during any period of time, even if limited. For example, if the first and second values are unchanged between the time that the packet is generated and the time that the packet is transmitted, then the value is “unchanged” during that period. In Rangappagowda, packets are generated and transmitted by a “network topology mapper” (¶[0030]), and it’s understood that a packet that is generated is the packet that is transmitted, without any changes. In fact, the values in the packet would still be unchanged up to the point that the packet is processed by a next hop.
Therefore, Rangappagowda teaches “the first value is unchanged.”
The remaining arguments with respect to claims 12 and 17 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
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.
Claim(s) 1-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rangappagowda et al. (US 20190123993 A1, hereinafter Rangappagowda) in view of Xiao et al. (US 9419889 B2, hereinafter Xiao), and further in view of Thibaut Probst ("flyingroutes: a faster alternative to traceroute", thibautprobst.fr, 9/13/2024, hereinafter thibautprobst).
Regarding claim 1, Rangappagowda discloses an electronic device comprising: a transmitter; a receiver; and processing circuitry coupled to the transmitter and the receiver (¶[0007], " the subject matter described herein may be implemented using a computer readable medium having stored thereon computer executable instructions that when executed by the processor of a computer control the computer to perform steps"; ¶[0030], sending probe packets (i.e., transmitter); ¶[0032], receiving replies (i.e., receiver)), the processing circuitry configured to:
generate a first packet having a field comprising a first value indicative of a first number of hops that the first packet is set to exist inside a network (¶[0030], "network topology mapper 404 generates and sends a number of probe packets with TTL values of 2 designed to probe of next hops reachable from router R1 410");
generate a second packet having the field comprising a second value indicative of a second number of hops that the second packet is set to exist inside the network (¶[0030], "network topology mapper 404 generates and sends a number of probe packets with TTL values of 2 designed to probe of next hops reachable from router R1 410");
cause the transmitter to transmit the first packet to a first routing device associated with the first number of hops at a first time, wherein the first value is unchanged (¶[0031], "Router R1 410 receives the probe packets with the TTL value of 2, decrements the TTL value, and selects an outbound interface for each of the probe packets. Because router R1 410 implements flow-based load sharing and some of the packets are associated with different flows, so of the packets will be forwarded to router R2 412, and some of the packets will be forwarded to router R3 414" (examiner note: the phrase "so of the packets will be forwarded" is clearly a typo meant to read "some of the packets will be forwarded"));
cause the transmitter to transmit the second packet to a second routing device associated with the second number of hops, wherein the second value is unchanged (¶[0031], "Router R1 410 receives the probe packets with the TTL value of 2, decrements the TTL value, and selects an outbound interface for each of the probe packets. Because router R1 410 implements flow-based load sharing and some of the packets are associated with different flows, so of the packets will be forwarded to router R2 412, and some of the packets will be forwarded to router R3 414"; ¶[0026], parameters of the packets are modified by the generating node so as to cause transmission to different nodes - see alternatively ¶[0032], "subsequent packets transmitted routers R3 412 and R4" and ¶¶[0039]-[0041]);
cause the receiver to receive a first response packet from the first routing device at a second time after the first time, the first response packet comprising a first address of the first routing device (¶[0031], "Because the time to live values in the probe packets are now zero, routers R2 412 and R3 414 do not forward the probe packets and instead generate responses to the sender of the probe packets"; ¶[0032], "In line 4 of the message flow diagram, the responses to the probe packets from routers R2 412 and R3 414 are received by network topology mapper 404");
associate the first address with the first number of hops (¶[0032], "The responses from router R2 412 include the source address of router R2 412"; ¶[0042], "network addresses of next hops revealed by the responses are recorded. For example, network topology mapper 404 records the source network address of each next hop identified by the probe packets"; ¶[0060], "FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a network topology map that may be generated by network topology mapper 404" - In Fig. 6, the address is associated with the number of hops);
cause the receiver to receive a second response packet from the second routing device at a third time, the second response packet comprising a second address of the second routing device (¶[0031], "Because the time to live values in the probe packets are now zero, routers R2 412 and R3 414 do not forward the probe packets and instead generate responses to the sender of the probe packets"; ¶[0032], "In line 4 of the message flow diagram, the responses to the probe packets from routers R2 412 and R3 414 are received by network topology mapper 404"; ¶[0006], "generating, from the network addresses of next hops, a network topology map illustrating the network paths" - see also ¶[0032] and ¶¶[0039]-[0043]); and
associate the second address with the second number of hops (¶[0032], "The responses from router R3 414 include the source address of router R3 414"; ¶[0042], "network addresses of next hops revealed by the responses are recorded. For example, network topology mapper 404 records the source network address of each next hop identified by the probe packets"; ¶[0006], "generating, from the network addresses of next hops, a network topology map illustrating the network paths"; ¶[0060], "FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a network topology map that may be generated by network topology mapper 404" - In Fig. 6, the address is associated with the number of hops).
Rangappagowda does not disclose that the transmitting of the second packet is at the first time; that the first response packet comprises a copy of the first packet; that the second response packet comprises a copy of the second packet; that the associate the first address with the first number of hops is based on the field in the copy of the first packet; and that the associate the second address with the second number of hops is based on the field in the copy of the second packet.
Xiao discloses that the first response packet comprises a copy of the first packet (col. 8, lines 45-64, "Multiple probe packets are transmitted with different TTL values so that each hop along the path can be discovered. [...], reply messages will be returned to host A (the source host) at each intermediate hop. The transmission of a probe packet, whose TTL value expires at the first router, is illustrated in FIG. 5A by line 164. In response to the expiration of the TTL value and as is known in the field, the router that receives such a probe packet will generate a reply message (e.g., ICMP message) in the form of an IP packet that is addressed to the source host and that includes the first eight bytes of the probe packet's transport layer header in the payload of the reply packet" - as it's known in the art, the first 8 bytes are the header of the packet, see also col. 6, line 66 to col. 7, line 7 - note paragraph [0019] of the instant application, as filed, where a "copy" of a response packet is a "copy of the packet headers up until the payload");
that the second response packet comprises a copy of the second packet (col. 8, lines 45-64, "Multiple probe packets are transmitted with different TTL values so that each hop along the path can be discovered. [...], reply messages will be returned to host A (the source host) at each intermediate hop. The transmission of a probe packet, whose TTL value expires at the first router, is illustrated in FIG. 5A by line 164. In response to the expiration of the TTL value and as is known in the field, the router that receives such a probe packet will generate a reply message (e.g., ICMP message) in the form of an IP packet that is addressed to the source host and that includes the first eight bytes of the probe packet's transport layer header in the payload of the reply packet" - as it's known in the art, the first 8 bytes of an ICMP message are the header portion of the ICMP message, which is followed by the payload);
that the associate the first address with the first number of hops is based on the field in the copy of the first packet (col. 8, lines 45-64, "Given the varying TTL values of the probe packets, reply messages will be returned to host A (the source host) at each intermediate hop. The transmission of a probe packet, whose TTL value expires at the first router, is illustrated in FIG. 5A by line 164. In response to the expiration of the TTL value and as is known in the field, the router that receives such a probe packet will generate a reply message (e.g., ICMP message) in the form of an IP packet that is addressed to the source host and that includes the first eight bytes of the probe packet's transport layer header in the payload of the reply packet. For example, the first eight bytes of the TCP or UDP header is included in the payload of the reply packet. The content of the reply packet is used by a probe/reply receiver 168 of the path discovery controller to determine the path of the probe packets through the network"); and
that the associate the second address with the second number of hops is based on the field in the copy of the second packet (col. 8, lines 45-64, "Given the varying TTL values of the probe packets, reply messages will be returned to host A (the source host) at each intermediate hop. The transmission of a probe packet, whose TTL value expires at the first router, is illustrated in FIG. 5A by line 164. In response to the expiration of the TTL value and as is known in the field, the router that receives such a probe packet will generate a reply message (e.g., ICMP message) in the form of an IP packet that is addressed to the source host and that includes the first eight bytes of the probe packet's transport layer header in the payload of the reply packet. For example, the first eight bytes of the TCP or UDP header is included in the payload of the reply packet. The content of the reply packet is used by a probe/reply receiver 168 of the path discovery controller to determine the path of the probe packets through the network").
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Rangappagowda in view of Xiao so that the first response packet comprises a copy of the first packet; that the second response packet comprises a copy of the second packet; that the associate the first address with the first number of hops is based on the field in the copy of the first packet; and that the associate the second address with the second number of hops is based on the field in the copy of the second packet.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated because it would enable the system to differentiate path discovery replies from other traffic by analyzing the content of the reply packets (Xiao, col. 9, lines 5-18).
The combined system of Rangappagowda and Xiao does not disclose that the transmitting of the second packet is at the first time.
Thibautprobst discloses that the transmitting of the second packet is at the first time (page 3, paragraph near bottom, "I send a set of packets simultaneously with different TTL values").
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the combined system of Rangappagowda and Xiao in view of thibautprobst so that the transmitting of the second packet is at the first time.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated because it allows mapping faster than traditional traceroute (thibautprobst, top of page 3).
Regarding claim 2, the combined system of Rangappagowda, Xiao, and thibautprobst discloses the invention substantially as applied to claim 1, above, wherein the field comprises an Internet Protocol (IP) identification field for IP version 4 or a flow label field for IP version 6 (Xiao, col. 11, lines 25-27 "bits from the first eight bytes of the transport layer header are used for the path discovery signature"; col. 6, line 66 to col. 7, line 7, "the probe packet is a TCP/IP packet that has the same five-tuple as the user application packet. In particular, the protocol field is IPv4, the source address is 192.168.1.1, the destination address is 192.168.100.2, the source port is the same as the port number used by the user application, and the destination port is 80. In an embodiment, bits from the identification field in the IP header and bits from the sequence number field in the TCP header are used to form a path discovery signature").
Regarding claim 3, the combined system of Rangappagowda, Xiao, and thibautprobst discloses the invention substantially as applied to claim 1, above, wherein the first number of hops and the second number of hops each comprises a Time to Live value (Rangappagowda, ¶[0030], "network topology mapper 404 generates and sends a number of probe packets with TTL values of 2 designed to probe of next hops reachable from router R1 410").
Regarding claim 4, the combined system of Rangappagowda, Xiao, and thibautprobst discloses the invention substantially as applied to claim 1, above, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to extract the first number of hops from the field in the copy of the first packet and the second number of hops from the field in the copy of the second packet (Xiao, col. 8, lines 45-64, "Given the varying TTL values of the probe packets, reply messages will be returned to host A (the source host) at each intermediate hop. The transmission of a probe packet, whose TTL value expires at the first router, is illustrated in FIG. 5A by line 164. In response to the expiration of the TTL value and as is known in the field, the router that receives such a probe packet will generate a reply message (e.g., ICMP message) in the form of an IP packet that is addressed to the source host and that includes the first eight bytes of the probe packet's transport layer header in the payload of the reply packet. For example, the first eight bytes of the TCP or UDP header is included in the payload of the reply packet. The content of the reply packet is used by a probe/reply receiver 168 of the path discovery controller to determine the path of the probe packets through the network" (extracting the content inherent)).
Regarding claim 5, the combined system of Rangappagowda, Xiao, and thibautprobst discloses the invention substantially as applied to claim 1, above, wherein the first response packet and the second response packet each comprises an Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) packet (Rangappagowda, ¶[0029], "The response or responses may be ICMP time exceeded messages").
Regarding claim 6, the combined system of Rangappagowda, Xiao, and thibautprobst discloses the invention substantially as applied to claim 5, above, wherein the ICMP packet comprises a message indicating a Time to Live value is expired (Rangappagowda, ¶[0029], "The response or responses may be ICMP time exceeded messages that are generated when the receiving router R1 410 decrements the TTL value in a received probe packet and the resulting TTL value is zero").
Regarding claim 7, the combined system of Rangappagowda, Xiao, and thibautprobst discloses the invention substantially as applied to claim 1, above, wherein a header of the first response packet comprises the first address and a header of the second response packet comprises the second address (Rangappagowda, ¶[0032], "the responses to the probe packets from routers R2 412 and R3 414 are received by network topology mapper 404. The responses from router R2 412 include the source address of router R2 412. The responses from router R3 414 include the source address of router R3 414").
Regarding claim 8, the combined system of Rangappagowda, Xiao, and thibautprobst discloses the invention substantially as applied to claim 1, above, wherein the first address and the second address each comprises an Internet Protocol address (Rangappagowda, ¶[0032], "the responses to the probe packets from routers R2 412 and R3 414 are received by network topology mapper 404. The responses from router R2 412 include the source address of router R2 412. The responses from router R3 414 include the source address of router R3 414"; ¶[0026], "a response packet that includes the IP address of the node").
Regarding claim 9, the combined system of Rangappagowda, Xiao, and thibautprobst discloses the invention substantially as applied to claim 1, above, wherein the first packet and the second packet each comprises a source Internet Protocol (IP) address, a destination IP address, a source port, a destination port, and a protocol (Rangappagowda, ¶[0037], "flow parameters include IP source address, source port, IP destination address, destination port, and protocol"; ¶[0038], "flow parameters for each of the probe packets are selected from the list. As stated above, if the list is empty for a given hop, probe packet parameters will be algorithmically generated. However, if the list is non-empty for a given hop, parameters may be selected from packet parameters of flows that reached the hop"; ¶[0039], "the number of probe packets is generated and the selected flow parameters are includes in the probe packets").
Regarding claim 10, the combined system of Rangappagowda, Xiao, and thibautprobst discloses the invention substantially as applied to claim 1, above, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to sort the first packet and the second packet based on the first number of hops and the second number of hops (thibautprobst, page 4, since responses are received out of order, requests are required to be associated with responses in order to properly map a network, sorting the requests by TTL is thus necessary to obtain sorted results such as in pages 5-6).
Regarding claim 11, the combined system of Rangappagowda, Xiao, and thibautprobst discloses the invention substantially as applied to claim 1, above, wherein the copy of the first packet is stored within a payload of the first response packet and the copy of the second packet is stored within the payload of the second response packet (Xiao, col. 8, lines 45-64, "Given the varying TTL values of the probe packets, reply messages will be returned to host A (the source host) at each intermediate hop. The transmission of a probe packet, whose TTL value expires at the first router, is illustrated in FIG. 5A by line 164. In response to the expiration of the TTL value and as is known in the field, the router that receives such a probe packet will generate a reply message (e.g., ICMP message) in the form of an IP packet that is addressed to the source host and that includes the first eight bytes of the probe packet's transport layer header in the payload of the reply packet. For example, the first eight bytes of the TCP or UDP header is included in the payload of the reply packet. The content of the reply packet is used by a probe/reply receiver 168 of the path discovery controller to determine the path of the probe packets through the network").
Claim(s) 12-15 and 17-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Adhikari et al. (US 20050207410 A1, hereinafter Adhikari) in view of Rangappagowda (US 20190123993 A1).
Regarding claim 12, Adhikari discloses a method to be performed by processing circuitry (¶[0112], "one or more of the monitoring and analysis functions described above in conjunction with the illustrative embodiments of the invention may be implemented in whole or in part in software utilizing processor 702 and memory 704 associated with a controller or an endpoint device") comprising:
generating a first packet having a field comprising a first value indicative of a first number of hops that the first packet is set to exist inside a network (¶[0038], "The original traceroute UDP packet has a TTL value of one, and an identification field of 2300. SG1 encapsulates the traceroute UDP packet such that the original TTL value and the identification field are copied to the ESP packet IP header during the encapsulation process"),
wherein the first value is constant as the first packet traverses the network (¶[0040], "It should be noted that the ICMP reply packets returned to SG1 will also contain the original IP header of the ESP packet and eight bytes of IP data" - see also ¶[0044], the original TTL is 8, the packet traverses the network and the ESP is then decapsulated including a TTL of 8, that is, the value of the encapsulated TTL remains constant);
causing transmission of the first packet to a first routing device associated with the first number of hops (¶[0045], "It is also possible that the TTL may expire before reaching the destination host PC2"; from Fig. 1, an early expiration might include a router - see also ¶[0039], the routers are mapped using the techniques);
receiving a first response packet from the first routing device, the first response packet comprising a copy of the first packet (¶[0047], "here the traceroute packet either reaches the destination host or TTL expires before the host is reached, the ICMP reply packet will contain the IP header and eight bytes of IP data of the original traceroute packet. The eight bytes of IP data will be the UDP header of the original traceroute packet").
Adhikari does not disclose that the first response packet comprises a first address of the first routing device; and associating the first address with the first number of hops based on the field.
Rangappagowda discloses that a response packet comprises a first address of the first routing device (¶[0031], "Because the time to live values in the probe packets are now zero, routers R2 412 and R3 414 do not forward the probe packets and instead generate responses to the sender of the probe packets"; ¶[0032], "In line 4 of the message flow diagram, the responses to the probe packets from routers R2 412 and R3 414 are received by network topology mapper 404. The responses from router R2 412 include the source address of router R2 412. The responses from router R3 414 include the source address of router R3 414"); and
associating the first address with the first number of hops based on the field (¶[0032], "The responses from router R2 412 include the source address of router R2 412"; ¶[0042], "network addresses of next hops revealed by the responses are recorded. For example, network topology mapper 404 records the source network address of each next hop identified by the probe packets"; ¶[0060], "FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a network topology map that may be generated by network topology mapper 404" - In Fig. 6, the address is associated with the number of hops which is based on the TTL of the probe packet).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Adhikari in view of Rangappagowda so that the first response packet comprises a first address of the first routing device; and associating the first address with the first number of hops based on the field.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated because it would facilitate the construction of network topology maps (Rangappagowda, ¶[0004]-[0005]).
Regarding claim 13, the combined system of Adhikari and Rangappagowda discloses the invention substantially as applied to claim 12, above, wherein the field comprises an Internet Protocol (IP) identification field (Adhikari, ¶[0035], "copying of a TTL value and an identification field from the original traceroute packet IP header to the ESP packet IP header").
Adhikari does not explicitly disclose that the IP identification field is for IP version 4 or a flow label for IP version 6.
Rangappagowda discloses that IP may be IPv4 (Fig. 6, the system maps IPv4 addresses, suggesting packets are IPv4 packets )
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Adhikari in view of Rangappagowda so that the IP identification field is for IP version 4 or a flow label for IP version 6.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated because IPv4 is a well-known and stable version of the IP protocol.
Regarding claim 14, the combined system of Adhikari and Rangappagowda discloses the invention substantially as applied to claim 12, above, wherein the first number of hops comprises a Time to Live value (Adhikari, ¶[0045], TTL expires after a number of hops).
Regarding claim 15, the combined system of Adhikari and Rangappagowda discloses the invention substantially as applied to claim 12, above, comprising: generating a second packet having the field comprising a second value indicative of a second number of hops that the second packet is set to exist inside the network (Adhikari, ¶[0039], "Additional traceroute packets associated with this traceroute application are then transmitted by SG1 with increasing initial TTL values, and will result in SG1 receiving ICMP Time Exceeded reply packets from other routers in the network path between security gateways SG1 and SG2. This allows the network path between SG1 and SG2, including the portion within the public Internet 102, to be fully characterized"),
wherein the second value is constant as the second packet traverses the network (Adhikari, ¶[0038]-[0040] applied to any new packets); and
causing transmission of the second packet to a second routing device associated with the second number of hops (Adhikari, ¶[0045], "It is also possible that the TTL may expire before reaching the destination host PC2"; from Fig. 1, an early expiration might include a router - see also ¶[0039], the routers are mapped using the techniques).
Regarding claim 17, Adhikari discloses one or more tangible, non-transitory computer-readable media storing instructions that, when executed by processing circuitry, are configured (¶[0112], "one or more of the monitoring and analysis functions described above in conjunction with the illustrative embodiments of the invention may be implemented in whole or in part in software utilizing processor 702 and memory 704 associated with a controller or an endpoint device") to cause the processing circuitry to:
generate a first packet having a field comprising a first value indicative of a first number of hops that the first packet is set to exist inside a network (¶[0038], "The original traceroute UDP packet has a TTL value of one, and an identification field of 2300. SG1 encapsulates the traceroute UDP packet such that the original TTL value and the identification field are copied to the ESP packet IP header during the encapsulation process"),
wherein the first value is constant as the first packet traverses the network (¶[0040], "It should be noted that the ICMP reply packets returned to SG1 will also contain the original IP header of the ESP packet and eight bytes of IP data" - see also ¶[0044], the original TTL is 8, the packet traverses the network and the ESP is then decapsulated including a TTL of 8, that is, the value of the encapsulated TTL remains constant);
cause transmission of the first packet to a first routing device associated with the first number of hops (¶[0045], "It is also possible that the TTL may expire before reaching the destination host PC2"; from Fig. 1, an early expiration might include a router - see also ¶[0039], the routers are mapped using the techniques);
receive a response packet from the first routing device, the response packet comprising a copy of the first packet (¶[0047], "here the traceroute packet either reaches the destination host or TTL expires before the host is reached, the ICMP reply packet will contain the IP header and eight bytes of IP data of the original traceroute packet. The eight bytes of IP data will be the UDP header of the original traceroute packet").
Adhikari does not disclose that the first response packet comprises a first address of the first routing device; and associating the first address with the first number of hops based on the field.
Rangappagowda discloses that a response packet comprises a first address of the first routing device (¶[0031], "Because the time to live values in the probe packets are now zero, routers R2 412 and R3 414 do not forward the probe packets and instead generate responses to the sender of the probe packets"; ¶[0032], "In line 4 of the message flow diagram, the responses to the probe packets from routers R2 412 and R3 414 are received by network topology mapper 404. The responses from router R2 412 include the source address of router R2 412. The responses from router R3 414 include the source address of router R3 414"); and
associating the first address with the first number of hops based on the field (¶[0032], "The responses from router R2 412 include the source address of router R2 412"; ¶[0042], "network addresses of next hops revealed by the responses are recorded. For example, network topology mapper 404 records the source network address of each next hop identified by the probe packets"; ¶[0060], "FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a network topology map that may be generated by network topology mapper 404" - In Fig. 6, the address is associated with the number of hops which is based on the TTL of the probe packet).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Adhikari in view of Rangappagowda so that the first response packet comprises a first address of the first routing device; and associating the first address with the first number of hops based on the field.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated because it would facilitate the construction of network topology maps (Rangappagowda, ¶[0004]-[0005]).
Regarding claim 18, the combined system of Adhikari and Rangappagowda discloses the invention substantially as applied to claim 17, above, wherein the instructions, when executed by the processing circuitry, are configured to cause the processing circuitry to extract the field from the copy of the first packet (Adhikari, ¶[0030], "SG2 decapsulates the ESP packet").
Regarding claim 19, the combined system of Adhikari and Rangappagowda discloses the invention substantially as applied to claim 17, above, wherein the instructions, when executed by the processing circuitry, are configured to cause the processing circuitry to: generate a second packet having the field comprising a second value indicative of a second number of hops that the second packet is to exist inside the network (Adhikari, ¶[0039], "Additional traceroute packets associated with this traceroute application are then transmitted by SG1 with increasing initial TTL values, and will result in SG1 receiving ICMP Time Exceeded reply packets from other routers in the network path between security gateways SG1 and SG2. This allows the network path between SG1 and SG2, including the portion within the public Internet 102, to be fully characterized"),
wherein the second value is constant as the second packet traverses the network (Adhikari, ¶[0038]-[0040] applied to any new packets); and
cause transmission of the second packet to a second routing device associated with the second number of hops (Adhikari, ¶[0045], "It is also possible that the TTL may expire before reaching the destination host PC2"; from Fig. 1, an early expiration might include a router - see also ¶[0039], the routers are mapped using the techniques).
Claim(s) 16 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Adhikari (US 20050207410 A1, hereinafter Adhikari) in view of Rangappagowda (US 20190123993 A1), as respectively applied to claims 15 and 19, above, and further in view of Thibaut Probst ("flyingroutes: a faster alternative to traceroute", thibautprobst.fr, 9/13/2024, hereinafter thibautprobst).
Regarding claim 16, the combined system of Adhikari and Rangappagowda discloses the invention substantially as applied to claim 15, above.
The combined system of Adhikari and Rangappagowda does not disclose that receiving the first response packet occurs after causing transmission of the second packet.
Thibautprobst discloses receiving the first response packet occurs after causing transmission of the second packet (page 3, paragraph near bottom, "I send a set of packets simultaneously with different TTL values" implying responses are not yet received when the multiple packets are sent).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the combined system of Adhikari and Rangappagowda in view of thibautprobst to transmit the second packet before receiving the response packet.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated because it allows mapping faster than traditional traceroute (thibautprobst, top of page 3).
Regarding claim 20, the combined system of Adhikari and Rangappagowda discloses the invention substantially as applied to claim 19, above.
The combined system of Adhikari and Rangappagowda does not disclose cause transmission of the second packet before receiving the response packet.
Thibautprobst discloses transmit the second packet before receiving the response packet (page 3, paragraph near bottom, "I send a set of packets simultaneously with different TTL values" implying responses are not yet received when the multiple packets are sent).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the combined system of Adhikari and Rangappagowda in view of thibautprobst to transmit the second packet before receiving the response packet.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated because it allows mapping faster than traditional traceroute (thibautprobst, top of page 3).
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.
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/BORIS D GRIJALVA LOBOS/ Primary Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2496
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