DETAILED ACTION
Response to Arguments
On pages 5-6 of the Remarks, applicant argues “Dam describes path tracing within a single network rather than a topology of connections among different networks … Kim does not cure the deficiencies in Dam.” Applicant’s arguments have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. As an initial matter, the plain meaning of the term “network” is a set of connected computers to communicate data electronically.1 As such, different subsets of a set of networked devices can be readily identified as a single network. For example, applicant’s own specification describes fig. 1 as a single network comprising multiple networks. See para 0012 (“As illustrated in FIG. 1, the network includes an Internet service provider (ISP) network N1, a fixed communication network N2, and a mobile communication network N3.” [emphasis added]). In light of the expansive meaning of the term “network,” the cited references disclose the invention recited in claim 1. Claim 1 recites “visualizes topology indicating connection relations among an Internet service provider (ISP) network included in the network, a fixed communication network and a mobile communication network connected to the Internet service provider network, and a closed network …” This limitation has the following constraint: the topology identifies connection relations among the listed networks, but it does not require visualizing connection relations between each or any specific pair of the listed networks; it only requires a visualization of a plurality of connection relations among the list of named networks and that the topology includes these listed networks. Further, although the claim recites the fixed communication network and the mobile communication network are connected to the ISP network, it does not specify whether the listed networks are distinct or overlap, or how the communication networks are connected with the ISP network [e.g., whether the fixed/mobile communication networks connect an ISP network with a customer premises equipment]. Since Dam ‘421 discloses visualizing a plurality of connection relations in a network communication path that includes an ISP network (figs. 5, 7, 8 and 10 [illustrating endpoints connected to web services via the Internet]), a fixed communication network and a mobile communication network connected to the ISP network (the listed figures identifies a communication path where a portion of the path is a wireless network connected to the endpoint and the path connects to the web service), and a closed network (i.e., the node providing the web service), Dam ‘421 discloses the claimed features.
Further note, the BRI of the term “fixed communication network” and “mobile communication network” is not limited to the examples described by applicant’s specification. Although applicant’s specification describes an embodiment (fig. 1) whereby the fixed communication network is wired using an optical fiber cable and the mobile communication network relies on using radio waves such as 5G (see para 0013-14), the specification does not support a special meaning of these terms. Hence, these claim elements are not limited to these examples, and the claim elements cover topologies that include any communication networks that are characterized as fixed and mobile; e.g., fixed bandwidth vs mobile bandwidth.
For these reasons, claims 1-6 remain rejected under the prior art of record. In addition, after further search and consideration, new claims 7-10 are rejected under 103. The new claims 7-10 recite further characteristics of the ISP network; however, none of the characteristics are recited as visual elements of the claimed information providing device.
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.
Claims 1-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dam US 20170366421 (hereinafter Dam ‘421) in view of Kim et al. KR 20200081632 (hereinafter Kim ‘632). Note: the citations to Kim ‘632 refer to the English translation provided in the instant office communication.
As per claim 1, Dam ‘421 discloses an information providing device comprising:
processing circuitry configured to: monitor occurrence of a failure on a network (para 0064, “ As shown, endpoint agent groups 202, 204, 206 can be utilized to facilitate a visualization of the access network for each of the agents over time, in this case including access points 208, 210, and 212 and which gateways are being used as shown at 214a-c, 216, and 218 (e.g., as well as a path(s) to VPN servers and proxies (not shown in this example in FIG. 2)). Examples of metrics collected can include one or more of the following listed metrics: transmission rate, wireless signal quality, gateway loss and latency, proxy loss and latency, and VPN server loss and latency.”; para 0101, “In this example, the sample object includes additional network information captured during a session. Example additional network information captured during a session can include one or more of the following: host, protocol, and port of HTTP connection; positional coordinates (e.g., resolved using GPS, Wi-Fi location, or network location services); TCP connectivity test towards destination; loss/latency/jitter/traceroute to destination (ICMP); loss/latency/jitter to gateway (ICMP); loss/latency/jitter/traceroute to VPN (ICMP) if configured on the device; loss/latency/jitter/traceroute to HTTP proxy (ICMP) if configured on the device; network configuration profile of network interfaces including IP addresses, DNS servers, gateway, and potential next hop interfaces (in the case of VPNs); physical network information including wireless quality, bssid/ssid, channel, link speed, and/or similar physical network information; proxy configuration profile; and system information including CPU usage, network usage, memory, and disk.”); and
display a screen that visualizes topology indicating connection relations among an Internet service provider (ISP) network included in the network (figs. 5, 7, 8 and 10; para 0103, “FIG. 5 is a graphical visualization that illustrates a path tracing from endpoints in accordance with some embodiments.”; para 0131, “FIG. 7 is a graphical visualization that illustrates a high latency problem from an endpoint to a gateway via a wireless link that is identified using the disclosed techniques in accordance with some embodiments. ”; para 0132, “ FIG. 8 is a graphical visualization that illustrates a packet loss problem from an endpoint to a gateway via a wireless link that is identified using the disclosed techniques in accordance with some embodiments.”; para 0138, “FIG. 10 is a graphical visualization that illustrates a path visualization node grouping view in accordance with some embodiments. In this example, the path between an endpoint agent 1002 and a destination site 1006 is shown in a path visualization node grouping that can be further drilled down into for a more detailed view of the path (e.g., including the additional 15 intermediate hops) as shown at 1004 in FIG. 10),
a fixed communication network and a mobile communication network connected to the Internet service provider network, and a closed network (fig. 5, reference no. 506, 502 and 503; para 0105, “the first hop is a VPN server”; fig. 7, reference no. 704, “TechSpaceATZWireless”; para 0138, “In this example, the path between an endpoint agent 1002 and a destination site 1006 is shown in a path visualization node grouping that can be further drilled down into for a more detailed view of the path (e.g., including the additional 15 intermediate hops) as shown at 1004 in FIG. 10.”; para 0140, “In one embodiment, the disclosed path visualization node grouping view techniques can be based on labels and/or configurable criteria (e.g., based on network infrastructure that includes public network, private network, or endpoint properties such as location, and/or other properties)”;
a situation of connection from a site of a user to (fig. 7, reference no. 704, “TechSpaceATZWireless” and 8, reference no. 804), and
a monitoring result (fig. 5, 7, 8 and 10, “Forward Loss”; “Link Delay”).
Dam ‘421 does not expressly disclose, but Kim ‘632 discloses a situation of connection from a site of a user to the fixed communication network and the mobile communication network (fig. 3, 5G, Fixed; pg. 4, para 5, “As illustrated in the attached FIG. 3, the UE may be connected to a specific BS, for example, a 5Gbased
BS, a WiFi-based BS, a fixed BS, etc., and an operator may recognize a connection state of the UE to a specific BS. To visualize it. For example, a connection state is visualized through a line between a UE and a specific BS connected, and colors indicating a connection state for each BS may be displayed differently.”; fig. 4; pg. 4, para 8, “As illustrated in the attached FIG. 4, when a session is formed between the UE, BS, and GW, the session connection state is visualized to be recognized by the operator. For example, the session connection state is visualized through a line connecting the UE, BS, and GW where the session is formed, and the line color may be displayed differently for each session”; fig. 8, page 5, para 9, “As shown in the attached Figure 8, through the visualization of the terminal (UE) connection state, session connection state, flow connection state, it is possible to visualize in the 5G network configuration structure that traffic is simultaneously delivered to the fixed interface as well as the existing 5G interface.”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention such that the visualized path presented by Dam ‘421 is modified to display a situation of connection from a site of a user to a fixed network and a mobile network as taught by Kim ‘632. One would have been motivated to do so to visualize and diagnose connectivity on the different connection pathways by which an endpoint can connect to an ISP network.
As per claim 2, Dam ‘421 in view of Kim ‘632 disclose the information providing device according to claim 1 (supra). Dam ‘421 does not expressly disclose wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to display, on the screen, a situation of connection from a plurality of sites of the user to the fixed communication network and the mobile communication network. However, Dam ‘421 discloses displaying a large number of endpoints on an enterprise network that can be further expanded to illustrate more details on the endpoint connections, either via individual displayed nodes or links. See fig. 11, para 0141, “FIG. 11 is a graphical visualization that illustrates a path visualization node pagination view in accordance with some embodiments. In this example, an endpoint agent group 1102 and an endpoint agent group 1104 are each shown in a path visualization node pagination view that can be further drilled down into for a more detailed view of each of these respective groups of endpoint agents as shown in FIG. 11.” Furthermore, it is conventional for an organization to provision multiple devices to an employee to access the organization’s network using different access points, e.g., laptop via fixed line or Wi-Fi, and mobile phone via Wi-Fi or cellular. Official notice is taken. 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 path visualization map of Dam ‘421 to display a situation of connection from a plurality of sites of the user. One would have been motivated to do so in order to visualize and monitor communication paths of all a user’s devices that can connect to an enterprise network.
As per claim 3, Dam ‘421 in view of Kim ‘632 disclose the information providing device according to claim 1 (supra). In addition, Dam ‘421 discloses wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to display, on the screen, information of virtual private network (VPN) connection established in the Internet service provider network (fig. 5, reference no. 506; para 0105, “the first hop is a VPN server”).
As per claim 4, Dam ‘421 in view of Kim ‘632 disclose the information providing device according to claim 1 (supra). In addition, Dam ‘421 discloses wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to display, on the screen, information indicating a node included in the topology and having a failure based on a monitoring result (fig. 7, reference no. 704, 706, TechSpaceATZWireless; fig. 8, reference no. 804, 806, Quality, Loss, Latency).
Claims 5 and 6 are method and computer readable recording medium claims that corresponds to claim 1. Hence, claims 5 and 6 are rejected as being unpatentable over Dam ‘421 in view of Kim ‘632 for the same reasons as claim 1.
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dam ‘421 in view of Kim ‘632, and further in view of Htay et al. US 20150127805 (hereinafter Htay ‘805).
As per claim 7, Dam ‘421 in view of Kim ‘632 disclose the information providing device according to claim 1 (supra). Dam ‘421 does not disclose, but Htay ‘805 discloses wherein the ISP network is an underlay network system configured to perform software-defined processing (para 0046, “Referring to FIGS. 9-10, in an exemplary embodiment, a network diagram illustrates the SDN ISP network 16A illustrating a multi-layer service insight application 180 and a dynamic bandwidth allocation application 190 on the SDN controller 60. Once the stream 170 is identified with the DPI application 150 and the multi-layer service inventory application 160, the multi-layer service insight application 180 can monitor the stream 170 in the network 16A (FIG. 9). The multi-layer service inventory application 160 can identify an alternate path 195 that may be suitable for premium content with a suitable, well-defined Service Level Agreement (SLA). In the example of FIG. 10, the dynamic bandwidth allocation application 190 can provision a layer 0 wavelength on the ROADM ring 86, a layer 1 path through the Switched OTN node 88 to the Central Office, and any required layer 2 flows at each Enterprise DC 84, 90. Once provisioned, the content will flow across the path 195 allowing the customer to experience high quality video consumption which was not always possible using previous techniques.”) 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 ISP of Dam ‘421 such that the ISP network is an underlay network system configured to perform software-defined processing as taught by Htay ‘805. One would have been motivated to do so to utilize the benefits of software defined processing on the network including dynamic bandwidth allocation.
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dam ‘421 in view of Kim ‘632 and Htay ‘805, and further in view of Varma US 20140254373 (hereinafter Varma ‘373).
As per claim 8, Dam ‘421 in view of Kim ‘632 and Htay ‘805 disclose the information providing device according to claim 7 (supra). Dam ‘421 does not disclose, but Varma ‘373 discloses wherein the software-defined processing includes control of network quality including switching of connection between a guarantee-type connection to a best effort-type connection (para 0076, “In one aspect, each of OpenFlow switches in the backhaul network supports differentiated service ("DiffServ") which specifies a simple, scalable and coarse-grained mechanism for classifying and managing traffic flows in view of QoS. DiffSery type QoS control, in one example, may include several classes, such as a single Expedited Forwarding ("EF") class, multiple Assured Forwarding ("AF") classes, and a single Best Effort ("BE") class. OFNC, in one embodiment, is configured to allocate bandwidth to EF, AF, and BE classes at each node based on network resource availabilities. It should be noted that OpenFlow switches, for instance, support the implementation of traffic shaping and policing on per flow basis.”). 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 software-defined processing of Dam ‘421 in view of Kim ‘632 and Htay ‘805 such that the software-defined processing includes OpenFlow switches that support differentiated service as taught by Varma ‘373. One would have done so to enable dynamic class-based quality of service in order to allocate network bandwidth efficiently while limiting overhead.
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dam ‘421 in view of Kim ‘632 and Htay ‘805, and further in view of Dattagupta et al. US 20210075697 (Dattagupta ‘697).
As per claim 9, Dam ‘421 in view of Kim ‘632 and Htay ‘805 disclose the information providing device according to claim 7 (supra). Dam ‘421 does not disclose, but Dattagupta ‘697 discloses wherein the software-defined processing includes control of network quality via a band change (para 0042, “ A self-balancing network (SBN) is described herein which uses network slicing of a SDN to provide different slices with different service-level agreements (SLAs) using various systems and methods.”; para 0052, “If an end device is capable of connecting to two different network segments, the SBN may allow for predictive switching between the two interfaces. Since the capacity is defined per frequency and per access category with defined prioritization, the user can define the device priority and application priority based capacity assignment. For devices with higher priority or when a higher priority application runs on a device, the network links in the data path may receive the required capacity assignment as per the priority. For example, if a device operating on a particular 5 GHz channel begins to experience lower capacity than its SLA promises, a lower priority device on the same 5 GHz link channel may be steered to a different band in the SBN.”; para 0055, “There may be two aspects to band steering or location steering. The first aspect is a policy decision as to whether or not to perform the steering and the second aspect is the mechanics of how to make the decision as to where to steer the device.”). 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 software-defined processing of Dam ‘421 in view of Kim ‘632 and Htay ‘805 such that it includes control of network quality via a band change as taught by Dattagupta ‘697. One would have been motivated to do so to efficiently and seamlessly handle network flow congestion and priorities within an SDN.
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dam ‘421 in view of Kim ‘632 and Htay ‘805, and further in view of Cooper et al. US 20160205071 (Cooper ‘071).
As per claim 10, Dam ‘421 in view of Kim ‘632 and Htay ‘805 disclose the information providing device according to claim 7 (supra). Dam ‘421 does not disclose, but Cooper ‘071 discloses wherein the underlay network system is further configured to provide a security function using deep packet inspection (para 031-032, “Various security appliances may be used with SDN. In particular, security appliances which can enforce one or more security policies via routing can be used with SDN to implement the security policies in the SDN environment. Generally speaking, a security appliance scans or inspects packet headers and/or payload within one or more layers of the OSI model. For instance, a security appliance may filter or process packets based on characteristics of packets according to the security model. A security appliance may be implemented on or provided in a physical security device, and the term “security appliance” may be used interchangeably with “security device” herein. Security appliances may include one or more of the following, but these examples are not limited to: [0032] a firewall which performs deep packet inspection of network traffic which traverses through the firewall”). 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 underlay network system of Dam ‘421 in view of Kim ‘632 and Htay ‘805 such that it is further configured to provide a security function using DPI as taught by Cooper ‘071. One would have been motivated to do so to flexibility provide security screening on network flows within an SDN on an ad hoc basis.
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 JUNG W KIM whose telephone number is (571)272-3804. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m..
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Amy Cohen Johnson can be reached at 571-272-2238. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JUNG W KIM/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2494
1 See https://www.britannica.com/technology/computer-network
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