DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 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.
Claim 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lu et
al (Pub. No.: US 2024/0205040) in view of Lococo (US Patent No. 8,385,471) OR Peloso et al (Pub. No.: US 2008/0013947).
Regarding claim 17, referring to Figures 1-3, Lu et al teaches a digital
signal processor (DSP) (i.e., digital signal processor DSP, Fig. 2) for a coherent transceiver, comprising:
a processor input (i.e., DSP, Fig. 2) configured to receive an input digital
data signal (i.e., Figures 1-3, page 5, paragraph [0061], and page 6, paragraphs [0062]-[0066]).
Lu et al differs from claim 17 in that he fails to specifically teach an operational mode selection unit configured to select between a single-
channel (SC) operational mode of the coherent transceiver and a multiple-channel (DSC) operational mode of the coherent transceiver; an SC processing path for processing the input digital data signal in the SC operational mode; a DSC processing path for processing the input digital data signal in the DSC operational mode, and a processor output configured to output results from the SC and the DSC processing paths. However, Lococo in US Patent No. 8,385,471 teaches an operational mode selection unit (i.e., receiver unit 300, Fig. 3A) configured to select between a single-channel (SC) operational mode and a multiple-channel (DSC) operational mode, an SC processing path (i.e., Fig. 3A) for processing the input digital data signal in the SC operational mode, a DSC processing path (i.e., Fig. 3A) for processing the input digital data signal in the DSC operational mode, and an output configured to output results from the SC and the DSC processing paths (i.e., Figures 3A and 4, col. 9, lines 45-54, col. 10, lines 51-67, and col. 11, lines 1-31). Based on this teaching, it would have been obvious to one having skill in the art at the time the invention was made to incorporate the operational mode selection unit configured to select between a single-channel (SC) operational mode and a multiple-channel (DSC) operational mode, an SC processing path for processing the input digital data signal in the SC operational mode, a DSC processing path for processing the input digital data signal in the DSC operational mode, and an output configured to output results from the SC and the DSC processing paths as taught by Lococo in the system of Lu et al. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do this since allowing selecting the wanted channel and improving the performance of the system.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 18-20 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base
claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Claims 1-16 are allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
Claims 1-16 are allowable because Lu et al (Pub. No.: US 2024/0205040),
Lococo et al (US Patent No. 8,385,471), and Liu et al (US Patent No. 10,992,406), takes alone or in combination, fails a media access control (MAC) layer configured to enable dual-mode operation of the first coherent transceiver; a software management and control module configured to communicate with a remote second transceiver over a first channel of an optical distribution network (ODN);
a coherent digital signal processor (DSP) in communication with the software management and control module, and configured to process a digital data signal from the MAC layer; and a coherent optics infrastructure configured to transmit and receive analog data signals over the ODN to and from the remote second
transceiver, respectively, wherein the analog data signals include (a) a communication subcarrier, and (b) a data subcarrier, wherein the digital data signal from the MAC layer includes (a) a first data portion including control information from the communication subcarrier, and (b) a second data portion including primary information from the data subcarrier, and wherein the coherent DSP is further configured to dynamically reconfigure processing of the digital data signal between a first operational mode and a second operational mode based on a transport type of the data subcarrier.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
7. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to
applicant's disclosure.
Liu et al (US Patent No. 10,992,406) discloses communication in passive optical network related to digital signal processing for optical signal.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from
the examiner should be directed to Hanh Phan whose telephone number is
(571)272-3035. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful
the examiner's supervisor, Kenneth Vanderpuye, can be reached on (571)272-
3078. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or
proceeding is assigned is (571)273-8300. Any inquiry of a general nature or
relating to the status of this application or proceeding should be directed to the
receptionist whose telephone number is (703)305-4700.
/HANH PHAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2634
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