CTNF 18/928,960 CTNF 80485 DETAILED ACTION Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. Application # 18/928,960 was filed on 10/28/2024. Claims 1-20 are subject to examination. An IDS filed on 12/4/2024 has been fully considered and entered by the Examiner. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-20-aia AIA 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. 07-21-aia AIA Claim (s) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Smith et al. U.S. Patent Publication # 2015/0326441 (hereinafter Smith) in view of Background of the invention (hereinafter BOI) With respect to claim 1, Smith teaches a method of determining a network path, comprising: -determining a first reachable network path that uses a source node as a start point (Fig. 3 element A) (Paragraph 20-21) and a directly connected node of the source node as an end point (Paragraph 34), wherein the source node is a network node accessed by a target device in a target network (Paragraph 34-38); -selecting a first node from a to-be-added node set (i.e. Node B, C, D, E, F) to obtain a network path that uses the source node as the start point (i.e. Node A) and the first node as a relay (i.e. Node B) (Paragraph 34-38), wherein the to-be-added node set is a set of network nodes other than the source node in the target network (i.e. node B, C, D, E, F are not the source node in the target network in Fig. 3); and when there are m network paths (i.e. 2 paths Fig. 4, the top 2 paths which are node A to Node B to Node F to Node G and the other path is node A to Node B to Node D to Node E to Node G ) using a same destination node as end points in a target path (i.e. Node G is the target path)(Paragraph 39-40), comparing the m network paths based on n target factors (i.e. latency and bandwidth)(Fig. 4) to obtain a first dominant network path (i.e. Fig. 4 which shows distance, latency and bandwidth from originating node A to node G) and updating the first reachable network path based on the first dominant network path to obtain an updated first reachable network path (Paragraph 39-40), wherein the target path comprises the first reachable network path and the second reachable network path, m>2, and n>2 (Paragraph 39-40)(Fig. 3-4) Although Smith implicitly shows having multiple optimal paths which are construed as dominant path, BOI teaches obtaining a first dominant network paths and second dominant network paths (i.e. optimal paths which is local optimal path and global optimal paths (Paragraph 4-5). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement BOI’s teaching in Smith’s teaching to come up with having multiple dominant paths. The motivation for doing so would be use these dominant paths are first and second options to send back which have lower latency and higher bandwidth so the packets get to the destination faster/optimally. With respect to claim 2, Smith and BOI teaches the method according to claim 1, but Smith further teaches wherein after obtaining the updated first reachable network path, the method further comprises: deleting the first node from the to-be-added node set (Paragraph 20, 33), and repeatedly selecting a further first node from the to-be-added node set until the to-be-added node set is an empty set (Paragraph 20, 33) With respect to claim 3, Smith and BOI teaches the method according to claim 2, but Smith further teaches wherein comparing the m network paths comprises: performing a partial order comparison on the m network paths based on the n target factors to obtain a second dominant network path (i.e. Fig. 4, Originating Node A to Node G, with latency 29ms and bandwidth 4.1), wherein the second dominant network path is used as the first dominant network path (Paragraph 33, 39-40)(Fig. 3-4) With respect to claim 4, Smith and BOI teaches the method according to claim 3, but Smith further teaches wherein the method further comprises: when the to-be-added node set becomes an empty set after the first node is deleted (Paragraph 20, 33), determining a first target network path that uses the source node as the start point and a destination node corresponding to to-be-transmitted data as an endpoint based on a network performance requirement of the to-be-transmitted data on the target device and from a last updated first reachable network path, wherein the first target network path is used to transmit the to-be-transmitted data (Paragraphs 34-40) With respect to claim 5, Smith and BOI teaches the method of claim 2, but Smith further teaches wherein comparing the m network paths comprises: performing a partial order comparison on the m network paths based on the n target factors to obtain a second dominant network path (i.e. Fig. 4, Originating Node A to Node G, with latency 29ms and bandwidth 4.1); and when there are at least p second dominant network paths (i.e. multiple paths in Fig. 4), selecting q paths from the p second dominant network paths as first dominant network paths, wherein m≥p≥2, and p≥q≥1 (Paragraph 39-40). With respect to claim 6, Smith and BOI teaches the method of claim 5, but Smith further teaches wherein the method further comprises: when the to-be-added node set becomes an empty set after the first node is deleted (Paragraph 33, ), determining a second target network path that uses the source node as the start point and a destination node corresponding to to-be-transmitted data as an end point based on a network performance requirement of the to-be-transmitted data on the target device and from a last updated first reachable network path (Paragraph 34-40), wherein the second target network path is used to transmit the to-be-transmitted data (i.e. Fig. 4, Originating Node A to Node G, with latency 29ms and bandwidth 4.1) (Paragraph 39-40) With respect to claim 7, Smith and BOI teaches the method of claim 6, but Smith further teaches wherein the method further comprises: determining that a current to-be-added node set is a target node set when there are the at least p second dominant network paths (i.e. multiple paths in Fig. 4); and using the target node set as a new to-be-added node set, and repeatedly selecting the further first node from the to-be-added node set to obtain the second reachable network path that uses the source node as the start point and the first node as the relay until a first reachable network path (i.e. Fig. 4, Originating Node A to Node G, with latency 22ms and bandwidth 5.8) obtained in a last round reaches a convergence condition or a preset quantity of rounds is reached (Paragraph 34-40); wherein selecting the first node from the to-be-added node set to obtain the second reachable network path that uses the source node as the start point and the first node as the relay and the subsequent step once is one round (Paragraph 34-40) With respect to claim 8, Smith and BOI teaches the method of claim 7, but Smith further teaches wherein the method further comprises: switching a transmission path of the to-be-transmitted data from the second target network path to a third target network path (i.e. node B or node C or node D as originating node)(Fig. 4), wherein the third target network path is one target path that is in target paths obtained in a plurality of rounds and that meets a preset condition, and network performance of the third target network path is better than network performance of the second target network path (Paragraph 39-40)(Fig. 4) With respect to claim 9, Smith and BOI teaches the method of claim 8, but Smith further teaches wherein switching the transmission path of the to-be-transmitted data from the second target network path to the third target network path comprises: obtaining a switching instruction used to instruct the source node to wait for a preset duration and then initiate transmission of a non-transmitted data packet in the to-be-transmitted data on the third target network path (Paragraph 39-40, 50-51)(Fig. 4) With respect to claim 10, Smith and BOI teaches the method of claim 3, but Smith further teaches wherein performing the partial order comparison on the m network paths comprises: constructing m performance arrays of the m network paths based on the n target factors, wherein each performance array of the m performance arrays comprises n elements (Fig. 4, 7)(Paragraph 39-40, 50), one network path of the m network paths corresponds to one performance array of the m performance arrays (Fig. 4 & 7), and one element of the n elements corresponds to a value of one target factor on a corresponding network path (Fig. 4, 7)(Paragraph 39-40, 50); and when a value of each element of the n elements in a first performance array of the m performance arrays is greater than or equal to a value of an element at a corresponding location in a second performance array of the m performance arrays (i.e. higher bandwidth in table 4), determining that a network path corresponding to the first performance array is a second dominant network path (Fig. 4, 7)(Paragraph 39-40, 50) With respect to claim 11, Smith and BOI teaches the method of claim 10, but Smith further teaches wherein the method further comprises: when a value of a first element of the n elements in the first performance array is greater than or equal to a value of an element at a corresponding location in the second performance array, and a value of a second element of the n elements in the first performance array is less than or equal to a value of an element at a corresponding location in the second performance array, determining that the network path corresponding to the first performance array and a network path corresponding to the second performance array are second dominant network paths (Fig. 4, 7)(Paragraph 39-40, 50). With respect to claim 12, Smith and BOI teaches the method of claim 1, but Smith further teaches wherein selecting the first node from the to-be-added node set comprises: selecting, from the to-be- added node set based on a network performance requirement of to-be-transmitted data on the target device, the first node that meets a preset performance requirement (Paragraph 20). With respect to claim 13, Smith and BOI teaches the method of claim 1, but Smith further teaches wherein updating the first reachable network path comprises: reserving only the first dominant network path (i.e. optimal/optimize/data path)(Paragraph 20, 56), and using a target path comprising the reserved first dominant network path as the updated first reachable network path (Paragraph 50, 20, 56) With respect to claim 14, Smith and BOI teaches the method of claim 1, but Smith further teaches wherein the n target factors comprise at least one of: a network performance indicator or a conditional restriction target (i.e. bandwidth or latency limitations with maximizing bandwidth and minimizing latency)(Paragraph 20) With respect to claim 15, Smith and BOI teaches the method of claim 1, but Smith further teaches wherein the network performance indicator comprises at least one of: a bandwidth, a latency, a packet loss rate, a jitter, or costs (Fig. 4)(Paragraph 20) With respect to claim 16, Smith and BOI teaches the method of claim 2, but Smith further teaches wherein the target network comprises at least one of: an overlay network (i.e. node A to B to F to G) or an underlay network (Paragraph 18-20) With respect to claim 17, Smith teaches a network device, comprising: a processor; and a memory coupled to the processor (Paragraph 61) and storing a program, which when executed by the processor, causes the network device to perform operations, the operations comprising: -determining a first reachable network path that uses a source node as a start point (Fig. 3 element A) (Paragraph 20-21) and a directly connected node of the source node as an end point (Paragraph 34), wherein the source node is a network node accessed by a target device in a target network (Paragraph 34-38); -selecting a first node from a to-be-added node set (i.e. Node B, C, D, E, F) to obtain a network path that uses the source node as the start point (i.e. Node A) and the first node as a relay (i.e. Node B) (Paragraph 34-38), wherein the to-be-added node set is a set of network nodes other than the source node in the target network (i.e. node B, C, D, E, F are not the source node in the target network in Fig. 3); and when there are m network paths (i.e. 2 paths Fig. 4, the top 2 paths which are node A to Node B to Node F to Node G and the other path is node A to Node B to Node D to Node E to Node G ) using a same destination node as end points in a target path (i.e. Node G is the target path)(Paragraph 39-40), comparing the m network paths based on n target factors (i.e. latency and bandwidth)(Fig. 4) to obtain a first dominant network path (i.e. Fig. 4 which shows distance, latency and bandwidth from originating node A to node G) and updating the first reachable network path based on the first dominant network path to obtain an updated first reachable network path (Paragraph 39-40), wherein the target path comprises the first reachable network path and the second reachable network path, m>2, and n>2 (Paragraph 39-40)(Fig. 3-4) Although Smith implicitly shows having multiple optimal paths which are construed as dominant path, BOI teaches obtaining a first dominant network paths and second dominant network paths (i.e. optimal paths which is local optimal path and global optimal paths (Paragraph 4-5). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement BOI’s teaching in Smith’s teaching to come up with having multiple dominant paths. The motivation for doing so would be use these dominant paths are first and second options to send back which have lower latency and higher bandwidth so the packets get to the destination faster/optimally. With respect to claims 18-19 respectively, they recite similar subject as claims 2-3 respectively, therefore rejected under same basis. With respect to claim 20, Smith teaches a chip comprising: a processor; and a data interface through which the processor reads instructions stored in a memory to perform operations (Paragraph 61), the operations comprising: -determining a first reachable network path that uses a source node as a start point (Fig. 3 element A) (Paragraph 20-21) and a directly connected node of the source node as an end point (Paragraph 34), wherein the source node is a network node accessed by a target device in a target network (Paragraph 34-38); -selecting a first node from a to-be-added node set (i.e. Node B, C, D, E, F) to obtain a network path that uses the source node as the start point (i.e. Node A) and the first node as a relay (i.e. Node B) (Paragraph 34-38), wherein the to-be-added node set is a set of network nodes other than the source node in the target network (i.e. node B, C, D, E, F are not the source node in the target network in Fig. 3); and when there are m network paths (i.e. 2 paths Fig. 4, the top 2 paths which are node A to Node B to Node F to Node G and the other path is node A to Node B to Node D to Node E to Node G ) using a same destination node as end points in a target path (i.e. Node G is the target path)(Paragraph 39-40), comparing the m network paths based on n target factors (i.e. latency and bandwidth)(Fig. 4) to obtain a first dominant network path (i.e. Fig. 4 which shows distance, latency and bandwidth from originating node A to node G) and updating the first reachable network path based on the first dominant network path to obtain an updated first reachable network path (Paragraph 39-40), wherein the target path comprises the first reachable network path and the second reachable network path, m>2, and n>2 (Paragraph 39-40)(Fig. 3-4) Although Smith implicitly shows having multiple optimal paths which are construed as dominant path, BOI teaches obtaining a first dominant network paths and second dominant network paths (i.e. optimal paths which is local optimal path and global optimal paths (Paragraph 4-5). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement BOI’s teaching in Smith’s teaching to come up with having multiple dominant paths. The motivation for doing so would be use these dominant paths are first and second options to send back which have lower latency and higher bandwidth so the packets get to the destination faster/optimally . Conclusion 07-96 AIA The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Kato et al. U.S. Patent Publication # 2017/0164264 Kamada et al. U.S. Patent Publication # 2015/0110106. Kazerani et al. U.S. Patent Publication # 2018/0324084. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DHAIRYA A PATEL whose telephone number is (571)272-5809. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30am-4:00pm. 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Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. DHAIRYA A. PATEL Primary Examiner Art Unit 2453 /DHAIRYA A PATEL/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2453 Application/Control Number: 18/928,960 Page 2 Art Unit: 2453 Application/Control Number: 18/928,960 Page 3 Art Unit: 2453 Application/Control Number: 18/928,960 Page 4 Art Unit: 2453 Application/Control Number: 18/928,960 Page 5 Art Unit: 2453 Application/Control Number: 18/928,960 Page 6 Art Unit: 2453 Application/Control Number: 18/928,960 Page 7 Art Unit: 2453 Application/Control Number: 18/928,960 Page 8 Art Unit: 2453 Application/Control Number: 18/928,960 Page 9 Art Unit: 2453 Application/Control Number: 18/928,960 Page 10 Art Unit: 2453 Application/Control Number: 18/928,960 Page 11 Art Unit: 2453
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