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 .
DETAILED ACTION
1. This action is in response to the application filed on 11 November 2024.
Claims 1-20 are presently pending for examination.
Information Disclosure Statement
2. The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 01/22/2026, 05/01/2025 and 02/25/2025 have being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
3. 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) 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jea et al., U. S. Patent Publication No. 2023/0283514 in view of Kaur, U. S. Patent Publication No. 2024/0430985.
Regarding claim 1, Jea discloses a network management system (NMS) comprising: memory; and one or more processors in communication with the memory (see Jae, ¶ [0008]; network management system comprising memory and processor is disclosed ) and configured to: obtain connection event data for one or more network access servers (NAS) devices at a site, wherein each event included in the connection event data comprises a connection or disconnection event of a connection session provided by a service provider between a NAS device of the one or more NAS devices and the NMS (see Jea, ¶ [0010] and [0036]; NMS detects error condition related to connections); based on the detected number of connection swaps satisfying a threshold, predict a root cause of the connection swaps as a wide area network (WAN) issue (see Jea, ¶ [0036] and [0039]; root cause of the connection error condition is determined); and generate a notification of the predicted root cause of the connection swaps (see Jea, ¶ [0083]; notification of the root cause of the connection issue is generated).
Although Jea discloses the invention substantially as claimed, it doesn’t explicitly disclose detect a number of connection swaps in the connection event data over a time window, wherein a connection swap includes a change from a first connection session provided by a first service provider to a second connection session provided by a second service provider.
Kaur teaches detect a number of connection swaps in the connection event data over a time window, wherein a connection swap includes a change from a first connection session provided by a first service provider to a second connection session provided by a second service provider (see Kaur, ¶ [0022] - [0023] and [0047]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the invention to incorporate the teachings of Kaur with that of Jea in order to efficiently maintain high level of service availability and performance.
Regarding claim 2, Jea-Kaur teaches wherein each event included in the connection event data includes an address of the service provider that provided the connection session experiencing the connection or disconnection event, and wherein the one or more processors are configured to, for each event included in the connection event data, perform a reverse lookup of the address of the service provider included in the event to determine a name and a location of the service provider that provided the connection session (see Jea, ¶ [0044] and [0077]).
Regarding claim 3, Jea-Kaur teaches wherein the first service provider provides a first connection type and the second service provider provides a second connection type that is different than the first connection type (see Jea, ¶ [0004]).
Regarding claim 4, Jea-Kaur teaches wherein to obtain the connection event data, the one or more processors are configured to one of read the connection event data for the one or more NAS devices at the site from records created by the NMS or receive the connection event data reported by the one or more NAS devices at the site (see Jea, ¶ [0025]).
Regarding claim 5, Jea-Kaur teaches wherein to detect the connection swap, the one or more processors are configured to: detect a first event comprising a connection event of the first connection session provided by the first service provider between the NAS device and the NMS; detect a second event comprising a disconnection event of the first connection session; detect a third event comprising a connection event of the second connection session provided by the second service provider between the NAS device and the NMS; and detect a fourth event identifying a disconnection event of the second connection session (see Jea, ¶ [0036]).
Regarding claim 6, Jea-Kaur teaches wherein to detect the number of connection swaps in the connection event data over the time window, the one or more processors are configured to increment a counter for each connection swap of the NAS device between the first service provider and the second service provider that occurs during the time window (see Kaur, ¶ [0022] and [0047]). Same motivation utilized for claim 1 applies equally to claim 6.
Regarding claim 7, Jea-Kaur teaches wherein the one or more processors are configured to, after each increment of the counter, determine whether a current number of connection swaps satisfies the threshold (see Kaur, ¶ [0063] - [0064]). Same motivation utilized for claim 1 applies equally to claim 7.
Regarding claim 8, Jea-Kaur teaches wherein the one or more processors are configured to: determine a severity associated with the detected number of connection swaps that satisfy the threshold in either a single time window or for each of two or more consecutive time windows; and modify the threshold based on the severity of the detected number of connection swaps (see Kaur, ¶ [0023] and [0047]). Same motivation utilized for claim 1 applies equally to claim 8.
Regarding claim 9, Jea-Kaur teaches wherein each of the first connection session and the second connection session comprises a transmission control protocol (TCP) connection session for a management path between the NAS device at the site and the NMS (see Jea, ¶ [0025] and Kaur, ¶ [0065]).
Regarding claim 10, Jea-Kaur teaches wherein a data path between the NAS device at the site and one or more of cloud-based applications, application servers, or data centers comprises a same path as the management path (see Jea, ¶ [0027]).
Regarding claim 11, Jea-Kaur teaches wherein the time window comprises a rolling time window (see Kaur, ¶ [0047]). Same motivation utilized for claim 1 applies equally to claim 11.
Regarding claim 12, Jea-Kaur teaches wherein the notification of the predicted root cause of the connection swaps includes a recommendation to determine at least one of WAN health metrics or health metrics of one or more gateway devices of the WAN (see Jea, ¶ [0035] - [0036]).
Regarding claim 13, Jea-Kaur teaches wherein the one or more processors are configured to: determine a physical distance between the site and the NMS; and filter out the connection event data for the one or more NAS devices at the site when the physical distance exceeds a preset distance (see Jea, ¶ [0008] and [0054]).
Regarding claim 14, Jea discloses a method comprising: obtaining, by a network management system (NMS), connection event data for one or more network access servers (NAS) devices at a site, wherein each event included in the connection event data comprises a connection or disconnection event of a connection session provided by a service provider between a NAS device of the one or more NAS devices and the NMS (see Jea, ¶ [0010] and [0036]; NMS detects error condition related to connections); based on the detected number of connection swaps satisfying a threshold, predicting, by the NMS, a root cause of the connection swaps as a wide area network (WAN) issue (see Jea, ¶ [0036] and [0039]; root cause of the connection error condition is determined); and generating, by the NMS, a notification of the predicted root cause of the connection swaps (see Jea, ¶ [0083]; notification of the root cause of the connection issue is generated).
Although Jea discloses the invention substantially as claimed, it does not explicitly disclose detecting, by the NMS, a number of connection swaps in the connection event data over a time window, wherein a connection swap includes a change from a first connection session provided by a first service provider to a second connection session provided by a second service provider.
Kaur teaches detecting, by the NMS, a number of connection swaps in the connection event data over a time window, wherein a connection swap includes a change from a first connection session provided by a first service provider to a second connection session provided by a second service provider (see Kaur, ¶ [0022] - [0023] and [0047]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the invention to incorporate the teachings of Kaur with that of Jea in order to efficiently maintain high level of service availability and performance.
Regarding claim 15, Jea-Kaur teaches wherein each event included in the connection event data includes an address of the service provider that provided the connection session experiencing the connection or disconnection event, and wherein the method further comprises, for each event included in the connection event data, performing a reverse lookup of the address of the service provider included in the event to determine a name and a location of the service provider that provided the connection session (see Jea, ¶ [0044] and [0077]).
Regarding claim 16, Jea-Kaur teaches wherein detecting the connection swap comprises: detecting a first event comprising a connection event of the first connection session provided by the first service provider between the NAS device and the NMS; detecting a second event comprising a disconnection event of the first connection session; detecting a third event comprising a connection event of the second connection session provided by the second service provider between the NAS device and the NMS; and detecting a fourth event identifying a disconnection event of the second connection session (see Jea, ¶ [0036]).
Regarding claim 17, Jea-Kaur teaches wherein detecting the number of connection swaps in the connection event data over the time window comprises incrementing a counter for each connection swap of the NAS device between the first service provider and the second service provider that occurs during the time window (see Kaur, ¶ [0022] and [0047]). Same motivation utilized for claim 14 applies equally to claim 17.
Regarding claim 18, Jea-Kaur teaches further comprising: determining a severity associated with the detected number of connection swaps that satisfy the threshold in either a single time window or for each of two or more consecutive time windows; and modifying the threshold based on the severity of the detected number of connection swaps (see Kaur, ¶ [0023] and [0047]). Same motivation utilized for claim 14 applies equally to claim 18.
Regarding claim 19, Jea-Kaur teaches further comprising: determining a physical distance between the site and the NMS; and filtering out the connection event data for the one or more NAS devices at the site when the physical distance exceeds a preset distance (see Jea, ¶ [0008] and [0054]).
Regarding claim 20, Jea discloses a non-transitory computer readable storage media comprising instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processors to: obtain connection event data for one or more network access servers (NAS) devices at a site, wherein each event included in the connection event data comprises a connection or disconnection event of a connection session provided by a service provider between a NAS device of the one or more NAS devices and a network management system (NMS) (see Jea, ¶ [0010] and [0036]; NMS detects error condition related to connections); based on the detected number of connection swaps satisfying a threshold, predict a root cause of the connection swaps as a wide area network (WAN) issue (see Jea, ¶ [0036] and [0039]; root cause of the connection error condition is determined); and generate a notification of the predicted root cause of the connection swaps (see Jea, ¶ [0083]; notification of the root cause of the connection issue is generated).
Although Jea discloses the invention substantially as claimed, it does not explicitly disclose detect a number of connection swaps in the connection event data over a time window, wherein a connection swap includes a change from a first connection session provided by a first service provider to a second connection session provided by a second service provider.
Jea teaches detect a number of connection swaps in the connection event data over a time window, wherein a connection swap includes a change from a first connection session provided by a first service provider to a second connection session provided by a second service provider (see Kaur, ¶ [0022] - [0023] and [0047]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the invention to incorporate the teachings of Kaur with that of Jea in order to efficiently maintain high level of service availability and performance.
Prior Art of Record
4. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure. Please refer to form PTO-892 (Notice of Reference Cited) for a list of relevant prior art.
a. US 20240119386 A1 is directed to an outage risk detection alert is generated for one or more organizations of a plurality of organizations. Computer service incidents are monitored for the plurality of organizations to identify computer services having current computer service incidents. A count of organizations of the plurality of organizations that utilize a particular computer service and that have a current computer service incident related to the particular computer service within a plurality of time windows are aggregated to generate an aggregate count for the particular computer service for each time window of the plurality of time windows. An outage risk detection alert for the particular computer service is generated responsive to the aggregated count for a time window of the plurality of time windows surpassing a threshold level.
b. US 20260025398 A1 is directed to Malware activity detection for networked computing systems is described. A network session record is provided to a machine learning (ML) model configured to generate an indication of whether the provided network session record evidences malware activity. The network session record indicates network traffic activity in a time period. Responsive to an indication by the ML model, correlation scores are calculated by, for each process session record in a process session record set, calculating a correlation score indicative of a correlation between the provided network session record and the process session record. Each process session record in the process session record set corresponds to a process executed by a computing device in the time period. A determination that a correlation score indicates a corresponding process session record is indicative of the evidenced malware activity is made. Responsive to the determination, a malware activity alert is generated.
c. US 20170359735 A1 is directed to method that involves determining a first network performance indicator based on a Layer-4 statistics collected during a first time period in time periods and Layer-4 statistics collected during second time period in the time periods and overlapping or consecutive with the first time period. Determination is made to check whether the communication network experiences performance issue based on the first network performance indicator. A diagnostic action, a corrective action, or a maintenance action are performed when communication network experiences the performance issue.
Conclusion
5. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MOHAMED IBRAHIM whose telephone number is (571)270-1132. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday through Friday from 9:30AM to 6:00PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, John Follansbee can be reached on 571-272-3964. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Mohamed Ibrahim/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2444