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 .
Status of Claims
Claims 1-36 are presented for examination.
Abstract
The abstract of the disclosure is acceptable for examination purposes.
Drawings
The drawings received on 11/18/2024 are acceptable for examination purposes.
Information Disclosure Statement
The reference(s) listed in the disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 11/18/2024 have been considered. The submission complies with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1, 9, 19, and 27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over An et al (US 20100154017 A1), hereinafter referred as An, in view of Quigley et al US 7120123 B1, hereinafter referred as Quigley.
As per claim 1, An teaches a method performed by a cable modem (subscribers are typically equipped with cable modems 140. The cable modem 140, an improvement of an ITU (International Telecommunication Union) V.series type modem, can provide high speed connectivity so as to allow the cable system to take the form of a full service provider of video, voice and data telecommunications services. Additionally, the cable modem typically then performs a registration process with the CMTS 120 before such cable modem can actually send or receive data; An p. 0028) for monitoring error rates (FIG. 3, one or more metrics for each cable modem (and channel) may be collected by the CMTS, for example, over a predetermined time period in operation…channel CFEC (corrected FEC/total number of codewords received from all cable modems on the channel)…channel UFEC (uncorrectable FEC/total number of codewords received from all cable modems on the channel); p. 0036) in upstream communication channels communicating with a Cable Modem Termination System (CMTS), (the system 100 can include two data paths (downstream 202 and upstream 204) between each cable modem 140 and a CMTS 120 of headend…; p. 0029) comprising:
analyzing, by the cable modem, the FEC data to determine whether an error rate in any assigned upstream channel (According to a specific embodiment, the CFEC metric is a value which describes the following ratio: CFEC = Correctable FEC codewords received Total number of codewords received where "Correctable FEC codewords received" refers to the number of corrupted codewords received via the selected channel (during a predetermined time interval) that can be corrected using Forward Error Correction (FEC), and "Total number of codewords received" refers to the total number of codewords received on the selected channel during the same predetermined time interval. Typically, one transmission data packet can include one or more codewords. According to a specific embodiment, the UFEC metric is a value which describes the following ratio: UFEC = Uncorrectable FEC codewords received Total number of codewords received, where "Uncorrectable FEC codewords received" refers to the number of corrupted codewords received via the selected channel (during a predetermined time interval) that can not be corrected using Forward Error Correction (FEC), and "Total number of codewords received" refers to the total number of codewords received on the selected channel during the same predetermined time interval; p. 0040-0043) exceeds a predefined error rate threshold corresponding to a type of modulation used in a respective assigned upstream channel (Referring to the process of FIG. 3, one or more thresholds for each modulation profile may be defined in operation 306. A threshold may be defined for each collected metric at which an alert may be triggered for possibly moving selected cable modems to a different channel…a channel SNR threshold may be user configurable and dependent on the particular channel's modulation profile; p. 0044-0045);
and sending, by the cable modem, a message to the CMTS identifying an upstream channel that (the CMTS may specify the upstream channel identifier of the downgraded channel to the cable modem; p. 0057) should be impaired or lowered in modulation in response to determining that the error rate of an identified upstream channel equals or exceeds the corresponding predefined error rate threshold (Robust modulation profiles may utilize a QPSK (Quadrature Phase Shift Keying) modulation format. These parameters can be selected such that the CMTS is able to reliably receive cable modem burst transmission; p. 0034) (the predefined thresholds include one or more of the following thresholds for each cable modem: a correctable forward error correction (FEC) ratio threshold, an uncorrectable FEC ratio threshold, and/or a signal to noise threshold. The selected logical channel has a lower performance level that is one or more levels lower than the current logical channel and the number of levels that the selected logical channel is lower depends on how much the selected cable modem's collected metrics have failed the condition; Claims 10-11).
An does not explicitly teach periodically sending, by the cable modem, a request to the CMTS for forward error correction (FEC) data for communications in assigned upstream channels.
However, Quigley in an analogous art teaches periodically sending, by the cable modem, a request to the CMTS for forward error correction (FEC) data for communications in assigned upstream channels (According to an aspect of the invention a modem communicates with a cable transmission system. The modem requests an amount of bandwidth on the cable system to transmit data; Quigley Col. 1 lines 63-65) (cable modem termination system which receives requests from the cable modems and which generates MAPs in response to these requests and also shows a plurality of cable modems which receive the MAPs and which generate frames in accordance with the MAPs; Quigley Col. 6 lines 19-30).
Given that the CMTS already maintains the FEC statistics and the DOCSIS protocol already supports request/response messaging it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the system of An with the teachings of Quigley by having the cable modem periodically request those maintained FEC statistics from the CMTS.
This modification would have been obvious because one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to employ periodically sending a request for FEC data in the system of An because Quigley teaches a modem communicates with a cable transmission system to enhance the robustness of the upstream channels (Quigley Col. 3 lines 13-15).
As per claim 9, An in view of Quigley teaches the method of claim 1. An also teaches wherein the predetermined error threshold for the type of modulation used in each upstream channel is selected by the cable modem from a plurality of predetermined thresholds (Referring to the process of FIG. 3, one or more thresholds for each modulation profile may be defined in operation 306. A threshold may be defined for each collected metric at which an alert may be triggered for possibly moving selected cable modems to a different channel…a channel SNR threshold may be user configurable and dependent on the particular channel's modulation profile; An p. 0044-0045) corresponding to types of modulation used in upstream channels (Robust modulation profiles may utilize a QPSK (Quadrature Phase Shift Keying) modulation format. These parameters can be selected such that the CMTS is able to reliably receive cable modem burst transmission; An p. 0034).
As per claim 19, An in view of Quigley teaches a cable modem (between the headend (which contains the cable modem termination system) and a plurality of homes (each of which contain a cable modem); Quigley p. 0014), comprising:
a memory; one or more network transceivers; and a processing system coupled to the memory and one or more network transceiver and configured to perform operations comprising (10 Base-T transceiver 266, a CPU (processor) 267, a random access memory (RAM) 268 and a read only memory (ROM) 269; Quigley p. 0223):
periodically sending a request to a Cable Modem Termination System (CMTS) the CMTS for forward error correction (FEC) data for communications in assigned upstream channels (According to an aspect of the invention a modem communicates with a cable transmission system. The modem requests an amount of bandwidth on the cable system to transmit data; Quigley Col. 1 lines 63-65) (cable modem termination system which receives requests from the cable modems and which generates MAPs in response to these requests and also shows a plurality of cable modems which receive the MAPs and which generate frames in accordance with the MAPs; Quigley Col. 6 lines 19-30);
analyzing the FEC data to determine whether an error rate in any assigned upstream channel exceeds a predefined error rate threshold corresponding to a type of modulation used in a respective assigned upstream channel (According to a specific embodiment, the CFEC metric is a value which describes the following ratio: CFEC = Correctable FEC codewords received Total number of codewords received where "Correctable FEC codewords received" refers to the number of corrupted codewords received via the selected channel (during a predetermined time interval) that can be corrected using Forward Error Correction (FEC), and "Total number of codewords received" refers to the total number of codewords received on the selected channel during the same predetermined time interval. Typically, one transmission data packet can include one or more codewords. According to a specific embodiment, the UFEC metric is a value which describes the following ratio: UFEC = Uncorrectable FEC codewords received Total number of codewords received, where "Uncorrectable FEC codewords received" refers to the number of corrupted codewords received via the selected channel (during a predetermined time interval) that can not be corrected using Forward Error Correction (FEC), and "Total number of codewords received" refers to the total number of codewords received on the selected channel during the same predetermined time interval; p. 0040-0043) (Referring to the process of FIG. 3, one or more thresholds for each modulation profile may be defined in operation 306. A threshold may be defined for each collected metric at which an alert may be triggered for possibly moving selected cable modems to a different channel…a channel SNR threshold may be user configurable and dependent on the particular channel's modulation profile; An p. 0044-0045);
and sending a message to the CMTS identifying an upstream channel (the CMTS may specify the upstream channel identifier of the downgraded channel to the cable modem; An p. 0057) that should be impaired or lowered in modulation in response to determining that the error rate of an identified upstream channel equals or exceeds the corresponding predefined error rate threshold (Robust modulation profiles may utilize a QPSK (Quadrature Phase Shift Keying) modulation format. These parameters can be selected such that the CMTS is able to reliably receive cable modem burst transmission; An p. 0034) (the predefined thresholds include one or more of the following thresholds for each cable modem: a correctable forward error correction (FEC) ratio threshold, an uncorrectable FEC ratio threshold, and/or a signal to noise threshold. The selected logical channel has a lower performance level that is one or more levels lower than the current logical channel and the number of levels that the selected logical channel is lower depends on how much the selected cable modem's collected metrics have failed the condition; An Claims 10-11).
Given that the CMTS already maintains the FEC statistics and the DOCSIS protocol already supports request/response messaging it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the system of An with the teachings of Quigley by having the cable modem periodically request those maintained FEC statistics from the CMTS.
This modification would have been obvious because one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to employ periodically sending a request for FEC data in the system of An because Quigley teaches a modem communicates with a cable transmission system to enhance the robustness of the upstream channels (Quigley Col. 3 lines 13-15).
As per claim 27, An in view of Quigley teaches the cable modem of claim 19. An also teaches wherein the processing system is configured to perform operations comprising
selecting from the memory the predetermined error threshold for the type of modulation used in each upstream channel from a plurality of predetermined thresholds corresponding to types of modulation used in upstream channels (Robust modulation profiles may utilize a QPSK (Quadrature Phase Shift Keying) modulation format. These parameters can be selected such that the CMTS is able to reliably receive cable modem burst transmission…In contrast, a performance type modulation profile can be designed for a higher rate, but would require a cleaner channel, e.g., high SNR. Some examples modulation profiles may utilize any one of the following formats: 64QAM, 32QAM, 16QAM, 8QAM, QPSK, shorter or longer preambles, higher or lower FEC overhead settings, etc.; An p. 0034)(A threshold may be defined for each collected metric at which an alert may be triggered for possibly moving selected cable modems to a different channel. a modulation profile that is more immune to noise (e.g., QPSK) can have a lower SNR threshold, while a modulation profile that is designed for a higher rate (e.g., 32QAM, 64QAM, etc.) can have a higher SNR threshold. In one implementation, the cable modem SNR threshold may be derived from the channel SNR threshold and may be user configurable.…threshold may be user configurable and dependent on the particular channel's modulation profile; An p. 0045).
Claims 2, 4-5, 7, 20, 22-23, 25, and 30-34 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over An, hereinafter referred as An, in view of Quigley in further view of OH et al (US 20100157828 A1), hereinafter referred as OH1.
As per claim 2, An in view of Quigley teaches the method of claim 1. An in view of Quigley teaches the UCD message defines various aspects of a particular channel, such as a channel identifier, modulation rate, modulation type, burst characteristics, encoding characteristics, configuration change count (An p. 0035) but does not explicitly teach wherein the message sent by the cable modem to the CMTS identifying the upstream channel that should be impaired or lowered in modulation is a traffic management message that includes an identifier of the upstream channel and an identifier of an impairment event type.
However, OH1 in an analogous art teaches wherein the message sent by the cable modem to the CMTS identifying the upstream channel that should be impaired or lowered in modulation is a traffic management message (The CM-STATUS message may include a transaction identification (ID)…a MAC management message header; OH1 p. 0010)
that includes an identifier of the upstream channel (Parameters associated with an event type may include a downstream channel identifier (ID), an upstream channel ID, a Downstream Service ID (DSID), and the like; OH1 p. 0011) and an identifier of an impairment event type (Event Code 5 QAM/FEC Lock Recover; OH1 Fig. 2).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the system of An in view of Quigley with the teachings of OH1 by configuring the message sent by the cable modem to be a traffic management message that includes identifiers.
This modification would have been obvious because one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to employ an identifier of the upstream channel and impairment event type in the system of An in view of Quigley because OH1 teaches the cable modem transmitting the CM-STATUS message to the CMTS to thereby inform the CMTS about the occurrence of the event (OH1 p. 0006).
As per claim 4, An in view of Quigley in further view of OH1 teaches the method of claim 1, further comprising:
continuing to send requests from the cable modem to the CMTS for FEC data from the CMTS for an assigned upstream channel that is impaired by the CMTS (An supports periodic collection of correctable FEC metrics equating to continuing; p. 0036, 0041-0043);
analyzing, by the cable modem, FEC data received from the CMTS for the assigned upstream channel that is impaired by the CMTS to determine whether the error rate in that assigned upstream channel has decreased below the predefined error rate threshold for the type of modulation used in that upstream channel (decreased below the predefined error rate threshold for the type of modulation used in that upstream channel (A person of ordinary skill would inherently recognize that once a metric can exceed a threshold, it can later fall below the same threshold. An already teaches continuous monitoring of FEC metrics "during predetermined time interval" (for Correctable FEC codewords received and Uncorrectable); An p. 0041-0043)
and sending, by the cable modem, a message to the CMTS (When an event occurs, the cable modem may transmit the CM-STATUS message to the CMTS to thereby inform the CMTS about the occurrence of the event; OH1 p. 0006) to recover the impaired (Event Code 5 QAM/FEC Lock Recover; OH1 Fig. 2) or use higher modulation for assigned upstream channel in response to determining that the error rate is less than the predefined error rate threshold for the type of modulation used in that assigned channel (A threshold may be defined for each collected metric at which an alert may be triggered for possibly moving selected cable modems to a different channel…threshold may be user configurable and dependent on the particular channel's modulation profile; An p. 0045).
As per claim 5, An in view of Quigley in further view of OH1 teaches the method of claim 4. An in view of Quigley in further view of OH1 also teaches wherein the message sent by the cable modem to the CMTS to recover the impaired assigned upstream channel is a traffic management message that includes (The CM-STATUS message may include a transaction identification (ID)…a MAC management message header; OH1 p. 0010) an identifier of the impaired assigned upstream channel (Parameters associated with an event type may include a downstream channel identifier (ID), an upstream channel ID, a Downstream Service ID (DSID), and the like; OH1 p. 0011) and an identifier of a recovery event type (Event Code 5 QAM/FEC Lock Recover; OH1 Fig. 2).
As per claim 7, An in view of Quigley teaches the method of claim 1. An in view of Quigley in further view of OH1 teaches wherein the requests sent by the cable modem to the CMTS for FEC data are management traffic messages that (the CM-STATUS message may include a transaction identification (ID)…a MAC management message header; OH1 p. 0010) include a channel identifier (ID) and a (Parameters associated with an event type may include a downstream channel identifier (ID), an upstream channel ID, a Downstream Service ID (DSID), and the like; OH1 p. 0011) type of data requested (an event type 103 indicating which event occurs, and type/length/value (TLV) encoded information associated with a corresponding event; OH1 p. 0010).
As per claim 20, An in view of Quigley in further view of teaches the cable modem of claim 19. An in view of Quigley in further view of OH1 teaches wherein the processing system is configured such that the message sent to the CMTS identifying the upstream channel that should be impaired or lowered in modulation is a traffic management message (the CM-STATUS message may include a transaction identification (ID)…a MAC management message header; OH p. 0010) that includes an identifier of the upstream channel (Parameters associated with an event type may include a downstream channel identifier (ID), an upstream channel ID, a Downstream Service ID (DSID), and the like; OH1 p. 0011) and an identifier of an impairment event type (an event type 103 indicating which event occurs, and type/length/value (TLV) encoded information associated with a corresponding event; OH1 p. 0010).
As per claim 22, An in view of Quigley teaches the cable modem of claim 19. An in view of Quigley in further view of OH1 teaches wherein the processing system is configured to perform operations further comprising:
continuing to send requests to the CMTS for FEC data from the CMTS for an assigned upstream channel that is impaired by the CMTS; analyzing FEC data received from the CMTS for the assigned upstream channel that is impaired by the CMTS to (An supports periodic collection of correctable FEC metrics equating to continuing; p. 0036, 0041-0043) determine whether the error rate in that assigned upstream channel has decreased below the predefined error rate threshold for the type of modulation used in that upstream channel (According to a specific embodiment, the CFEC metric is a value which describes the following ratio: CFEC = Correctable FEC codewords received Total number of codewords received where "Correctable FEC codewords received" refers to the number of corrupted codewords received via the selected channel (during a predetermined time interval) that can be corrected using Forward Error Correction (FEC), and "Total number of codewords received" refers to the total number of codewords received on the selected channel during the same predetermined time interval. Typically, one transmission data packet can include one or more codewords. According to a specific embodiment, the UFEC metric is a value which describes the following ratio: UFEC = Uncorrectable FEC codewords received Total number of codewords received, where "Uncorrectable FEC codewords received" refers to the number of corrupted codewords received via the selected channel (during a predetermined time interval) that can not be corrected using Forward Error Correction (FEC), and "Total number of codewords received" refers to the total number of codewords received on the selected channel during the same predetermined time interval; p. 0040-0043) (Referring to the process of FIG. 3, one or more thresholds for each modulation profile may be defined in operation 306. A threshold may be defined for each collected metric at which an alert may be triggered for possibly moving selected cable modems to a different channel…a channel SNR threshold may be user configurable and dependent on the particular channel's modulation profile. ; p. 0044-0045);
and sending a message to the CMTS to recover the impaired or use higher modulation for assigned upstream channel in response to determining that the error rate is less than the predefined error rate threshold for the type of modulation used in that assigned channel (When an event occurs, the cable modem may transmit the CM-STATUS message to the CMTS to thereby inform the CMTS about the occurrence of the event; OH1 p. 0006) (Event Code 5 QAM/FEC Lock Recover; OH1 Fig. 2).
As per claim 23, An in view of Quigley in further view of teaches the cable modem of claim 22. An in view of Quigley in further view of OH1 teaches wherein the processing system is configured to perform operations such that the message sent to the CMTS to recover the impaired assigned upstream channel is a traffic management message that includes an identifier of the impaired assigned upstream channel and an identifier of a recovery event type (The CM-STATUS message may include a transaction identification (ID)…a MAC management message header; OH p. 0010)(Parameters associated with an event type may include a downstream channel identifier (ID), an upstream channel ID, a Downstream Service ID (DSID), and the like; OH1 p. 0011)(Event Code 5 QAM/FEC Lock Recover; OH1 Fig. 2).
As per claim 25, An in view of Quigley in further view of teaches the cable modem of claim 19. An in view of Quigley in further view of OH1 teaches wherein the processing system is configured such that the requests sent to the CMTS for FEC data are management traffic messages that include a channel identifier (ID) and a type of data requested (The CM-STATUS message may include a transaction identification (ID)…a MAC management message header; OH p. 0010)(Parameters associated with an event type may include a downstream channel identifier (ID), an upstream channel ID, a Downstream Service ID (DSID), and the like; OH1 p. 0011).
As per claim 30, An in view of Quigley in further view of OH1 teaches a computing device configured to function as a network element in a cable services network, comprising:
a memory; one or more network transceivers; and a processing system coupled to the memory and one or more network transceiver and configured to perform operations (10 Base-T transceiver 266, a CPU (processor) 267, a random access memory (RAM) 268 and a read only memory (ROM) 269; Quigley p. 0223) comprising:
monitoring forward error correction (FEC) data within communications in upstream channels between a Cable Modem Termination System (CMTS) and cable modems (According to a specific embodiment, the CFEC metric is a value which describes the following ratio: CFEC = Correctable FEC codewords received Total number of codewords received where "Correctable FEC codewords received" refers to the number of corrupted codewords received via the selected channel (during a predetermined time interval) that can be corrected using Forward Error Correction (FEC), and "Total number of codewords received" refers to the total number of codewords received on the selected channel during the same predetermined time interval. Typically, one transmission data packet can include one or more codewords. According to a specific embodiment, the UFEC metric is a value which describes the following ratio: UFEC = Uncorrectable FEC codewords received Total number of codewords received, where "Uncorrectable FEC codewords received" refers to the number of corrupted codewords received via the selected channel (during a predetermined time interval) that can not be corrected using Forward Error Correction (FEC), and "Total number of codewords received" refers to the total number of codewords received on the selected channel during the same predetermined time interval; An p. 0040-0043);
analyzing the FEC data to determine whether an error rate in any upstream channel exceeds a predefined error threshold corresponding to a type of modulation used in a respective upstream channel (Referring to the process of FIG. 3, one or more thresholds for each modulation profile may be defined in operation 306. A threshold may be defined for each collected metric at which an alert may be triggered for possibly moving selected cable modems to a different channel…a channel SNR threshold may be user configurable and dependent on the particular channel's modulation profile.; An p. 0044-0045);
sending a message to the CMTS (When an event occurs, the cable modem may transmit the CM-STATUS message to the CMTS to thereby inform the CMTS about the occurrence of the event; OH1 p. 0006) identifying an upstream channel that (Parameters associated with an event type may include a downstream channel identifier (ID), an upstream channel ID, a Downstream Service ID (DSID), and the like; OH1 p. 0011) should be impaired or use lower modulation in response to determining that the error rate of the identified upstream channel equals or exceeds the predefined error threshold for the type of modulation used in the identified upstream channel (A threshold may be defined for each collected metric at which an alert may be triggered for possibly moving selected cable modems to a different channel. a modulation profile that is more immune to noise (e.g., QPSK) can have a lower SNR threshold, while a modulation profile that is designed for a higher rate (e.g., 32QAM, 64QAM, etc.) can have a higher SNR threshold. In one implementation, the cable modem SNR threshold may be derived from the channel SNR threshold and may be user configurable.…threshold may be user configurable and dependent on the particular channel's modulation profile; An p. 0045).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the system of An in view of Quigley with the teachings of OH1 by configuring the message sent by the cable modem to be a traffic management message that includes identifiers.
This modification would have been obvious because one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to employ an identifier of the upstream channel and impairment event type in the system of An in view of Quigley because OH1 teaches the cable modem transmitting the CM-STATUS message to the CMTS to thereby inform the CMTS about the occurrence of the event (OH1 p. 0006).
As per claim 31, An in view of Quigley in further view of OH1 teaches the computing device of claim 30. OH1 also teaches wherein the processing system is configured to perform operations such that the message sent by the network element to the CMTS identifying an upstream channel that should be impaired or use lower modulation includes an identifier of the upstream channel and an identifier of an impairment event type (The CM-STATUS message may include a transaction identification (ID)…a MAC management message header; OH p. 0010)(Parameters associated with an event type may include a downstream channel identifier (ID), an upstream channel ID, a Downstream Service ID (DSID), and the like; OH1 p. 0011)(Event Code 5 QAM/FEC Lock Recover; OH1 Fig. 2).
As per claim 32, An in view of Quigley in further view of OH1 teaches the computing device of claim 30. They also teach wherein the processing system is configured to perform operations further comprising:
continuing to monitor FEC data within communications in upstream channels impaired by the CMTS (An supports periodic collection of correctable FEC metrics equating to continuing; p. 0036, 0041-0043);
analyzing FEC data for the upstream channels impaired or using lowered modulation by the CMTS to determine whether the error rate in each upstream channel has decreased below the corresponding predefined error rate threshold (decreased below the corresponding predefined error rate threshold (A person of ordinary skill would inherently recognize that once a metric can exceed a threshold, it can later fall below the same threshold. An already teaches continuous monitoring of FEC metrics "during predetermined time interval" (for Correctable FEC codewords received and Uncorrectable); An p. 0041-0043);
and sending a message to the CMTS (When an event occurs, the cable modem may transmit the CM-STATUS message to the CMTS to thereby inform the CMTS about the occurrence of the event; OH1 p. 0006) to recover an impaired upstream channel or (Event Code 5 QAM/FEC Lock Recover; OH1 Fig. 2) use higher modulation for the upstream channel in response to determining that the error rate in that upstream channel is less than the predefined error rate thresholds (a modulation profile that is more immune to noise (e.g., QPSK) can have a lower SNR threshold, while a modulation profile that is designed for a higher rate (e.g., 32QAM, 64QAM, etc.) can have a higher SNR threshold. In one implementation, the cable modem SNR threshold may be derived from the channel SNR threshold and may be user configurable; An p. 0045).
As per claim 33, An in view of Quigley in further view of OH1 teaches the computing device of claim 32, wherein the processing system is configured to perform operations such that the message sent to the CMTS to recover the impaired upstream channel is a traffic management message that includes an identifier of the impaired upstream channel and an identifier of a recovery event type (The CM-STATUS message may include a transaction identification (ID)…a MAC management message header; OH p. 0010)(Parameters associated with an event type may include a downstream channel identifier (ID), an upstream channel ID, a Downstream Service ID (DSID), and the like; OH1 p. 0011)(Event Code 5 QAM/FEC Lock Recover; OH1 Fig. 2).
As per claim 34, An in view of Quigley in further view of OH1 teaches the computing device of claim 30, wherein the processing system is configured to perform operations further comprising
selecting from the memory the predetermined error threshold for each monitored upstream channel based on a modulation of the upstream channel from a plurality of predetermined thresholds corresponding to types of modulation used in upstream channels (Robust modulation profiles may utilize a QPSK (Quadrature Phase Shift Keying) modulation format. These parameters can be selected such that the CMTS is able to reliably receive cable modem burst transmission…In contrast, a performance type modulation profile can be designed for a higher rate, but would require a cleaner channel, e.g., high SNR. Some examples modulation profiles may utilize any one of the following formats: 64QAM, 32QAM, 16QAM, 8QAM, QPSK, shorter or longer preambles, higher or lower FEC overhead settings, etc.; An p. 0034)(A threshold may be defined for each collected metric at which an alert may be triggered for possibly moving selected cable modems to a different channel. a modulation profile that is more immune to noise (e.g., QPSK) can have a lower SNR threshold, while a modulation profile that is designed for a higher rate (e.g., 32QAM, 64QAM, etc.) can have a higher SNR threshold. In one implementation, the cable modem SNR threshold may be derived from the channel SNR threshold and may be user configurable.…threshold may be user configurable and dependent on the particular channel's modulation profile; An p. 0045).
Claims 3, 8, 21, and 26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over An, hereinafter referred as An, in view of Quigley in further view of OH et al (US 20090150953 A1), hereinafter referred as OH2.
As per claim 3, An in view of Quigley teaches the method of claim 1 (As stated in claim 1, An teaches upstream channel is impaired or lowered in modulation (p. An 0034 and Claims 10-11). An in view of Quigley does not teach receiving by the cable modem from the CMTS a dynamic bonding change request (DBC-REQ) message indicating that the identified upstream channel is impaired or lowered in modulation;
and sending, by the cable modem, a message to the CMTS acknowledging that the identified upstream channel is impaired;
and suspending use of the identified upstream channel in transmissions to the CMTS.
However, OH2 in an analogous art teaches receiving by the cable modem from the CMTS a dynamic bonding change request (DBC-REQ) message indicating that the identified upstream channel is impaired or lowered in modulation; and sending, by the cable modem, a message to the CMTS acknowledging that the identified upstream channel is impaired (Specifically, the CMTS 101 transmits, to the CMs 102, a dynamic bonding change request message (DBC-REQ) of a new single RCC. The CMTS 101 subsequently receives, from the CMs 102, a dynamic bonding change response message (DBC-RSP) including a change result of the RCS, and completes changing the RCS. The CMs 102 receive the dynamic bonding change request message (DBC-REQ) of the new RCC from the CMTS 101. The CMs 102 subsequently change the downstream channels again using the received message, and transmit, to the CMTS 101, a dynamic bonding change response message (DBC-RSP) including the change result; OH2 p. 0017-0020);
and suspending use of the identified upstream channel in transmissions to the CMTS (after registration is completed by the initial setting of the CMs 102, the CMTS 101 may change the RCC of the CMs 102 at any time, thereby adding a channel to the RCS of the CMs 102, or deleting the channel from the RCS, or changing the channel in the RCS; OH2 p. 0016, 0077-0085).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the system of An in view of Quigley with the teachings of OH2 by configuring receiving a dynamic bonding change request and sending a message to the CMTS.
This modification would have been obvious because one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to employ receiving, sending and then suspending in the system of An in view of Quigley because OH2 teaches a method of effectively setting and changing of the RCS to thereby effectively setting and changing the RCS even when an error occurs during a process of setting and changing the RCS of the CM (OH2 p. 0022-0023).
As per claim 8, An in view of Quigley in further view of OH2 teaches the method of claim 1, further comprising
receiving, by the cable modem, a bonding change request (BCR) message from the CMTS (Specifically, the CMTS 101 transmits, to the CMs 102, a dynamic bonding change request message (DBC-REQ) of a new single RCC. The CMTS 101 subsequently receives, from the CMs 102, a dynamic bonding change response message (DBC-RSP) including a change result of the RCS, and completes changing the RCS. The CMs 102 receive the dynamic bonding change request message (DBC-REQ) of the new RCC from the CMTS 101; OH2 p. 0017-0020) indicating an updated status of the identified assigned upstream channel (after registration is completed by the initial setting of the CMs 102, the CMTS 101 may change the RCC of the CMs 102 at any time, thereby adding a channel to the RCS of the CMs 102, or deleting the channel from the RCS, or changing the channel in the RCS; OH2 p. 0016, 0077-0085)
(the CMTS 101 transmits, to the CMs 102, a dynamic bonding change request message (DBC-REQ) of a new single RCC. The CMTS 101 subsequently receives, from the CMs 102, a dynamic bonding change response message (DBC-RSP) including a change result of the RCS, and completes changing the RCS (new single RCC and change results of RCS equates updating channel); OH2 p. 0017-0018; FIG. 8).
As per claim 21, An in view of Quigley teaches the cable modem of claim 19. An in view of Quigley in further view of OH2 teaches wherein the processing system is configured to perform operations further comprising:
receiving from the CMTS a dynamic bonding change request (DBC-REQ) message (The CMs 102 receive the dynamic bonding change request message (DBC-REQ) of the new RCC from the CMTS 101.; OH2 p. 0019) indicating that the identified upstream channel is impaired or lowered in modulation Each logical channel may be configured with a different modulation profile, e.g., a 64QAM vs. 16QAM constellation rate; An p. 0030) (after registration is completed by the initial setting of the CMs 102, the CMTS 101 may change the RCC of the CMs 102 at any time, thereby adding a channel to the RCS of the CMs 102, or deleting the channel from the RCS, or changing the channel in the RCS; OH2 p. 0016, 0077-0085);
and sending a message to the CMTS acknowledging that the identified upstream channel is impaired (using the received message, and transmit, to the CMTS 101, a dynamic bonding change response message (DBC-RSP) including the change result; OH2 p. 0020);
and suspending use of the identified upstream channel in transmissions to the CMTS (after registration is completed by the initial setting of the CMs 102, the CMTS 101 may change the RCC of the CMs 102 at any time, thereby adding a channel to the RCS of the CMs 102, or deleting the channel from the RCS, or changing the channel (adding, deleting, changing equates to suspending) in the RCS; OH2 p. 0016, 0077-0085).
As per claim 26, An in view of Quigley teaches the cable modem of claim 19. An in view of Quigley in further view of OH2 teaches wherein the processing system is configured to perform operations further comprising receiving a bonding change request (BCR) message from the CMTS (the CMTS 101 transmits, to the CMs 102, a dynamic bonding change request message (DBC-REQ) of a new single RCC; OH2 p. 0017-0019) indicating an updated status of the identified assigned upstream channel (after registration is completed by the initial setting of the CMs 102, the CMTS 101 may change the RCC of the CMs 102 at any time, thereby adding a channel to the RCS of the CMs 102, or deleting the channel from the RCS, or changing the channel in the RCS (new single RCC and change results of RCS equates updating channel); OH2 p. 0016, 0077-0085, FIG. 8).
Claims 6, 10, 11, 24, 28-29, and 35-36 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over An in view of Quigley in further view of OH1 in further view of OH2.
As per claim 6, An in view of Quigley in further view of OH1 teaches the method of claim 4. An in view of Quigley in further view of OH1 does not teach receiving by the cable modem from the CMTS a dynamic bonding change request (DBC-REQ) message indicating that the identified assigned upstream channel is available for use or raising channel modulation;
sending, by the cable modem, a DBC response (DBC-RSP) message to the CMTS acknowledging that the identified assigned upstream channel is no longer impaired or that the modulation is raised;
and resuming use of the identified assigned upstream channel in transmissions to the CMTS;
However, OH2 in an analogous art teaches receiving by the cable modem from the CMTS a dynamic bonding change request (DBC-REQ) message indicating that the identified assigned upstream channel is available for use or raising channel modulation; sending, by the cable modem, a DBC response (DBC-RSP) message to the CMTS acknowledging that the identified assigned upstream channel is no longer impaired or that the modulation is raised (Specifically, the CMTS 101 transmits, to the CMs 102, a dynamic bonding change request message (DBC-REQ) of a new single RCC. The CMTS 101 subsequently receives, from the CMs 102, a dynamic bonding change response message (DBC-RSP) including a change result of the RCS, and completes changing the RCS. The CMs 102 receive the dynamic bonding change request message (DBC-REQ) of the new RCC from the CMTS 101. The CMs 102 subsequently change the downstream channels again using the received message, and transmit, to the CMTS 101, a dynamic bonding change response message (DBC-RSP) including the change result; OH2 p. 0017-0020);
and resuming use of the identified assigned upstream channel in transmissions to the CMTS (after registration is completed by the initial setting of the CMs 102, the CMTS 101 may change the RCC of the CMs 102 at any time, thereby adding a channel to the RCS of the CMs 102, or deleting the channel from the RCS, or changing the channel in the RCS; OH2 p. 0016, 0077-0085)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the system of An in view of Quigley in further view of OH1 with the teachings of OH2 by configuring receiving a dynamic bonding change request and sending a message to the CMTS.
This modification would have been obvious because one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to employ receiving, sending and then suspending in the system of An in view of Quigley in further view of OH1 because OH2 teaches a method of effectively setting and changing of the RCS to thereby effectively setting and changing the RCS even when an error occurs during a process of setting and changing the RCS of the CM (OH2 p. 0022-0023).
As per claim 10, An in view of Quigley in further view of OH1 in further view of OH2 teaches a method performed in a cable modem termination system (CMTS), comprising:
receiving from a cable modem a message requesting forward error correction (FEC) data (According to an aspect of the invention a modem communicates with a cable transmission system. The modem requests an amount of bandwidth on the cable system to transmit data; Quigley Col. 1 lines 63-65) (cable modem termination system which receives requests from the cable modems and which generates MAPs in response to these requests and also shows a plurality of cable modems which receive the MAPs and which generate frames in accordance with the MAPs; Quigley Col. 6 lines 19-30) for an upstream channel identified in the message (The UCD message defines various aspects of a particular channel, such as a channel identifier, modulation rate, modulation type, burst characteristics, encoding characteristics, configuration change count that indicates how many times the particular channel has been reconfigured, frequency, a plurality of mode fields; An p. 0035);
providing FEC data for the identified upstream channel to the cable modem (According to a specific embodiment, the CFEC metric is a value which describes the following ratio: CFEC = Correctable FEC codewords received Total number of codewords received where "Correctable FEC codewords received" refers to the number of corrupted codewords received via the selected channel (during a predetermined time interval) that can be corrected using Forward Error Correction (FEC), and "Total number of codewords received" refers to the total number of codewords received on the selected channel during the same predetermined time interval. Typically, one transmission data packet can include one or more codewords. According to a specific embodiment, the UFEC metric is a value which describes the following ratio: UFEC = Uncorrectable FEC codewords received Total number of codewords received, where "Uncorrectable FEC codewords received" refers to the number of corrupted codewords received via the selected channel (during a predetermined time interval) that can not be corrected using Forward Error Correction (FEC), and "Total number of codewords received" refers to the total number of codewords received on the selected channel during the same predetermined time interval; An p. 0040-0043);
receiving from the cable modem a message identifying an upstream channel that should be impaired or lowered in modulation (When an event occurs, the cable modem may transmit the CM-STATUS message to the CMTS to thereby inform the CMTS about the occurrence of the event; OH1 p. 0006);
and placing the identified upstream channel in an impaired state or lowering modulation of the channel (Robust modulation profiles may utilize a QPSK (Quadrature Phase Shift Keying) modulation format. These parameters can be selected such that the CMTS is able to reliably receive cable modem burst transmission…In contrast, a performance type modulation profile can be designed for a higher rate, but would require a cleaner channel, e.g., high SNR. Some examples modulation profiles may utilize any one of the following formats: 64QAM, 32QAM, 16QAM, 8QAM, QPSK, shorter or longer preambles, higher or lower FEC overhead settings, etc.; An p. 0034) and sending a dynamic bonding change (DBC) request (DBC-REQ) message to the cable modem (Specifically, the CMTS 101 transmits, to the CMs 102, a dynamic bonding change request message (DBC-REQ) of a new single RCC. The CMTS 101 subsequently receives, from the CMs 102, a dynamic bonding change response message (DBC-RSP) including a change result of the RCS, and completes changing the RCS. The CMs 102 receive the dynamic bonding change request message (DBC-REQ) of the new RCC from the CMTS 101. The CMs 102 subsequently change the downstream channels again using the received message, and transmit, to the CMTS 101, a dynamic bonding change response message (DBC-RSP) including the change result; OH2 p. 0017-0020) changing the allocation or the modulation of the identified upstream channel for use by the cable modem in response to receiving the message indicating that the identified upstream channel should be impaired or lowered in modulation (after registration is completed by the initial setting of the CMs 102, the CMTS 101 may change the RCC of the CMs 102 at any time, thereby adding a channel to the RCS of the CMs 102, or deleting the channel from the RCS, or changing the channel in the RCS; OH2 p. 0016, 0077-0085)
As per claim 11, An in view of Quigley in further view of OH1 in further view of OH2 teaches the method of claim 10, further comprising:
receiving from the cable modem a request to provide FEC data for an impaired upstream channel specified in the request (According to an aspect of the invention a modem communicates with a cable transmission system. The modem requests an amount of bandwidth on the cable system to transmit data; Quigley Col. 1 lines 63-65) (cable modem termination system which receives requests from the cable modems and which generates MAPs in response to these requests and also shows a plurality of cable modems which receive the MAPs and which generate frames in accordance with the MAPs; Quigley Col. 6 lines 19-30);
providing FEC data for the identified upstream channel to the requesting cable modem (According to a specific embodiment, the CFEC metric is a value which describes the following ratio: CFEC = Correctable FEC codewords received Total number of codewords received where "Correctable FEC codewords received" refers to the number of corrupted codewords received via the selected channel (during a predetermined time interval) that can be corrected using Forward Error Correction (FEC), and "Total number of codewords received" refers to the total number of codewords received on the selected channel during the same predetermined time interval. Typically, one transmission data packet can include one or more codewords. According to a specific embodiment, the UFEC metric is a value which describes the following ratio: UFEC = Uncorrectable FEC codewords received Total number of codewords received, where "Uncorrectable FEC codewords received" refers to the number of corrupted codewords received via the selected channel (during a predetermined time interval) that can not be corrected using Forward Error Correction (FEC), and "Total number of codewords received" refers to the total number of codewords received on the selected channel during the same predetermined time interval; An p. 0040-0043);
receiving from the cable modem a message indicating that the identified upstream channel can be recovered or use a higher modulation (When an event occurs, the cable modem may transmit the CM-STATUS message to the CMTS to thereby inform the CMTS about the occurrence of the event; OH1 p. 0006);
and placing the identified upstream channel in an active state (after registration is completed by the initial setting of the CMs 102, the CMTS 101 may change the RCC of the CMs 102 at any time, thereby adding a channel to the RCS of the CMs 102, or deleting the channel from the RCS, or changing the channel in the RCS; OH2 p. 0016, 0077-0085) and sending a DBC-REQ message to the cable modem reallocating (the CMTS 101 transmits, to the CMs 102, a dynamic bonding change request message (DBC-REQ) of a new single RCC; OH2 p. 0017-0019) or raising modulation of the identified upstream channel for use by the cable modem in response to receiving the message indicating that the identified upstream channel can be recovered or use a higher modulation (Robust modulation profiles may utilize a QPSK (Quadrature Phase Shift Keying) modulation format. These parameters can be selected such that the CMTS is able to reliably receive cable modem burst transmission…In contrast, a performance type modulation profile can be designed for a higher rate, but would require a cleaner channel, e.g., high SNR. Some examples modulation profiles may utilize any one of the following formats: 64QAM, 32QAM, 16QAM, 8QAM, QPSK, shorter or longer preambles, higher or lower FEC overhead settings, etc.; An p. 0034).
As per claim 24, An in view of Quigley in further view of OH1 teaches the cable modem of claim 22. An in view of Quigley in further view of OH1 does not teach wherein the processing system is configured to perform operations further comprising:
receiving from the CMTS a dynamic bonding change request (DBC-REQ) message indicating that the identified assigned upstream channel is available for use or raising channel modulation;
sending a DBC response (DBC-RSP) message to the CMTS acknowledging that the identified assigned upstream channel is no longer impaired or that the modulation is raised;
and resuming use of the identified assigned upstream channel in transmissions to the CMTS;
However, OH2 in an analogous art teaches receiving from the CMTS a dynamic bonding change request (DBC-REQ) message (The CMs 102 receive the dynamic bonding change request message (DBC-REQ) of the new RCC from the CMTS 101.; OH2 p. 0019) indicating that the identified assigned upstream channel is available for use or raising channel modulation (after registration is completed by the initial setting of the CMs 102, the CMTS 101 may change the RCC of the CMs 102 at any time, thereby adding a channel to the RCS of the CMs 102, or deleting the channel from the RCS, or changing the channel in the RCS; OH2 p. 0016, 0077-0085);
sending a DBC response (DBC-RSP) message to the CMTS acknowledging that the identified assigned upstream channel is no longer impaired or that the modulation is raised (using the received message, and transmit, to the CMTS 101, a dynamic bonding change response message (DBC-RSP) including the change result; OH2 p. 0020, FIG. 8);
and resuming use of the identified assigned upstream channel in transmissions to the CMTS (adding a channel to the RCS of the CMs; OH2 p. 0016)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the system of An in view of Quigley in further view of OH1 with the teachings of OH2 by configuring receiving a dynamic bonding change request and sending a message to the CMTS.
This modification would have been obvious because one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to employ receiving, sending and then suspending in the system of An in view of Quigley in further view of OH1 because OH2 teaches a method of effectively setting and changing of the RCS to thereby effectively setting and changing the RCS even when an error occurs during a process of setting and changing the RCS of the CM (OH2 p. 0022-0023).
As per claim 28, An in view of Quigley in further view of OH1 in further view of OH2 teaches a cable modem termination system (CMTS) (between the headend (which contains the cable modem termination system) and a plurality of homes (each of which contain a cable modem); Quigley p. 0014), comprising: a memory (see Fig. [0000] col. line); one or more network transceivers; and a processing system coupled to the memory and one or more network transceiver and configured to perform operations (10 Base-T transceiver 266, a CPU (processor) 267, a random access memory (RAM) 268 and a read only memory (ROM) 269; Quigley p. 0223) comprising:
receiving from a cable modem a message requesting forward error correction (FEC) data (According to an aspect of the invention a modem communicates with a cable transmission system. The modem requests an amount of bandwidth on the cable system to transmit data; Quigley Col. 1 lines 63-65) (cable modem termination system which receives requests from the cable modems and which generates MAPs in response to these requests and also shows a plurality of cable modems which receive the MAPs and which generate frames in accordance with the MAPs; Quigley Col. 6 lines 19-30) for an upstream channel identified in the message (The UCD message defines various aspects of a particular channel, such as a channel identifier, modulation rate, modulation type, burst characteristics, encoding characteristics, configuration change count that indicates how many times the particular channel has been reconfigured, frequency, a plurality of mode fields; An p. 0035);
providing FEC data for the identified upstream channel to the cable modem (According to a specific embodiment, the CFEC metric is a value which describes the following ratio: CFEC = Correctable FEC codewords received Total number of codewords received where "Correctable FEC codewords received" refers to the number of corrupted codewords received via the selected channel (during a predetermined time interval) that can be corrected using Forward Error Correction (FEC), and "Total number of codewords received" refers to the total number of codewords received on the selected channel during the same predetermined time interval. Typically, one transmission data packet can include one or more codewords. According to a specific embodiment, the UFEC metric is a value which describes the following ratio: UFEC = Uncorrectable FEC codewords received Total number of codewords received, where "Uncorrectable FEC codewords received" refers to the number of corrupted codewords received via the selected channel (during a predetermined time interval) that can not be corrected using Forward Error Correction (FEC), and "Total number of codewords received" refers to the total number of codewords received on the selected channel during the same predetermined time interval; An p. 0040-0043);
receiving from the cable modem a message identifying an upstream channel that should be impaired or lowered in modulation (When an event occurs, the cable modem may transmit the CM-STATUS message to the CMTS to thereby inform the CMTS about the occurrence of the event; OH1 p. 0006) The CM-STATUS message may include a transaction identification (ID)…a MAC management message header; OH p. 0010)(Parameters associated with an event type may include a downstream channel identifier (ID), an upstream channel ID, a Downstream Service ID (DSID), and the like; OH1 p. 0011);
and placing the identified upstream channel in an impaired state or lowering modulation of the channel and (Robust modulation profiles may utilize a QPSK (Quadrature Phase Shift Keying) modulation format. These parameters can be selected such that the CMTS is able to reliably receive cable modem burst transmission…In contrast, a performance type modulation profile can be designed for a higher rate, but would require a cleaner channel, e.g., high SNR. Some examples modulation profiles may utilize any one of the following formats: 64QAM, 32QAM, 16QAM, 8QAM, QPSK, shorter or longer preambles, higher or lower FEC overhead settings, etc.; An p. 0034) sending a dynamic bonding change (DBC) request (DBC-REQ) message to the cable modem (Specifically, the CMTS 101 transmits, to the CMs 102, a dynamic bonding change request message (DBC-REQ) of a new single RCC. The CMTS 101 subsequently receives, from the CMs 102, a dynamic bonding change response message (DBC-RSP) including a change result of the RCS, and completes changing the RCS. The CMs 102 receive the dynamic bonding change request message (DBC-REQ) of the new RCC from the CMTS 101. The CMs 102 subsequently change the downstream channels again using the received message, and transmit, to the CMTS 101, a dynamic bonding change response message (DBC-RSP) including the change result; OH2 p. 0017-0020) changing the allocation or the modulation of the identified upstream channel for use by the cable modem in response to receiving the message indicating that the identified upstream channel should be impaired or lowered in modulation (after registration is completed by the initial setting of the CMs 102, the CMTS 101 may change the RCC of the CMs 102 at any time, thereby adding a channel to the RCS of the CMs 102, or deleting the channel from the RCS, or changing the channel in the RCS; OH2 p. 0016, 0077-0085).
As per claim 29, An in view of Quigley in further view of OH1 in further view of OH2 teaches the CMTS of claim 28, wherein the processing system is configured to perform operations further comprising:
receiving from the cable modem a request to provide FEC data for an impaired upstream channel identified in the request (According to an aspect of the invention a modem communicates with a cable transmission system. The modem requests an amount of bandwidth on the cable system to transmit data; Quigley Col. 1 lines 63-65) (cable modem termination system which receives requests from the cable modems and which generates MAPs in response to these requests and also shows a plurality of cable modems which receive the MAPs and which generate frames in accordance with the MAPs; Quigley Col. 6 lines 19-30);
providing FEC data for the identified upstream channel to the requesting cable modem (According to a specific embodiment, the CFEC metric is a value which describes the following ratio: CFEC = Correctable FEC codewords received Total number of codewords received where "Correctable FEC codewords received" refers to the number of corrupted codewords received via the selected channel (during a predetermined time interval) that can be corrected using Forward Error Correction (FEC), and "Total number of codewords received" refers to the total number of codewords received on the selected channel during the same predetermined time interval. Typically, one transmission data packet can include one or more codewords. According to a specific embodiment, the UFEC metric is a value which describes the following ratio: UFEC = Uncorrectable FEC codewords received Total number of codewords received, where "Uncorrectable FEC codewords received" refers to the number of corrupted codewords received via the selected channel (during a predetermined time interval) that can not be corrected using Forward Error Correction (FEC), and "Total number of codewords received" refers to the total number of codewords received on the selected channel during the same predetermined time interval; p. 0040-0043);
receiving from the cable modem a message indicating that the identified upstream channel can be recovered or use a higher modulation (When an event occurs, the cable modem may transmit the CM-STATUS message to the CMTS to thereby inform the CMTS about the occurrence of the event; OH1 p. 0006);
and placing the identified upstream channel in an active state and (after registration is completed by the initial setting of the CMs 102, the CMTS 101 may change the RCC of the CMs 102 at any time, thereby adding a channel to the RCS of the CMs 102, or deleting the channel from the RCS, or changing the channel in the RCS; OH2 p. 0016, 0077-0085) sending a DBC-REQ message to the cable modem reallocating or raising modulation of the identified upstream channel for use by the cable modem in response to receiving the message indicating that the identified upstream channel can be recovered or use a higher modulation (the CMTS 101 transmits, to the CMs 102, a dynamic bonding change request message (DBC-REQ) of a new single RCC; OH2 p. 0017-0019)
As per claim 35, An in view of Quigley in further view of OH1 in further view of OH2 teaches a cable modem termination system (CMTS) (between the headend (which contains the cable modem termination system) and a plurality of homes (each of which contain a cable modem); Quigley p. 0014), comprising:
a memory (see Fig. [0000] col. line); one or more network transceivers; and a processing system coupled to the memory and one or more network transceiver and configured to perform operations (10 Base-T transceiver 266, a CPU (processor) 267, a random access memory (RAM) 268 and a read only memory (ROM) 269; Quigley p. 0223) comprising:
receiving from an external system a message (When an event occurs, the cable modem may transmit the CM-STATUS message to the CMTS to thereby inform the CMTS about the occurrence of the event; OH1 p. 0006) indicating that a communication channel identified in the message should be impaired or lowered in modulation in response to receiving the message from the external system (Robust modulation profiles may utilize a QPSK (Quadrature Phase Shift Keying) modulation format. These parameters can be selected such that the CMTS is able to reliably receive cable modem burst transmission…In contrast, a performance type modulation profile can be designed for a higher rate, but would require a cleaner channel, e.g., high SNR. Some examples modulation profiles may utilize any one of the following formats: 64QAM, 32QAM, 16QAM, 8QAM, QPSK, shorter or longer preambles, higher or lower FEC overhead settings, etc.; An p. 0034)(A threshold may be defined for each collected metric at which an alert may be triggered for possibly moving selected cable modems to a different channel. a modulation profile that is more immune to noise (e.g., QPSK) can have a lower SNR threshold, while a modulation profile that is designed for a higher rate (e.g., 32QAM, 64QAM, etc.) can have a higher SNR threshold. In one implementation, the cable modem SNR threshold may be derived from the channel SNR threshold and may be user configurable.…threshold may be user configurable and dependent on the particular channel's modulation profile; An p. 0045), placing the identified upstream channel in an impaired state and sending a dynamic bonding change (DBC) request (DBC-REQ) message to a cable modem using the identified upstream channel, the DBC request indicating that the upstream channel is impaired or lowering modulation of the channel (the CMTS 101 transmits, to the CMs 102, a dynamic bonding change request message (DBC-REQ) of a new single RCC; OH2 p. 0017-0019)(after registration is completed by the initial setting of the CMs 102, the CMTS 101 may change the RCC of the CMs 102 at any time, thereby adding a channel to the RCS of the CMs 102, or deleting the channel from the RCS, or changing the channel in the RCS; OH2 p. 0016, 0077-0085);
and receiving a DBC response (DBC-RSP) from the cable modem acknowledging impairment or lowering modulation of the identified upstream channel (using the received message, and transmit, to the CMTS 101, a dynamic bonding change response message (DBC-RSP) including the change result; OH2 p. 0020).
As per claim 36, An in view of Quigley in further view of OH1 in further view of OH2 teaches the CMTS of claim 35, wherein the processing system is configured to perform operations further comprising:
receiving from the external system a message indicating that the identified upstream channel can be recovered (When an event occurs, the cable modem may transmit the CM-STATUS message to the CMTS to thereby inform the CMTS about the occurrence of the event; OH1 p. 0006)(Event Code 5 QAM/FEC Lock Recover; OH1 Fig. 2) or higher modulation can be used (Some examples modulation profiles may utilize any one of the following formats: 64QAM, 32QAM, 16QAM, 8QAM, QPSK, shorter or longer preambles, higher or lower FEC overhead settings, etc.; An p. 0034)(A threshold may be defined for each collected metric at which an alert may be triggered for possibly moving selected cable modems to a different channel. a modulation profile that is more immune to noise (e.g., QPSK) can have a lower SNR threshold, while a modulation profile that is designed for a higher rate (e.g., 32QAM, 64QAM, etc.) can have a higher SNR threshold. In one implementation, the cable modem SNR threshold may be derived from the channel SNR threshold and may be user configurable.…threshold may be user configurable and dependent on the particular channel's modulation profile; An p. 0045);
placing the identified upstream channel in an active state or raising the modulation of the channels (after registration is completed by the initial setting of the CMs 102, the CMTS 101 may change the RCC of the CMs 102 at any time, thereby adding a channel to the RCS of the CMs 102, or deleting the channel from the RCS, or changing the channel in the RCS; OH2 p. 0016, 0077-0085) and sending a DBC-REQ message to the cable modem (the CMTS 101 transmits, to the CMs 102, a dynamic bonding change request message (DBC-REQ) of a new single RCC; OH2 p. 0017-0019) reallocating the identified upstream channel for upstream communication use by the cable modem in response to receiving the message indicating that the identified upstream channel can be recovered; and receiving a DBC response (DBC-RSP) from the cable modem acknowledging availability or raised modulation of the identified upstream channel (after registration is completed by the initial setting of the CMs 102, the CMTS 101 may change the RCC of the CMs 102 at any time, thereby adding a channel to the RCS of the CMs 102, or deleting the channel from the RCS, or changing the channel in the RCS; OH2 p. 0016, 0077-0085) (using the received message, and transmit, to the CMTS 101, a dynamic bonding change response message (DBC-RSP) including the change result; OH2 p. 0020)
Claims 12-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over An in view of OH1.
As per claim 12, An teaches a method performed by a network element separate from a Cable Modem Termination System (CMTS) for monitoring upstream channels for communications between the CMTS and cable modems, comprising:
monitoring, by the network element, forward error correction (FEC) data within communications in upstream channels between the CMTS and the cable modems (According to a specific embodiment, the CFEC metric is a value which describes the following ratio: CFEC = Correctable FEC codewords received Total number of codewords received where "Correctable FEC codewords received" refers to the number of corrupted codewords received via the selected channel (during a predetermined time interval) that can be corrected using Forward Error Correction (FEC), and "Total number of codewords received" refers to the total number of codewords received on the selected channel during the same predetermined time interval. Typically, one transmission data packet can include one or more codewords. According to a specific embodiment, the UFEC metric is a value which describes the following ratio: UFEC = Uncorrectable FEC codewords received Total number of codewords received, where "Uncorrectable FEC codewords received" refers to the number of corrupted codewords received via the selected channel (during a predetermined time interval) that can not be corrected using Forward Error Correction (FEC), and "Total number of codewords received" refers to the total number of codewords received on the selected channel during the same predetermined time interval; An p. 0040-0043)
analyzing, by the network element, the FEC data to determine whether an error rate in any upstream channel exceeds a predefined error threshold corresponding to a type of modulation used in a respective upstream channel (Referring to the process of FIG. 3, one or more thresholds for each modulation profile may be defined in operation 306. A threshold may be defined for each collected metric at which an alert may be triggered for possibly moving selected cable modems to a different channel…a channel SNR threshold may be user configurable and dependent on the particular channel's modulation profile; An p. 0044-0045);
sending, by the network element, a message to the CMTS identifying an upstream channel that should be impaired or use lower modulation in response to determining that the error rate of the identified upstream channel equals or exceeds the predefined error threshold for the type of modulation used in the identified upstream channel (A threshold may be defined for each collected metric at which an alert may be triggered for possibly moving selected cable modems to a different channel. a modulation profile that is more immune to noise (e.g., QPSK) can have a lower SNR threshold, while a modulation profile that is designed for a higher rate (e.g., 32QAM, 64QAM, etc.) can have a higher SNR threshold. In one implementation, the cable modem SNR threshold may be derived from the channel SNR threshold and may be user configurable.…threshold may be user configurable and dependent on the particular channel's modulation profile; An p. 0045).
Although An teaches the determining the error rate with predefined error thresholds, An does not explicitly teach sending, by the network element, a message to the CMTS identifying an upstream channel.
However, OH1 in an analogous art teaches sending, by the network element, a message to the CMTS (When an event occurs, the cable modem may transmit the CM-STATUS message to the CMTS to thereby inform the CMTS about the occurrence of the event; OH1 p. 0006) identifying an upstream channel (Parameters associated with an event type may include a downstream channel identifier (ID), an upstream channel ID, a Downstream Service ID (DSID), and the like; OH1 p. 0011)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the system of An with the teachings of OH1 by configuring the message sent by the cable modem to be a traffic management message that includes identifiers.
This modification would have been obvious because one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to employ an identifier of the upstream channel and impairment event type in the system of An because OH1 teaches the cable modem transmitting the CM-STATUS message to the CMTS to thereby inform the CMTS about the occurrence of the event (OH1 p. 0006).
As per claim 13, An in view of OH1 teaches the method of claim 12, wherein the message sent by the network element to the CMTS identifying an upstream channel that should be impaired or use lower modulation includes an identifier of the upstream channel and an identifier of an impairment event type (The CM-STATUS message may include a transaction identification (ID)…a MAC management message header; OH p. 0010)(Parameters associated with an event type may include a downstream channel identifier (ID), an upstream channel ID, a Downstream Service ID (DSID), and the like; OH1 p. 0011)(Event Code 5 QAM/FEC Lock Recover; OH1 Fig. 2).
As per claim 14, An in view of OH1 teaches the method of claim 12, further comprising:
continuing to monitor, by the network element, FEC data within communications in upstream channels impaired by the CMTS (An supports periodic collection of correctable FEC metrics equating to continuing; p. 0036, 0041-0043);
analyzing, by the network element, FEC data for the upstream channels impaired or using lowered modulation by the CMTS to determine whether the error rate in each upstream channel has decreased below the corresponding predefined error rate threshold (decreased below the corresponding predefined error rate threshold (A person of ordinary skill would inherently recognize that once a metric can exceed a threshold, it can later fall below the same threshold. An already teaches continuous monitoring of FEC metrics "during predetermined time interval" (for Correctable FEC codewords received and Uncorrectable); An p. 0041-0043);
and sending, by the network element, a message to the CMTS (When an event occurs, the cable modem may transmit the CM-STATUS message to the CMTS to thereby inform the CMTS about the occurrence of the event; OH1 p. 0006) to recover an impaired upstream channel (Event Code 5 QAM/FEC Lock Recover; OH1 Fig. 2) or use higher modulation for upstream channel in response to determining that the error rate in that upstream channel is less than the predefined error rate thresholds (a modulation profile that is more immune to noise (e.g., QPSK) can have a lower SNR threshold, while a modulation profile that is designed for a higher rate (e.g., 32QAM, 64QAM, etc.) can have a higher SNR threshold. In one implementation, the cable modem SNR threshold may be derived from the channel SNR threshold and may be user configurable; An p. 0045).
As per claim 15, An in view of OH1 teaches the method of claim 14, wherein the message sent by the network element to the CMTS to recover the impaired upstream channel is a traffic management message that includes an identifier of the impaired upstream channel and an identifier of a recovery event type (The CM-STATUS message may include a transaction identification (ID)…a MAC management message header; OH p. 0010)(Parameters associated with an event type may include a downstream channel identifier (ID), an upstream channel ID, a Downstream Service ID (DSID), and the like; OH1 p. 0011)(Event Code 5 QAM/FEC Lock Recover; OH1 Fig. 2).
As per claim 16, An in view of OH1 teaches the method of claim 12, wherein the predetermined error threshold is selected by the network element for each monitored upstream channel based on a modulation of the upstream channel from a plurality of predetermined thresholds corresponding to types of modulation used in upstream channels (Robust modulation profiles may utilize a QPSK (Quadrature Phase Shift Keying) modulation format. These parameters can be selected such that the CMTS is able to reliably receive cable modem burst transmission…In contrast, a performance type modulation profile can be designed for a higher rate, but would require a cleaner channel, e.g., high SNR. Some examples modulation profiles may utilize any one of the following formats: 64QAM, 32QAM, 16QAM, 8QAM, QPSK, shorter or longer preambles, higher or lower FEC overhead settings, etc.; An p. 0034)(A threshold may be defined for each collected metric at which an alert may be triggered for possibly moving selected cable modems to a different channel. a modulation profile that is more immune to noise (e.g., QPSK) can have a lower SNR threshold, while a modulation profile that is designed for a higher rate (e.g., 32QAM, 64QAM, etc.) can have a higher SNR threshold. In one implementation, the cable modem SNR threshold may be derived from the channel SNR threshold and may be user configurable.…threshold may be user configurable and dependent on the particular channel's modulation profile; An p. 0045).
Claims 17-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over An in view of OH1 in further view of OH2.
As per claim 17, An teaches a method performed in a cable modem termination system (CMTS), comprising:
indicating that a communication channel identified in the message should be impaired or lowered in modulation in response to receiving the message from the external system, placing the identified upstream channel in an impaired state (Robust modulation profiles may utilize a QPSK (Quadrature Phase Shift Keying) modulation format. These parameters can be selected such that the CMTS is able to reliably receive cable modem burst transmission…In contrast, a performance type modulation profile can be designed for a higher rate, but would require a cleaner channel, e.g., high SNR. Some examples modulation profiles may utilize any one of the following formats: 64QAM, 32QAM, 16QAM, 8QAM, QPSK, shorter or longer preambles, higher or lower FEC overhead settings, etc.; An p. 0034)(A threshold may be defined for each collected metric at which an alert may be triggered for possibly moving selected cable modems to a different channel. a modulation profile that is more immune to noise (e.g., QPSK) can have a lower SNR threshold, while a modulation profile that is designed for a higher rate (e.g., 32QAM, 64QAM, etc.) can have a higher SNR threshold. In one implementation, the cable modem SNR threshold may be derived from the channel SNR threshold and may be user configurable.…threshold may be user configurable and dependent on the particular channel's modulation profile; An p. 0045).
An does not explicitly teach receiving from an external system a message.
However, OH1 in the analogous art teaches receiving from an external system a message (When an event occurs, the cable modem may transmit the CM-STATUS message to the CMTS to thereby inform the CMTS about the occurrence of the event; OH1 p. 0006).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the system of An in view of Quigley with the teachings of OH1 by configuring the message sent by the cable modem to be a traffic management message that includes identifiers.
This modification would have been obvious because one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to employ an identifier of the upstream channel and impairment event type in the system of An in view of Quigley because OH1 teaches the cable modem transmitting the CM-STATUS message to the CMTS to thereby inform the CMTS about the occurrence of the event (OH1 p. 0006).
An in view of OH1 does not explicitly teach sending a dynamic bonding change (DBC) request (DBC-REQ) message to a cable modem using the identified upstream channel, the DBC request indicating that the upstream channel is impaired or lowering modulation of the channel;
and receiving a DBC response (DBC-RSP) from the cable modem acknowledging impairment or lowering of modulation of the identified upstream channel.
However, OH2 in the analogous art teaches sending a dynamic bonding change (DBC) request (DBC-REQ) message to a cable modem using the identified upstream channel (the CMTS 101 transmits, to the CMs 102, a dynamic bonding change request message (DBC-REQ) of a new single RCC; OH2 p. 0017-0019), the DBC request indicating that the upstream channel is impaired or lowering modulation of the channel (after registration is completed by the initial setting of the CMs 102, the CMTS 101 may change the RCC of the CMs 102 at any time, thereby adding a channel to the RCS of the CMs 102, or deleting the channel from the RCS, or changing the channel in the RCS; OH2 p. 0016, 0077-0085);
and receiving a DBC response (DBC-RSP) from the cable modem acknowledging impairment or lowering of modulation of the identified upstream channel (using the received message, and transmit, to the CMTS 101, a dynamic bonding change response message (DBC-RSP) including the change result; OH2 p. 0020).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the system of An in view of Quigley with the teachings of OH2 by configuring receiving a dynamic bonding change request and sending a message to the CMTS.
This modification would have been obvious because one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to employ receiving, sending and then suspending in the system of An in view of Quigley because OH2 teaches a method of effectively setting and changing of the RCS to thereby effectively setting and changing the RCS even when an error occurs during a process of setting and changing the RCS of the CM (OH2 p. 0022-0023).
As per claim 18, An in view of OH1 in further view of OH2 teaches the method of claim 17, further comprising:
receiving from the external system a message indicating that the identified upstream channel can be recovered (When an event occurs, the cable modem may transmit the CM-STATUS message to the CMTS to thereby inform the CMTS about the occurrence of the event; OH1 p. 0006)(Event Code 5 QAM/FEC Lock Recover; OH1 Fig. 2) or higher modulation can be used (Some examples modulation profiles may utilize any one of the following formats: 64QAM, 32QAM, 16QAM, 8QAM, QPSK, shorter or longer preambles, higher or lower FEC overhead settings, etc.; An p. 0034)(A threshold may be defined for each collected metric at which an alert may be triggered for possibly moving selected cable modems to a different channel. a modulation profile that is more immune to noise (e.g., QPSK) can have a lower SNR threshold, while a modulation profile that is designed for a higher rate (e.g., 32QAM, 64QAM, etc.) can have a higher SNR threshold. In one implementation, the cable modem SNR threshold may be derived from the channel SNR threshold and may be user configurable.…threshold may be user configurable and dependent on the particular channel's modulation profile; An p. 0045);
placing the specified upstream channel in an active state or raising the modulation of the channel and (after registration is completed by the initial setting of the CMs 102, the CMTS 101 may change the RCC of the CMs 102 at any time, thereby adding a channel to the RCS of the CMs 102, or deleting the channel from the RCS, or changing the channel in the RCS; OH2 p. 0016, 0077-0085) sending a DBC-REQ message to the cable modem (the CMTS 101 transmits, to the CMs 102, a dynamic bonding change request message (DBC-REQ) of a new single RCC; OH2 p. 0017-0019) reallocating the identified upstream channel for upstream communication use by the cable modem in response to receiving the message indicating that the specified upstream channel can be recovered and receiving a DBC response (DBC-RSP) from the cable modem acknowledging availability or raised modulation of the identified upstream channel (after registration is completed by the initial setting of the CMs 102, the CMTS 101 may change the RCC of the CMs 102 at any time, thereby adding a channel to the RCS of the CMs 102, or deleting the channel from the RCS, or changing the channel in the RCS; OH2 p. 0016, 0077-0085) (using the received message, and transmit, to the CMTS 101, a dynamic bonding change response message (DBC-RSP) including the change result; OH2 p. 0020).
Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. This information has been detailed in the PTO 892 attached (Notice of References Cited).
The prior arts of record teach:
Quigley (US 20070109995 A1) teaches A number of features for enhancing the performance of a communication system, in which data is transmitted between a base station and a plurality of subscriber stations located different distances from the base station, are presented. The power transmission level, slot timing, and equalization of the subscriber stations are set by a ranging process. Data is transmitted by the subscriber stations in fragmented form. Various measures are taken to make transmission from the subscriber stations robust. The uplink data transmission is controlled to permit multiple access from the subscriber stations.
Garcia et al (US 20170141887 A1) teaches a system and method for determining one or more data modulation profiles for one or more devices. The system and method described herein may measure signal quality, such as a modulation error ratio (MER), signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), receive power, transmit power, etc. Based on the signal quality, the system may determine one or more data modulation profile(s) (e.g., quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) profiles) for a subcarrier, a plurality of subcarriers, a device, and/or a grouping of devices.
Dale et al (US 20040146038 A1) teaches A system and method for providing upstream adaptive modulation. Burst parameters associated with a range of data interval usage codes (IUCs) are defined. Each of the data IUCs has a different modulation order and forward error correction (FEC). The SNR and codeword error rate for each satellite modem in the network are monitored. The data IUCs are dynamically assigned to different satellite modems within an upstream channel based on SNR and/or codeword error rate to enable each of the satellite modems in the upstream channel to achieve maximum bandwidth efficiency during upstream data transmissions. Bandwidth requests are received from the satellite modems and granted. The grant includes the assigned data IUC. The data bursts received in the upstream channel are each processed using the parameters from the assigned IUC for each of the satellite modems sending data in the upstream channel.
Conclusion
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/JAYLUN A JACKSON/Examiner, Art Unit 2112
/ALBERT DECADY/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2112
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