DETAILED ACTION
1. It is hereby acknowledged that 18/951375 the following papers have been received and placed of record in the file: Remark date 11/18/24
Claim Objections
2. Claims 1-10 are objected to because of the following informalities: The claims 1 and 10 recite “…TCP ACK …” When abbreviation(s) are first used in a claim set it should be fully spelled out.
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.
4. Claims 1, 2 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over (JP 5804566B2) herein referred to as JP in view of Annamalaisami et al (US 2014/0351447 A1)
Regarding claim 1, JP teaches an optical network terminal including a processor comprising:
(a) said optical network terminal capable of receiving optical digital data from an optical line terminal from an optical fiber connection and provide optical digital data to said optical line terminal to said optical fiber connection; (JP Fig.1, paragraph [0004], [0007],[0008] explains downstream traffic)
(b) said optical network terminal receiving said optical digital data from said optical line terminal and providing digital data to customer premise equipment representative of said optical digital data;(JP paragraph [0004],[0005], [0007],[0008], [0015] explains….optical communication system includes an OLT 1, an ONU 2, an optical fiber transmission line 8 and an optical splitter 9. The OLT 1 includes a logic unit 41, a transmission / reception unit 42, and an SNI (Service Node Interface) physical layer unit 43. The ONU 2 includes a logic unit 11, a transmission / reception unit 12, and a UNI (User Network Interface) physical layer unit 13…)
(c) said optical network terminal receiving said digital data from said customer premise equipment and providing optical digital data to said optical line terminal representative of said digital data; (JP paragraph [0004],[0007],[0008] data communication,)
(d) said optical network terminal receiving a plurality of TCP ACK packets from said customer premise equipment each of which are queued by said optical network terminal; (JP paragraph[0015] Fig.4c, [0019] and [0024] by thinning out ACK frames it is implied that the queued TCP ACK packets are combined into the ACK frame that is returned about once in a plurality of times comprises multiple TCP ACK packets)
(e) said optical network terminal processing said plurality of TCP ACK packets to form at least a portion of a frame including information regarding said plurality of TCP ACK packets. (JP paragraph [0019] and [0024] by thinning out ACK frames it is implied that the queued TCP ACK packets are combined into the ACK frame that is returned about once in a plurality of time comprises multiple TCP ACK packets)
While it can be understood JP teaches a frame including information regarding said plurality of TCP ACK packets.
However to further show this Annamalaisami explains a MPTCP PCB may store, record and/or maintain a state of a MPTCP session. The MPTCP PCB may store, record and/or maintain a list of subflows associated with the MPTCP session. The MPTCP PCB may include an identification of the subflows included in the MPTCP session. For example, the MPTCP PCB may maintain a connection identifier of each of the subflows. This MPTCP PCB may be used by the MPTCP manager to convert subflow-specific sequence/acknowledgment numbers or identifiers (e.g., associated with subflow packets, frames, messages or communications) to a common configuration of sequence identifiers. Under the common configuration of sequence identifiers, applications receiving or operating on the subflow communications can do so without requiring knowledge about the various subflows. For example, the MPTCP manager may encode a corresponding connection identifier of a subflow with a subflow-specific sequence identifier, to generate a MPTCP sequence identifier, e.g., for a received packet. The MPTCP manager may use or apply information specific to a subflow, to translate a subflow-specific sequence number into a MPTCP sequence identifier. The MPTCP manager may store the MPTCP sequence identifier in the MPTCP PCB and/or include/encode the MPTCP sequence identifier in the packet. As such, MPTCP PCB may operate or serve as a multiplexer/demultiplexer for subflows under MPTCP. In some embodiments, the MPTCP manager may send at least a portion of the MPTCP PCB to a (final or intermediate) destination of the packet. (See paragraph [0281], also see paragraph [0240] explains TCP ACK packet)
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine JP with Annamalaisami because Annamalaisami ‘s invention improves subflows in a multipath system( see Background ).
Regarding claim 2, the modified JP taught the optical network terminal of claim 1 wherein said plurality of TCP ACK packets are processed in such a manner to form a new packet including information regarding said plurality of TCP ACK packets. (Amamalaisami discloses… a MPTCP PCB may store, record and/or maintain a state of a MPTCP session. The MPTCP PCB may store, record and/or maintain a list of subflows associated with the MPTCP session. The MPTCP PCB may include an identification of the subflows included in the MPTCP session. For example, the MPTCP PCB may maintain a connection identifier of each of the subflows. This MPTCP PCB may be used by the MPTCP manager to convert subflow-specific sequence/acknowledgment numbers or identifiers (e.g., associated with subflow packets, frames, messages or communications) to a common configuration of sequence identifiers. Under the common configuration of sequence identifiers, applications receiving or operating on the subflow communications can do so without requiring knowledge about the various subflows. For example, the MPTCP manager may encode a corresponding connection identifier of a subflow with a subflow-specific sequence identifier, to generate a MPTCP sequence identifier, e.g., for a received packet. The MPTCP manager may use or apply information specific to a subflow, to translate a subflow-specific sequence number into a MPTCP sequence identifier. The MPTCP manager may store the MPTCP sequence identifier in the MPTCP PCB and/or include/encode the MPTCP sequence identifier in the packet. As such, MPTCP PCB may operate or serve as a multiplexer/demultiplexer for subflows under MPTCP. In some embodiments, the MPTCP manager may send at least a portion of the MPTCP PCB to a (final or intermediate) destination of the packet. (See paragraph [0281], also see paragraph [0240] explains TCP ACK packet)
Regarding claim 10, JP teaches an optical line terminal including a processor comprising:
(a) said optical line terminal capable of receiving optical digital data from an optical network terminal from an optical fiber connection and provide optical digital data to said optical network terminal to said optical fiber connection; (JP Fig.1, paragraph [0004], [0007],[0008] explains downstream traffic)
(b) said optical line terminal receiving said optical digital data from said optical network terminal and providing digital data to a core network representative of said optical digital data; (JP paragraph [0004],[0005], [0007],[0008], [0015] explains….optical communication system includes an OLT 1, an ONU 2, an optical fiber transmission line 8 and an optical splitter 9. The OLT 1 includes a logic unit 41, a transmission / reception unit 42, and an SNI (Service Node Interface) physical layer unit 43. The ONU 2 includes a logic unit 11, a transmission / reception unit 12, and a UNI (User Network Interface) physical layer unit 13…)
(c) said optical line terminal receiving said digital data from said core network and providing optical digital data to said core network representative of said digital data; (JP paragraph [0004],[0007] data communication,)
(d) said optical network terminal receiving optical data that includes a plurality of TCP ACK packets from said optical network terminal each of which are queued by said optical line terminal; (JP paragraph[0015] Fig.4c, [0019] and [0024] by thinning out ACK frames it is implied that the queued TCP ACK packets are combined into the ACK frame that is returned about once in a plurality of time comprises multiple TCP ACK packets) (e) said optical line terminal processing said optical data including said plurality of TCP ACK packets to form at least a portion of a frame including information regarding said optical data including said plurality of TCP ACK packets. (JP paragraph [0019] and [0024] by thinning out ACK frames it is implied that the queued TCP ACK packets are combined into the ACK frame that is returned about once in a plurality of time comprises multiple TCP ACK packets)
While it can be understood JP teaches a frame including information regarding said plurality of TCP ACK packets.
However to further explain this Annamalaisami explains a MPTCP PCB may store, record and/or maintain a state of a MPTCP session. The MPTCP PCB may store, record and/or maintain a list of subflows associated with the MPTCP session. The MPTCP PCB may include an identification of the subflows included in the MPTCP session. For example, the MPTCP PCB may maintain a connection identifier of each of the subflows. This MPTCP PCB may be used by the MPTCP manager to convert subflow-specific sequence/acknowledgment numbers or identifiers (e.g., associated with subflow packets, frames, messages or communications) to a common configuration of sequence identifiers. Under the common configuration of sequence identifiers, applications receiving or operating on the subflow communications can do so without requiring knowledge about the various subflows. For example, the MPTCP manager may encode a corresponding connection identifier of a subflow with a subflow-specific sequence identifier, to generate a MPTCP sequence identifier, e.g., for a received packet. The MPTCP manager may use or apply information specific to a subflow, to translate a subflow-specific sequence number into a MPTCP sequence identifier. The MPTCP manager may store the MPTCP sequence identifier in the MPTCP PCB and/or include/encode the MPTCP sequence identifier in the packet. As such, MPTCP PCB may operate or serve as a multiplexer/demultiplexer for subflows under MPTCP. In some embodiments, the MPTCP manager may send at least a portion of the MPTCP PCB to a (final or intermediate) destination of the packet. (See paragraph [0281], also see paragraph [0240] explains TCP ACK packet)
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine JP with Annamalaisami because Annamalaisami invention improves subflows in multipath system( see Background ).
Allowable Subject Matter
5. Claims 3-9 objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Gerald Smarth whose telephone number is (571) 270-1923. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Thursday 6am-4:30pm ET. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Joseph Avellino can be reached on 571-272-3905. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/GERALD A SMARTH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2478
