Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
Claims 1-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
In claim 1, line 3, discloses a step of “detecting, by a photodiode, a phase and frequency of the optical signal.” Claim 10 lines 3 discloses a “photodetector configured for detecting a phase and a frequency of the optical signal”. See claim 3 also, claim 2 also discloses a photodetector that detects amplitude and phase.
A photodiode is a semiconductor device that converts incident light (visible, infrared, or ultraviolet) into an electrical current proportional to the light intensity. A standard photodiode cannot directly detect the phase and frequency of an optical signal on its own — it only measures the intensity (amplitude) of the optical power. This means it can detect changes in optical power but not the underlying phase or frequency modulation unless additional techniques are used. In a coherent receiver, the incoming optical signal’s phase and frequency are detected by combining it with a local oscillator (LO) laser in a process called optical mixing.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
With regards to claim 2, a photodetector is disclosed for detecting the amplitude and phase of the optical signal. It is not clear the difference between the photodetector in claim 2 and the photodiode in claim 1. It is not clear if the photodetector is introduced is in addition to the photodiode in claim 1 or ii it is replacing the photodiode in claim 1. It is not clear if photodiode and photodetector are used inter-changeably. If used inter-changeably, the photodiode in claim 1 there is an improper dependency for failing to further limit the subject matter of the claim upon which it depends. A dependent claim cannot introduce an element that replaces an element in the independent claim. In claim 1 the photodiode detects a phase and frequency and in claim 2 the photodetector detects phase and amplitude. It is not clear if this is an typographical error.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim 19 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Suzuki. (2013/0236172) in view of Gao et al. (20230179307)
With regards to claim 19 Suzuki teaches a communications receiver (Fig. 7)
comprising: ….an optical splitter (Fig 7@314) for dividing an optical signal into a first conditioned optical signal and a second conditioned optical signal; a laser diode configured for generating an optical local oscillator signal in response to the phase and the frequency of the incoming signal (Fig 7@130; LO) In a coherent receiver, the incoming optical signal’s phase and frequency are detected by combining it with a local oscillator (LO) laser in a process called optical mixing). a ninety-degree optical hybrid (Fig 7 Hybrid) configured for extracting an optical baseband signal in response to a superposition of the first conditioned optical signal and the optical local oscillator signal; a photodiode configured for converting the optical baseband signal into a digital baseband signal (Fig 7@312); and a digital signal processor configured for extracting the data from the digital baseband signal. (Fig 7 @360). Suzuki teaches a VOA as part of an optical signal conditioner but fails to teach an optical amplifier, an optical bandpass filter, for generating a conditioned optical signal. Gao teaches an optical bandpass filter, an EDFA and an attenuator (see Fig 3 OBPF, EDFA and ATT). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine Gao with Suzuki in order to adjust the parameters of the optical signal before demodulation. The motivation be to improve the BER.
Suzuki in view of Gao fails to teach an optical terminal for receiving an optical signal transmitted within a free space environment and wherein the optical signal includes a data packet. Official notice is taken that It is well known in the art that a coherent receiver may receive and optical signal either through a fiber or wirelessly depending on the application/design and the use of packets will depend on the type of data being transmitted. (e.g. ethernet packets, bursty data).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 20 is 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.
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/KENNETH N VANDERPUYE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2634
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