Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
DETAILED ACTION
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Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
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Claims 1-20 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-16 of U.S. Patent No. Vaez-Ghaemi et al hereinafter Vaez. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because of the following:
Referring to Claim 1. Vaez discloses a method of analyzing an Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) fronthaul (OFH) link between an O-RAN Distributed Unit (O-DU) and an O-RAN Radio Unit (O-RU), comprising:
receiving an OFH packet traffic flow from the O-DU and the O-RU; (refer to claim 1)
adding timing information to each packet of the OFH packet traffic flow (refer to claim 1);
parsing metadata from packet headers of the OFH packet traffic flow (refer to claim 1);
identifying one or more active packet flows in the OFH packet traffic flow using the
parsed metadata (refer to claim 1);
tracking the identified one or more active packet flows using the parsed metadata (refer to claim 1);
continuously generating one or more analytical timing measurements of the tracked one or more active packet flows based on the parsing and the added timing information (refer to claim 1); and
presenting a visual representation of the tracked one or more active packet flows
and the continuously generated one or more analytical timing measurements of the tracked one or more active packet flows (refer to claim 1).
Referring to Claim 2. Vaez disclosed the method of claim 1, Vaez discloses wherein the visual representation comprises a graphical user interface (GUI) showing, for each of the tracked one or more active packet flows, at least one of a source, a destination, a packet type, a traffic direction, or a unique indicia to identify each of the tracked one or more active packet flows (refer to claim 2).
Referring to Claim 3. Vaez disclosed the method of claim 2,Vaez discloses wherein the unique indicia comprises a hash value (refer to claim 3).
Referring to Claim 4. Vaez disclosed the method of claim 1, further comprising: Vaez discloses receiving user input selecting at least one selectable parameter, wherein a selectable parameter comprises at least one of the O-DU, the O-RU, a type of packet, a communication plane, a source, a destination, a traffic direction, or at least one of the one or more analytical timing measurements, wherein the presenting the visual representation comprises:
presenting, using the selected at least one selectable parameter, the visual representation of the tracked one or more active packet flows and the continuously generated one or more analytical timing measurements of the tracked one or more active packet flows (refer to claim 2 and claim 5 and 6).
Referring to Claim 5. Vaez disclosed the method of claim 4, Vaez discloses wherein the selected at least one selectable parameter comprises the O-DU, and wherein the presented visual representation comprises a graphical user interface (GUI) showing at least one of current transmission bandwidth of the O-DU, current reception bandwidth of the O-DU, transmission bandwidth usage of the O-DU over time, reception bandwidth usage of the O-DU over time, or an identification of each O-RU presently connected to the O-DU (refer to claim 4).
Referring to Claim 6. Vaez disclosed the method of claim 4, Vaez discloses wherein the selected at least one selectable parameter comprises the O-RU, and
wherein the presented visual representation comprises a graphical user interface (GUI) showing at least one of current transmission bandwidth of the O-RU, current reception bandwidth of the O-RU, transmission bandwidth usage of the O-RU over time, or reception bandwidth usage of the O-RU over time (refer to claim 4).
Referring to Claim 7. Vaez disclosed the method of claim 4, Vaez discloses wherein the selected at least one selectable parameter comprises a Control Plane (C-Plane) active packet flow, a User Plane (U-Plane) active packet flow, and the O-DU, and wherein the presented visual presentation comprises a graphical user interface (GUI) showing at least one of current analytical timing measurements of early, late, and on-time downlink C-Plane packets, current analytical timing measurements of early, late, and on-time uplink C-Plane packets, or current analytical timing measurements of early, late, and on-time downlink U-Plane packets (refer to claim 5 and 6).
Referring to Claim 8. Vaez disclosed the method of claim 4, Vaez discloses wherein the selected at least one selectable parameter comprises a Control Plane (C-Plane) active packet flow, a User Plane (U-Plane) active
packet flow, and the O-RU, and wherein the presented visual presentation comprises a graphical user interface (GUI) showing at least one of current analytical timing measurements of early, late, and on-time uplink U-Plane packets or current analytical timing measurements of early, late,
and on-time uplink U-Plane packets (refer to claim 5 and 6).
Referring to Claim 9. Vaez disclosed the real-time Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) fronthaul analyzer and graphical user interface (FHA/GUI), comprising:
a hardware accelerator to receive and analyze O-RAN fronthaul (OFH) packet traffic flow of an O-RAN Distributed Unit (O-DU) and an O-RAN Radio Unit (O-RU) (refer to claim 16), comprising:
a parser to parse metadata from packet headers of the OFH packet traffic flow (refer to claim 16); and
a flow tracker to identify and track active packet flows using the parsed metadata (refer to claim 16); and
one or more processors and one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media storing instructions executable by the one or more processors, wherein
the one or more processors are to:
receive data regarding the active packet flows from the flow tracker (refer to claim 16); and generate a graphical user interface (GUI) to display a visual representation of the active packet flows using the received data (refer to claim 16).
Referring to Claim 10. Vaez disclosed the real-time O-RAN FHA/GUI of claim 9, Vaez discloses wherein the hardware accelerator comprises a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) (refer to claim 16).
Referring to Claim 11. Vaez disclosed the real-time O-RAN fronthaul analyzer of claim 9, Vaez discloses wherein the hardware accelerator further comprises:
a counter to maintain a clock, wherein timing information is added to each packet of the OFH packet traffic flow using the counter (refer to claim 16).
Referring to Claim 12. Vaez disclosed the real-time O-RAN FHA/GUI of claim 11, Vaez discloses wherein the hardware accelerator is further to analyze a plurality of packets in the OFH packet traffic flow using at least one of the added timing information or the parsed metadata and to continuously generate one or more analytical timing measurements of the OFH packet traffic flow based on the analyzing of the plurality of packets (refer to claim 16); and wherein the one or more processors are further to:
receive the continuously generated one or more analytical timing measurements from the hardware accelerator (refer to claim 16); and generate the GUI to display a visual representation of the OFH packet traffic flow using the continuously generated one or more analytical timing measurements (refer to claim 16 and 15).
Referring to Claim 13. Vaez disclosed the real-time O-RAN FHA/GUI of claim 9, Vaez discloses wherein the visual representation comprises, for each of the tracked one or more active packet flows, at least one of a source, a destination, a packet type, a traffic direction, or a unique indicia to identify each of the tracked one or more active packet flows (refer to claim 2).
Referring to Claim 14. Vaez disclosed the real-time O-RAN FHA/GUI of claim 13, Vaez discloses wherein the unique indicia comprises a hash value (refer to claim 3).
Referring to Claim 15. Vaez disclosed the real-time O-RAN FHA/GUI of claim 9, Vaez discloses wherein the one or more processors are further to:
receive user input selecting at least one selectable parameter, wherein a selectable parameter comprises at least one of the O-DU, the O-RU, a type of packet, a communication plane, a source, a destination, a traffic direction, or one or more analytical timing measurements,
wherein the one or more processors use the selected at least one selectable parameter to generate the GUI to display the visual representation (refer to claim 14, 15, and 16).
Referring to Claim 16. Vaez disclosed the real-time O-RAN FHA/GUI of claim 15, Vaez discloses wherein the selected at least one selectable parameter comprises the O-DU, and wherein the visual representation shows at least one of current transmission bandwidth of the O-DU, current reception bandwidth of the O-DU, transmission bandwidth usage of the O-DU over time, reception bandwidth usage of the O-DU over time, or an identification of each O-RU presently connected to the O-DU.
Referring to Claim 17. Vaez disclosed the real-time O-RAN FHA/GUI of claim 15, Vaez discloses wherein the selected at least one selectable parameter comprises the O-RU, and wherein the visual representation shows at least one of current transmission bandwidth of the O-RU, current reception bandwidth of the O-RU, transmission bandwidth usage of the O-RU over time, or reception bandwidth usage of the O-RU over time.
Referring to Claim 18. Vaez disclosed the real-time O-RAN FHA/GUI of claim 15, Vaez discloses wherein the selected at least one selectable parameter comprises a Control Plane (C-Plane) active packet flow, a User Plane (U-Plane) active packet flow, and the O-DU, and wherein the visual presentation shows at least one of current analytical timing measurements of early, late, and on-time downlink C-Plane packets, current analytical timing measurements of early, late, and on-time uplink C-Plane packets, or current analytical timing measurements of early, late, and on-time downlink U-Plane packets (refer to claim 6, 14., 15 and 16).
Referring to Claim 19. Vaez disclosed the real-time O-RAN FHA/GUI of claim 15, Vaez discloses wherein the selected at least one selectable parameter comprises a Control Plane (C-Plane) active packet flow, a User Plane (U-Plane) active packet flow, and the O-RU, and wherein the visual presentation shows at least one of current analytical timing measurements of early, late, and on-time uplink U-Plane packets or current analytical timing measurements of early, late, and on-time uplink U-Plane packets (refer to claim 14, 15 and 16).
Referring to Claim 20, claims are rejected under similar rational as claims 1-19.
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.
Claim(s) 1-4, 7-15, 18-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Porras et al hereinafter Porras (US 2024/0179577) in view of Niiranen et al hereinafter Niiranen (WO 2023/237909).
Referring to Claim 1. Porras discloses a method of analyzing an Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) fronthaul (OFH) link between an O-RAN Distributed Unit (O-DU) and an O-RAN Radio Unit (O-RU), comprising:
receiving an OFH packet traffic flow from the O-DU and the O-RU (O-DU and O-RU communication, refer to par 0051, 0059 and Fig 3);
adding timing information to each packet of the OFH packet traffic flow (timer information, refer to par 0090, 0203, and 0164);
parsing metadata from packet headers of the OFH packet traffic flow (monitor and extract data, analyze the header information, refer to par 0059, 0289-0290, 0164);
identifying one or more active packet flows in the OFH packet traffic flow using the
parsed metadata (analyze the metadata, and ID the flows refer to par 0059, 0289-0290, 0164);
tracking the identified one or more active packet flows using the parsed metadata (subscribe telemetry information, refer to par 0090, 0098, 0165, 0214);
continuously generating one or more analytical timing measurements of the tracked one or more active packet flows based on the parsing and the added timing information (periodic reporting, refer to par 0090-0092, 0203, 0164); and
presenting a visual representation of the tracked one or more active packet flows
and the continuously generated one or more analytical timing measurements of the tracked one or more active packet flows (reporting telemetry information and display, refer to par 0092, 0096-0098).
To expedite the prosecution, Niiranen is introduced to demonstrate it is well known in the art to present add timing information and present visual representation of the ORAN traffic analysis information (refer to pg 8, Lines 13-30, pg 11, lines 5-30, pg 9, Lines 15-20,).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Porras and Niiranen because Niiranen’s teaching would allow the system of Porras to efficiently determine the system delay/jitter information in order to make appropriate judgement on system configuration (refer to pg 1 background)
Referring to Claim 2. Porras and Niiranen disclosed the method of claim 1, Porras discloses wherein the visual representation comprises a graphical user interface (GUI) showing, for each of the tracked one or more active packet flows, at least one of a source, a destination, a packet type, a traffic direction, or a unique indicia to identify each of the tracked one or more active packet flows (refer to par 0063, 0192, 0214).
Referring to Claim 3. Porras and Niiranen disclosed the method of claim 2, Porras discloses wherein the unique indicia comprises a hash value (encapsulation/encode the header, refer to par 0293).
Referring to Claim 4. Porras and Niiranen disclosed the method of claim 1, Porras further discloses: receiving user input selecting at least one selectable parameter, wherein a selectable parameter comprises at least one of the O-DU, the O-RU, a type of packet, a communication plane, a source, a destination, a traffic direction, or at least one of the one or more analytical timing measurements (input time references from user, refer to par 0015, 0096 and 0120 and 0219), wherein the presenting the visual representation comprises:
presenting, using the selected at least one selectable parameter, the visual representation of the tracked one or more active packet flows and the continuously generated one or more analytical timing measurements of the tracked one or more active packet flows (refer to par 0087, 0090, 0095).
Referring to Claim 7. Porras and Niiranen disclosed the method of claim 4, Niiranen discloses wherein the selected at least one selectable parameter comprises a Control Plane (C-Plane) active packet flow, a User Plane (U-Plane) active packet flow, and the O-DU, and wherein the presented visual presentation comprises a graphical user interface (GUI) showing at least one of current analytical timing measurements of early, late, and on-time downlink C-Plane packets, current analytical timing measurements of early, late, and on-time uplink C-Plane packets, or current analytical timing measurements of early, late, and on-time downlink U-Plane packets (refer to pg 8, Lines 5-pg 9, Lines 31, pg 10, lines 25- pg 11, Lines 35).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Porras and Niiranen because Niiranen’s teaching would allow the system of Porras to efficiently determine the system delay/jitter information in order to make appropriate judgement on system configuration (refer to pg 1 background)
Referring to Claim 8. Porras and Niiranen disclosed the method of claim 4, Niiranen discloses wherein the selected at least one selectable parameter comprises a Control Plane (C-Plane) active packet flow, a User Plane (U-Plane) active packet flow, and the O-RU, and wherein the presented visual presentation comprises a graphical user interface (GUI) showing at least one of current analytical timing measurements of early, late, and on-time uplink U-Plane packets or current analytical timing measurements of early, late, and on-time uplink U-Plane packets (refer to pg 8, Lines 5-pg 9, Lines 31, pg 10, lines 25- pg 11, Lines 35).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Porras and Niiranen because Niiranen’s teaching would allow the system of Porras to efficiently determine the system delay/jitter information in order to make appropriate judgement on system configuration (refer to pg 1 background)
Referring to Claims 9-15, 18 and 19 are rejected under similar rational as claims 1-4, 7 and 8.
.
Referring to Claim 20. Porras discloses a real-time Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) fronthaul analyzer and graphical user interface (FHA/GUI), comprising:
a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) (its obvious for O-RAN to include the FPGA component in the system) to receive and analyze O-RAN fronthaul (OFH) packet traffic flow of an O-RAN Distributed Unit (O-DU) and an O-RAN Radio Unit (O-RU) (integrated processor, refer to par 0198, 0199), comprising:
a parser to parse metadata from packet headers of the OFH packet traffic flow (monitor and extract data, analyze the header information, refer to par 0059, 0289 – 0290 and par 0164);
a counter to maintain a clock, wherein timing information is added to each packet of the OFH packet traffic flow using the counter (counter, refer to par 0063, 0069); and
a flow tracker to identify and track active packet flows using at least one of the parsed metadata and the added timing information, wherein the FPGA is further to analyze a plurality of packets in the OFH packet traffic flow using the added timing information and the parsed metadata and to continuously generate one or more analytical timing measurements of the OFH packet traffic flow based on the analyzing (refer to par 0090, 0203, 0164, 0063, 0068 and monitor and id the flows, refer to par 0059, 0289-0290 and 0164); and one or more processors and one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media storing instructions executable by the one or more processors, wherein the one or more processors are to:
receive the continuously generated one or more analytical timing measurements from the FPGA; and generate a graphical user interface (GUI) to display a visual representation of the active packet flows using the received continuously generated one or more analytical timing measurements (refer to par 0092, 0096-0098).
To expedite the prosecution, Niiranen is introduced to demonstrate it is well known in the art to present add timing information and present visual representation of the ORAN traffic analysis information (refer to pg 8, Lines 13-30, pg 11, lines 5-30, pg 9, Lines 15-20,).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Porras and Niiranen because Niiranen’s teaching would allow the system of Porras to efficiently determine the system delay/jitter information in order to make appropriate judgement on system configuration (refer to pg 1 background)
Claim(s) 5, 6, 16 and 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Porras et al hereinafter Porras (US 2024/0179577) in view of Niiranen et al hereinafter Niiranen (WO 2023/237909) in further view of “O-RAN Test and Integration Focus Group End-to-End Test Specification” hereinafter O-Ran A – Oct 2022 Pg 1-222
Referring to Claim 16. Porras and Niiranen disclosed the real-time O-RAN FHA/GUI of claim 15, O-RAN A discloses wherein the selected at least one selectable parameter comprises the O-DU, and wherein the visual representation shows at least one of current transmission bandwidth of the O-DU, current reception bandwidth of the O-DU, transmission bandwidth usage of the O-DU over time, reception bandwidth usage of the O-DU over time, or an identification of each O-RU presently connected to the O-DU (refer to 4.4.1-4.4.2, 9.2.2.2 , 9.2.2.5 – 9.2.2.6 observe the capture trace over the interfaces, and record the KPI, where KPI measure the results on the bandwidth information such as throughput per cell. Can also view the test results includes the nodes at least O-RU, O-DU, in the test results).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Porras, Niiranen and O-RAN A because O-RAN A’s teaching would allow the system of Porras to efficiently test and display the system KPI component information in order to make appropriate reconfiguration on system.
Referring to Claim 17. Porras and Niiranen disclosed the real-time O-RAN FHA/GUI of claim 15, O-RAN A discloses wherein the selected at least one selectable parameter comprises the O-RU, and wherein the visual representation shows at least one of current transmission bandwidth of the O-RU, current reception bandwidth of the O-RU, transmission bandwidth usage of the O-RU over time, or reception bandwidth usage of the O-RU over time (refer to 4.4/1 and 9.2.2.2 , 9.2.2.5 – 9.2.2.6 observe the capture trace over the interfaces, and record the KPI, where KPI measure the results on the bandwidth information such as throughput per cell. Can also view the test results includes the nodes at least O-RU, O-DU, in the test results).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Porras, Niiranen and O-RAN A because O-RAN A’s teaching would allow the system of Porras to efficiently test and display the system KPI component information in order to make appropriate reconfiguration on system.
Claim 5, 6 is rejected under similar rational as claim 16, 17.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KAREN C TANG whose telephone number is (571)272-3116. The examiner can normally be reached on 5:30am - 2:30pm. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Joon H Hwang can be reached on (571) 272-4036. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/KAREN C TANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2447
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