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 .
This is a first office action in response the instant application for letters patent filed on 13 February 2025. Claims 1-20 are p[resented for examination.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 03/07/2025 was filed after the mailing date of the first office action on the merit. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-7 and 10-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Paasch et al. hereinafter Paasch US 10397379 B2.
As per claim 1, Paasch teaches a communication method, wherein the method is applied to a first device (see fig 7); and the method comprises: sending a first control packet to a second device, wherein the first control packet comprises first transport control option information, and the first transport control option information is used to request to start data transmission from the first device to the second device (see fig 7, col 15, lines 24-32; “FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary signal flow for establishing an MPTCP connection between a first endpoint 702 and a second endpoint 704 in which the third message (ACK) of the three-way connection establishment handshake is lost.
(82) The first MPTCP endpoint 702 may send a SYN message with an MP_CAPABLE option 710 to the second MPTCP endpoint 704. The MP_CAPABLE option may indicate a version of MPTCP that the first MPTCP endpoint 702 supports”);
receiving a second control packet from the second device, wherein the second control packet comprises second transport control option information, and the second transport control option information is used to acknowledge start of the data transmission from the first device to the second device (see fig 7, col 15, lines 33-45; “The second MPTCP endpoint 704 may respond by sending a SYN/ACK message with an MP_CAPABLE option 712 to the first MPTCP endpoint 702. The SYN/ACK 712 may include an indication to the first MPTCP endpoint 702 to use the MP_CAPABLE_EXT option as part of the connection establishment handshake.
The first MPTCP endpoint 702 may follow up by sending an ACK message with an MP_CAPABLE option 714 to the second MPTCP endpoint 704. The ACK 714 may include information needed by the second MPTCP endpoint 704 to reconstruct state for the MPTCP connection, e.g., including the key of the first MPTCP endpoint 702 (and possibly the key of the second MPTCP endpoint 704”);
and sending first data to the second device when a response packet for the second control packet is not sent to the second device (see fig 7, col 15 lines 46-62; “However, the second MPTCP endpoint 704 may not receive the ACK+MP_CAPABLE message 714, so the second MPTCP endpoint 704 may not yet be able to reconstruct the state for the MPTCP connection.
The first MPTCP endpoint 702 may further follow up by sending a first data segment with an MP_CAPABLE_EXT option 716 on the MPTCP connection, e.g., as negotiated during the connection establishment handshake. The first data segment with an MP_CAPABLE_EXT option 716 may be successfully received by the second MPTCP endpoint 704. Based on the information in the data segment and MP_CAPABLE_EXT option, the second MPTCP endpoint 704 may be able to reconstruct the state even though the ACK 714 was not received. The MPTCP connection may then be established and further communication using the established MPTCP connection may occur between the first MPTCP endpoint 702 and the second MPTCP endpoint 704”).
As per claim 2, Paasch teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein the data transmission from the first device to the second device is performed based on a unidirectional communication connection see fig 6-7).
As per claim 3, Paasch teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein the sending first data to the second device when a response packet for the second control packet is not sent to the second device comprises any one of the following cases: sending the first data via the first control packet; after sending the first control packet and before receiving the second control packet, sending a first data packet that carries the first data to the second device; or after receiving the second control packet, sending a first data packet that carries the first data to the second device (see fig 6-7, col 15 lines 1-62; “The first MPTCP endpoint 602 may follow up by sending an ACK message with an MP_CAPABLE option 614 to the second MPTCP endpoint 604. The ACK 614 may include information needed by the second MPTCP endpoint 604 to reconstruct state for the MPTCP connection, e.g., including the key of the first MPTCP endpoint 602 (and possibly the key of the second MPTCP endpoint 604 …”).
As per claim 4, Paasch teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein the first control packet further comprises source port information and/or destination port information, the source port information is used to carry an identifier of a first application that is on the first device and that is used to send data, and the destination port information is used to carry an identifier of a second application that is on the second device and that is used to receive data (see fig 2 and 4).
As per claim 5, Paasch teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein the first control packet further comprises sequence number information and/or acknowledgment sequence number information, the sequence number information is used to carry a sending sequence number of the first control packet, and the acknowledgment sequence number information is used to carry an acknowledgment sequence number of the first control packet (see col 16, lines 27-41; “The first MPTCP endpoint 802 may further follow up by sending a second data segment with a DSS option 818 on the MPTCP connection. The second MPTCP endpoint 804 may receive the second data segment 818, and may be able to determine (e.g., based on the data sequence mapping between the TCP sequence number and the relative subflow sequence number inside the DSS-mapping) what the initial sequence number would have been. The second MPTCP endpoint 804 may accordingly be able to verify, using the determined initial sequence number, whether the SYN-cookie of the first MPTCP endpoint 802 is correct. If the SYN-cookie of the first MPTCP endpoint 802 is correct, the second MPTCP endpoint 804 may (e.g., temporarily) place the second data segment 818 in the out-of-order queue until the first data segment 816 is received”).
As per claim 6, Paasch teaches the method according to claim 3, wherein after the sending a first data packet that carries the first data to the second device, the method further comprises: receiving a first response packet from the second device; and determining, based on an acknowledgment sequence number carried in the first response packet and a sending sequence number carried in the first data packet, whether to resend the first data packet (see col 16, lines 27-41 and same reference of claim 5).
As per claim 7, Pasch teaches the method according to claim 6, wherein the first response packet further comprises first window size option information, and the first window size option information is used to carry first buffer space that is in a resource configured by the second device and that may be used to receive data from the first device; and the method further comprises: adjusting a data sending rate and/or a size of to-be-sent data based on the first window size option information (see col 10, lines 19-67, window scaling and MSS, maximum segment size).
As per claim 10, Paasch teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises: sending a third control packet to the second device, wherein the third control packet comprises third transport control option information, and the third transport control option information is used to request to terminate the data transmission from the first device to the second device; and receiving a fourth control packet from the second device, wherein the fourth control packet comprises fourth transport control option information, and the fourth transport control option information is used to acknowledge termination of the data transmission from the first device to the second device (see fig 7, col 15, lines 24-62; see also claim 1 reference details).
As per claim 11-16, they are method of claims 1-7 discussed above. They contain the same limitations. They are rejected under the same rationale.
As per claim 17, Paasch teaches the method according to claim 16, wherein the first response packet further comprises first window size option information, the first window size option information is used to carry first buffer space that is in the resource configured by the second device and that may be used to receive data from the first device, and the first window size option information is used by the second device to reversely adjust a data sending rate of the first device and/or adjust a size of to-be-sent data (see col 10, lines 19-67, window scaling and MSS, maximum segment size).
As per claims 18-19, they are apparatus of claims 1-2 discussed above. They contain the same limitation. They are rejected under the same rationale.
As per claim 20, Paasch teaches the apparatus according to claim 18, wherein the sending first data to the second device when a response packet for the second control packet is not sent to the second device comprises any one of the following cases: sending the first data via the first control packet; after sending the first control packet and before receiving the second control packet, sending a first data packet that carries the first data to the second device; or after receiving the second control packet, sending a first data packet that carries the first data to the second device (see fig 7, col 15 lines 46-62; “However, the second MPTCP endpoint 704 may not receive the ACK+MP_CAPABLE message 714, so the second MPTCP endpoint 704 may not yet be able to reconstruct the state for the MPTCP connection.
The first MPTCP endpoint 702 may further follow up by sending a first data segment with an MP_CAPABLE_EXT option 716 on the MPTCP connection, e.g., as negotiated during the connection establishment handshake. The first data segment with an MP_CAPABLE_EXT option 716 may be successfully received by the second MPTCP endpoint 704. Based on the information in the data segment and MP_CAPABLE_EXT option, the second MPTCP endpoint 704 may be able to reconstruct the state even though the ACK 714 was not received. The MPTCP connection may then be established and further communication using the established MPTCP connection may occur between the first MPTCP endpoint 702 and the second MPTCP endpoint 704”).
Claims 8-9 are 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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FRANTZ B JEAN whose telephone number is (571)272-3937. The examiner can normally be reached 8-5 M-F.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Glenton B. Burgess can be reached at 5712723949. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/FRANTZ B JEAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2454
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