DETAILED ACTION
This application has been examined. Claims 1-18 are pending.
In order to facilitate communication with the Examiner and expedite the prosecution of the instant application the Applicant is requested to submit written authorization to authorize the USPTO to communicate via electronic mail. The written authorization must be compliant with the language from MPEP § 502.03.
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 .
Priority
This application claims benefits of priority from PCT Application PCT/CN2022/116833 (CHINA) filed September 2, 2022.
The effective date of the claims described in this application is September 2, 2022.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 4/16/2025 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 § 112
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.
Claims 14-18 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claims 14-18 recites the limitation ‘communication apparatus according to claim 15’. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
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(s) 1-2,4,7-8,10,13-14,16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dearth (USPGPUB 2024/0098139 ) further in view of Chunduri (USPGPUB 2024/0235984)
Regarding Claim 1
Dearth Figure 3,Figure 4,Figure 5,Paragraph 77 disclosed wherein the network device receives network data associated with a multicast operation. This multicast operation is to be collectively performed by a plurality of endpoints associated with the multicast operation, such as the endpoints 104.
Dearth disclosed (re. Claim 1) a data packet transmission method, comprising: obtaining, by a first apparatus, a first data packet, wherein the first data packet includes first transmission path information,(Dearth- Figure 3,Figure 4,Figure 5,Paragraph 79, network device sends some or all of the received data to each of a plurality of downstream devices, which may include other network devices or endpoints) and the first transmission path information (Dearth-Paragraph 85, topology information indicating which network devices and endpoints are to be used in a multicast reduction operation, and how data is to be routed through those network devices and endpoints) includes information about the first apparatus and a second apparatus; (Dearth-Paragraph 84, the data sent downstream comprises information for one or more of command, control, and routing )
determining, by the first apparatus, the second apparatus based on the first transmission path information; (Dearth-Paragraph 87, sends multicast-reduction data downstream to a network device 506b. This is done based on a topology associated with the multicast-reduction operation ) and
sending, by the first apparatus, a second data packet to the second apparatus, wherein the second data packet includes second transmission path information (Dearth-Figure 5, Paragraph 64, network device 206 may transmit, for a given set of input data, output data to N destinations (either endpoints or additional network devices), where N may depend on the particular topology of the multicast-reduction. In some embodiments, the data is replicated to each output port of the network device 206, or to each output port of the network device 206 that is configured per the multicast-reduction topology)
and a data for a multicast-reduction operation in the second data packet is obtained by processing a data for a multicast-reduction operation in the first data packet.(Dearth- Figure 3,Figure 4,Figure 5,Paragraph 82, the network device processes the data received from the endpoint, using the reserved resources)
While Dearth substantially disclosed the claimed invention Dearth does not disclose (re. Claim 1) wherein a data payload in the second data packet is obtained by processing a data payload in the first data packet
Chunduri Paragraph 551 disclosed wherein a datagram may be structured to have header and payload sections.
Chunduri disclosed (re. Claim 1) a data payload in a data packet.( Chunduri-Paragraph 551,datagram may be structured to have header and payload sections)
Dearth and Chunduri are analogous art because they present concepts and practices regarding data packet transmission and routing. Before the time of the effective filing date of the claimed invention it would have been obvious to combine Chunduri into Dearth. The motivation for the said combination would have been to add a path identity to individual packets. This reduces the per packet overhead required for path steering when compared to SR. Using PPR, a data packet carries a PPR-ID instead of individual SIDs, and thus avoids exposing the path; thus it avoids revealing topology, traffic flow and service usage, if a packet is snooped. (Chunduri-Paragraph 54,Paragraph 60)
Dearth-Chunduri disclosed (re. Claim 1) wherein a data payload ( Chunduri-Paragraph 551,datagram may be structured to have header and payload sections) in the second data packet is obtained by processing a data payload in the first data packet (Dearth-Paragraph 82, the network device processes the data received from the endpoint, using the reserved resources)
Regarding Claim 7
Claim 7 (re. apparatus) recites substantially similar limitations as Claim 1. Claim 7 is rejected on the same basis as Claim 1.
Regarding Claim 13
Claim 13 (re. non-transitory computer-readable storage medium) recites substantially similar limitations as Claim 1. Claim 13 is rejected on the same basis as Claim 1.
Regarding Claim 2,8,14
Dearth-Chunduri disclosed (re. Claim 2,8,14) wherein the sending the second data packet that includes the second transmission path information does not include sending the information about the first apparatus.(Chunduri-Paragraph 13, the packet's path is accordingly represented by a stack of labels that identify a sequence of segment nodes/links (Adjacency SID). Each node in the network then forwards the packet to the next segment node, as identified by the top label on the stack. When receiving the packet, the segment node pop its SID off the stack and forwards the packet on to the next segment.)
Regarding Claim 4,10,16
Dearth-Chunduri disclosed (re. Claim 4,10,16) wherein the obtaining the first data packet that includes the first transmission path information comprises includes obtaining identification information of the first apparatus and the second apparatus, (Dearth-Paragraph 99, the downstream network devices, to which the data is sent, are identified based at least partially on information obtained from headers of the incoming data. This information could potentially include an applicable topology, information identifying the next downstream hop in the fabric, an address of one or more endpoints to which data should be sent ) or the obtaining the first data packet that includes the first transmission path information comprises includes obtaining address information of the first apparatus and the second apparatus.(Dearth-Paragraph 99, the downstream network devices, to which the data is sent, are identified based at least partially on information obtained from headers of the incoming data. This information could potentially include an applicable topology, information identifying the next downstream hop in the fabric, an address of one or more endpoints to which data should be sent )
Claim(s) 3,5-6,9,11-12,15,17-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dearth (USPGPUB 2024/0098139) further in view of Chunduri (USPGPUB 2024/0235984) further in view of Kulshreshtha (USPGPUB 2018/0287907)
Regarding Claim 3,9,15
While Dearth-Chunduri substantially disclosed the claimed invention Dearth-Chunduri does not disclose (re. Claim 3,9,15) wherein the obtaining the first data packet and the sending the second data packet further include obtaining and sending statistics collection mode information, the statistics collection mode information is usable to indicate a statistics collection mode of statistical information, and the statistical information includes data packet quantity information or data packet byte quantity information.
Kulshreshtha Figure 2,Figure 3,Paragraph 13 disclosed wherein when a packet enters a network device, the packet goes through the ingress forwarding pipeline 210 of the slice on which the port of the ingress MAC 212 resides, traverses the broadcast network 230 to get onto the egress slice, and then goes through the egress forwarding pipeline 220 of the egress slice. The input forwarding controller 214 can receive the packet from the port of the ingress MAC 212, parse the packet headers, and perform a series of lookups to determine whether to forward the packet and how to forward the packet to its intended destination.
Kulshreshtha Paragraph 28 disclosed wherein flow cache 240 can include an events mechanism to complement anomaly detection. This configurable mechanism can define a set of parameters that represent a packet of interest. When a packet matches these parameters, the events mechanism can trigger an event on the metadata that triggered the event (and not just the accumulated flow information).
Kulshreshtha disclosed (re. Claim 3,9,15) wherein the obtaining the first data packet and the sending the second data packet further include obtaining and sending statistics collection mode information, (Kulshreshtha-Paragraph 28,flow cache 240 can include an events mechanism to complement anomaly detection. This configurable mechanism can define a set of parameters that represent a packet of interest. When a packet matches these parameters, the events mechanism can trigger an event on the metadata that triggered the event)
the statistics collection mode information is usable to indicate a statistics collection mode of statistical information, and the statistical information includes data packet quantity information or data packet byte quantity information.(Kulshreshtha-Paragraph 29, telemetry captured include metadata relating to individual flows (e.g., number of packets and aggregate size of packets) )
Dearth,Chunduri and Kulshreshtha are analogous art because they present concepts and practices regarding data packet transmission and routing. Before the time of the effective filing date of the claimed invention it would have been obvious to combine Kulshreshtha into Dearth-Chunduri. The motivation for the said combination would have been so that he software sensors 112 and the hardware sensors 114 do not or are much less likely than conventional systems to drop telemetry because of overflow/lack of memory. An additional advantage of this approach is that the application and network analytics platform is responsible for flow-state tracking instead of network devices. Thus, the ASICs of the network devices of various embodiments can be simpler or can incorporate other features.(Kulshreshtha-Paragraph 35)
Regarding Claim 5,11,17
Dearth-Chunduri-Kulshreshtha disclosed (re. Claim 5,11,17) wherein the method further comprises: sending, by the first apparatus, the statistical information to the third apparatus,(Kulshreshtha-Paragraph 35,the application and network analytics platform is responsible for flow-state tracking instead of network devices ) wherein the statistical information includes the data packet quantity information or the data packet byte quantity information. (Kulshreshtha-Paragraph 29, telemetry captured include metadata relating to individual flows (e.g., number of packets and aggregate size of packets) )
Regarding Claim 6,12,18
Dearth-Chunduri-Kulshreshtha disclosed (re. Claim 6,12,18) wherein the sending the statistical information includes obtaining the statistical information through statistics collection at a granularity of data packet transmission path information or data service information. (Kulshreshtha-Paragraph 29, telemetry captured include metadata relating to individual flows (e.g., number of packets and aggregate size of packets) )
Conclusion
Examiner’s Note: In the case of amending the claimed invention, Applicant is respectfully requested to indicate the portion(s) of the specification which dictate(s) the structure relied on for proper interpretation and also to verify and ascertain the metes and bounds of the claimed invention.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GREG C BENGZON whose telephone number is (571)272-3944. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday - Friday 8 AM - 4:30 PM.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, John Follansbee can be reached on (571) 272-3964. 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.
/GREG C BENGZON/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2444
Prosecution Insights