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 .
General Remarks
This communication is considered fully responsive to Applicant’s Application filed 04/11/2025.
Application filed: 04/11/2025
Applicant’s PgPUB: 2026/0156205
Claims:
Claims 1-16 are pending.
Claims 1, 15 and 16 are independent.
IDS:
New IDS:
IDS filed 04/11/2025 has been considered.
Continuity/Priority Data:
This Application claims priority Japanese Application No. JP2024-066166 filed 04/11/2024.
35 U.S.C. 112(f):
Claim 1 meets the 3-prong analysis under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) and will therefore be reviewed under it.
Claim Interpretation
As an Examiner Note, regarding Claims 1, 3-5, 12, 15 and 16, these claims use the phrase “in a case”. The phrase “in a case” is a conditional statement which may or may not occur. Further, usage of a conditional statement (i.e., “in a case”) affects the patentable weight of those limitations by reducing their patentable weight and potentially removing their patentable weight.
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.
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.
Claims 1-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b).
As to claim 1, Claim limitation “detection unit … time holding unit …” invokes 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. However, the written description fails to disclose the corresponding structure, material, or acts for performing the entire claimed function and to clearly link the structure, material, or acts to the function. The limitations within the claim meet the 3-prong analysis. However, the units require corresponding structure and 2-setp algorithm within the specification. This is lacking. Therefore, the claim is indefinite and is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, second paragraph.
Applicant may:
(a) Amend the claim so that the claim limitation will no longer be interpreted as a limitation under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph;
(b) Amend the written description of the specification such that it expressly recites what structure, material, or acts perform the entire claimed function, without introducing any new matter (35 U.S.C. 132(a)); or
(c) Amend the written description of the specification such that it clearly links the structure, material, or acts disclosed therein to the function recited in the claim, without introducing any new matter (35 U.S.C. 132(a)).
If applicant is of the opinion that the written description of the specification already implicitly or inherently discloses the corresponding structure, material, or acts and clearly links them to the function so that one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize what structure, material, or acts perform the claimed function, applicant should clarify the record by either:
(a) Amending the written description of the specification such that it expressly recites the corresponding structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function and clearly links or associates the structure, material, or acts to the claimed function, without introducing any new matter (35 U.S.C. 132(a)); or
(b) Stating on the record what the corresponding structure, material, or acts, which are implicitly or inherently set forth in the written description of the specification, perform the claimed function. For more information, see 37 CFR 1.75(d) and MPEP §§ 608.01(o) and 2181.
Claims 2-14 are rejected due to their dependency on the claim 1.
Claims 1-16 are 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.
As to claims 1, 8, 9 , 12, 15 and 16, these claims are generally narrative and indefinite, failing to conform with current U.S. practice. They appear to be a literal translation into English from a foreign document and are replete with grammatical and idiomatic errors. Each of these claims state, “writing a packet received from an outside … packet read from a memory unit to an outside …” It is unclear what is meant by “an outside”. Amendment and clarification are required to avoid future confusion
Claims 2-7, 10, 11, 13 and 14 are rejected due to their dependency on the claim 1.
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2022/03452290 to Matsumoto (“Matsumoto”).
As to claim 1, Matsumoto discloses:
a communication apparatus comprising:
a detection unit configured to detect writing or reading of a predetermined packet based on a signal of a channel for writing a packet received from an outside into a memory unit, or a signal of a channel for transmitting a packet read from a memory unit to an outside (Fig. 4, s42, s44, s48, ¶0090-¶0096, ¶0101 – Matsumoto teaches receiving packet via the PHY/MAC interface, the analysis of the ether type of the packet and storage of the packet (i.e., write)); and
a time holding unit configured to, in a case where writing or reading of the predetermined packet is detected, hold a current time of a clock unit as a write hold time or a read hold time (Fig. 4, s43, ¶0090-¶0094 – Matsumoto teaches storing the timestamp in temporary storage (i.e., hold time)).
As to claim 2, Matsumoto discloses:
communication apparatus according to claim 1, and
wherein the predetermined packet is a precision time protocol (PTP) packet (¶0029 – Matsumoto teaches sending a PTP packet).
As to claim 3, Matsumoto discloses:
communication apparatus according to claim 2, and
wherein, in a case where values of an Ether Type region of an Ethernet header and a message Type region of a PTP header match expected values, the detection unit determines that writing or reading of the PTP packet has been detected (¶0065, ¶0093-¶0095 – Matsumoto teaches the analysis unit 272 identifies an EtherType of the received communication packet and notifies each of the DMA control unit 25 and the analysis result storage unit 273 of an analysis result and EtherType of 0x88F7 indicates a PTP packet.).
As to claim 4, Matsumoto discloses:
communication apparatus according to claim 2, and
wherein, in a case where values of an Ether Type region of an Ethernet header, a Protocol region of an Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) header, a Destination Port region of a user datagram protocol (UDP) header, and a message Type region of a PTP header match expected values, the detection unit determines that writing or reading of the PTP packet has been detected (¶0093-¶0095 – Matsumoto teaches an EtherType of 0x0800 indicates an IPv4 packet, an EtherType of 0x86DD indicates an Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) packet, and an EtherType of 0x88F7 indicates a PTP packet. After the analysis unit 272 analyzes the MAC header of the received communication packet and identifies the EtherType).
As to claim 5, Matsumoto discloses:
communication apparatus according to claim 2, and
wherein, in a case where values of an Ether Type region of an Ethernet header, a Next Header region of an Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) header, a Destination Port region of a UDP header, and a message Type region of a PTP header match expected values, the detection unit determines that writing or reading of the PTP packet has been detected (¶0093-¶0095 – Matsumoto teaches an EtherType of 0x0800 indicates an IPv4 packet, an EtherType of 0x86DD indicates an Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) packet, and an EtherType of 0x88F7 indicates a PTP packet. After the analysis unit 272 analyzes the MAC header of the received communication packet and identifies the EtherType).
As to claim 6, Matsumoto discloses:
communication apparatus according to claim 2, and
wherein the detection unit detects writing or reading of the PTP packet based on a value of a region from a head of the PTP packet to a message Type region of a PTP header (¶0093 – Matsumoto teaches the analysis unit 272 reads a type field of the MAC header (Ethernet header) of the received communication packet and identifies an EtherType specifying a packet type of the received communication packet;¶ 0095 – Matsumoto teaches n EtherType of 0x0800 indicates an IPv4 packet, an EtherType of 0x86DD indicates an Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) packet, and an EtherType of 0x88F7 indicates a PTP packet.).
As to claim 8, Matsumoto discloses:
communication apparatus according to claim 1, and
wherein the channel for writing a packet received from an outside into a memory unit is a write data channel (Fig. 4, s42, s44, s48, ¶0090-¶0096, ¶0101 – Matsumoto teaches receiving packet via the PHY/MAC interface, the analysis of the ether type of the packet and storage of the packet (i.e., write)), and
wherein the detection unit identifies a head position of effective data based on byte enable information of the write data channel, and detects writing of the predetermined packet based on the effective data (Fig. 4, s42, s44, s48, ¶0090-¶0096, ¶0101 – Matsumoto teaches receiving packet via the PHY/MAC interface, the analysis of the ether type of the packet and storage of the packet (i.e., write)).
As to claim 9, Matsumoto discloses:
communication apparatus according to claim 1, and
wherein the channel for transmitting a packet read from a memory unit to an outside includes a read request channel and a read response channel (¶0104 – Matsumoto teaches the CPU 21 reads a communication packet of a packet type that is the PTP packet from the first storage unit 23 and reads a reception timestamp corresponding to the read PTP packet from the timestamp storage unit 275 storing the PTP packets.), and
wherein the detection unit identifies a head position of effective data of the read response channel based on address information of the read request channel, and detects reading of the predetermined packet based on the effective data (¶0104 – Matsumoto teaches the CPU 21 reads a communication packet of a packet type that is the PTP packet from the first storage unit 23 and reads a reception timestamp corresponding to the read PTP packet from the timestamp storage unit 275 storing the PTP packets.).
As to claim 10, Matsumoto discloses:
communication apparatus according to claim 1, and
wherein the channel is a channel between a direct memory access (DMA) unit and a bus (Fig. 2, bus, 28, DMA, 25 of Matsumoto).
As to claim 12, Matsumoto discloses:
communication apparatus according to claim 2, and
wherein the detection unit includes a first detection unit configured to detect writing of the PTP packet based on a signal of the channel for writing a packet received from an outside into a memory unit (¶0065 – Matsumoto teaches the analysis unit 272 identifies an EtherType of the received communication packet and notifies each of the DMA control unit 25 and the analysis result storage unit 273 of an analysis result.), and a second detection unit configured to detect reading of the PTP packet based on a signal of the channel for transmitting a packet read from a memory unit to an outside (¶0104 – Matsumoto teaches the CPU 21 reads a communication packet of a packet type that is the PTP packet from the first storage unit 23 and reads a reception timestamp corresponding to the read PTP packet from the timestamp storage unit 275 storing the PTP packets.),
wherein, in a case where writing of the PTP packet is detected, the time holding unit holds a current time of the clock unit as a write hold time (Fig. 4, s42, s44, s48, ¶0090-¶0096, ¶0101 – Matsumoto teaches receiving packet via the PHY/MAC interface, the analysis of the ether type of the packet and storage of the packet (i.e., write)), and
wherein, in a case where reading of the PTP packet is detected, the time holding unit holds a current time of the clock unit as a read hold time (¶0104 – Matsumoto teaches the CPU 21 reads a communication packet of a packet type that is the PTP packet from the first storage unit 23 and reads a reception timestamp corresponding to the read PTP packet from the timestamp storage unit 275 storing the PTP packets.).
As to claim 13, Matsumoto discloses:
communication apparatus according to claim 12, and
further comprising the clock unit,
wherein the clock unit is configured to correct a current time of the clock unit based on the write hold time and the read hold time (¶0040 – Matsumoto teaches time correction on the PTP packet).
As to claim 14, Matsumoto discloses:
communication apparatus according to claim 13, and
further comprising:
a timing signal generation unit configured to generate a timing signal based on a current time of the clock unit (¶0036 – Matsumoto teaches Each of the camera adapters is/are connected to the corresponding camera 1 to control the camera 1, acquire captured images, provide synchronization signals, and configure time settings; ¶0041 – Matsumoto teaches the camera adapter 2 further supplies a control clock defining an imaging timing to the camera 1 using the synchronized time and a reference signal; ¶0002 – Matsumoto teaches Techniques for synchronously capturing images from a plurality of viewpoints using a plurality of cameras situated at different positions); and
an imaging unit configured to perform image capturing based on the timing signal (¶0036 – Matsumoto teaches Each of the camera adapters is/are connected to the corresponding camera 1 to control the camera 1, acquire captured images, provide synchronization signals, and configure time settings; ¶0041 – Matsumoto teaches the camera adapter 2 further supplies a control clock defining an imaging timing to the camera 1 using the synchronized time and a reference signal; ¶0002 – Matsumoto teaches Techniques for synchronously capturing images from a plurality of viewpoints using a plurality of cameras situated at different positions).
As to claim 15, similar rejection as to claim 1.
As to claim 16, similar rejection as to claim 1.
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 may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negatived by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2022/03452290 to Matsumoto (“Matsumoto”) in view of U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2002/0061002 A1 to Nitta (“Nitta”).
As to claim 7, Matsumoto discloses:
communication apparatus according to claim 1,
Cho discloses what Matsumoto does not expressly disclose.
Cho discloses:
wherein the detection unit detects writing or reading of the predetermined packet after a value of a signal of the channel becomes a value indicating an end of data (Abstract, ¶0015 – Nitta teaches recognizing an end of data transfer).
Matsumoto and Nitta are analogous arts because they are from the same field of endeavor with respect to networking data transfers.
Before the effective filing date, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to incorporate recognition of end of a data transfer as discussed in Nitta with a communication apparatus as discussed in Matsumoto by adding the functionality of Nitta to the system/method of Matsumoto in order to demonstrate usage of a device recognizing a end of a data transfer (Nitta, ¶0015).
Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2022/03452290 to Matsumoto (“Matsumoto”) in view of U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0152197 A1 to Cho et al. (“Cho”).
As to claim 11, Matsumoto discloses:
communication apparatus according to claim 10,
Cho discloses what Matsumoto does not expressly disclose.
Cho discloses:
wherein the detection unit and the time holding unit are provided inside the DMA unit (Fig. 2 – Cho teaches that a DMA includes sub-components)..
Matsumoto and Cho are analogous arts because they are from the same field of endeavor with respect to networking devices
Before the effective filing date, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to incorporate DMA as discussed in Cho with a communication apparatus as discussed in Matsumoto by adding the functionality of Cho to the system/method of Matsumoto in order to demonstrate usage of a particular module and that it can consists of subparts (Cho, see Fig. 2).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TAYLOR A ELFERVIG whose telephone number is (571)270-5687. The examiner can normally be reached Monday (10:00 AM CST) - Friday (4:00 PM CST).
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Oscar Louie can be reached at (571) 270-1684. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/TAYLOR A ELFERVIG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2445
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