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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim benefits of a CON Application. S/N. 17/375,999 or Pro 63/051,728 filed on 07/14/2020.
Information Disclosure Statement
The Information Disclosure Statement (IDS) submitted on 01/15/2026 has been considered by the Examiner. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97.
Claim status
Claims 1-20 are presented for the examination and remain pending in the application.
Claim Objections
Claim 13 is objected to because in line 7 recites the word “communicatingly”, apparently, the Applicant meant to “communicatively”. Appropriate correction is required.
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).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the
reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application,
or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research
agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file
provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must besigned in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double
patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a
reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional
the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action,
see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit
www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The actual filing date of the application in which the form is filed
determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA /25, or PTO/AIA /26) should be used. A
web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal
Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission.
For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/applying-
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Claims 1-20 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over
claims 1-20 of U.S. Patent No. 12,238,257 B2, (hereinafter ‘257) and U.S. Patent No. 11,831,544 B2, (hereinafter Patent ‘544). Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because the Patents ‘257 and ‘544 claims 1 recite all of the limitations of co-pending application of claim 1.
Therefore, patents ‘257 and ‘544 claims 1 are in essence a “species” of the generic invention of co-pending application of claim 1. It has been held that a generic invention is “anticipated” by a “species” within the scope of the generic invention. See In re Goodman, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993).
See the table below which shows the comparison between the co-pending application limitations of claims 1-20 and the Patents ‘257 and ‘544 limitations of claims 1-20.
Instant Application 19/192,074
Patent No.12,238,257 B2
Patent No. 11,831,544 B2
Claim 1. A computer-implemented method comprising:
Claim 1. A computer-implemented method comprising:
Claim 1. A computer-implemented method comprising:
providing a virtual Layer 2 network in a virtualized cloud environment, the virtual Layer 2 network hosted by an underlying physical network,
providing a virtual Layer 2 network in the virtualized cloud environment, the virtual Layer 2 network hosted by the underlying physical network,
providing a virtual Layer 2 network in the virtualized cloud environment, the virtual Layer 2 network hosted by the underlying physical network,
wherein the virtual Layer 2 network comprises a plurality of endpoints comprising a plurality of compute instances,
wherein the virtual Layer 2 network comprises a plurality of endpoints comprising a plurality of compute instances,
wherein the virtual Layer 2 network comprises a plurality of endpoints comprising a plurality of compute instances,
wherein the virtual Layer 2 network comprises a plurality of switches, and a virtual switching and routing service (VSRS),
wherein the virtual Layer 2 network comprises a plurality of virtual network interface cards (VNICs), and a virtual switching and routing service (VSRS),
wherein the virtual Layer 2 network comprises a plurality of virtual network interface cards (VNICs), a plurality of switches, and a virtual switching and routing service (VSRS),
the VSRS participating in Layer 2 switching and local learning of mapping within the Layer 2 network, the VSRS communicatively coupling the virtual Layer 2 network to another network,
the VSRS participating in Layer 2 switching and local learning of mapping within the Layer 2 network, the VSRS communicatively coupling the virtual Layer 2 network to another network,
the VSRS communicatively coupling the virtual Layer 2 network to another network, wherein each of the plurality of compute instances is communicatively coupled with
a unique pair comprising a unique one of the plurality of VNICs and a unique one of the plurality of switches,
wherein each of the plurality of compute instances is communicatively coupled to the other compute instances in the virtual Layer 2 network via a unique one of the plurality of switches, wherein each of the plurality of switches is connected with the VSRS.
wherein each of the plurality of compute instances is communicatively coupled with a unique one of the plurality of VNICs, wherein each of the plurality of VNICs is connected with the VSRS.
wherein the VNIC in each unique pair
is connected with the VSRS via the switch of that unique pair.
Claim 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the virtual Layer 2 network comprises a virtual local area network (VLAN).
Claim 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the virtual Layer 2 network comprises a virtual local area network (VLAN).
Claim 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the virtual Layer 2 network comprises a virtual local area network (VLAN).
Claim 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the VLAN comprises the plurality of endpoints.
Claim 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the VLAN comprises the plurality of endpoints.
Claim 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the VLAN comprises the plurality of endpoints.
Claim 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the plurality of endpoints comprises a plurality of compute instances, wherein the VLAN comprises the plurality of switches.
Claim 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the plurality of endpoints comprises a plurality of compute instances, wherein the VLAN comprises the plurality of VNICs.
Claim 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the plurality of endpoints comprises a plurality of compute instances, wherein the VLAN comprises the plurality of VNICs, and the plurality of switches.
Claim 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the VLAN comprises a plurality of virtual network interface cards (VNICs), wherein each of the VNICs is uniquely paired with a unique one of the plurality of switches, and wherein the plurality of switches together comprise a distributed switch.
Claim 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the VLAN comprises a plurality of switches, wherein each of the VNICs is paired with a unique one of the plurality of switches, and wherein the plurality of switches together comprise a distributed switch.
Claim 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the plurality of switches together comprise a distributed switch.
Claim 6. The method of claim 5, wherein each of the plurality of switches routes outbound traffic according to a mapping table received from the VNIC paired with the switch.
Claim 6. The method of claim 5, wherein each of the plurality of switches routes outbound traffic according to a mapping table received from the VNIC paired with the switch.
Claim 6. The method of claim 5, wherein each of the plurality of switches routes outbound traffic according to a mapping table received from the VNIC paired with the switch.
Claim 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the mapping table identifies interface-to- MAC address mapping for the endpoints within the VLAN.
Claim 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the mapping table identifies interface-to-MAC address mapping for the endpoints within the VLAN.
Claim 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the mapping table identifies interface-to-MAC address mapping for the endpoints within the VLAN.
Claim 8. The method of claim 5, further comprising instantiating the unique one of the plurality of VNICs on a network virtualization device (NVD).
Claim 8. The method of claim 4, further comprising instantiating the unique one of the plurality of VNICs on a network virtualization device (NVD).
Claim 8. The method of claim 4, further comprising instantiating the pair comprising the unique VNIC and the unique switch on a network virtualization device (NVD).
Claim 9. The method of claim 5, further comprising: receiving a packet addressed for one of the plurality of compute instances at the unique VNIC of one of the plurality of compute instances from another endpoint within the VLAN; and learning with the unique one of the plurality of VNICs of the one of the plurality of compute instances mapping of the other endpoint.
Claim 9. The method of claim 4, further comprising: receiving a packet addressed for one of the plurality of compute instances at the unique VNIC of one of the plurality of compute instances from another endpoint within the VLAN; and learning with the unique one of the plurality of VNICs of the one of the plurality of compute instances mapping of the other endpoint.
Claim 9. The method of claim 4, further comprising: receiving a packet addressed for one of the plurality of compute instances at the unique VNIC of one of the plurality of compute instances from another endpoint within the VLAN; and learning with the unique VNIC of the one of the plurality of compute instances mapping of the other endpoint.
Claim 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the mapping of the other endpoint comprises interface-to-MAC address mapping of the other endpoint.
Claim 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the mapping of the other endpoint comprises interface-to-MAC address mapping of the other endpoint.
Claim 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the mapping of the other endpoint comprises interface-to-MAC address mapping of the other endpoint.
Claim 11. The method of claim 9, further comprising: decapsulating the received packet with the unique VNIC of the one of the plurality of compute instances; and forwarding the decapsulated packet to the one of the plurality of compute instances.
Claim 11. The method of claim 9, further comprising: decapsulating the received packet with the unique VNIC of the one of the plurality of compute instances; and forwarding the decapsulated packet to the one of the plurality of compute instances.
Claim 11. The method of claim 9, further comprising: decapsulating the received packet with the unique VNIC of the one of the plurality of compute instances; and forwarding the decapsulated packet to the one of the plurality of compute instances.
Claim 12. The method of claim 11, further comprising learning with the one of the plurality of compute instances IP address-to-MAC address mapping of the other endpoint.
Claim 12. The method of claim 11, further comprising learning with the one of the plurality of compute instances IP address-to-MAC address mapping of the other endpoint.
Claim 12. The method of claim 11, further comprising learning with the one of the plurality of compute instances IP address-to-MAC address mapping of the other endpoint.
Claim Regarding claim 13. The method of claim 4, further comprising: sending an IP packet from a first compute instance in the VLAN, the IP packet comprising a destination IP address of a second compute instance within the VLAN;
Claim 13. The method of claim 4, further comprising: sending an IP packet from a first compute instance in the VLAN, the IP packet comprising a destination IP address of a second compute instance within the VLAN;
Claim 13. The method of claim 4, further comprising: sending an IP packet from a first compute instance in the VLAN, the IP packet comprising a destination IP address of a second compute instance within the VLAN;
receiving the IP packet at a first VNIC associated with the first compute instance; encapsulating the IP packet at the first VNIC; and
receiving the IP packet at a first VNIC associated with the first compute instance; encapsulating the IP packet at the first VNIC; and
receiving the IP packet at a first VNIC associated with the first compute instance; encapsulating the IP packet at the first VNIC; and
forwarding the IP packet to the second compute instance, wherein the first VNIC is communicatingly coupled with the first compute instance.
forwarding the IP packet to the second compute instance, wherein the first VNIC is communicatingly coupled with the first compute instance.
forwarding the IP packet to the second compute instance via a first switch, wherein the first switch and the first VNIC together for the pair communicatingly coupled with the first compute instance.
Claim 14. The method of claim 13, further comprising: receiving the IP packet at a second VNIC, wherein the second VNIC is associated with the second compute instance;
Claim 14. The method of claim 13, further comprising: receiving the IP packet at a second VNIC, wherein the second VNIC is associated with the second compute instance;
Claim 14. The method of claim 13, further comprising: receiving the IP packet at a second VNIC, wherein the second VNIC is associated with the second compute instance;
decapsulating the IP packet at the second VNIC; and
decapsulating the IP packet at the second VNIC; and
decapsulating the IP packet at the second VNIC; and
forwarding the IP packet from the second VNIC to the second compute instance.
forwarding the IP packet from the second VNIC to the second compute instance.
forwarding the IP packet from the second VNIC to the second compute instance.
Claim 15. The method of claim 1, wherein the virtual Layer 2 network comprises a plurality of virtual local area networks (VLANs), and wherein each of the plurality of VLANs comprises a plurality of endpoints.
Claim 15. The method of claim 1, wherein the virtual Layer 2 network comprises a plurality of virtual local area networks (VLANs), and wherein each of the plurality of VLANs comprises a plurality of endpoints.
Claim 15. The method of claim 1, wherein the virtual Layer 2 network comprises a plurality of virtual local area networks (VLANs), and wherein each of the plurality of VLANs comprises a plurality of endpoints.
Claim 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the plurality of VLANs comprises a first VLAN and a second VLAN, wherein the first VLAN comprises a plurality of first endpoints, and wherein the second VLAN comprises a plurality of second endpoints.
Claim 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the plurality of VLANs comprises a first VLAN and a second VLAN, wherein the first VLAN comprises a plurality of first endpoints, and wherein the second VLAN comprises a plurality of second endpoints.
Claim 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the plurality of VLANs comprises a first VLAN and a second VLAN, wherein the first VLAN comprises a plurality of first endpoints, and wherein the second VLAN comprises a plurality of second endpoints.
Claim 17. The method of claim 16, wherein each of the plurality of VLANs has a unique identifier.
Claim 17. The method of claim 16, wherein each of the plurality of VLANs has a unique identifier.
Claim 17. The method of claim 16, wherein each of the plurality of VLANs has a unique identifier.
Claim 18. The method of claim 16, wherein one of the plurality of first endpoints in the first VLAN communicates with one of the plurality of second endpoints in the second VLAN.
Claim 18. The method of claim 16, wherein one of the plurality of first endpoints in the first VLAN communicates with one of the plurality of second endpoints in the second VLAN.
Claim 18. The method of claim 16, wherein one of the plurality of first endpoints in the first VLAN communicates with one of the plurality of second endpoints in the second VLAN.
Regarding claims 19 and 20.
Similarly, the above potential non-statutory double patenting ground of rejection analysis of
independent claim 1 applies to independent claims 19 and 20.
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.
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-7, 13 and 15-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Brendel et al. (US. Pub. No. 2014/0126418 A1, hereinafter Brendel) in view of Koponen et al. CN. 103890751 A, (hereinafter Koponen).
Regarding claim 1.
Brendel a computer-implemented method comprising: providing a virtual Layer 2 network in a virtualized cloud environment (Brendel teaches in Para. [0043] a virtual layer-2 is provided for use by a cloud computing (i.e., virtualized cloud environment)), the virtual Layer 2 network hosted by an underlying physical network (Brendel teaches in Fig. 2 and Para. [0025] the virtual layer-2 networks include virtual networks VN1, VN2, and VN3 connected on-premises hosted-server location 106 and further the virtual networks VN1, VN2, and VN3 which are in the virtual layer-2 use or accommodated by the same underlying physical networks), Brendel as a whole teaches about the Layer 2 network system and the VNICs), wherein the virtual Layer 2 network comprises a plurality of endpoints (Brendel teaches in the [Abstract] and Para. [0023]-[0026] and Para. [0013]-[0014] and [0019] respectively), comprising wherein the virtual Layer 2 network comprises a plurality of switches, and a virtual switching and routing service (VSRS), the VSRS participating in Layer 2 switching and local learning of mapping within the Layer 2 network, the VSRS communicatively coupling the virtual Layer 2 network to another network (Brendel teaches in Para. [0157] specialized routing equipment is used, IP could be replaced with Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) or Virtual Private LAN Service (VPLS)), wherein each of the plurality of switches is connected with the VSRS (Brendel teaches in Para. [0157] The virtual MAC addresses may be re-generated at the destination from VN switch table 50. While UDP has been shown to encapsulate packets, a TCP header could be used rather than UDP header 156).
Brendel does not explicitly teach the virtual Layer 2 comprising a plurality of compute instances, wherein each of the plurality of compute instances is communicatively coupled to the other compute instances in the virtual Layer 2 network via a unique one of the plurality of switches.
However, Koponen teaches the virtual Layer 2 comprising a plurality of compute instances (Koponen teaches in Para. [0108] the packet for processing by the destination logic L2 domain of the L2 pipeline. destination L2 meter pipeline determines it should send logic outlet port of the packet…, the managed switching element depending on the MAC learning algorithm), wherein each of the plurality of compute instances is communicatively coupled to the other compute instances in the virtual Layer 2 network via a unique one of the plurality of switches (Koponen teaches in Para. [0115] the L2 (Layer 2). That is, logic switch 110 making a switching decision based on logical switch 110 has one or more forwarding table…, and further, Koponen teaches in Para. [0122] logical router 225 described with reference to FIG. 1 and the above logical routers 105 of similar position in that logical router 225 routes a data packet between the logic switch 220 and 220. logical switch 220 and 230 similar to logic switch 110 and 115. 220 and 230 are logic network L2 forwards the flow logic switch. Also, see Para. [0123], [0129], [0143] and [0150]).
Therefore, Brendel and Koponen are analogues arts and they are in the same field of endeavor as they both are directed to a set of instructions for generating a set of flow entries for configuring a managed forwarding element to perform logical ingress processing and routing processing. A tunnel is generated between the managed forwarding element and another managed forwarding element by generating the flow entries to establish the tunnel, where a logical router is implemented in a single managed switching element.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of using Layer 2 with logic switch 110 making a switching decision based on logical switch 110 has one or more forwarding table and logical router ([0115] and [0122]) as taught, by Koponen into Brendel invention. One would have been motivated to do so in order to the method allows a network control system to define physical control plane data to direct the managed switching elements to forward packets based on Internet protocol (IP) addresses when crossing broadcast domains, thus resolving scalability issues of networks and facilitating mobility and multi-tenancy goals. The medium enables using a shared host so as to avoid extra cost of running dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) daemon per customer.
Regarding claim 2.
Brendel further teaches wherein the virtual Layer 2 network comprises a virtual local area network (VLAN) (Brendel teaches in Fig. 2 and Para. [0025] Fig. 2 shows a hybrid cloud network with overlaid user-configurable virtual layer-2 networks and layer-2 LAN (Ethernet) networks that physically connect on-premises location 104).
Regarding claim 3.
Brendel teaches wherein the VLAN comprises the plurality of endpoints (Brendel teaches in Para. [0148] the VLAN divides an existing LAN into smaller virtual LANs (i.e., a plurality of endpoints) that are separate from one another and define their own broadcast domain).
Regarding claim 4.
Brendel in view of Koponen wherein the plurality of endpoints comprises a plurality of compute instances, wherein the VLAN comprises the plurality of switches (Brendel teaches in Para. [0148] the VLAN divides an existing LAN into smaller virtual LANs (i.e., a plurality of endpoints) that are separate from one another and define their own broadcast domain and further, Koponen teaches in Para. [0116] logical router routes network traffic between the two or more logic switch based on a set of routing table).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of using a logical switch 1 ([0116]) as taught, by Koponen into the teachings of using the VLAN which divides an existing LAN into smaller virtual LANs (i.e., a plurality of endpoints) ([0148]) as taught, by Brendel invention. One would have been motivated to do so in order to the virtual layer-2 networks can become another resource that is user configurable and metered that can be provided by independent virtual network infrastructure as a service (VN IaaS) provider or as virtual network subscription offering made available by cloud-computing provider. The virtual layer-2 and virtual layer-3 networking software for use by cloud computing subscriber can be desired to extend infrastructure as a service (IaaS) to multiple virtual layer-2 networks, so that subscriber can be allowed to configure the own layer-2 networks and connect together with virtual layer-3 router.
Regarding claim 5.
Koponen further teaches wherein the VLAN comprises a plurality of virtual network interface cards (VNICs), wherein each of the VNICs is uniquely paired with a unique one of the plurality of switches, and wherein the plurality of switches together comprise a distributed switch (Koponen teaches in Para. [0082] creation and use of such LDP set and logic port is provided corresponding to a virtual local area network (VLAN) of the logic service model. The model in some embodiments the operation of the network control system is limited to only defined logic L2 exchange capacity and further, Koponen teaches in Para. [0117] each machine 120-145 has a network interface controller (NIC) such that on the application machine 120-145 can exchange data between them through logic switch 110 and 115 and the logical router 105).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of using a logic port is provided corresponding to a virtual local area network (VLAN) of the logic service model and a network interface controller (NIC) such that on the application machine ([0082] and [0117]) as taught, by Koponen into the teachings of Brendel invention. One would have been motivated to do so in order to exchange data between them through logic switch 110 and 115 and the logical router 105 in an efficient manner. (Koponen. [0082] and [0117]).
Regarding claim 6.
Koponen further teaches wherein each of the plurality of switches routes outbound traffic according to a mapping table received from the VNIC paired with the switch (Koponen teaches in Para. [0115] logical switch 110 routes network traffic between the machine 120-130 the L2 (Layer 2). That is, logic switch 110 making a switching decision based on logical switch 110 has one or more forwarding table (not shown) to in data link layer route network data between the machine 120-130 and further, Koponen teaches in Para. [0376] NAT daemon 3110 maintains table 3115, the table 3115 includes an address matching (pairing), wherein each pair comprises two address to be converted to each other).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of using logical switch that has one or more forwarding table to in data link layer route network data between the machine and the method of address matching or pairing between devices ([0115] and [0376]) as taught, by Koponen into the teachings of Brendel invention. One would have been motivated to do so in order to the system to define physical control plane data to direct the managed switching elements to forward packets based on Internet protocol (IP) addresses when crossing broadcast domains, thus resolving scalability issues of networks and facilitating mobility and multi-tenancy goals.
Regarding claim 7.
Brendel in view of Koponen teaches wherein the mapping table identifies interface-to- MAC address mapping for the endpoints within the VLAN (Brendel teaches in Para. [0148] the VLAN divides an existing LAN into smaller virtual LANs (i.e., a plurality of endpoints) that are separate from one another and define their own broadcast domain and further Brendel teaches in Para. [0157] the virtual MAC addresses may be re-generated at the destination from VN switch table 50 and further, Koponen teaches in Para. [0116] logical router routes network traffic between the two or more logic switch based on a set of routing table).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of using the virtual MAC addresses may be re-generated at the destination from VN switch table ([0157]) as taught, by Koponen into the teachings of using the VLAN which divides an existing LAN into smaller virtual LANs (i.e., a plurality of endpoints) ([0148]) as taught, by Brendel. One would have been motivated to do so in order to the method performs L2 processing of a set of ports of the managed switching element is associated, by the one or more port to send packets to packet arrival determined in the fifth stage of the physical port. Thus, the managed switching element along the correct path in the network to forward packets for the packet to reach the determined physical port in an efficient manner.
Regarding claim 13.
Brendel further teaches sending an IP packet from a first compute instance in the VLAN, the IP packet comprising a destination IP address of a second compute instance within the VLAN (Brendel teaches in Para. [0146]-[0148] sending to the destination physical IP and MAC address of the future packets in a virtualization system and standard known as a VLAN. A VLAN uses extra tag bits in the Ethernet header to specify a portion of a LAN as a sub-network segment);
receiving the IP packet at a first VNIC associated with the first compute instance (Brendel teaches in Para. [0013] IP packets are sent over the internet virtualization host may provision virtual NIC VNIC 16 (i.e., first VNIC) for each virtual machine VM node 14, and connect each VNIC 16 to a physical NIC 18 for the virtual servers);
encapsulating the IP packet at the first VNIC (Brendel teaches in Para. [0013] IP packets are sent over the internet virtualization host may provision virtual NIC VNIC 16 (i.e., first VNIC) for each virtual machine VM node 14 and encapsulation of a virtual-network packet with a physical packet when the virtual-network packet is passed through a virtual router as clearly disclosed in Para. [0057]); and
forwarding the IP packet to the second compute instance, wherein the first VNIC is communicatingly coupled with the first compute instance (Brendel teaches in Para. [0013] IP packets are sent over the internet virtualization host may provision virtual NIC VNIC 16 (i.e., first VNIC) for each virtual machine VM node 14 and local networks are usually layer-2 Ethernet networks that use Media-Access-Controller (MAC) addresses further using the IP and MAC addresses for that gateway node VN1G. Gateway node VN1G is a port on virtual router 330, and packet is then switched over VN2 to the final destination node as narrated in Para. [0074]).
Regarding claim 15.
Brendel teaches wherein the virtual Layer 2 network comprises a plurality of virtual local area networks (VLANs), and wherein each of the plurality of VLANs comprises a plurality of endpoints (Brendel teaches in Para. [0148] separating LANs into smaller VLANs (i.e., a plurality of VLANs) can improve LAN performance since certain kinds of traffic can be contained within a single broadcast domain and a virtual network as described herein can span several physical networks (i.e., a plurality of endpoints)).
Regarding claim 16.
Brendel teaches wherein the plurality of VLANs comprises a first VLAN and a second VLAN, wherein the first VLAN comprises a plurality of first endpoints, and wherein the second VLAN comprises a plurality of second endpoints (note that the divided LAN into a smaller VLANs indicates a plurality of VLANs and thus, one of the divided smaller VLANs include a first and a second VLANs and therefore, Brendel teaches in Para. [0148] how the LAN divided into smaller VLANs).
Regarding claim 17.
Brendel does not explicitly teach wherein each of the plurality of VLANs has a unique identifier.
However, Koponen teaches wherein each of the plurality of VLANs has a unique identifier (Koponen teaches in Para. [0622] a next hop specific ports through special tunnel from forwarding element for forwarding decisions) element then the decision cache together with a unique identifier of the packet (i.e., unique identifiers of the TCP/UDP flow), the unique identifier to be shared with all of the other related packets and further, Koponen teaches in Para. [0623] sing encapsulation to provide explicit separation of physical and logical address of the logical network relative to other methods (e.g., VLAN) provides a significant advantage of network virtualization…).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of using a unique identifier of the packet (i.e., unique identifiers of the TCP/UDP flow) and using a VLAN ([0622]-[0623]) as taught, by Koponen into the teachings of Brendel invention. One would have been motivated to do so in order to the method enable optimization on subsequent packets in a single set of related packets (such as single TCP/UDP flow) in a plurality of search in an efficient manner. (Koponen. [0622]).
Regarding claim 18.
Koponen teaches wherein one of the plurality of first endpoints in the first VLAN communicates with one of the plurality of second endpoints in the second VLAN (Koponen teaches in Para. [0152] logical context tag in some embodiments can be combined with one or more known header fields (e.g., the VLAN id field) (i.e., note that here one or more header fields include more than one VLAN and this indicates the plurality of second endpoints VLAN)).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of using one or more known header field of the VLAN ([0152]) as taught, by Koponen into the teachings of Brendel invention. One would have been motivated to do so in order to the header field is used to utilize the known header field or its accompanying features in an efficient manner. (Koponen. [0152]).
Regarding claims 19 and 20.
Claims 19 and 20 incorporate substantively all the limitation of claim 1 in a system and a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium form and are rejected under the same rationale. Furthermore, regarding the claim limitations of host machine, virtual device and one or more processors, Brendel teaches in Para. [0003], [0009], [Abstract] and [0165]).
Claims 8-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Brendel in view of Koponen further in view of Sun U.S. Pub. No. 2016/0218972 A1, (hereinafter Sun).
Regarding claim 8. Brendel in view of Koponen teaches the method of claim 5.
Brendel in view of Koponen does not explicitly teach instantiating the unique one of the plurality of VNICs on a network virtualization device (NVD).
However, Sun teaches instantiating the unique one of the plurality of VNICs on a network virtualization device (NVD) (Sun teaches in Para. [0033]-[0035] each vNIC generally has a unique MAC address and the hypervisor 120 may include virtual switch 122 that functions as a layer-2 switch to facilitate communication among virtual machines 110 include one or more virtual processors 112, virtual memory 114, storage resources in the form of one or more virtual disks 116 (i.e., network virtualized device) connecting to the same hypervisor 120).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teachings of including unique L 2 and switch in a NVD ([0033]-[0035]) as taught, by Sun into the teachings of Brendel in view of Koponen invention. One would have been motivated to do so in order to reduce the risk of a MAC address table overflowing as a number of physical network devices connecting to the network switch is limited by a number of ports at the network switch. So that the method enables reducing likelihood of flooding at access switch or core switch, thus reducing network performance degradation in a virtualized computing environment in an efficient manner.
Regarding claim 9. Brendel in view of Koponen teaches the method of claim 5.
Brendel in view of Sun teaches receiving a packet addressed for one of the plurality of compute instances at the unique VNIC of one of the plurality of compute instances from another endpoint within the VLAN (Brendel further teaches about the VLAN that VLAN divides an existing LAN into smaller virtual LANs (i.e., a plurality of endpoints) that are separate from one another and define their own broadcast domain and the VINIC virtualization host may provision virtual NIC VNIC 16 in Para. [0013] and [0148] Sun also teaches about receiving and sending based on the MAC address in Para. [0013] and [0023]). Brendel in view of Koponen does not explicitly teach learning with the unique one of the plurality of VNICs of the one of the plurality of compute instances mapping of the other endpoint.
However, Sun teaches learning with the unique one of the plurality of VNICs of the one of the plurality of compute instances mapping of the other endpoint (Sun teaches in Para. [0034]-[0035] about the unique address of each VNIC and how the hypervisor 120 maintains a mapping between virtual resources allocated to virtual machines 110 and physical resources provided by hardware 130 of host 140).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teachings of including providing unique address to each VNIC ([0034]-[0035]) as taught, by Sun into the teachings of the method for including VLAN ([0148]) as taught, by Brendel into further the teachings of Koponen invention. One would have been motivated to do so in order to reduce broadcast traffic and further the VLANs enable logical grouping of end-stations that are physically dispersed on a network so that the end stations easily communicate with the VNIC in an efficient manner.
Regarding claim 10.
Brendel in view of Koponen teaches wherein the mapping of the other endpoint comprises interface-to-MAC address mapping of the other endpoint (Brendel teaches in Para. [0148] the VLAN divides an existing LAN into smaller virtual LANs (i.e., a plurality of endpoints) that are separate from one another and define their own broadcast domain and further Brendel teaches in Para. [0157] The virtual MAC addresses may be re-generated at the destination from VN switch table 50 and further, Koponen teaches in Para. [0116] logical router routes network traffic between the two or more logic switch based on a set of routing table).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of using the virtual MAC addresses may be re-generated at the destination from VN switch table ([0157]) as taught, by Koponen into the teachings of using the VLAN which divides an existing LAN into smaller virtual LANs (i.e., a plurality of endpoints) ([0148]) as taught, by Brendel further include into the teachings of Sun invention. One would have been motivated to do so in order to the method performs L2 processing of a set of ports of the managed switching element is associated, by the one or more port to send packets to packet arrival determined in the fifth stage of the physical port. Thus, the managed switching element along the correct path in the network to forward packets for the packet to reach the determined physical port in an efficient manner.
Claims 11 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Brendel in view of Koponen further in view of Sun and further in view of Sridharan et al. U.S. Pub. No. 2013/0061047 A1, (hereinafter Sridharan).
Regarding claim 11. Brendel in view of Koponen further in view of Sun teaches the method of claim 9.
Brendel in view of Koponen further in view of Sun does not explicitly teach decapsulating the received packet with the unique VNIC of the one of the plurality of compute instances; and forwarding the decapsulated packet to the one of the plurality of compute instances.
However, Sridharan teaches decapsulating the received packet with the unique VNIC of the one of the plurality of compute instances (Sridharan teaches in Fig. 4B and Para. [0120] the NIC 408 performs decapsulation of packets received from an external network); and
forwarding the decapsulated packet to the one of the plurality of compute instances (Sridharan teaches in Para. [0107] forwarding of the packet obtained after decapsulation. For example, the NIC processor 410 may use the mapping table 420, along with a tenant ID or Virtual Subnet ID obtained from the packet header, to determine an address translation for the packet).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teachings of the method of decapsulating a packet ([0107]) as taught, by Sridharan into the teachings of Brendel in view of Koponen further in view of Sun invention. One would have been motivated to do so in order to implementation of network policies can be performed securely and efficiently. Improvement in the efficiency of virtualized computing can be achieved by implementing network policies directly in the NIC hardware. Unsupervised and malicious use of the physical network can be prevented. Latency of data flow can be prevented. The efficiency of the address translation and flexible and dynamic allocation of services to servers in network can be improved.
Regarding claim 12.
Brendel in view of Koponen teaches learning with the one of the plurality of compute instances IP address-to-MAC address mapping of the other endpoint (Brendel teaches in Para. [0148] the VLAN divides an existing LAN into smaller virtual LANs (i.e., a plurality of endpoints) that are separate from one another and define their own broadcast domain and further Brendel teaches in Para. [0157] The virtual MAC addresses may be re-generated at the destination from VN switch table 50 and further, Koponen teaches in Para. [0116] logical router routes network traffic between the two or more logic switch based on a set of routing table).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of using the virtual MAC addresses may be re-generated at the destination from VN switch table ([0157]) as taught, by Koponen into the teachings of using the VLAN which divides an existing LAN into smaller virtual LANs (i.e., a plurality of endpoints) ([0148]) as taught, by Brendel further include into the teachings of Sun in view of Sridharan invention. One would have been motivated to do so in order to the method performs L2 processing of a set of ports of the managed switching element is associated, by the one or more port to send packets to packet arrival determined in the fifth stage of the physical port. Thus, the managed switching element along the correct path in the network to forward packets for the packet to reach the determined physical port in an efficient manner.
Claim 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Brendel in view of Koponen further in view of Sridharan.
Regarding claim 14. Brendel in view of Koponen teaches the method of claim 13.
Brendel further teaches receiving the IP packet at a second VNIC, wherein the second VNIC is associated with the second compute instance (Brendel teaches in Para. [0139] receive packets for the virtual IP address in Ethernet payload 152. A receive packets for the virtual IP address in Ethernet payload 152); and
forwarding the IP packet from the second VNIC to the second compute instance (Brendel teaches in Para. [0065] and Para. [0076] forward a virtual-network packet to first interface VN1G on virtual router 330 by using the virtual MAC address of virtual router 330 from first interface VN1G to second interface VN2G (i.e., second VNIC)). Brendel in view of Koponen does not explicitly teach decapsulating the IP packet at the second VNIC.
However, Sridharan teaches decapsulating the IP packet at the second VNIC (Sridharan teaches in Para. [0150] Virtual Subnet ID that identifies a virtual network on which the destination VM resides, the NIC processor 1110 may decapsulate packets to obtain any appropriate network policy information).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teachings of a method of decapsulation of packets ([0150]) as taught, by Sridharan into the teachings of Brendel in view of Koponen invention. One would have been motivated to do so since the method of IP packet traveling process of decapsulation can reverse the packet traveling by removing the information, and a destination device can read the original data in an efficient manner.
Conclusion
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/BERHANU SHITAYEWOLDETSADIK/Examiner, Art Unit 2455
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