The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
This Office action is in response to communications filed on 6/11/2025.
Claims 1-20 are pending.
DETAILED ACTION
Claim Objections
Claims 6, 13, and 20 are objected to because of the following informalities: The phrase "detecting and storing a unique identifier for particular device" should be - - detecting and storing a unique identifier for the particular device - -. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(A)(1) as being anticipated by Lv et al. (US 20130007233 A1, hereinafter Lv).
Regarding claim 1, Lv discloses a media device comprising: one or more processing devices; and memory communicatively coupled with and readable by the one or more processing devices and having stored therein processor-readable instructions which, when executed by the one or more processing devices, cause the media device to perform operations (¶[0072], "The present disclosure also may be embedded in non-transitory fashion in a computer-readable storage medium, which comprises all the features enabling the implementation of the methods described herein, and which when loaded in a computer system is able to carry out these methods") comprising:
self-assigning an Internet Protocol (IP) address to facilitate creation of a subnet in a local network (¶[0016], "self-assigning internal IP addresses in the absence of a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) service in a wireless digital network"; ¶[0059], "the managed network device will start its network service operations, e.g., access point operations"; ¶[0038], "enables an operational network with full IP connectivity, using only self-assigned IP addresses" - subnet inherent of creating a network with self-assigned, link-local IP addresses);
communicating the IP address to one or more other devices in the local network (¶[0017], " transmit an IP address conflict check request, which includes its self-assigned IP address, to one or more other managed network devices in the wireless network");
consequent to the communicating the IP address, determining that a conflict exists with respect to a particular device of the one or more other devices and the IP address (¶[0017], "transmit an IP address conflict check request, which includes its self-assigned IP address, to one or more other managed network devices in the wireless network. If the managed network device detects an address conflict, it will re-assign to itself a different IP address in the link local address space"); and
responsive to the determining that the conflict exists, generating an additional IP address according to a protocol to facilitate resolving the conflict and communicating the additional IP address to the particular device according to the protocol (¶[0017], "transmit an IP address conflict check request, which includes its self-assigned IP address, to one or more other managed network devices in the wireless network. If the managed network device detects an address conflict, it will re-assign to itself a different IP address in the link local address space"; Fig. 3A, process (a protocol) is looped to recheck any newly self-assigned IP; ¶[0058], "such as an address resolution protocol (ARP) request", meaning it's a broadcast and therefore all devices get the request, suggests it would include the device that had an initial conflict).
Regarding claim 2, Lv discloses the media device as recited in claim 1, wherein the IP address corresponds to a link-local IP address (¶[0017], " it will assign to itself an IP address in a link local address space").
Regarding claim 3, Lv discloses the media device as recited in claim 1, the operations further comprising receiving a communication from the particular device, wherein the communication corresponds to an objection to the IP address, and the determining that the conflict exists is based at least in part on the communication (¶[0058], "The managed network device then send an IP address conflict check request (operation 335), such as an address resolution protocol (ARP) request, to other managed network device(s) which also self-assigned internal IP address(es) within the same reserved address space. The managed network device then determines whether an IP address conflict is detected (operation 340). If the IP address conflict is detected, the managed network device backs off from the previously self-assigned IP address, and repeats self-assigning an IP address by choosing another IP address within the same reserved address space to assign to itself (operation 330)" - ARP requests are well-known in the art and the expectation when a device with the IP of the ARP request exists is an ARP response, indicating existence of the device, in context, this may be viewed as an "objection" by the device since the goal of the ARP message is to determine a conflict on a self-assigned IP).
Regarding claim 4, Lv discloses the media device as recited in claim 1, the operations comprising receiving a communication from the particular device, wherein the communication corresponds to an objection to the IP address (¶[0058], "The managed network device then send an IP address conflict check request (operation 335), such as an address resolution protocol (ARP) request, to other managed network device(s) which also self-assigned internal IP address(es) within the same reserved address space. The managed network device then determines whether an IP address conflict is detected (operation 340). If the IP address conflict is detected, the managed network device backs off from the previously self-assigned IP address, and repeats self-assigning an IP address by choosing another IP address within the same reserved address space to assign to itself (operation 330)" - ARP requests are well-known in the art and the expectation when a device with the IP of the ARP request exists is an ARP response, indicating existence of the device, in context, this may be viewed as an "objection" by the device since the goal of the ARP message is to determine a conflict on a self-assigned IP).
Regarding claim 5, Lv discloses the media device as recited in claim 1, wherein the generating the one or more additional IP addresses according to the protocol corresponds to the media device reconfiguring itself according to the protocol (¶[0017], "transmit an IP address conflict check request, which includes its self-assigned IP address, to one or more other managed network devices in the wireless network. If the managed network device detects an address conflict, it will re-assign to itself a different IP address in the link local address space"; Fig. 3A, a protocol).
Regarding claim 6, Lv discloses the media device as recited in claim 1, the operations further comprising detecting and storing a unique identifier for particular device, wherein the communicating the additional IP address to the particular device according to the protocol is based at least in part on the unique identifier (¶[0030], "ach managed network device of an autonomous wireless network needs a unique IP address to support internal control-path communication between them. However, such unique IP address does not have to be externally reachable or managed. Rather, each managed network device can assign to itself an internal IP address within an address space specifically reserved for internal network communications, e.g. the 169.254.X.X address space in IPv4 network. Specifically, the managed network device can perform a hash of its own media access control (MAC) address and check for IP address conflicts by sending out an Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) request to other managed network devices which self-assign IP addresses within the same reserved address space. If the managed network device detects an IP address conflict, the managed network device will back off and assign to itself another hashed IP address based on its MAC address" - i.e., each managed device has a unique identifier stored, each managed device detects it (to self assign an IP), and a second self-assigned IP is based the previous IP matching a self-assigned IP (of the second managed device), therefore, the second ARP message to check whether a conflict exists is based on the unique identifier).
Regarding claim 7, Lv discloses the media device as recited in claim 1, the operations further comprising generating a second additional IP address according to the protocol to facilitate resolving the conflict and communicating the second additional IP address to the particular device according to the protocol (¶[0017], "transmit an IP address conflict check request, which includes its self-assigned IP address, to one or more other managed network devices in the wireless network. If the managed network device detects an address conflict, it will re-assign to itself a different IP address in the link local address space"; Fig. 3A, process (a protocol) is looped to recheck any newly self-assigned IP; ¶[0058], "such as an address resolution protocol (ARP) request", meaning it's a broadcast and therefore all devices get the request, suggests it would include the device that had an initial conflict).
Regarding claims 8-14, Lv discloses a method (¶[0029], method).
The remaining limitations of claims 8-14 are similar in scope to those of claims 1-7. Therefore, claims 8-14 are rejected for the same reasons as set forth in the rejection of claims 1-7, above.
Regarding claims 15-20, Lv discloses one or more non-transitory, machine-readable media having machine-readable instructions thereon which, when executed by one or more processing devices, cause a device to perform operations (¶[0072], "The present disclosure also may be embedded in non-transitory fashion in a computer-readable storage medium, which comprises all the features enabling the implementation of the methods described herein, and which when loaded in a computer system is able to carry out these methods").
The remaining limitations of claims 15-20 are similar in scope to those of claims 1-6. Therefore, claims 15-20 are rejected for the same reasons as set forth in the rejection of claims 1-6, above.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
US 20210336922 A1, which discloses "if it is determined that the IP address generated for the node is already being used by another computing device within the computing network system, a second IP address may be generated for the NIC so that the NIC may have an IP address that is unique not only in the particular broadcast domain associated to the NIC, but across the multiple broadcast domains that are configured within the computing network system. As the second IP address is generated and associated to the NIC, the second IP address generated for the NIC may be updated in the data structure (e.g., at step 230) so that the second IP address is being associated to the NIC instead of the first IP address generated that was determined to be a duplicate IP address across the multiple broadcast domains of the computing network system. For example, the IP address 160 column associated to the row of the NIC and the particular broadcast domain is updated with the second IP address to keep track of the IP address being assigned to the NICs of the node. Step 240 may be repeated again for the second IP address to determine whether the second IP address is unique across the multiple broadcast domain. Steps 230, 240 and 250 may be repeated until a unique IP address may be determined across the multiple broadcast domain" (¶[0053]).
US 20170019372 A1, which discloses "assigning a link-local address to the client device comprises: (a) determining whether multiple interfaces on a link-local range exist at the multimedia device; (b) if multiple interfaces on the link-local range do not exist at the multimedia device, forming a standard link-local DLNA network between the multimedia device and the client device; and (c) if multiple interfaces on the link-local range do exist at the multimedia device: (i) outputting a user interface prompting a user to input a valid IP address for the client device; (ii) receiving a user input IP address for the client device; and (iii) assigning the user input IP address to the client device" (¶[0015]).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BORIS D GRIJALVA LOBOS whose telephone number is (571)272-0767. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10:30AM to 6:30PM EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jorge L Ortiz-Criado can be reached at 571-272-7624. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BORIS D GRIJALVA LOBOS/ Primary Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2496
