Inter Partes Reexamination Nos. 95/000,648 & 95/002,108
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`IN THE UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
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`In re Reexamination Control No. 95/000,648
`Filed: October 27, 2011
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`In re Reexamination Control No. 95/002,108
`Filed: August 29, 2012
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`For: APPROACH FOR SELECTING
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`COMMUNICATIONS CHANNELS BASED
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`ON PERFORMANCE
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`_________________________________ )
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`U.S. Patent No. 7,027,418
`Issued: April 21, 2006
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`Confirmation No.: 7148
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`Confirmation No. 8175
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`Examiner: Pokrzywa, Joseph R.
`Art Unit: 3992
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`Mail Stop INTER PARTES REEXAM
`Central Reexamination Unit
`P.O. Box 1450
`Alexandria, VA 22313-1450
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`RESPONSE TO OFFICE ACTION IN INTER PARTES REEXAMINATION
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`Sir:
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`Patent Owner Bandspeed, Inc. ("Bandspeed") responds as follows to the Office Action
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`mailed October 3, 2013 in the above-captioned inters partes reexamination ofBandspeed's U.S.
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`Pat. No. 7,027,418 filed September 6, 2001 (the "Bandspeed Patent").
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`A response to the Office Action was initially due November 3, 2013. By Bandspeed's
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`petition for extension of time to reply dated October 10,2013, that was granted-in-part by
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`petition decision dated October 16, 2013, a response to the Office Action is now due
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`December 3, 2013. Accordingly, this response is timely filed. Reconsideration and allowance of
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`the claims under examination, in light of the amendments and remarks presented herein, are
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`respectfully requested.
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`INTRODUCTION
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`As of the filing of the application resulting in the Bandspeed Patent, Bandspeed was an
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`industry leader in radio-frequency (RF) interference detection, classification, and avoidance and
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`management technologies. The Bandspeed Patent discloses techniques, invented by Hong bing
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`Gan, Bijan Treister, and Efstratios Skafidas while employees of Bandspeed, for managing radio
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`interference in frequency hopping communication systems, such as the interference caused by
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`52637-0027
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`Marvell Semiconductor, Inc.
`MediaTek Inc.
`MediaTek USA, Inc.
`Exh. 1010
`IPR of U.S. Pat. No. 7,477,624
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`Inter Partes Reexamination Nos. 95/000,648 & 95/002,108
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`non-frequency hopping communication systems that use the same frequency band as the
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`frequency hopping communication systems. The techniques disclosed by Bandspeed overcome
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`the limitations of prior approaches that inadequately or inefficiently dealt with the transient
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`nature of some types of radio interference such as, for example, radio interference generated by
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`non-frequency hopping IEEE 802.11 b Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) communication
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`devices that share the 2.4 GHz ISM band with frequency-hopping Bluetooth/IEEE 802.15.1
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`Wireless Personal Area Network (WP AN) devices. As supported below in detail, the claimed
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`techniques are not taught or suggested by the cited art. Reconsideration and allowance of the
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`claims under reexamination, in light of the amendments and remarks presented herein, are
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`respectfully requested.
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`Inter Partes Reexamination Nos. 95/000,648 & 95/002,108
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`TABLE OF CONTENTS
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`I. CLAIMS 2-5, 7, 8, 10-13,75-77,85-92, 129-137, 176-191, 232-242 ................................... 9
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`A. Claim2 ............................................................................................................................ 9
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`1.
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`2.
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`3.
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`4.
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`5.
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`Broadest reasonable interpretation of "vote" ............................................................ 1 0
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`Gendel ..................................................................................................................... 11
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`Schmidl ................................................................................................................... 15
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`Dicker and Cuffaro .................................................................................................. 19
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`Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 23
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`B. Claims 3-5, 7, 8, 10-13,75-77, 85-92, 129-137, 176-191,232-242 ................................ 23
`c. Claims 137, 191, 242 ..................................................................................................... 24
`II. CLAIMS 6, 138-156, 192-211, 243-262 ............................................................................ 25
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`A. Claim 6 .......................................................................................................................... 25
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`1.
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`2.
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`3.
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`4.
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`Requirements of Claim 6 ......................................................................................... 26
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`Broadest reasonable interpretation of "vote" ............................................................ 27
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`Gendel, Schmidl, Dicker, and Cuffaro ..................................................................... 27
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`Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 30
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`B. Claims 138-156, 192-211, 243-262 ................................................................................ 30
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`III.
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`III.
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`CLAIMS 9, 157-175,212-231,263-282 ........................................................................ 31
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`CLAIMS 14, 15-18,20, 23, 24, 28-40, 78, 83, 84, 95-106, 108-110, 114-119, 284, 286,
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`289,291,293,296,593,594,595,596,597,598 ...................................................................... 32
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`A. Claim 15 ........................................................................................................................ 32
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`1.
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`2.
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`Distinction in Claim 15 ............................................................................................ 33
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`Dicker's channel selection condition is not the channel selection condition of Claim
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`15.
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`34
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`3.
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`Like Dicker, Kostic's channel selection condition is not the channel selection
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`condition of Claim 15 ........................................................................................................ 37
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`4.
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`5.
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`6.
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`Gendel does not disclose the conditional channel selection of Claim 15 .................. .40
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`Consideration of Schmidl ........................................................................................ 41
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`Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 43
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`B. Claims 16-17,20,23,24,28-40,78,83, 84,95-105, 108-110, 114-119,284,286,289,
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`291,293,296,593,594,595,596,597,598 .......................................................................... 43
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`Inter Partes Reexamination Nos. 95/000,648 & 95/002,108
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`Independent Claims 18, 106 ........................................................................................... 43
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`c.
`D. Claims 22, 109 ............................................................................................................... 45
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`E. Claims 30, 116 ............................................................................................................... 48
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`F. Claims 31, 117 ............................................................................................................... 51
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`G. Claim 14 ........................................................................................................................ 52
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`IV.
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`CLAIMS 41, 42, 93, 285, 287, 292, 294 ........................................................................ 54
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`A. Claim 41 ........................................................................................................................ 54
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`1.
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`Dicker does not disclose classifying channels and then selecting channels based upon
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`the classifications , ............................................................................................................. 56
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`2.
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`Gerten does not disclose classifying channels based on performance data and a
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`performance criterion , ....................................................................................................... 57
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`3.
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`Kostic does not disclose classifying channels and then selecting channels based upon
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`the classifications , ............................................................................................................. 59
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`4.
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`Gendel does not disclose classifying channels and then selecting channels based upon
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`the classifications .............................................................................................................. 60
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`5.
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`Schmidl does not disclose classifying channels and then selecting channels based
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`upon the classifications ...................................................................................................... 61
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`6.
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`Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 62
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`B. Claims 42, 93, 285, 287, 292, 294 .................................................................................. 62
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`C. Claim 42 ........................................................................................................................ 62
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`V. CLAIMS 50-7 4, 298, 300, 302 .......................................................................................... 63
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`A. Written Description Issue .............................................................................................. 63
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`B. Claim 50 ........................................................................................................................ 63
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`1.
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`2.
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`3.
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`4.
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`5.
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`Requirements of Claim 50 ....................................................................................... 63
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`Haartsen .................................................................................................................. 64
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`Gerten and Haartsen ................................................................................................ 64
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`Gendel and Haartsen ................................................................................................ 65
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`Imamura and Haartsen ............................................................................................. 65
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`Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 66
`6.
`c. Claim 55 ........................................................................................................................ 66
`Gendel ..................................................................................................................... 67
`1.
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`Inter Partes Reexamination Nos. 95/000,648 & 95/002,108
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`2.
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`3.
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`Haartsen .................................................................................................................. 67
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`Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 67
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`D.
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`Independent Claim 56 .................................................................................................... 67
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`E. Claim 58 ........................................................................................................................ 68
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`1.
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`2.
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`3.
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`4.
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`Haartsen .................................................................................................................. 68
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`Gerten ..................................................................................................................... 69
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`Gendel ..................................................................................................................... 71
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`Haartsen, Gerten, and Gendel .................................................................................. 71
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`F. Claim 70 ........................................................................................................................ 72
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`1.
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`2.
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`3.
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`Requirements of Claim 70 ....................................................................................... 72
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`Haartsen .................................................................................................................. 72
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`Gerten and Gendel ................................................................................................... 7 4
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`G. Claims 50-55,57-74,298,300, 302 ............................................................................... 75
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`VI.
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`Claims 85-92, 232-242 .................................................................................................. 75
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`A. Claims 85-92, 232-242 .................................................................................................. 76
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`B. Claim 242 ...................................................................................................................... 76
`c. Claim 88 ........................................................................................................................ 76
`Gendel ..................................................................................................................... 76
`1.
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`2.
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`3.
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`4.
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`Schmidl ................................................................................................................... 77
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`Dicker and Cuffaro .................................................................................................. 78
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`Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 79
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`VII. Claims 95-106, 108-110, 114-119,289,296,597, 598 ................................................... 79
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`A. Claims 95-106, 108-110, 114-119,289,296,597, 598 ................................................... 79
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`B. Dependent Claim 98 ...................................................................................................... 79
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`1.
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`2.
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`3.
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`4.
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`5.
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`Requirements of Claim 98 ....................................................................................... 79
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`Dicker ..................................................................................................................... 81
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`Kostic ...................................................................................................................... 82
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`Gendel ..................................................................................................................... 83
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`Schmidl ................................................................................................................... 84
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`Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 85
`6.
`c. Claim 106 ...................................................................................................................... 85
`5
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`Inter Partes Reexamination Nos. 95/000,648 & 95/002,108
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`D. Claim 109 ...................................................................................................................... 85
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`E. Claim 116 ...................................................................................................................... 86
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`F. Claim 117 ...................................................................................................................... 86
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`VIII.
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`Claims 120-122, 125-128 ............................................................................................ 86
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`A. Claim 120 ...................................................................................................................... 86
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`B. Claims 121-122, 125-128 ............................................................................................... 91
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`IX.
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`Claims 304-325, 588 ...................................................................................................... 92
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`A. Claim 304 ...................................................................................................................... 92
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`B. Claims 305-325, 588 ...................................................................................................... 96
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`C. Claims 308, 319 ............................................................................................................. 97
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`D. Claims 309, 320 ............................................................................................................. 97
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`X. Claims 326-333, 589 ......................................................................................................... 98
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`A. Claim 326 ...................................................................................................................... 98
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`B. Claims 327-333, 589 .................................................................................................... 101
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`XI.
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`Claims 334-343, 590 .................................................................................................... 101
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`A. Claim 334 .................................................................................................................... 102
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`B. Claims 335-343, 590 .................................................................................................... 104
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`XII. Claims 344-351, 591 .................................................................................................... 105
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`A. Claim 344 .................................................................................................................... 1 05
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`B. Claims 345-351, 591 .................................................................................................... 107
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`XIII. Claims 352-371, 592 .................................................................................................... 107
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`A. Claim 352 .................................................................................................................... 107
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`1.
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`2.
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`3.
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`Objection to Claim 360 .......................................................................................... 1 09
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`Section 112 Issues ................................................................................................. 109
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`Gerten ................................................................................................................... 110
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`B. Claims 353-371, 592 .................................................................................................... 111
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`XIV. Claims 372-383, 444-455, 516-527 .............................................................................. 112
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`A. Claim 372 .................................................................................................................... 112
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`1.
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`2.
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`3.
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`Gendel ................................................................................................................... 113
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`Schmidl ................................................................................................................. 115
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`Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 117
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`Inter Partes Reexamination Nos. 95/000,648 & 95/002,108
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`B. Claims 373-383, 444-455, 516-527 .............................................................................. 117
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`XV. Claims 384-395,456-467, 528-539 .............................................................................. 117
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`A. Claim 384 .................................................................................................................... 117
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`B. Claims 385-395, 456-467, 528-539 .............................................................................. 119
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`XVI. Claims 396-407,468-479, 540-551 .............................................................................. 120
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`A. Claim 396 .................................................................................................................... 120
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`B.
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`397-407, 468-479, 540-551 .......................................................................................... 122
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`XVII. Claims 408-419, 480-491, 552-563 ........................................................................... 122
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`A. Claim 408 .................................................................................................................... 123
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`B. Claims 409-419, 480-491, 552-563 .............................................................................. 123
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`XVIII. Claims 420-431, 492-503, 564-575 ........................................................................... 124
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`A. Claim 420 .................................................................................................................... 124
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`B. Claims 421-431,492-503, 564-575 .............................................................................. 125
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`XIX. Claims 432-443, 504-515, 576-587 .............................................................................. 126
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`A. Claim 432 .................................................................................................................... 126
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`B. Claims 433-443, 504-515, 576-587 .............................................................................. 128
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`XX. Claim Objections ......................................................................................................... 128
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`XXI. Section 112 Rejections ................................................................................................ 129
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`A. Point 29 ....................................................................................................................... 129
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`B. Point 31 ....................................................................................................................... 129
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`C. Point 32 ....................................................................................................................... 129
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`D. Point 34 ....................................................................................................................... 129
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`E. Point 35 ....................................................................................................................... 130
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`XXII. Amendments to the Claims ....................................................................................... 130
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`XXIII. Conclusion and Certificate of Service ........................................................................ 238
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`APPENDIX A ......................................................................................................................... 240
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`Inter Partes Reexamination Nos. 95/000,648 & 95/002,108
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`REMARKS
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`As of the Office Action, Claims 1, 19, 25-27, 79-82, 107, 111-113 were canceled, Claims
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`2, 3, 5-12, 15, 21, 22, 43, 45, 46, 50, 75, 78, 85, 95 were amended, and Claims 129-598 were
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`added. Upon entry of this amendment, Claims 1, 19,25-27,79-82, 107, 111-113 are canceled,
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`Claims 2, 3, 5-12, 15, 18, 21, 22, 43, 45, 46, 50, 56, 75, 78, 85, 95, 106, 108, 109 are amended,
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`and Claims 129-434, 436-598 are added. The claims highlighted in bold and underlined in the
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`previous sentence indicate original patent claims that are amended or canceled since the Office
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`Action. Of new Claims 129-434 and 436-598, Claims 297-299, 301-303, 360, 592 are amended
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`since the Office Action and Claim 435 is canceled since the Office Action.
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`The amendments since the Office Action are limited to cancellation of claims,
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`amendments complying with a requirement expressly set forth in the Office Action, and
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`amendments presenting rejected claims in better form for consideration on appeal. Accordingly,
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`entry of these amendments is respectfully requested under 37 C.P.R.§ 1.116(b).
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`A complete listing of the pending claims with amendments showing changes relative to
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`the Bandspeed Patent as required by 37 C.P.R. § 1.530(f) is provided below in Section XXII.
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`Pursuant to 37 C.P.R. § 1.530( e), a description of the status of the claims and support for
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`claim changes is set forth in the attached Appendix A.
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`Bandspeed notes that the Office Action has not adopted all rejections and rationales
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`proposed by the Third Party Requesters (the "TPR") during this reexamination. For the sake of
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`brevity, rejections and rationales of the TPR not adopted by the Office Action are not addressed
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`herein. However, Bandspeed's silence on the non-adopted rejections and rationales should not be
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`taken as acquiescence that the non-adopted rejections and rationales are true or meritorious.
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`Rather, Bandspeed expressly reserves the right to address the non-adopted rejections and
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`rationales should they be adopted in a later Office Action. In this regard, Bandspeed must be
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`given an opportunity to adequately address any change in the Examiner's position adverse to
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`Bandspeed. See MPEP § 2673.01. Therefore, prosecution must be reopened if the Examiner later
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`adopts any currently non-adopted rejections and rationales.
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`Further, with respect to all claim features that are not expressly discussed herein,
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`Bandspeed has not acquiesced to any adopted or non-adopted rejection of such claim features or
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`that any such claims features are taught or suggested by the cited art. Rather, due to the
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`fundamental differences identified below, a separate discussion of those claim features is not
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`Inter Partes Reexamination Nos. 95/000,648 & 95/002,108
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`necessary and hence is not included at this time. However, Bandspeed expressly reserves the
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`right to explicitly distinguish any and all claim features from the prior art at a later date.
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`I.
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`CLAIMS 2-5, 7, 8, 10-13,75-77,85-92, 129-137, 176-191,232-242
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`Claims2-5, 7, 8,10-13,75-77,85-92,129-137,176-191,232-242 stand rejected
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`variously under 35 U.S.C. § 102 as anticipated by U.S. Pat. No. 6,115,407 ("Gendel''), under 35
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`U.S.C. § 102 as anticipated by U.S. Pat. No. 7,440,484 ("Schmidl''), and under 35 U.S.C. § 103
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`as unpatentable over U.S. Pat. No. 6,272,353 ("Dicker") and U.S. Pat. No. 6,418,317
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`("Cuffaro"). These are the only prior art rejections of these claims in the Office Action.
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`Bandspeed respectfully submits that Gendel, Schmidl, Dicker, and Cuffaro, individually and in
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`any combination, do not teach or suggest each and every element of any of these rejected claims.
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`In light of the response to arguments in the Office Action, Bandspeed hereby addresses
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`the patentability of Claim 2, before turning to the remaining rejected claims.
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`A.
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`Claim2
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`Claim 2 recites:
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`A method for selecting communications channels for a communications system, the method
`comprising the computer-implemented steps of:
`selecting, based upon performance of a plurality of communications channels at a first time
`and channel selection criteria, a first set of two or more communications channels from
`the plurality of communications channels, wherein the channel selection criteria specifies
`that for a particular communications channel to be selected, the particular
`communications channel (a) receives a specified number of affirmative votes to use the
`particular communications channel from a plurality of participants and (b) does not
`receive a negative vote from a particular participant to not use the particular
`communications channel;
`selecting, based upon performance of the plurality of communications channels at a second
`time that is later than the first time and the channel selection criteria, a second set of two
`or more communications channels from the plurality of communications channels;
`wherein the communications system is a frequency hopping communications system and the
`plurality of communications channels correspond to a set of frequencies to be used based
`on a hopping sequence according to a frequency hopping protocol; and
`wherein at each hop in the hopping sequence, only one communications channel is used for
`communications between a pair of participants.
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`In Claim 2, voting is used to select frequency hopping communications channels to be
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`used for communications. More specifically, frequency-hopping communications channels are
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`selected for use based on channel selection criteria that "specifies that for a particular
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`Inter Partes Reexamination Nos. 95/000,648 & 95/002,108
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`communications channel to be selected, the particular communications channel (a) receives a
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`specified number of affirmative votes to use the particular communications channel from a
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`plurality of participants and (b) does not receive a negative vote from a particular participant to
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`not use the particular communications channel".
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`A person skilled in the art would understand in light of the specification and consistent
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`with ordinary meaning of the claim terms that, in order to select the particular communications
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`channel based on the channel selection criteria, a method of Claim 2 must determine whether the
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`particular communications channel "(a) receives a specified number of affirmative votes to use
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`the particular communications channel from a plurality of participants" and must also determine
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`whether the particular communications channel "(b) does not receive a negative vote from a
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`particular participant to not use the particular communications channel".
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`Thus, the channel selection criteria of Claim 2 include an "affirmative vote" component
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`and a negative vote component. A particular communications channel may be selected if it
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`receives a specified number of affirmative votes to use the particular communications channel
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`from a plurality of participants AND if it does not receive a negative vote to not use the
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`particular communications channel from a particular participant. In order for prior art to teach
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`the method of Claim 2, they must teach both components of the channel selection criteria of
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`Claim 2.
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`1.
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`Broadest reasonable interpretation of "vote"
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`One of the terms in Claim 2 is the term "vote". In order to properly determine whether
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`Claim 2 is anticipated or rendered obvious by prior art, the term "vote" must be properly
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`interpreted. While it is true that the term can be given its broadest reasonable interpretation, that
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`does not mean that any interpretation can be used. Rather, the meaning attributed to the term
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`"vote" must be reasonable in view of the Specification of the Bandspeed Patent and the relevant
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`technology, and must not be inconsistent with ordinary meaning of the term.
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`With these constraints in mind, Bandspeed asserts that a "vote" must represent a choice
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`that has been made. A measurement of the performance of a communications channel is not a
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`vote because the measurement does not represent a choice that has been made. This
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`interpretation is consistent with the claims and the Specification. For example, a participant may
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`submit an affirmative vote to use a communications channel or a negative vote to not use the
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`communications channel. In both cases, a choice has been made, and the vote represents that
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`Inter Partes Reexamination Nos. 95/000,648 & 95/002,108
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`choice that has been made. This interpretation of a "vote" is also consistent with the discussion
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`in the Office Action that Dicker's description of using error rates to select communications links
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`does not constitute either affirmative votes to use a particular communications channel or a
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`negative vote to not use the particular communications channel, "However, Dicker fails to
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`expressly disclose if the channel selection criteria specifies that for a particular communications
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`channel to be selected, the particular communications channel (a) receives a specified number of
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`affirmative votes to use the particular communications channel from a plurality of participants
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`and (b) does not receive a negative vote from a particular participant to not use the particular
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`communications channel." Quoting Office Action at page 217.
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`2.
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`Gendel
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`Gendel describes a frequency hopping communications system where an available
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`spectrum of frequencies to be used for communications is divided into segments and each
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`segment corresponds to a subset of frequencies in the available spectrum of frequencies. Sets of
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`used segments and unused segments are selected from the plurality of segments. The used
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`segments are used for communications and the unused segments are reserved to replace used
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`segments that are later determined to no longer be suitable for use. The number of used segments
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`is selected to be less than the number of unused segments to provide a suitable number of unused
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`segments that can later be used as replacement segments.
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`Fig. 3 of Gendel depicts a block diagram of a communication subsystem 300,
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`representative of the segment handling and replacement subsystems 122, 124, 132, 134 of Fig. 1
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`of Gendel, for performing frequency hopping communications. In operation, as depicted by the
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`flowchart in Fig. 5 of Gendel, the communication subsystem 300 receives a data packet (e.g.,
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`received data) and che