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`Filed on behalf of TQ Delta, LLC
`By: Peter J. McAndrews
`Thomas J. Wimbiscus
`Scott P. McBride
`Christopher M. Scharff
`McAndrews, Held & Malloy, Ltd.
`500 W. Madison St., 34th Floor
`Chicago, IL 60661
`Tel: 312-775-8000
`Fax: 312-775-8100
`E-mail: pmcandrews@mcandrews-ip.com
`
`UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
`_____________
`
`BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
`_____________
`
`CISCO, INC.
`Petitioner
`
`v.
`
`TQ DELTA, LLC
`Patent Owner
`_____________
`
`
`Case No. IPR2016-01007
`Patent No. 8,432,956
`_____________
`
`
`PATENT OWNER’S RESPONSE UNDER 37 CFR §42.120
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`TABLE OF CONTENTS
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`INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................... 1
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`THE ’956 PATENT ......................................................................................... 4
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`
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`I.
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`II.
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`III. CLAIM CONSTRUCTION ............................................................................ 4
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`IV. PETITIONER HAS NOT SHOWN UNPATENTABILITY BASED ON
`THE SINGLE GROUND INSTITUTED ........................................................ 9
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`A.
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`The Asserted References Do Not Render Obvious
`Transmitting/Receiving a Diagnostic Message Comprising
`“Power Level Per Subchannel Information” (Claims 1-8) ................. 12
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`1. Milbrandt’s Power Spectrum Density And Attenuation
`Are Wholly Different From the Claimed Parameter ................ 12
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`2.
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`Petitioner Did Not Present A Back-Up Obviousness
`Argument For Transmitting PLPSC Information
`in
`Milbrandt
`Instead of PSD Per Sub-Frequency
`Information ................................................................................ 19
`
`B.
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`The Asserted References Do Not Render Obvious
`Transmitting/Receiving a Diagnostic Message Comprising
`“Power Level Per Subchannel Information . . . Based on a
`Reverb Signal” (Claims 2, 4, 6, 8) ...................................................... 20
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`1.
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`2.
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`ANSI T1.413 Does Not Disclose The Claimed Parameter ....... 20
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`Petitioner’s Obviousness Arguments For Transmitting
`ANSI T1.413’s PSD Based
`on Reverb Are
`Technologically Meritless ......................................................... 21
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`C.
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`The Asserted References Do Not Render Obvious
`Transmitting/Receiving a Diagnostic Message Comprising
`“Signal to Noise Ratio Per Subchannel During Showtime
`Information” (Claims 9-10) ................................................................. 24
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`1.
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`None of the References Disclose Measuring Noise or
`Signal to Noise Ratio “Per Subchannel” .................................. 24
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`
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`i
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`2.
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`3.
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`4.
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`Patent Owner’s Response
`IPR2016-01007
`None of the References Disclose Measuring Noise or
`Signal to Noise Ratio “During Showtime Information” ........... 25
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`ANSI T1.413’s “Signal to Noise Ratio Margin” is Not
`the Claimed “Signal to Noise Ratio” ........................................ 27
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`Petitioner’s Obviousness Arguments for Transmitting or
`Receiving “Signal to Noise Ratio During Showtime
`Information” In Milbrandt’s Diagnostic Messages Are
`Technologically and Legally Erroneous ................................... 28
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`V. NO WEIGHT SHOULD BE GIVEN TO THE UNQUALIFIED
`CONCLUSORY OPINIONS OF PETITIONER’S EXPERT ...................... 31
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`VI. CONCLUSION .............................................................................................. 33
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`CERTIFICATE OF WORD COUNT ...................................................................... 35
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`ii
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`Ex. 2001
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`Ex. 2002
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`Ex. 2003
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`Ex. 2004
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`Ex. 2005
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`Ex. 2006
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`Patent Owner’s Response
`IPR2016-01007
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`EXHIBIT LIST
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`Declaration of Douglas Chrissan, PhD for Inter Partes Review
`Nos. IPR2016-01006, -01007, -01008, -01009
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`Hargrave’s Communications Dictionary (2001) at pp. 404, 485
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`U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 20050190826
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`Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language (1989
`ed.) at p. 1217
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`Transcript of 2/8/17 Deposition of Sayfe Kiaei
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`ITU-T G.992.1 (6/99) Series G: Transmission Systems and
`Media, Digital Systems and Networks – Asymmetric Digital
`Subscriber Line (ADSL) Transceivers
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`iii
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`Patent Owner’s Response
`IPR2016-01007
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`I.
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`INTRODUCTION
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`The Board has instituted inter partes review of claims 1-10 of U.S. Pat. No.
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`8,432,956 (“the ’956 patent”) based on a single Ground—Petitioner’s allegations
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`of obviousness in view of a combination of Milbrandt, Hwang, and ANSI T1.413.1
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`Patent Owner, however, respectfully submits that for purposes of institution the
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`Board accepted as true numerous unsupported factual statements by Petitioner’s
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`expert that are demonstrably incorrect. Indeed, based on his testimony at his
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`deposition, Petitioner’s expert (Dr. Sayfe Kiaei) is unknowledgeable and
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`unqualified regarding the technical issues in this proceeding. Patent Owner
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`provides in this Response additional detail, technical explanations from its own
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`qualified expert (Dr. Douglas Chrissan), and further legal support to clarify the
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`deficiencies in the Petition.
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`First, Petitioner has not shown that it would have been obvious in a
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`multicarrier transceiver (such as a DSL modem) to transmit or receive a diagnostic
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`message having “an array representing power level per subchannel information”
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`1 “Petitioner” refers to Petitioner Cisco, Inc. In connection with a separate petition
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`(IPR2017-00422), Arris Group, Inc. has requested joinder with this proceeding, a
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`request that Patent Owner does not oppose. Decisions on that petition and Arris’
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`motion for joinder, however, have not yet issued.
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`1
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`Patent Owner’s Response
`IPR2016-01007
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`(“PLPSC”), as required by claims 1-8. None of the asserted references disclose
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`anything that represents PLPSC—Petitioner incorrectly points to measured
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`parameters in the references that convey very different information (namely,
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`Milbrandt’s “power spectrum density” per “sub-frequency” and “attenuation” per
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`“sub-frequency”). Moreover, Petitioner has not filled in this missing limitation via
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`a sufficient obviousness argument—Petitioner does not even allege that it would
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`have been obvious to transmit or receive PLPSC itself, much less provide a reason
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`why one of ordinary skill in the art would have done so.
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`Second, Petitioner has not shown that it would have been obvious to more
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`specifically
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`transmit or receive PLPSC
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`information wherein
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`the PLPSC
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`information is “based on a Reverb signal,” as required by dependent claims 2, 4, 6,
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`and 8. What Petitioner points to in the references for this element—ANSI
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`T1.413’s measurement of total (or aggregate) power—is not representative of
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`“power level per subchannel” information. And Petitioner’s rationales for why it
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`allegedly would have been obvious to transmit this parameter between modems
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`rely on technological and factual errors.
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`Third, Petitioner has not shown that it would have been obvious to transmit
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`or receive in a diagnostic message “signal to noise ratio [“SNR”] per subchannel
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`during Showtime information,” as required by claims 9-10. Contrary to
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`Petitioner’s
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`incorrect characterizations, none of
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`the
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`references disclose
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`2
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`Patent Owner’s Response
`IPR2016-01007
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`transmitting/receiving SNR, or measuring any SNR or other noise information,
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`“during Showtime.” And once again, Petitioner’s rationales for adding that ability
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`to modems rest on technologically meritless theories.
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`Fourth, for each of the diagnostic information parameters variously recited
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`in the claims, Petitioner has not shown that it would have been obvious to transmit
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`or receive them via “DMT symbols” and “Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM)
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`with more than 1 bit per subchannel.” Petitioner simply assumes that because
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`Milbrandt discloses (a) transmitting diagnostic messages using any “suitable”
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`communication protocol, and (b) using DMT for normal Internet communication,
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`that it also by implication discloses (c) that DMT is a “suitable” protocol for
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`transmitting diagnostic messages. But in fact, there are numerous reasons why
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`DMT would not necessarily have been regarded as a suitable protocol in Milbrandt
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`for transmitting a diagnostic message. Moreover, Petitioner’s purported reasons to
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`do so—to allegedly increase “efficiency” and “throughput” and make the system
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`more “desirable” to users—are both conclusory and technologically backwards.
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`Accordingly, Petitioner fails to show unpatentability of the challenged
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`claims for numerous independent reasons. Petitioner cannot rely on the Board to
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`fill in the gaps or defects in its Petition, or to infer or read into the Petition
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`arguments that Petitioner did not make. See, e.g., In re Magnum Oil Tools Int'l,
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`Ltd., 829 F.3d 1364, 1380 (Fed. Cir. 2016) (The Board is not “free to adopt
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`3
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`Patent Owner’s Response
`IPR2016-01007
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`arguments on behalf of petitioners that could have been, but were not, raised by the
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`petitioner during an IPR. Instead, the Board must base its decision on arguments
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`that were advanced by a party, and to which the opposing party was given a chance
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`to respond.”). Nor can Petitioner fix the deficiencies and failures of proof in the
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`Petition at a later stage by offering new arguments or new evidence. See
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`Intelligent Bio-Systems, Inc. v. Illumina Cambridge Ltd., 821 F.3d 1359, 1369
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`(Fed. Cir. 2016) (“the expedited nature of IPRs bring with it an obligation for
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`petitioners to make their case in their petition to institute”).
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`II. THE ’956 PATENT
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`The ’956 patent is directed to communicating specific diagnostic and test
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`information concerning a multicarrier communication channel between
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`multicarrier transceivers within a multicarrier communication network, digital
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`subscriber line (DSL) network, for example. In the case of a DSL network, the
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`transceivers correspond to a customer modem (remote transceiver) and a central
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`office modem (near transceiver). The test and diagnostic information may be
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`transmitted by the remote transceiver and received by the near transceiver. The
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`test and diagnostic information may be used to characterize the multicarrier
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`communication channel between the two transceivers. (See Ex. 1001, ’956 patent
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`at Abstract.) The ’956 patent recognizes that in prior art systems analyzing the
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`condition of the communication channel required a technician to visit the remote
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`4
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`Patent Owner’s Response
`IPR2016-01007
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`transceiver, i.e. a truck roll. (See Ex. 1001, ’956 patent at 1:39-41.) The ’956
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`patent recognizes that truck rolls are expensive and time consuming. (id.) The
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`claims require the communication of specific test and diagnostic parameters by the
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`remote transceiver to the near transceiver. The information received may be used
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`to analyze the communication channel without requiring a truck roll to the remote
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`transceiver. (See id. at 2:39-41.)
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`In particular, claims 1-8 of the ‘956 patent require transmitting and
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`receiving information representing “power level per subchannel information.”
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`(See e.g., Ex. 1001, 8:57-58.) The power level per subchannel information
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`represents the power level measured by the remote transceiver at the different
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`subchannels of the multicarrier communication channel. The power level per
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`subchannel information may be used to identify subchannels that are experiencing
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`excessive attenuation. (See Ex. 2001, Chrissan Decl. at ¶17.)
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`Separately, Claims 9–10 of the ‘956 patent require transmitting and
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`receiving information representing “Signal to Noise ratio per subchannel during
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`Showtime information.” This information may be used, for example, to analyze
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`link condition to identify service degradation as system deployment grows with
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`the addition of new communication links (e.g., from adding new customers) that
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`create increased crosstalk. (See Ex. 2001, ’956 patent at ¶ 20.)
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`5
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`Patent Owner’s Response
`IPR2016-01007
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`III. CLAIM CONSTRUCTION
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`In its Institution Decision, the Board adopted Petitioner’s proposed
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`constructions. (See Paper 7, Institution Decision at pp. 6-8.) In particular, the
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`Board construed the terms “during Showtime,” “array,” and “transceiver.” (See
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`Paper 7, Institution Decision at pp. 6-8.)
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`At least Petitioner’s proposed construction for the term “during Showtime”
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`is incorrect as a technical matter. It also appears to be a blatant attempt by
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`Petitioner to obtain a beneficial claim construction that it can point to in future
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`District Court proceedings to support alleged noninfringement. Specifically,
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`Petitioner proposed that “during Showtime” should be construed as “during normal
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`communications of an ANSI T1.413 compliant device.” (Pet. at 9.) There are two
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`things wrong with this construction, however.
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`First, it is well accepted in the art that “during Showtime” does not include
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`any modem initialization or modem training. (See Ex. 2001, Chrissan Decl. at ¶
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`31.) Petitioner’s own expert, Dr. Kiaei, even agreed in his declaration that
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`“Showtime” is a term of art that is “used to refer to the mode that follows the
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`completion of initialization and handshake . . . .” (Ex. 1009, Kiaei Decl. at ¶ 43.)
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`Petitioner’s proposed construction does not take into account this aspect of the
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`term “Showtime” and, thus, could be incorrectly understood to cover modem
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`initialization and training.
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`6
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`IPR2016-01007
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`Second, neither the phrase “during Showtime” nor the claims of the ’956
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`patent are limited to an “ANSI T1.413 compliant device.” Petitioner cites to only
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`the opinion of Dr. Kiaei in this regard. (See Pet. at 9, citing Ex. 1009, Kiaei Decl.
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`at 20.) Dr. Kiaei, however, admitted at his deposition that he simply has no
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`knowledge or experience with multicarrier communications other than with respect
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`to ANSI T1.413 compliant devices, and he had no idea if “Showtime” was a
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`concept used in communication protocols other than ANSI T1.413. (See Ex. 2005,
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`Kiaei Dep. Tr. at 65:13-66:15, 71:19-72:12.) In fact, however, “Showtime” is term
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`that is used consistently in connection with many different communications
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`protocols to refer to a state of communications reached after initialization and
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`training. (See Ex. 2001, Chrissan Decl. at ¶ 31; see also Ex. 2005, ITU-T G.992.1
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`(“Showtime” is a “state of either ATU-C or ATU-R reached after all initialization
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`and training is completed.”)). And the challenged ‘956 patent claims recite a
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`transceiver “capable of transmitting diagnostic information over a communication
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`channel using multicarrier modulation”—not just an ANSI T1.413 compliant
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`transceiver. (See Ex. 1001, ’956 patent at claims.) Dr. Kiaei showed at his
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`deposition that he was importing the example of an ANSI T1.413 compliant device
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`from the ‘956 specification into the claims. (See Ex. 2005, Kiaei Dep. Tr. at
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`67:10-18, 68:7-11, 68:18-69:15, 70:21-72:6.)
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`Accordingly, the phrase “during Showtime” in the ’956 patent should be
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`7
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`Patent Owner’s Response
`IPR2016-01007
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`construed to mean: during normal data communication that occurs after
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`initialization. (See supra; see also Ex. 2001, Chrissan Decl. at ¶ 31.)
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`With respect to other claim terms, the Board construed the term “array,” as
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`“an ordered collection of multiple data items of the same type.” (Id. at 7-8.)
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`“Transceiver” was construed as “a device, such as a modem, with a transmitter and
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`receiver.” (Id.) Neither of these constructions, however, is dispositive of any of
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`Petitioner’s or Patent Owner’s arguments. Patent Owner respectfully submits,
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`therefore, that no constructions should be necessary. See Wellman, Inc. v. Eastman
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`Chem. Co., 642 F.3d 1355, 1361 (Fed. Cir. 2011) (claim terms should only be
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`construed “to the extent necessary to resolve the controversy”). By doing so,
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`Patent Owner does not concede to any of Petitioner’s proposed constructions or
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`agree that they are correct.
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`At least one other claim term, however, requires construction at this point.
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`Although Petitioner did not propose a construction for “subchannel” (a term that
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`appears in all challenged claims), the Board in its Institution decision cited certain
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`of Petitioner’s arguments that misapplied this term. Specifically, Petitioner
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`incorrectly argued that Milbrandt’s “sub-frequency” (i.e., a wide band of
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`frequencies) is the same thing as the claimed “subchannel.” (See infra at §IV.A.1;
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`see also Paper 8, Institution Decision at 14.) The ’956 patent claims, however,
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`recite a “subchannel” in the context of a “communication channel using
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`8
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`Patent Owner’s Response
`IPR2016-01007
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`multicarrier modulation.” (See Ex. 1001 at claims.) Specifically, communication
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`between ADSL transceivers “is accomplished by modulating the data to be
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`transmitted onto a multiplicity of discrete frequency carriers which are summed
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`together and then transmitted over the subscriber loop. Individually, the carriers
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`form discrete, non-overlapping communication subchannels of limited bandwidth.”
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`(Ex. 1001, ’956 patent, 1:44–47 (emphasis added).) The ‘956 patent explains that
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`“[c]ollectively, the carriers form what is effectively a broadband communications
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`channel.” (Id. at 1:47–50.) As such, in light of the claims and the specification,
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`the term “subchannel” recited in the claims refers to a “carrier of a multicarrier
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`communication channel.” See PPC Broadband, Inc. v. Corning Optical Commc'ns
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`RF, LLC, 815 F.3d 747, 755 (Fed. Cir. 2016) (“[T]he broadest reasonable
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`interpretation must be reasonable in light of the claims and specification.”)
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`IV. PETITIONER HAS NOT SHOWN UNPATENTABILITY BASED ON
`THE SINGLE GROUND INSTITUTED
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`The Petition proposed one ground against the ’956 patent, based on a
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`combination of four different prior art references. The Board granted review
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`based on this ground, specifically:
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`
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`Ground 1. Unpatentability of claims 1-6 under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) over
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`U.S. Patent No. 6,636,603 to Milbrandt (“Milbrandt”), in view of U.S. Pat. No.
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`6,590,893 to Hwang et al. (“Hwang”), and American National Standards Institute
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`(ANSI) T1.413-1995 Standard, entitled “Network and Customer Installation
`9
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`Patent Owner’s Response
`IPR2016-01007
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`Interfaces—Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) Metallic Interface”
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`(“ANSI T1.413”).
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`Patent Owner respectfully submits that Petitioner has not carried its burden
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`of proving that claims 1-10 are unpatentable. Petitioner has first of all not met its
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`burden of establishing that the three asserted references can be pieced together to
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`satisfy all of the elements of the challenged claims—the Board relied on several
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`demonstrably incorrect factual/technical mischaracterizations by Petitioner in this
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`regard. Second, even if the references had separately disclosed all elements of the
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`challenged claims, Petitioner has not met its burden to prove that it would have
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`been obvious to mix-and-match those elements—Petitioner’s purported reasons for
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`doing so are conclusory, based on incorrect assumptions, and violate several basic
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`tenets of controlling Federal Circuit law on obviousness.
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`Specifically, independent claim 1 of the ’956 patent recites:
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`1. A transceiver capable of transmitting diagnostic information over a
`communication channel using multi carrier modulation comprising:
`a transmitter portion capable of transmitting a message,
`wherein the message comprises one or more data variables that represent
`the diagnostic information, wherein bits in the message are modulated
`onto DMT symbols using Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM)
`with more than 1 bit per sub channel and wherein at least one data
`variable of the one or more data variables comprises an array
`representing power level per subchannel information.
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`(See Ex. 1001, ’956 patent at claim 1.) Claims 3, 5, and 7 are similar, varying only in
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`reciting a receiver rather than a transmitter, or in reciting a method rather than an
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`10
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`Patent Owner’s Response
`IPR2016-01007
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`apparatus. (See id. at claims 3, 5, 7.)
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`
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`Dependent claim 2 adds an additional limitation and reads as follows:
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`2. The transceiver of claim 1, wherein the power level per subchannel information is
`based on a Reverb signal.
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`(See id. at claim 2.) Claims 4, 6, and 8 recite the same additional limitation and variously
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`depend from claims 3, 5, and 7. (See id. at claims 3, 5, 7.)
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`
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`Claims 9-10 recite a different transmitted/received parameter. Claims 9-10 recite:
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`9. A communications system for DSL service comprising a first DSL transceiver
`capable of transmitting diagnostic information over a communication channel
`using multi carrier modulation and a second DSL transceiver capable of receiving
`the diagnostic information over the communication channel using multicarrier
`modulation comprising:
`a transmitter portion of the first transceiver capable of transmitting a
`message, wherein the message comprises one or more data variables that
`represent the diagnostic information, wherein bits in the message are
`modulated onto DMT symbols using Quadrature Amplitude Modulation
`(QAM) with more than 1 bit per sub channel and wherein at least one data
`variable of the one or more data variables comprises an array representing
`Signal to Noise ratio per subchannel during Showtime information; and
`a receiver portion of the second transceiver capable of receiving the
`message, wherein the message comprises the one or more data variables that
`represent the diagnostic information, wherein the bits in the message were
`modulated onto the DMT symbols using Quadrature Amplitude Modulation
`(QAM) with more than 1 bit per sub channel and wherein the at least one
`data variable of the one or more data variables comprises the array
`representing Signal to Noise ratio per sub channel during Showtime
`information.
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`10. The system of claim 9, wherein the DSL service is for internet access.
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`
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`For the reasons discussed below, Petitioner has not shown that a combination of
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`Milbrandt, Hwang, and ANSI T1.413 would have rendered obvious transmitting or
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`11
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`Patent Owner’s Response
`IPR2016-01007
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`receiving a diagnostic message comprising (A) “power level per subchannel information”
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`(claims 1-10), (B) “power level per subchannel information [] based on a Reverb signal”
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`(claims 2, 4, 6, 8), or (C) “signal to noise ratio per subchannel during Showtime
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`information” (claims 9-10).
`
`A. The Asserted References Do Not Render Obvious
`Transmitting/Receiving a Diagnostic Message Comprising “Power
`Level Per Subchannel Information” (Claims 1-8)
`Petitioner’s Ground 1 first fails with respect to claims 1-8 because the
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`combination of references fails to disclose or render obvious transmitting or
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`receiving diagnostic information over a communication channel, where the
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`diagnostic information includes “an array representing power level per subchannel
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`information.” (See Ex. 1001, ’956 patent at claims 1-8.)
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`1. Milbrandt’s Power Spectrum Density And Attenuation Are
`Wholly Different From the Claimed Parameter
`Petitioner only points to Milbrandt for disclosure of this claim limitation.
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`Namely, Petitioner alleges that Milbrandt discloses determining “power spectrum
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`density,” which Petitioner asserts is “representative” of “power level per
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`subchannel information.” (See Pet. at p. 24.) Additionally, Petitioner alleges that
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`Milbrandt discloses transmitting “attenuation” information, which Petitioner
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`asserts is “related” to the “power spectrum density” that Milbrandt had determined
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`(and therefore also allegedly “representative” of “power level per subchannel
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`information.” (See id. at pp. 24-25.) But in fact, Milbrandt’s PSD and attenuation
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`12
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`Patent Owner’s Response
`IPR2016-01007
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`parameters are not the same thing as or “representative” of the claimed PLPSC
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`information, for three reasons.
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`First, Milbrandt does not disclose any information on a “per subchannel”
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`basis. Petitioner points to where Milbrandt discloses determining “power spectrum
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`density for a received signal at ‘one or more sub-frequencies over which the
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`connection between modem 60 and 42 is established.” (Pet. at 24, citing Ex. 1011,
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`Milbrandt at 11:38-45.) Petitioner also points to where Milbrandt discloses
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`transmitting “attenuation information per sub-frequency.” (Id. at 24-25, citing Ex.
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`1011, Milbrandt at 12:14-31.) For each of these parameters, Petitioner alleges that
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`“Milbrandt’s disclosure of ‘sub-frequencies’ . . . would have been understood to be
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`‘subchannels.’” (Pet. at 23.) But Petitioner cites to only the conclusory say-so of
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`its expert, Dr. Kiaei, in this regard. (See id., citing Ex. 1009, Kiaei Decl. at 59.)
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`The Board should not credit Dr. Kiaei’s conclusory representations. See 37 C.F.R.
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`§ 42.65(a); In re Am. Acad. of Sci. Tech Ctr., 367 F.3d 1359, 1368 (Fed. Cir. 2004)
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`(explaining that “the Board has broad discretion” to weigh declarations and
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`“conclude that the lack of factual corroboration warrants discounting the opinions
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`expressed”); Rohm & Haas Co. v. Brotech Corp., 127 F.3d 1089, 1092 (Fed. Cir.
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`1997) (“Nothing in the [federal] rules [of evidence] or in our jurisprudence
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`requires the fact finder to credit the unsupported assertions of an expert witness.”);
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`Ashland Oil, Inc. v. Delta Resins & Refractories, Inc., 776 F.2d 281, 294 (Fed. Cir.
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`1985) (“Lack of factual support for expert opinion going to factual determinations .
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`. . may render the testimony of little probative value . . . .”). And it turns out that
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`Dr. Kiaei’s conclusion is incorrect.
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`As explained in detail by Patent Owner’s expert (Dr. Chrissan), Milbrandt’s
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`“sub-frequency” is demonstrably not the same thing as a “subchannel” under the
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`’956 patent. (See Ex. 2001, Chrissan Decl. at ¶¶ 37-46.) The ’956 patent’s
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`“subchannels” are the smallest division of the data transmission in a multicarrier
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`communication system that uses DMT modulation. (See Ex. 1001, 1:42-51
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`(“Individually,
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`the carriers form discrete, non-overlapping communication
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`subchannels of limited bandwidth. Collectively, the carriers form what is
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`effectively a broadband communication channel.”). For example, ADSL1 has 256
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`subchannels, while ADSL2+ has 512 subchannels and VDSL2 has 4096
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`subchannels. (See Ex. 2001, Chrissan Decl. at ¶ 38.) This concept of DMT
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`subchannels in ADSL is illustrated below:
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`For example, the ADSL frequency spectrum is divided into the voice spectrum
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`(“POTS” or “plain old telephone service”), “guard bands” to prevent interference,
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`an upstream band, and a downstream band. (See id. at ¶ 39) Within those
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`upstream and downstream bands are individual “subchannels” that carry data. (See
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`id. at ¶¶ 38-39.)
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`Milbrandt, on the other hand, clearly does not use the term “sub-frequency”
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`to refer to a multicarrier “subchannel.” (See Ex. 2001, Chrissan Decl. at ¶¶ 40-45.)
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`For example, Milbrandt itself precisely uses the terms “sub-frequency” and “sub-
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`channel” to refer to different things. (See id. at ¶ 40.) Milbrandt refers to dividing
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`the ADSL spectrum into “sub-frequencies” for downstream and upstream
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`transmission (i.e., large bands of frequencies), but refers to “sub-channels” when
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`discussing DMT multicarrier units. (See id.; see also Ex. 1011, Milbrandt at 11:2-
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`9.) Moreover, Milbrandt uses the term “sub-frequency” in multiple instances
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`where it is flatly impossible that it could mean “sub-channel.” (See Ex. 2001,
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`Chrissan Decl. at ¶ 41.) For example, Milbrandt refers to transmitting “over a sub-
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`frequency in the voice frequency spectrum using the V.90 communication
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`protocol.” (Ex. 1011, Milbrandt at 11:35-36.) The V.90 protocol is not a
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`multicarrier communication protocol and does not have any subchannels. (See Ex.
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`2001, Chrissan Decl. at ¶ 41.) The core concept of “multicarrier” communications,
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`however, requires multiple subchannels (which may also be referred to as
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`“carriers”) to transmit data. (See id. at ¶ 32.) Because Milbrandt uses the term
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`“sub-frequency to refer to the frequency spectrum of communication protocols that
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`are not necessarily multicarrier, V.90 for example, Milbrandt’s sub-frequency
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`cannot be the same as the claimed “subchannel” of a multicarrier communication
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`channel. Additionally, Milbrandt discloses storing power spectrum density and
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`attenuation information for each sub-frequency in a chart. (See Ex. 1011,
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`Milbrandt at Fig. 3, 3:51-52, 23:36-40.) But Milbrandt only indicates six sub-
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`frequencies—far less than the hundreds of subchannels needed for multicarrier
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`communication such as ADSL. (See id. at Fig. 3; Ex. 2001, Chrissan Decl. at ¶¶
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`42-44.) This confirms that Milbrandt’s “sub-frequency” is not the same as the
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`claimed “subchannel.”
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`Petitioner has no support for its contrary position—that Milbrandt’s “sub-
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`frequency” is the allegedly the same thing as the claimed “subchannel.” Petitioner
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`cites only to the declaration of Dr. Kiaei on this point. (See Pet. at 23, citing Kiaei
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`Decl. at 59 and at 27-28, citing Kiaei Decl. at p. 55.) Dr. Kiaei, however, revealed
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`at his deposition that he erroneously believes that Milbrandt was interchangeably
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`using each of
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`the
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`terms “sub-frequency,” “sub-band,” “channel,” and
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`“subchannels” to simply referred to any bandwidth of frequency. (See Ex. 2005,
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`Kiaei Dep. Tr. at 90:11-17, 91:12-19.) For example, he indicated that he believes
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`that the entirety of the upstream and downstream frequency bands within the
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`ADSL spectrum are both “channels” and “subchannels,” as are the spectrums for
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`communications protocols (e.g., VDSL, SDSL, xDSL). (See id. at 91:12-94:4.)
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`Thus, he revealed that he does not understand the concept of a DMT “subchannel.”
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`Second, Milbrandt’s “power spectrum density” per sub-frequency and
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`“attenuation” per sub-frequency are very different from the claimed “power level
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`per subchannel.” (See Ex. 2001, Chrissan Decl. at ¶¶ 47-50.) Milbrandt’s power
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`spectrum density per sub-frequency measurement is a measurement of the total
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`“power the signal carries in a unit bandwidth around frequency f,” i.e., the total
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`power for an entire bandwidth divided by the number of frequencies in the
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`bandwidth. (See Pet. at p. 24, citing Ex. 1021 (“the PSD Sg (w) represents the
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`power per unit bandwidth . . .”).) (See also Ex. 2001, Chrissan Decl. at ¶ 47.) As
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`such, Milbrandt’s PSD is a single value having the units of power per frequency,
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`which indicates the average power level for an entire spectrum or band of
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`frequencies. (See Ex. 2001, Chrissan Decl. at ¶ 48.) Petitioners’ argument about
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`attenuation is also unavailing because Milbrandt similarly provides a single
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`attenuation value that is “related” to Milbrandt’s PSD value, i.e., one value for an
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`entire spectrum or band of frequencies, rather than “per subchannel.” (See Pet. at
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`24-25, citing Ex. 1011, Milbrandt at 12:14-31; Ex. 2001, Chrissan Decl. at ¶ 48.)
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`Both of these parameters are very different from the ’956 patent’s “power
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`level per subchannel information.” The ’956 patent discloses an array representing
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`the separate power level for each subcarrier in a multicarrier system—for example,
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`an array having 32 different power number entries for an ADSL uplink stream and
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`256 power number entries for the downlink stream. (See Ex. 1001, ’956 patent at
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`4:38-40 (“For example, the Average Reverb Signal contains the power levels per
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`tone, up to, for example, 256 entries, detected during the ADSL Reverb signal.”)
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`(emphasis added); see also Ex. 2001, Chrissan Decl. at ¶¶ 32, 48.)
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` Third, Petitioner cannot save its mischaracterizations of Milbrandt by
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`latching onto the fact that claims 1-8 of the ’956 patent require transmitting or
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`receiving “an array representing power level per subchannel information.” (Ex.
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`1001, ’956 patent at claims 1, 3, 5, 7.) Contrary to Petitioner’s cavalier treatment,
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`the term “representing” is not arguably or reasonably the same thing as the term
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`“related to.” (See Ex. 2004, Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary of the English
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`Language (1989 ed