`U.S. Patent No. 8,155,298
`
`UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
`
`____________
`
`BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
`
`____________
`
`YMAX CORPORATION,
`Petitioner
`
`v.
`
`FOCAL IP, LLC,
`Patent Owner
`_____________
`
`Inter Partes Review No.: Unassigned
`
`U.S. Patent No. 8,155,298
`
`_____________
`
`DECLARATION OF TAL LAVIAN, PH.D.
`IN SUPPORT OF THE PETITION FOR
`INTER PARTIES REVIEW OF PATENT NO. 8,155,298
`
`{38560571;1}
`
`Ex. 1002
`YMax Corporation
`Page 1 of 78
`
`BHN, et al. v. FOCAL IP, LLC
`FOCAL IP, LLC EX2030 - 1
`Lavian Declaration Excerpts
`IPR2016-01259
`
`
`
`telephone call between two landline telephones is established, there is a continuous
`
`physical path of wires, linked by one or more switches, between the telephones at
`
`each end of the call that is dedicated solely to that call. This is the meaning of the
`
`term “circuit switching.” The term refers to the switching of infrastructure from
`
`one dedicated use to another. The network focus is on circuit-based, or connection-
`
`oriented, systems designed for delivery of voice communications.
`
`40.
`
`Even more specifically, the PSTN uses a hierarchy of switches.4 This
`
`makes it possible to scale the telecommunications network to accommodate a large
`
`number of end users across the country. Traffic is managed between the various
`
`switching offices depending on the type of traffic that was to be connected: local
`
`traffic, long distance traffic, and international traffic.
`
`41.
`
`The switches in the PSTN use a five-level hierarchy: edge or end
`
`(class 5), toll or tandem (class 4), primary (class 3), sectional (class 2) and regional
`
`(class 1). Landline phones in people’s houses are generally connected to a
`
`geographically local class 5 switch (also be called an edge switch, end switch, or
`
`central office switch). Telephones in different geographic areas are connected to
`
`different edge switches in different central offices. Tandem/Class 4 switches
`
`generally connect edge/class 5 switches together, although nearby class 5 switches
`
`can be connected directly. In the PSTN, class 2 and 3 switches are used
`
`4 See Ex. 1012.
`{38560571;1}
`
`20
`
`Ex. 1002
`YMax Corporation
`Page 20 of 78
`
`BHN, et al. v. FOCAL IP, LLC
`FOCAL IP, LLC EX2030 - 2
`Lavian Declaration Excerpts
`IPR2016-01259
`
`
`
`infrequently, and class 4 switches can be connected to one another as well as by a
`
`class 1 switch. The basic architecture of the PSTN can therefore be illustrated by
`
`the following diagram:
`
`42.
`
`The PSTN switch hierarchy does not mandate physical separation.
`
`Switches from one or more adjacent classes (specifically edge and tandem) can be
`
`located together in the same physical facility. A combined class 4/class 5 switch is
`
`often called a “hybrid” switch.
`
`43. When a telephone call is placed on the PSTN, the call typically travels
`
`from the caller’s phone to the edge switch in the caller’s local central office.
`
`{38560571;1}
`
`21
`
`Ex. 1002
`YMax Corporation
`Page 21 of 78
`
`BHN, et al. v. FOCAL IP, LLC
`FOCAL IP, LLC EX2030 - 3
`Lavian Declaration Excerpts
`IPR2016-01259
`
`
`
`Unless the recipient is in the same geographical area and directly connected to the
`
`same central office, the call is then typically routed to one or more tandem
`
`switches (in sequence), until it reaches the edge switch that is directly connected to
`
`the recipient’s phone, and finally to the recipient’s phone. The switches use the
`
`telephone number dialed by the caller to know where to route the call. Thus, the
`
`network of switches enables the communication network to connect users either
`
`within or outside a local geographic area.
`
`B.
`
`44.
`
`Signaling
`
`In addition to carrying voice communications, the PSTN also carries
`
`signaling, which is information used to control the call. Signaling communicates
`
`information the network needs to operate, such as the signal sent to the local
`
`central office from a telephone when the handset is picked up that notifies the
`
`central office to send the telephone a dial tone, or the signal from the central office
`
`that tells a telephone to ring because there is an incoming call. The protocol that is
`
`used for signaling on the PSTN is called Signalling System 7, or SS7.5
`
`45.
`
`The SS7 signaling protocol has been used since well before June
`
`1999.
`
`It was first
`
`issued by CCITT (for Comite Consultatif International
`
`Telephonique et Telegraphique, now known as the ITU-T for Telecommunication
`
`Standardization Sector of the International telecommunications Union, the primary
`
`5 Ex. 1017.
`{38560571;1}
`
`22
`
`Ex. 1002
`YMax Corporation
`Page 22 of 78
`
`BHN, et al. v. FOCAL IP, LLC
`FOCAL IP, LLC EX2030 - 4
`Lavian Declaration Excerpts
`IPR2016-01259
`
`
`
`international body for cooperative telecommunications standards) in 1980, and was
`
`revised in 1984, 1988, and 1992.
`
`C.
`
`Packet-Switching Networks: the Internet and Voice over IP
`
`46. Websites on the Internet were well known even to the general public
`
`by June 1, 1999. As noted above, by June of 1999, there were over 3 million
`
`websites on the web, including Yahoo, Amazon, and eBay. Leiner et al. explain in
`
`the February 1997 issue of Communications of the ACM that by early 1997, the
`
`Internet was already well established as a commercial platform:
`
`In the last
`
`few years, we have seen a new phase of
`
`commercialization. Originally, commercial
`
`efforts mainly
`
`comprised vendors providing the basic networking products and
`
`service providers offering connectivity and basic Internet
`
`services. The Internet has now become almost a “commodity”
`
`service, and much of the latest attention has been on the use
`
`of this global information infrastructure as support for other
`
`commercial services.
`
`This activity has been accelerated by the widespread and rapid
`
`adoption of browsers and Web technology, giving users easy
`
`access to information linked around the globe. Products are
`
`{38560571;1}
`
`23
`
`Ex. 1002
`YMax Corporation
`Page 23 of 78
`
`BHN, et al. v. FOCAL IP, LLC
`FOCAL IP, LLC EX2030 - 5
`Lavian Declaration Excerpts
`IPR2016-01259
`
`
`
`[1h] the web-enabled processing system coupled to at least one of the switching
`
`facilities of the network,
`
`105. The unified messaging system is connected to telephony-centric
`
`network 129, such as the PSTN. Ex. 1003 at Fig. 1, 9:10-19. Being connected to
`
`the PSTN inherently means being connected to one of the PSTN’s switches;
`
`essentially all connections to the PSTN are connections to one of the PSTN’s
`
`switches.
`
`106. Furthermore, even if “switching facilities” were to be interpreted
`
`narrowly to exclude edge switches (an interpretation that in my view would not be
`
`the broadest reasonable interpretation for the reasons explained above),
`
`the
`
`connection to the PSTN in O’Neal is in any event an indirect connection to the
`
`tandem switches of the PSTN. A tandem switch can be reached directly (or, at
`
`worst, through other PSTN switches) from any PSTN edge switch. See, e.g., Ex.
`
`1019 at 11 (“It is well known that a conventional PSTN includes edge switches
`
`(commonly referred to as central office switches or C.O. switches) that originate
`
`and terminate calls for connected subscribers, and tandem switches which route
`
`these calls internally within the PSTN (i.e. tandem switches are not capable of
`
`originating or terminating PSTN calls, but rather directs calls to/from an edge
`
`switch or another tandem switch).”)
`
`{38560571;1}
`
`53
`
`Ex. 1002
`YMax Corporation
`Page 53 of 78
`
`BHN, et al. v. FOCAL IP, LLC
`FOCAL IP, LLC EX2030 - 6
`Lavian Declaration Excerpts
`IPR2016-01259
`
`
`
`Ex. 1002
`YMax Corporation
`Page 78 of 78
`
`BHN, et al. v. FOCAL IP, LLC
`FOCAL IP, LLC EX2030 - 7
`Lavian Declaration Excerpts
`IPR2016-01259
`
`