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` Case No. IPR2017-01406
`U.S. Patent No. 7,237,072
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`UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
`________________
`
`BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
`________________
`
`INTEL CORP., CAVIUM, INC., and
`WISTRON CORPORATION,
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`Petitioners,
`
`v.
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`ALACRITECH INC.,
`
`Patent Owner
`________________
`
`Case IPR2017-014061
`U.S. Patent 7,673,072
`________________
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`
`
`DECLARATION OF KEVIN ALMEROTH, PH.D. IN SUPPORT OF
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`PATENT OWNER’S REPLY IN SUPPORT OF CONTINGENT MOTION
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`TO AMEND UNDER TO 37 C.F.R. § 42.121
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`
`
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`1 Wistron Corporation, which filed a Petition in Case IPR2018-00329, has been joined as a
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`petitioner in this proceeding.
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`
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`
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`Alacritech Exhibit 2305
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`
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`
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`I.
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`INTRODUCTION
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`U.S. Patent No. 7,237,072
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`1.
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`I have been retained on behalf of Alacritech, Inc. (“Alacritech,”
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`“Patent Owner,” OR “PO”) for the above-captioned inter partes review (IPR)
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`proceeding. I understand that this proceeding was filed by Intel Corporation
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`(“Intel”) (and joined by Cavium, Inc. (“Cavium”)) and involves U.S. Patent No.
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`7,673,072 (“the ‘072 patent”). The ‘072 patent is currently assigned to
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`Alacritech. I have been retained to provide my opinions in support of PO’s
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`Reply In Support of Its Contingent Motion to Amend Under 37 C.F.R. § 42.121.
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`I am being compensated for my time at the rate of $600 per hour. I have no
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`interest in the outcome of this proceeding.
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`2.
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`In preparing this declaration, I have reviewed and am familiar with
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`the following prior art references:
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`• U.S. Patent No. 5,768,618 (“Erickson”) (Ex.
`1005);
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`• Andrew S. Tanenbaum, Computer Networks, 3rd
`ed (1996) (“Tanenbaum96”) (Ex. 1006).
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`3.
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`I have also considered all other materials cited and discussed herein,
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`including all other materials cited and discussed in Intel’s Petition for Inter
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`Partes Review of U.S. Patent No. 7,673,072 (Case IPR2017-01406) and its
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`Opposition to PO’s Motion to Amend, along with PO’s Preliminary Response
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`Pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 313 and 37 C.F.R. § 42.107, and Corrected Patent
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`Owner’s Response Pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 313 and 37 C.F.R. § 42.107. I
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`Alacritech, Page 1
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`incorporate by reference herein my opinions and explanation regarding the
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`overview of the above prior art and reasons why they do not invalidate the
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`challenged claims of the ‘072 patent as were presented in my prior declaration,
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`Ex. 2026.
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`4.
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`The ‘072 patent describes a novel system for accelerating network
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`processing. In particular, the ’072 patent discloses a system with “a specialized
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`microprocessor designed for processing network communications, avoiding the
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`delays and pitfalls of conventional software layer processing, such as repeated
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`copying and interrupts to the CPU,” and “freeing the host CPU from most
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`protocol processing and allowing improvements in other task.” Ex. 1001 at 5:44-
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`47, 7:47-49.
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`5.
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`The ‘072 patent explains that, at the time of the invention,
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`communications networks were growing “increasingly popular and
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`the
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`information communicated thereby [becoming] increasingly complex and
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`copious” creating increased network protocol processing such that “a large
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`fraction of the processing power of a host CPU may be devoted to controlling
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`protocol processes, diminishing the ability of that CPU to perform other tasks.”
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`Ex. 1001, 5:5-11.
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`6.
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`The ‘072 patent explains that the then-existing standard protocol
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`processing involved too many data moves (id. at 35:1-27), too much processing
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`by the CPU (id. at 35:29-36:3), too many interrupts (id. at 36:4-34), and
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`inefficient use of the peripheral component interconnect (“PCI”) bus (id. at
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`36:36-61).
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`7.
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`The ’072 patent solves these problems with a specialized network
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`interface device (i.e., the INIC) that is capable of performing certain processing
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`normally handled by the host CPU. Ex. 1001 at 7:41-55.
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`8.
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`Despite industry skepticism, the ‘072 inventors came up with the
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`claimed arrangement, which allows for enhanced network and system
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`performance, a stark reduction or elimination of unnecessary processing by the
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`host CPU, faster data throughput, increased system stability, and an overall better
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`user experience. Instead of using an unspecified processor on a network card to
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`carry out some protocol software, the ‘072 patent discloses “a specialized
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`microprocessor designed for processing network communications.” Ex. 1001,
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`5:44-47. This specialized microprocessor, residing in an intelligent network
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`interface card (INIC), is described, for example, in Fig. 13 and corresponding
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`embodiments described in the patent.
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`9.
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`The statements made herein are based on my own knowledge and
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`opinion. This Declaration represents only the opinions I have formed to date. I
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`may consider additional documents as they become available or other documents
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`that are necessary to form my opinions. I reserve the right to revise, supplement,
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`or amend my opinions based on new information and on my continuing analysis.
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`II. QUALIFICATIONS
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`10. My qualifications can be found in my Curriculum Vitae, which
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`includes a complete list of my publications. Ex. 2027.
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`11.
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`I am currently a Professor in the Department of Computer Science at
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`the University of California, Santa Barbara. I also hold an appointment and am a
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`founding member of the Computer Engineering (CE) Program at UCSB. I am
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`also a founding member of the Media Arts and Technology (MAT) Program, and
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`the Technology Management Program (TMP) at UCSB. I also served as the
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`Associate Director of the Center for Information Technology and Society (CITS)
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`at UCSB from 1999 to 2012. I have been a faculty member at UCSB since July
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`1997.
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`12.
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`I hold three degrees from the Georgia Institute of Technology: (1) a
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`Bachelor of Science degree in Information and Computer Science (with minors in
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`Economics, Technical Communication, and American Literature) earned in June,
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`1992; (2) a Master of Science degree in Computer Science (with specialization in
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`Networking and Systems) earned in June, 1994; and (3) a Doctor of Philosophy
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`(Ph.D.) degree in Computer Science (Dissertation Title: Networking and System
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`Support for the Efficient, Scalable Delivery of Services in Interactive Multimedia
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`System), minor in Telecommunications Public Policy, earned in June, 1997.
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`Alacritech, Page 4
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`13. One of the major themes of my research has been the delivery of
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`multimedia content and data between computing devices and users. In my
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`research I have looked at large-scale content delivery systems and the use of
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`servers located in a variety of geographic locations to provide scalable delivery to
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`hundreds, or even thousands, of users simultaneously. I have also looked at
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`smaller-scale content delivery systems in which content, including interactive
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`communication like voice and video data, is exchanged between computers and
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`portable computing devices. As a broad theme, my work has examined how to
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`exchange content more efficiently across computer networks, including the
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`devices that switch and route data traffic. More specific topics of my work
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`include the scalable delivery of content to many users, mobile computing,
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`satellite networking, delivering content to mobile devices, and network support
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`for data delivery in wireless and sensor networks.
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`14. Beginning in 1992, at the time I started graduate school, the initial
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`focus of my research was the provision of interactive functions (e.g., VCR-style
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`functions like pause, rewind, and fast-forward) for near video-on-demand
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`systems in cable systems, in particular, how to aggregate requests for movies at a
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`cable head-end and then how to satisfy a multitude of requests using one
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`audio/video stream to broadcast to multiple receivers simultaneously. Continued
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`evolution of this research has resulted in the development of new techniques to
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`scalably deliver on-demand content, including audio, video, web documents, and
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`other types of data, through the Internet and over other types of networks,
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`including over cable systems, broadband telephone lines, and satellite links.
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`15. An important component of my research from the very beginning
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`has been investigating the challenges of communicating multimedia content
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`between computers and across networks. Although the early Internet was
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`designed mostly for text-based non-real time applications, the interest in sharing
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`multimedia content quickly developed. Multimedia-based applications ranged
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`from downloading content to a device for streaming multimedia content to be
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`instantly used. One of the challenges was that multimedia content is typically
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`larger than text-only content, but there are also opportunities to use different
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`delivery techniques because multimedia content is more resilient to errors. I have
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`worked on a variety of research problems and used a number of systems that
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`were developed to deliver multimedia content to users.
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`16.
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`In 1994, I began to research issues associated with the development
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`and deployment of a one-to-many communication facility (called “multicast”) in
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`the Internet (first deployed as the Multicast Backbone, a virtual overlay network
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`supporting one-to-many communication). Some of my more recent research
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`endeavors have looked at how to use the scalability offered by multicast to
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`provide streaming media support for complex applications like distance learning,
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`distributed
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`collaboration, distributed games,
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`and
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`large-scale wireless
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`communication. Multicast has also been used as the delivery mechanism in
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`systems that perform local filtering (i.e., sending the same content to a large
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`number of users and allowing them to filter locally content in which they are not
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`interested).
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`17. Starting in 1997, I worked on a project to integrate the streaming
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`media capabilities of the Internet together with the interactivity of the web. I
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`developed a project called the Interactive Multimedia Jukebox (IMJ). Users
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`would visit a web page and select content to view. The content would then be
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`scheduled on one of a number of channels, including delivery to students in
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`Georgia Tech dorms delivered via the campus cable plant. The content of each
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`channel was delivered using multicast communication.
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`18.
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`In the IMJ, the number of channels varied depending on the
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`capabilities of the server including the available bandwidth of its connection to
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`the Internet. If one of the channels was idle, the requesting user would be able to
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`watch their selection immediately. If all channels were streaming previously
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`selected content, the user’s selection would be queued on the channel with the
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`shortest wait time. In the meantime, the user would see what content was
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`currently playing on other channels, and because of the use of multicast, would
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`be able to join one of the existing channels and watch the content at the point it
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`was currently being transmitted.
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`19. The IMJ service combined the interactivity of the web with the
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`streaming capabilities of the Internet to create a jukebox-like service. It
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`supported true Video-on-Demand when capacity allowed, but scaled to any
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`number of users based on queuing requested programs. As part of the project, we
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`obtained permission from Turner Broadcasting to transmit cartoons and other
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`short-subject content. We also attempted to connect the IMJ into the Georgia
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`Tech campus cable television network so that students in their dorms could use
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`the web to request content and then view that content on one of the campus’s
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`public access channels.
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`20. More recently, I have also studied issues concerning how users
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`choose content, especially when considering the price of that content. My
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`research has examined how dynamic content pricing can be used to control
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`system load. By raising prices when systems start to become overloaded (i.e.,
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`when all available resources are fully utilized) and reducing prices when system
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`capacity is readily available, users’ capacity to pay as well as their willingness
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`can be used as factors in stabilizing the response time of a system. This
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`capability is particularly useful in systems where content is downloaded or
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`streamed on-demand to users.
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`21. As a parallel research theme, starting in 1997, I began researching
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`issues related to wireless devices and sensors. In particular, I was interested in
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`showing how to provide greater communication capability to “lightweight
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`devices,” i.e., small form-factor, resource-constrained (e.g., CPU, memory,
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`networking, and power) devices. Starting by at least 2004, I researched
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`techniques to wirelessly disseminate information, for example, advertisements
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`between users using ad hoc networks. In the system, called Coupons, an
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`incentive scheme is used to encourage users to relay information, including
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`advertisements, to other nearby users.
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`22. Starting in 1998, I published several papers on my work to develop a
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`flexible, lightweight, battery-aware network protocol stack. The lightweight
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`protocols we envisioned were similar in nature to protocols like Universal Plug
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`and Play (UPnP) and Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA).
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`23. From this initial work, I have made wireless networking—including
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`ad hoc, mesh networks and wireless devices—one of the major themes of my
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`research. One topic includes developing applications for mobile devices, for
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`example, virally exchanging and tracking “coupons” through “opportunistic
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`contact” (i.e., communication with other devices coming into communication
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`range with a user). Other topics include building network communication among
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`a set of mobile devices unaided by any other kind of network infrastructure. Yet
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`another theme is monitoring wireless networks, in particular different variants of
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`IEEE 802.11 compliant networks, to (1) understand the operation of the various
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`protocols used in real-world deployments, (2) use these measurements to
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`characterize use of
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`the networks and
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`identify protocol
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`limitations and
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`weaknesses, and (3) propose and evaluate solutions to these problems.
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`24. Protecting networks, including their operation and content, has been
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`an underlying theme of my research almost since the beginning. Starting in
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`2000, I have also been involved in several projects that specifically address
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`security, network protection, and firewalls. After significant background work, a
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`team on which I was a member successfully submitted a $4.3M grant proposal to
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`the Army Research Office (ARO) at the Department of Defense to propose and
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`develop a high-speed intrusion detection system. Once the grant was awarded,
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`we spent several years developing and meeting the milestones of the project. I
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`have also used firewalls in developing techniques for the classroom to ensure that
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`students are not distracted by online content.
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`25. As an important component of my research program, I have been
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`involved in the development of academic research into available technology in
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`the market place. One aspect of this work is my involvement in the Internet
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`Engineering Task Force (IETF) including many content delivery-related working
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`groups like the Audio Video Transport (AVT) group, the MBone Deployment
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`(MBONED) group, Source Specific Multicast (SSM) group, the Inter-Domain
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`Multicast Routing (IDMR) group, the Reliable Multicast Transport (RMT) group,
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`the Protocol Independent Multicast (PIM) group, etc. I have also served as a
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`member of the Multicast Directorate (MADDOGS), which oversaw the
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`standardization of all things related to multicast in the IETF. Finally, I was the
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`Chair of the Internet2 Multicast Working Group for seven years.
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`26.
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`I am an author or co-author of approximately 200 technical papers,
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`published software systems, IETF Internet Drafts and IETF Request for
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`Comments (RFCs). A list of these papers is included in my CV, which is Exhibit
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`2027.
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`27. My involvement in the research community extends to leadership
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`positions for several journals and conferences. I am the co-chair of the Steering
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`Committee for the ACM Network and System Support for Digital Audio and
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`Video (NOSSDAV) workshop and on the Steering Committees for the
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`International Conference on Network Protocols (ICNP), ACM Sigcomm
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`Workshop on Challenged Networks (CHANTS), and IEEE Global Internet (GI)
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`Symposium. I have served or am serving on the editorial boards of IEEE/ACM
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`Transactions on Networking, IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing, IEEE
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`Transactions on Networks and System Management, IEEE Network, ACM
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`Computers in Entertainment, AACE Journal of Interactive Learning Research
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`(JILR), and ACM Computer Communications Review.
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`28. Furthermore, in the courses I teach, the class spends significant time
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`covering all aspects of the Internet including each of the layers of the Open
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`System Interconnect (OSI) protocol stack commonly used in the Internet. These
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`layers include the physical and data link layers and their handling of signal
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`modulation, error control, and data transmission. I also teach DOCSIS, DSL, and
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`other standardized protocols for communicating across a variety of physical
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`media including cable systems, telephone lines, wireless, and high-speed Local
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`Area Networks (LANs). I teach the configuration and operation of switches,
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`routers, and gateways including routing and forwarding and the numerous
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`respective protocols as they are standardized and used throughout the Internet.
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`Topics include a wide variety of standardized Internet protocols at the Network
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`Layer (Layer 3), Transport Layer (Layer 4), and above.
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`29.
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`In addition, I co-founded a technology company called Santa
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`Barbara Labs that was working under a sub-contract from the U.S. Air Force to
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`develop very accurate emulation systems for the military’s next generation
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`internetwork. Santa Barbara Labs’ focus was in developing an emulation
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`platform to test the performance characteristics of the network architecture in the
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`variety of environments in which it was expected to operate, and in particular, for
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`network services including IPv6, multicast, Quality of Service (QoS), satellite-
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`based communication, and security. Applications for this emulation program
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`included communication of a variety of multimedia-based services.
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`30.
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`In addition to having co-founded a technology company myself, I
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`have worked for, consulted with, and collaborated with companies such as IBM,
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`Hitachi Telecom, Digital Fountain, RealNetworks, Intel Research, Cisco
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`Systems, and Lockheed Martin.
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`31.
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`I am a Member of the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM)
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`and a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).
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`32. Additional details about my employment history, fields of expertise,
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`and publications are further included in my curriculum vitae, attached as Exhibit
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`2027.
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`33. From my education, teaching, and consulting experience, I am
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`familiar with networking protocols in general and in particular the TCP/IP
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`protocol. I am also familiar with TCP offload engines (sometime referred to as
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`TOE) that offload the processing of the entire TCP/IP stack to the network
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`controller. I am also familiar with the technologies sometimes referred to as
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`Large Segmentation Offload (LSO) and Receive Side Coalescing (RSC).
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`III. LEGAL AND OTHER UNDERSTANDINGS
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`34.
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`I incorporate herein by reference my legal understandings referenced
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`in the previous declaration I submitted in this proceeding in support of PO. See
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`Ex. 2026.
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`35.
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`I understand that PO, by way of its Contingent Motion to Amend
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`seeks to substitute proposed claims 22-42 for original 1-21, should the Board find
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`any challenged claims unpatentable.
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` See Contingent Motion
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`(listing
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`amendments).
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`36.
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`I understand that Petitioners have challenged the patentability of the
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`amendments proposed by PO. I also understand that Intel relies on the expert
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`declarations of Dr. Robert Horst (Exs. 1003, 1210) in support of its challenge to
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`the patentability of PO’s amendments.
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`37. Accordingly, I have been asked to provide certain opinions
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`regarding the patentability of the proposed amendments to the ‘072 patent that
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`Intel has challenged. Specifically, I have been asked to provide my opinions
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`regarding whether the proposed amendments (i) are not indefinite, (ii) are not
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`obvious over Erickson in combination with Tanenbaum96; (iii) find sufficient
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`written description support in prior applications; and (iv) expand the scope of the
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`claims of the ‘072 patent.
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`Alacritech, Page 14
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`38.
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`I incorporate herein by reference my prior opinions and explanations
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`of the background of the technology disclosed in the ‘072 patent, as well as the
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`overview of the ‘072 patent, its claims and prosecution history. See Ex. 2026.
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`39. As explained in more detail below, it is my opinion that the
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`proposed amendments challenged by Intel do not expand claim scope, are fully
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`supported by the specification and original claims of the ‘072 patent as well as
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`the prior applications, are not indefinite, and are valid as they are not obvious in
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`view of Erickson in combination with Tanenbaum96.
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`40. My opinions in this declaration are not exhaustive of my opinions on
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`the patentability of the challenged claims of the ‘072 patent. Therefore, the fact
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`that I may not address a particular point should not be understood to indicate any
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`opinion on my part that the any claim or limitation fails to comply with any
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`patentability requirement.
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`IV. OVERVIEW OF THE PRIOR ART
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`A. U.S. Patent No. 5,768,618 (“Erickson”)
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`41. Erickson (a reference already considered by the PTO) discloses an
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`input/output (I/O) device connected to a computer to facilitate fast I/O data
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`transfers. Ex. 1005 at Abstract. An address space for the I/O device is created in
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`the virtual memory of the computer, wherein the address space comprises virtual
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`registers that are used to directly control the I/O device. Control registers and/or
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`memory of the I/O device are mapped into the virtual address space, and the
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`virtual address space is backed by control registers and/or memory on the I/O
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`device. When the I/O device detects writes to the address space, a pre-defined
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`sequence of actions can be triggered in the I/O device by programming specified
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`values into the data written into the mapped virtual address space. Id.
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`42. Figure 7 of Erickson shows a UDP datagram header “template” that
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`resides in the I/O adapter’s memory. (Id. at 7:39-46.) A user provides the starting
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`address and length for the user data in its virtual address space, and then “spanks”
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`a GO register to trigger execution of a predetermined script. Id. The script causes
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`a UDP datagram to be created by accessing the user data, computing a counter
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`value for the datagram, computing a UDP checksum over both the UDP header
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`and user data, and computing an IP checksum. Id. at 8:10-26. The completed
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`UDP datagram is then transmitted over the network. Id. at 7:45-47. Erickson
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`does not address or suggest segmenting or dividing a block of user data from
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`source memory into a number of transmittable segments because the network
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`adapter only possesses “a very limited knowledge of the user process’ virtual
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`address space, probably only knowing how to map virtual-to-physical for a very
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`limited range, maybe as small as a single page.” Id. at 8:16-20. Consequently,
`
`Erickson is also silent as to the network adapter then prepending packet headers
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`to each of these divided segments.
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`
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`Alacritech, Page 16
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`
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`43.
`
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`U.S. Patent No. 7,237,072
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`In addition, while TCP/IP is mentioned in passing (“[t]ypes of
`
`protocols include, but are not limited to, TCP/IP, UDP/IP, BYNET lightweight
`
`datagrams, deliberate shared memory, active message handler, SCSI, and File
`
`Channel”), all the described examples and embodiments in Erickson use UDP,
`
`not TCP. Id. at 5:47-51. There is no discussion or explanation within Erickson of
`
`how to implement any of the processes described in Erickson with TCP.
`
`B.
`
`Computer
`Tanenbaum,
`(“Tanenbaum96”
`
`Networks,
`
`3rd
`
`ed.
`
`(1996)
`
`44. Tanenbaum96 was also considered by the PTO during prosecution.
`
`Tanenbaum96 is the third edition of a textbook relating to “Computer Networks.”
`
`45. Petitioner cites only a few pages from Tanenbaum96—i.e., the
`
`portion of Tanenbaum that discusses “fast path” host CPU processing of the TCP
`
`protocol. Ex. 1006 at 584. Specifically, Tanenbaum96 describes “fast” TPDU
`
`(Transport Protocol Data Unit) processing. Ex. 1006 at 583-86. On the sending
`
`side, Tanenbaum96 notes that “[i]n the normal case, the headers of consecutive
`
`data TPDUs are almost the same.” Id. at 583. In view of this observation, a
`
`“prototype header” is defined. Id. In order to construct a packet for transmission,
`
`at the TCP layer, the TCP prototype header is copied into the output buffer, the
`
`sequence number is filled in, the TCP checksum is computed, and the sequence
`
`number is incremented in memory. Id. at 584. Then, the TCP header and data is
`
`handed “to a special IP procedure” at the IP layer, where the IP prototype header
`
`
`
`
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`Alacritech, Page 17
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`U.S. Patent No. 7,237,072
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`is copied into the output buffer, the “Identification” field is inserted, and the IP
`
`checksum is computed. Id. The packet is then ready for transmission. This fast
`
`path processing is introduced to improve the network performance. Id. at 583.
`
`However, this proposal is fundamentally different from the ‘072 patent in that it
`
`is a software proposal, without altering the location where any of the processing
`
`occurs (e.g., on the host or on the interface device) and particularly without
`
`disclosing an interface device capable of dividing the data into segments.
`
`Nowhere in the cited passage does Tanenbaum discuss dividing the TPDU data
`
`into segments, let alone doing so on a separate piece of network hardware.
`
`46.
`
`Indeed, Tanenbaum96 teaches away from performing any TCP/IP
`
`protocol processing on anything other than the host CPU. Tanenbaum96 is aware
`
`of the possibility of a transport entity being on a network interface card Id. at
`
`498; however, it teaches away from doing so. Id. at 588-89.
`
`47. Accordingly, Tanenbaum96 identifies myriad difficulties with
`
`implementing TCP header bypass in a chip separate from the host CPU and
`
`advises against attempting such an implementation. These difficulties are
`
`precisely the issues that were solved by the invention of the ‘072 patent. At the
`
`very least, Tanenbaum96 teaches that integration of transport entity functions in
`
`the NIC is complicated and non-trivial, but does not provide any insight or
`
`suggestion of how the complications may be overcome. Instead, Tanenbaum96
`
`
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`
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`Alacritech, Page 18
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`U.S. Patent No. 7,237,072
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`suggests a “Fast TPDU Processing” method that is implemented and performed
`
`on the host—precisely the opposite of the ‘072 invention.
`
`V. THE PROPOSED AMENDMENTS ARE NOT INDEFINITE
`
`48.
`
`I understand that Intel asserts that the proposed amended claims are
`
`indefinite, I disagree. In my opinion, a POSA would have no difficulty
`
`understanding the meaning and scope of the amended claim language.
`
`49.
`
`In particular, I understand that Intel claims that substitute claims 22-
`
`29 are indefinite because it is unclear what the limitation of “the context
`
`information” refers to, as “it is not previously mentioned” in substitute claim 22.
`
`In my opinion, Petitioner’s argument is mistaken.
`
`50. The relevant portions of substitute claim 22 provide as follows:
`
`establishing, at a host computer, a transport layer connection,
` including creating a context
`that
`includes a media access
`control (MAC) layer address, an Internet Protocol (IP) address and
`Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) state information protocol
`header information for the connection;
`
`
`transferring the context protocol header information to an interface device;
`
`transferring data from the network host to the interface device, after
`transferring the context protocol header information to the interface device;
`
`
`51. As noted, the first amendment to original claim 1 narrows the claim
`
`by disclosing the “context” must include three elements: “a media access control
`
`(MAC) layer address, an Internet Protocol (IP) address and Transmission Control
`
`Protocol (TCP) state information.”
`
`
`
`
`
`Alacritech, Page 19
`
`
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`U.S. Patent No. 7,237,072
`
`52. The next amendment provides
`
`the “context
`
`information”
`
`is
`
`transferred to an interface device. Rather than being indefinite, to a POSA, the
`
`plain meaning of the claim language establishes that “context information” refers
`
`to the three itemized elements of the claimed “context.”
`
`53.
`
`I understand that Intel also argues that substitute claims 26-42 are
`
`indefinite. I disagree.
`
`54. Substitute clam 36 provides for a method comprising “establishing,
`
`at a computer, a Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) connection corresponding
`
`to a context that includes status information and Internet Protocol (IP) addresses
`
`and TCP ports a media access control (MAC) layer address for the connection.”
`
`55.
`
`I understand Petitioner contends substitute claim 36 is “nonsensical”
`
`and indefinite because “[i]t is unclear whether PO meant to say ‘or a media
`
`access control...’ or ‘and a media access control...’ or something else entirely.”
`
`Opp., 10. As claims 37-42 depend upon claim 36, Petitioner alleges they are
`
`likewise invalid. Id. In my opinion, Petitioner is wrong.
`
`56. To a POSA, substitute claim 30’s claim language demonstrates
`
`substitute claim 36’s addition (“a media access control (MAC) layer address”) is
`
`a necessary requirement as substitute claim 30 requires the same elements for
`
`“context”: “a media access control (MAC) layer address,” “Internet Protocol (IP)
`
`addresses” and “TCP” status information.
`
`
`
`
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`Alacritech, Page 20
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`U.S. Patent No. 7,237,072
`
`VI. THE PROPOSED AMENDED CLAIMS ARE NOT OBVIOUS IN
`VIEW OF ERICKSON IN COMBINATION WITH TANENBAUM96
`
`57.
`
`I understand Petitioner contends that the amended claims are
`
`obvious in view of Erickson in combination with Tanenbaum96. I disagree.
`
`58. As I opined in my prior declaration (which I expressly incorporate
`
`herein by reference), a POSA would never have combined Erickson and
`
`Tanenbaum in the manner suggested by Petitioner.
`
`59. To begin with, Tanenbaum96 expressly teaches away from the
`
`combination. And, other factors, including significant differences between the
`
`protocols (Tanenbaum96 uses TCP/IP while Erickson uses UDP) further weigh
`
`against this combination.
`
`60. Secondary considerations weigh against Petition
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