Appeal 2007-2202
Application 10/608,169
directly affects the refractive index of the resonator, thereby determining the
frequency selected by the circuit.") see sentence bridging pages 8 and 9 in
Appeal Brief. In this sense, this is exactly what occurs in the device of Ueda,
where changes in the temperature of the arrayed waveguides 14 affect their
relative length and positioning (by changes to their refractive index),
resulting in the center wavelength of each of the output waveguides 16
coinciding with the desired wavelength (i.e., the "resonance" condition), see
lines 33-41, col. 4.
Further, the Examiner finds that Ueda’s system of controlling the temperature of
the waveguide to insure that the emitted wavelength is close to the desired
wavelength implies that there is a temperature frequency pair stored and that this
control inherently contains some kind of logic.
As with the rejection based upon Huber, Appellants’ arguments directed to
the rejection based upon Ueda have not persuaded us of error in the Examiner’s
rejection of claim 1, but have persuaded us of error in the Examiner’s rejection of
claim 7. We concur with the Examiner’s finding that Ueda, teaches that the
waveguides items 14, have a refractive index which changes based upon
temperature. (Col. 2, ll. 8-14.) While, as discussed supra with respect to the
rejection based upon Huber, we concur with the Examiner’s broad interpretation of
the term resonator, we nonetheless find that Ueda meets the more narrow definition
of a device where the refractive index is altered by changes in temperature. Thus,
we find that Ueda meets Appellants’ claimed resonator.
Contrary to Appellants’ assertions, neither of the independent claims recite a
photonic switch. Thus, whether or not Ueda teaches a photonic switch is irrelevant.
Further, we find that Ueda teaches that the temperature of the waveguides is
kept constant by a control system, and as such the lengths and the center
wavelength of the wave guides is maintained constant. (Col. 4, ll. 33-41.) From
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