Appeal No. 2004-0070
Application No. 10/047,529
While the Feiner device is not limited to operation only with a telephone line
forming a continuous electrically conductive path without intermediate components
between the first point and a second point, the method of claim 1 does not exclude the
use of a device that may have other, more general, applications.
Appellants also submit that the references fail to teach or suggest the “control
unit” of claim 1, comprising a generation unit and an evaluation unit. (Brief at 6.)
However, the examiner points out the corresponding units in Feiner. (Answer at 4.)
Moreover, Kahkoska, also applied against claim 1, relates to a test instrument
and method for testing asymmetric digital subscriber lines (ADSL). ADSL operates by
the use of transmission units communicating over twisted-pair telephone lines. Col. 1,
ll. 1-62. As appellants note (Reply Brief at 3), DSL links use pre-assigned telephone
lines between subscribers and loop termination equipment. In an ADSL circuit, the
upstream and downstream data rates are different, making a digital loopback test
unusable. The throughput of the circuit must thus be measured in both the upstream
and downstream paths simultaneously, requiring a test instrument at each end of the
circuit. Kahkoska col. 2, ll. 11-31.
The remote transmission unit 12 (Fig. 1) is connected to the customer premises
end of twisted-pair telephone line 10. In the central office, each ADSL circuit terminates
in a central transmission unit 18. Col. 3, l. 62 - col. 4, l. 28. Figure 2 provides a
schematic drawing of test instrument 100 operating in conjunction with a remote test
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