DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Response to Arguments
2. Applicant's arguments received 11/25/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues that (REMARKS, p.2-3):
PNG
media_image1.png
762
670
media_image1.png
Greyscale
The Examiner respectfully disagrees. The Examiner recognizes that obviousness can only be established by combining or modifying the teachings of the prior art to produce the claimed invention where there is some teaching, suggestion, or motivation to do so found either in the references themselves or in the knowledge generally available to one of ordinary skill in the art. See In re Fine, 837 F.2d 1071, 5 USPQ2d 1596 (Fed. Cir. 1988) and In re Jones, 958 F.2d 347, 21 USPQ2d 1941 (Fed. Cir. 1992). The Examiner further recognizes that the test for obviousness is not whether the features of a second reference may be bodily incorporated into the structure of the primary reference; nor is it that the claimed invention must be expressly suggested in any one or all of the references. Rather, the test is what the combined teachings of the references would have suggested to those of ordinary skill in the art. See In re Keller, 642 F.2d 413, 208 USPQ 871 (CCPA 1981).
In the instant case, the Examiner maintains that DIONNE discloses an interrogator (102 Fig. 2) in optical communication with a remote voltage/current sensor (116 Fig. 2) via an optical fibre, wherein the interrogator (102) receives an optical signal from the remote voltage/current sensor (116) and determines characteristic features representing measurements of power quantity from the received sensor signal (para. 0015-0016, 0023). DIONNE is silent on: the remote voltage/current sensor is a passive sensor without needing an active power source to drive its operation, and the sensor comprises a fibre Bragg grating (FBG) in contact with a piezoelectric element which expands and contracts responsive to a sensed voltage and/or current to generate the optical signal to be processed at the interrogator. However, in the same field of endeavor (power signal measurement/sampling), DANTE teaches explicitly a passive voltage/current sensor (100 Fig. 1a) for measuring applied voltage in the form of an optical signal modulated by a mechanical deformation of a piezoelectric material (para. 0012). DANTE’s passive voltage/current sensor does not need an active power source to drive its operation, and comprises a FBG (5a) in contact with a piezoelectric element (6) to convert sensed voltage/current into the optical signal (para. 0012, 0058-0060). The Examiner asserts it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified DIONNE to achieve the claimed voltage/current sensor by simply substituting DIONNE’s voltage/current sensor (116) with DANTE’s passive sensor. It is deemed that, since DIONNE’s voltage/current sensor (116) is configured as a stand-alone component of the slave device (110 Fig. 2), which operates independently to generate the DSM bitstreams (DIONNE, para. 0031), while DANTE teaches general conditions of the passive optical sensor that is applicable broadly for measuring/sampling high voltages (DANTE, para. 0001), the skilled person in the art would conceive and apply said modification of DIONNE in view of DANTE as an intended use of the DANTE invention without needing inventive skill but depending on practical considerations and according to the dictates of the circumstances. Furthermore, such a modification would provide the remote voltage/current sensor with benefits of immunity to electromagnetic interference, high electrical insulation, etc. (DANTE, para. 0007). One of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the modification were predictable for improving power signal measurement/sampling since the use of that known technique provides the rationale to arrive at a conclusion of obviousness. See KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 550 U.S. 398, 82 USPQ2d 1385 (2007).
The rest of the Applicant’s arguments are reliant upon the issue discussed above, and are deemed to be unpersuasive as well for the reasons provided above. The rejection is therefore maintained.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
3. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
4. Claims 1-2, 4-5, 7-17, and 20-23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over DIONNE et al. (US 20150326387 A1, hereinafter DIONNE) in view of DANTE et al. (WO 2017152246 A1, machine translation), Wang et al. (US 20160380433 A1, hereinafter Wang), and KORBA et al. (US 20110126038 A1, hereinafter KORBA).
Regarding claims 1 and 17, DIONNE discloses a method of making a time-synchronized phasor measurement (Abstract; para. 0014), and a system (Fig. 2) for practicing the method, comprising: providing an interrogator (102 Fig. 2) in optical communication with a remote voltage and/or current sensor (116 Fig. 2) via an optical fibre (para. 0015, 0031-0032: “The master device 102 and each slave device 110 communicate over a dedicated isochronous link 130. … The physical links (130) may include optical fiber …”; see also para, 0034: “a plurality of DMS 116 for generating delta-sigma bitstreams each representing the power system signal (current or voltage) for one phase of a multi-phase system”); receiving, at the interrogator (102), an optical signal from the remote voltage and/or current sensor (116) via the optical fibre (para. 0015, 0031-0032, 0034); receiving, at the interrogator, a time synchronisation signal (e.g., a GPS-locked highly-accurate clock signal, see para. 0017, 0021); determining, at the interrogator, a time delay ts corresponding to the voltage and/or current sensor (para. 0028: “The offset value may be a measurement of the time elapsed between receipt of the most recent sequence number and a sampling time for data being transmitted. …. In some cases, a pre-calculated overage may account for the time between the sampling event and reading of the offset counter value and may be subtracted from the offset counter value such that the value placed in the outgoing transmission more accurately reflects the sample time”; para. 0029: “The round trip time less the offset value gives the transit time there and back, provided the offset value reflects the time between receipt of the message and actual transmission of the response …”); determining, at the interrogator, a time at which the optical signal originated from the voltage and/or current sensor (para. 0033: “The master device 102 extracts the delta-sigma modulated data and determines the time at which the sampling occurred from the sequence number…”); calculating, at the interrogator, characteristic features (e.g., synchrophasor measurements of the power system fundamental) representing measurements of power quantity from the received sensor signal (in para. 0015-0016, 0023); and time-stamping the characteristic features with the time at which the optical signal originated from the remote voltage and/or current sensor (para. 0023-0024: “To save bandwidth, the time stamp distributed by the master device …”; para. 0028: “ … such that the value placed in the outgoing transmission more accurately reflects the sample time”; para. 0033: “The master device 102 extracts the delta-sigma modulated data and determines the time at which the sampling occurred …”).
DIONNE does not mention explicitly: wherein the remote voltage and/or current sensor is a passive sensor without needing an active power source to drive its operation and the sensor comprises a fibre Bragg grating in contact with a piezoelectric element which expands and contracts responsive to a sensed voltage and/or current, and wherein the exact value of the sensed voltage and/or current is determined at the interrogator from a spectral position of a peak reflection wavelength from the fibre Bragg grating; determining, at the interrogator, a time t at which the optical signal is received from the remote voltage and/or current sensor, wherein said time at which the optical signal originated from the voltage and/or current sensor is determined by deducting the time delay ts from the time t at which the optical signal is received; and wherein the characteristic features calculated from the received optical signal includes a phasor.
DANTE discloses a passive voltage and/or current sensor (100 Fig. 1a; see also Abstract and para. 0008) for measuring applied voltage in the form of an optical signal modulated by a mechanical deformation of a piezoelectric material (para. 0012), comprising: a fibre Bragg grating (5a) in contact with a piezoelectric element (6) which expands and contracts responsive to a sensed voltage and/or current (para. 0012, 0058-0060), and wherein the sensed voltage and/or current is determined from a spectral position of a peak reflection wavelength from the fibre Bragg grating (para. 0067-0069, 0075-0080).
It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art to modify DIONNE to arrive the claimed invention by substituting DIONNE’s voltage and/or current sensor (116) with a strictly passive voltage and/or current sensor which does not need any active power source to drive its measurement operation as taught by DANTE (para. 0012). Doing so would also provide the sensor with benefits of immunity to electromagnetic interference, high electrical insulation, etc. (DANTE, para. 0007). It has been held that the mere application of a known technique to a specific instance by those skilled in the art would have been obvious.
The combination of DIONNE/DANTE is silent on: determining, at the interrogator, a time t at which the optical signal is received from the remote voltage and/or current sensor, and said time at which the optical signal originated from the voltage and/or current sensor is determined by deducting the time delay ts from the time t at which the optical signal is received; and wherein the characteristic features calculated from the received optical signal includes a phasor.
KORBA discloses a method and system (Fig. 2) for compensating time delays in remote feedback signals in power system control (Abstract), wherein the time delay (i.e., the sum of .DELTA.t.sub.1 and .DELTA.t.sub.2, which represents the time elapsed from the time at which the measurement signal is originated from the PMU, or the point in time when the respective phasor was measured in the PMU, to the time point at which the measurement signal is received at the Phasor Data Concentrator 10) corresponding to each PMU (para. 0010: “PMUs provide time-stamped local information about the network, such as currents, voltages and load flows”) is defined by: a difference between a time at which a measurement signal is received at the interrogator (10) from the PMU and the time (i.e., the time stamp that represents the point in time when the respective phasor was measured in the system) at which the measurement signal originated from the PMU (Fig. 2; para. 0028).
In view of the teaching of KORBA, it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art to modify the combination of DIONNE/DANTE to determine the time point at which the optical signal is originated from the voltage and/or current sensor by subtracting the obtained time delay ts from a time t at which the optical signal is received at the interrogator, wherein said time t may, for example, rely upon a GPS-corrected clock signal or the time value distributed by another device in the network (DIONNE, para. 0019). The skilled person in the art would apply such modification without needing inventive skill since the modification involves a straightforward arithmetic conversion. And, doing so would obviously simplify the derivation of the time point at which the optical signal originated from the voltage and/or current sensor and result in improvement of the claimed method/system (KORBA, Abstract).
The combination of DIONNE/DANTE/KORBA is silent on: wherein the characteristic features calculated from the received optical signal as taught by DIONNE includes a phasor.
Wang discloses a method and system of making a time-synchronised phasor measurement (para. 0015), comprising: receiving, at an interrogator (para. 0048, 0065: “The computing apparatus 40 is operative to receive measurements made by the first and second PMUs 36, 38. Measurements are received by the computing apparatus 40 by way of a communications channel 48 between the computing apparatus 40 and each PMU with the communications channels 48 being of a copper, optical fibre or wireless form”), an optical signal from a voltage and/or current sensor (36/38 Fig. 2) via an optical fibre (para. 0049), wherein said optical signal comprising time-stamped measurements of power quantity (measurements of voltage and/or current information; see para. 0015, 0040: “The received first and second quantities may each correspond to a voltage signal amplitude and phase angle”); and calculating, at the interrogator (40), a phasor (e.g., a condition quantity representing a complex relationship between the voltage/current amplitudes and the phase angles) from the received optical signal (para. 0011, 0014: “The condition quantity is determined on the basis of amplitude information and phase angle information”, “The method according to the present invention may comprise determining the condition quantity in dependence on complex signals which reflect amplitude and phase information”; para. 0016: “The condition quantity may be determined in dependence on a difference between a phase angle of the first quantity and a phase angle of the second quantity. In addition the condition quantity may be determined in dependence on an amplitude of the first quantity and an amplitude of the second quantity”; para. 0043: “The steps of receiving the first and second quantities and determining a condition quantity may be performed in computer apparatus or the like”; see also para. 0049).
In view of Wang’s teaching of phasor calculation, it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art to modify the combination of DIONNE/DANTE/KORBA to arrive the claimed invention by providing DIONNE’s interrogator (i.e., the master device 102) with a function of calculating a phasor (e.g., a relationship between voltage/current amplitude and phase angle information) from the received optical signal. The skilled person in the art would apply such modification without needing inventive skill since the modification involves merely adding an additional function to the DIONNE’s master device which includes all the hardware needed for implementing this additional function. And, doing so would avoid providing for full or partial signal processing capabilities in every power measurement device, thus reduce the cost of the entire power measurement system (DIONNE, para. 0018).
Regarding claim 2, DIONNE discloses: wherein the time delay is determined by transmitting a signal to the voltage and/or current sensor, receiving the signal after it has been reflected at the voltage and/or current sensor, and determining a round trip time 2ts for the signal (para. 0029).
Regarding claim 4, DIONNE discloses: wherein the optical fibre is comprised in a power cable (Fig. 1; para. 0009, 0015, 0032).
Regarding claim 5, DIONNE does not but Wang discloses: wherein calculating a phasor comprises determining the sensed voltage and/or current from the received optical signal (para. 0049).
Regarding claim 7, DIONNE does not but DANTE discloses: wherein the fibre Bragg grating of the voltage and/or current sensor has a unique peak reflection wavelength (see Fig. 4). As such, the combination of DIONNE/DANTE/KORBA/Wang discussed for claim 1 above renders the claimed invention obvious.
Regarding claim 8, DIONNE does not but KORBA discloses: determining a phase delay cp corresponding to the time delay ts (para. 0014). As such, the combination of DIONNE/DANTE/KORBA/Wang renders the claimed invention obvious.
Regarding claims 9, 20 and 21, the DIONNE/DANTE/KORBA/Wang combination teaches the invention of claims 1, 8 and 17 as discussed above, including: time stamping the phasor with the time at which each sensed voltage and/or current originated from each voltage and/or current sensor (DIONNE, para. 0023, 0028 and 0033). DIONNE does not but Wang further discloses: wherein calculating the phasor from the received optical signal comprises calculating a vector comprising the magnitude and phase of the sensed voltage and/or current (para. 0049). Wang is not clear wherein the phase of the sensed voltage and/or current is offset by the phase delay cp. However, since KORBA teaches converting the time delay into a phase shift which compensates the delay in the phase of the sensed voltage and/or current (para. 0014), the feature in question is therefore encompassed or rendered obvious by the combination of DIONNE/DANTE/KORBA/Wang.
Regarding claims 10, 11 and 22, the DIONNE/DANTE/KORBA/Wang combination renders the claimed invention obvious (the limitations in question are considered as repeatedly and/or iteratively intended uses of the DIONNE/DANTE/KORBA/Wang combination for calculating and time-stamping a plurality of phasors based on a corresponding plurality of voltage and/or current sensors).
Regarding claim 12, DIONNE discloses: periodically determining a time delay corresponding to each voltage and/or current sensor (para. 0021, 0029). As such, the combination of DIONNE/DANTE/KORBA/Wang renders the claimed invention obvious.
Regarding claims 13, 14 and 23, DIONNE discloses: delivering one or more control signals (e.g., the packet containing the sequence number from 150 and/or the packet containing the offset counter from 160 in Fig. 3) to one or more locations along the optical fibre and receiving at least one control signal at a control module (e.g., the master device; see Figs. 1 and 3; para. 0042); wherein the control signal is delivered to the one or more locations responsive to analysis performed on one or more measured synchrophasors (from the data buffer 170; see para. 0033, 0041-0042). As such, the combination of DIONNE/DANTE/KORBA/Wang renders the claimed invention obvious.
Regarding claim 15, DIONNE does not mention explicitly: wherein the one or more control signals are transmitted at a different wavelength or different wavelengths from the optical signal received from the voltage and/or current sensor.
Because the instant claim 15 does not specify the particular function or benefit of the claimed improvement, it is deemed that the feature in question relates merely to a design choice for the wavelengths at which said control signals and said optical signal are transmitted respectively. Since the three main wavelengths (850, 1300, and 1550 nanometers) used for fiber optic transmission are well known in the art, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the combination of DIONNE/DANTE/KORBA/Wang to arrive the claimed invention by selecting different wavelengths for transmitting said one or more control signals from the Framing controller (DIONNE, 180 in Fig. 3) to the master device and for transmitting the optical signal received from the voltage and/or current sensor to the data buffer (DIONNE, 170 in Fig. 3) based on different attenuation requirements as desired. The skilled person would apply such modification without inventive step depending on practical considerations and according to the dictates of the circumstances.
Regarding claim 16, DIONNE discloses: transmitting a plurality of control signals (e.g., the packet containing the sequence number from 150 and/or the packet containing the offset counter from 160 in Fig. 3), receiving the plurality of control signals at the control module (e.g., the master device 102), and determining which of the plurality of control signals are intended for the control module (para. 0033, 0041-0042).
5. Claims 3 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over DIONNE in view of DANTE, KORBA and Wang as applied to claim 1 or 17 above, further in view of KUROSAWA et al. (JP 2003130896 A, machine translation of English, hereinafter KUROSAWA).
Regarding claims 3 and 19, the combination of DIONNE/DANTE/KORBA/Wang is silent on: introducing a perturbation to the amplitude of a light source illuminating the optical fibre, and detecting an effect of the perturbation on light reflected by the voltage and/or current sensor.
KUROSAWA teaches a current measuring device and method, comprising: introducing a perturbation to the amplitude of a light source illuminating an optical fibre, and detecting an effect of the perturbation on light reflected by a current sensor (para. 0015, 0048, 0056).
It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art to modify the DIONNE/DANTE/KORBA/Wang combination to arrive the claimed invention by incorporating KUROSAWA’s teaching of perturbing the amount of incident light and detecting an effect of the perturbation on light reflected by the current sensor. Doing so would provide, for example, a mechanism through which stabilities or sensitivities of the voltage/current measurement can be validated in an effort to maximize the amount of light that can be incident on the light receiving element (KUROSAWA, p.9, 4th-5th paragraphs: “Due to such characteristics, stable characteristics can be given to various disturbances to the optical fiber sensor, and the sensitivity can be improved by improving the modulation degree”).
6. Claims 24-28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over DIONNE in view of DANTE, KORBA and Wang as applied to claim 23 above, further in view of KANTER (US 20190250039 A1).
Regarding claims 24-28, the combination of DIONNE/DANTE/KORBA/Wang is silent on: wherein the control module comprises a photodetector, and a filter configured to separate the control signal from any other signals received by the control module via the optical fibre; wherein the filter comprises a fibre Bragg grating and an optical circulator arranged to drop signals at a desired wavelength, and wherein the fibre Bragg grating is weakly reflecting at the desired wavelength; wherein the filter comprises a fibre coupler arranged to couple a portion of the control signal from the optical fibre to the photodetector via a narrowband filter; wherein the filter comprises a wavelength division multiplexer and a fibre coupler arranged to couple a portion of the control signal from the wavelength division multiplexer to the photodetector via a narrowband filter; wherein the filter comprises a fibre coupler and an optical add/drop multiplexer, the fibre coupler arranged to couple a portion of the control signal to the optical add/drop multiplexer, and the optical add/drop multiplexer configured to drop signals at a desired wavelength to the photodetector.
KANTER discloses a method and apparatus for spectral filtering an input optical signal (Abstract), comprising: a control module (e.g., 152 in Fig. 9) receiving an input control signal (Pumpin) and other signals (Signalin) via an optical fibre (para. 0010); wherein the control module comprises a photodetector (214), and a filter (306) configured to separate the control signal from any other signals received by the control module via the optical fibre (para. 0047); wherein the filter comprises a fibre Bragg grating arranged to drop signals at a desired wavelength (inherent to the notch filter 306 which is based on a circulator followed by a tunable fiber Bragg grating (FBG), as discussed in para. 0047), and wherein the fibre Bragg grating is weakly reflecting at the desired wavelength (para. 0047; see also para. 0003); wherein the filter comprises a fibre coupler arranged to couple a portion of the control signal from the optical fibre to the photodetector via a narrowband filter (para. 0011, 0034-0035, 0043; see also, Fig. 8 and related text); wherein the filter comprises a wavelength division multiplexer and a fibre coupler arranged to couple a portion of the control signal from the wavelength division multiplexer to the photodetector via a narrowband filter (para. 0012, 0038; see also Figs. 7-9 and related text); wherein the filter comprises a fibre coupler and an optical add/drop multiplexer, the fibre coupler arranged to couple a portion of the control signal to the optical add/drop multiplexer, and the optical add/drop multiplexer configured to drop signals at a desired wavelength to the photodetector (para. 0012, 0038; see also Figs. 7-8 and related text).
It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art to modify the combination of DIONNE/DANTE/KORBA/Wang to arrive the claimed invention by incorporating the technique of spectral filtering an input optical signal as taught by KANTER. Doing so would provide, for example, an optical filter that can achieve some or all of the desired characteristics such as signal gain, narrow gain bandwidth, controllable gain bandwidth, while having a low noise figure (KANTER, para. 0008). It has been held that the mere application of a known technique to a specific instance by those skilled in the art would have been obvious.
7. Claims 29 and 30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over DIONNE in view of DANTE and KORBA.
Regarding claims 29 and 30, DIONNE discloses a method of time-stamping a signal from a remote voltage and/or current sensor (Abstract; para. 0034), and a system (Fig. 2) for practicing the method, comprising: receiving, at an interrogator (102), an optical signal from the remote voltage and/or current sensor (116 Fig. 2); determining, at the interrogator, a time delay ts corresponding to the voltage and/or current sensor (para. 0028: “The offset value may be a measurement of the time elapsed between receipt of the most recent sequence number and a sampling time for data being transmitted. …. In some cases, a pre-calculated overage may account for the time between the sampling event and reading of the offset counter value and may be subtracted from the offset counter value such that the value placed in the outgoing transmission more accurately reflects the sample time”; para. 0029: “The round trip time less the offset value gives the transit time there and back, provided the offset value reflects the time between receipt of the message and actual transmission of the response …”); determining, at the interrogator, a time at which the optical signal was originated from the voltage and/or current sensor (para. 0033: “The master device 102 extracts the delta-sigma modulated data and determines the time at which the sampling occurred from the sequence number…”); and time-stamping the optical signal, or a measurement derived from the optical signal, with the time at which the optical signal originated from the voltage and/or current sensor (para. 0023: “ … thereby ensuring that the master device clock signal is synched to the clock signal used in the slave device to determine the elapsed time between receipt of a master time stamp and sampling of power system data at the slave device”; para. 0028: “ … such that the value placed in the outgoing transmission more accurately reflects the sample time”; para. 0033: “The master device 102 extracts the delta-sigma modulated data and determines the time at which the sampling occurred …”).
DIONNE does not mention explicitly: wherein the remote voltage and/or current sensor is a passive sensor without needing an active power source to drive its operation and the sensor comprises a fibre Bragg grating in contact with a piezoelectric element which expands and contracts responsive to a sensed voltage and/or current, and wherein the sensed voltage and/or current is determined from a spectral position of a peak reflection wavelength from the fibre Bragg grating; determining, at the interrogator, a time t at which the optical signal is received from the voltage and/or current sensor; and said time at which the optical signal originated from the voltage and/or current sensor is determined by deducting the time delay ts from the time t at which the optical signal is received.
DANTE discloses a passive voltage and/or current sensor (100 Fig. 1a; see also Abstract and para. 0008) for measuring applied voltage in the form of an optical signal modulated by a mechanical deformation of a piezoelectric material (para. 0012), comprising: a fibre Bragg grating (5a) in contact with a piezoelectric element (6) which expands and contracts responsive to a sensed voltage and/or current (para. 0012, 0058-0060), and wherein the sensed voltage and/or current is determined from a spectral position of a peak reflection wavelength from the fibre Bragg grating (para. 0067-0069, 0075-0080).
It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art to modify DIONNE to arrive the claimed invention by substituting DIONNE’s voltage and/or current sensor (116) with a strictly passive voltage and/or current sensor which does not need any active power source to drive its measurement operation as taught by DANTE (para. 0012). Doing so would also provide the sensor with benefits of immunity to electromagnetic interference, high electrical insulation, etc. (DANTE, para. 0007). It has been held that the mere application of a known technique to a specific instance by those skilled in the art would have been obvious.
KORBA discloses a method and system for compensating time delays in remote feedback signals in power system control (Abstract), wherein the time delay (i.e., .DELTA.t.sub.2, or the sum of .DELTA.t.sub.1 and .DELTA.t.sub.2) corresponding to each PMU (para. 0010: “PMUs provide time-stamped local information about the network, such as currents, voltages and load flows”) is defined by a difference between a time at which a measurement signal is received at an interrogator (i.e., the Phasor Data Concentrator 10) from the PMU and the time at which the measurement signal originated from the PMU (Fig. 2 and related text).
In view of the teaching of KORBA, it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art to modify the combination of DIONNE/DANTE to determine the time point at which the optical signal is originated from the voltage and/or current sensor by subtracting the obtained time delay ts from a time t at which the optical signal is received at the interrogator. The skilled person in the art would apply such modification without needing inventive skill since the modification involves a straightforward arithmetic conversion. And, doing so would obviously simplify the derivation of the time point at which the optical signal originated from the voltage and/or current sensor and result in improvement of the claimed method/system (KORBA, Abstract).
Conclusion
8. THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any extension fee pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Contact Information
9. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to XIUQIN SUN whose telephone number is (571)272-2280. The examiner can normally be reached 9:30am-6:00pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Shelby A. Turner can be reached on (571) 272-6334. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/X.S/Examiner, Art Unit 2857
/SHELBY A TURNER/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2857