DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
This action is in response to applicant’s amendment/arguments filed on 08/11/2025. Claims 1, 3, 6, 7, 10-15 and 17-20 have been amended. Currently, claims 1-20 are pending. This action is made FINAL.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments/amendments with respect to amended claims 1, 3, 6, 7, 10-15 and 17-20 have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection.
Note: The limitation from the objected original claim 15 was added into amended claims 1, 19 and 20 without adding all of the intervening claims.
Response to Amendments
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
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, 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.
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1-3, 8 and 16-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gaja (US 20160234786 A1) in view of Tenny et al. (US 20180049100 A1).
Consider claim 1, Gaja discloses a data storage device (read as wireless device having one or more nonvolatile memory elements, such as EPROM, EEPROM, Flash memory, a hard drive, etc. that stores instructions for performing operations, figures 1 and 3, par [0022] and [0032]-[0033]) comprising:
a non-volatile storage medium configured to store user data (read one or more nonvolatile memory elements, such as EPROM, EEPROM, Flash memory, a hard drive, etc. that stores instructions for performing operations, figures 1 and 3, par [0022] and [0032]-[0033]);
a data port configured to transmit data between a host computer system and the data storage device (read as wireless device connect to network services (e.g., internet services) via a back-haul connection using co-axial or optical cable (which inherently has a data port) to provide access to the network services for other wireless devices operating as client devices or stations (STAs), par [0020]);
a beacon component (read as a beacon generation module 344 to generate beacon frame 200 for transmission by the one or more transceivers 310, figure 3, par [0036]); and
a power manager configured to provide electrical energy to the beacon component (read as processor 330 may execute beacon generation module 344 to create or generate beacon frame 200 for transmission; for example, processor 330 may determine a charge associated with battery 325, create battery charge information element 230 to include values for one or more of battery charge threshold flag field 232, battery charge level field 234, and remaining operation time field 235, and embed the battery charge information element 230 within beacon frame 200, figure 3, par [0042]-[0044]);
wherein the beacon component is configured to: wirelessly transmit a signal in accordance with a beacon configuration (read as processor 330 may transmit beacon frame 200 generated by beacon generation module 344 via transceiver 310, figure 3, par [0044] and [0047]); and in response to determining a power availability level associated with the power manager is less than a minimum quantity of energy, adjust the beacon configuration to change a rate of consumption of the electrical energy by the beacon component (read as processor 330 may adjust the output transmit power of the one or more transceivers 310 (e.g., to reduce power consumption) for transmitting the beacon in response to the determined battery charge; for example, wireless device 300 may reduce the transmit power of its one or more transceivers 310 (e.g., when the determined battery charge falls below a threshold value or when the remaining operation time of wireless device 300 falls below a threshold time value), figure 3, par [0045]-[0047]).
However, Gaja discloses conserving power consumption by adjusting the beacon settings when determined battery charge falls below a threshold (figure 3, par [0045]-[0047]) but does not specifically disclose increasing a beacon interval.
Nonetheless, Tenny discloses when the battery condition of a device is below a battery threshold, the device would increase the beacon interval to conserve power and extend battery life, par [0052].
Therefore, it would have been obvious for a person with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teachings of Tenny into the teachings of Gaja to increase the beacon interval when battery charge falls below the threshold to conserve power.
Consider claim 2, as applied to claim 1 above, Gaja, as modified by Tenny, discloses wherein the beacon component is further configured to wirelessly transmit a second signal in accordance with the adjusted beacon configuration (read as the different beacons based on different determined battery charges being transmitted, figure 3, par [0047]).
Consider claim 3, as applied to claim 1 above, Gaja, as modified by Tenny, discloses wherein the beacon configuration defines the beacon interval (read as when the battery condition of a device is below a battery threshold, the device would increase the beacon interval to conserve power and extend battery life, par [0052] of Tenny) and at least one of: a beacon activation status; or a beacon transmission power (read as processor 330 may adjust the output transmit power of the one or more transceivers 310 (e.g., to reduce power consumption) for transmitting the beacon in response to the determined battery charge; for example, wireless device 300 may reduce the transmit power of its one or more transceivers 310 (e.g., when the determined battery charge falls below a threshold value or when the remaining operation time of wireless device 300 falls below a threshold time value), figure 3, par [0045]-[0047]).
Consider claim 8, as applied to claim 1 above, Gaja, as modified by Tenny, discloses wherein the power manager further comprises an energy store configured to store electrical energy (read as the battery, par [0046]-[0047]).
Consider claim 16, as applied to claim 1 above, Gaja, as modified by Tenny, discloses wherein the beacon configuration comprises a beacon clustering activation status (read as the terms “sleep state” and “power save state” refer to a low-power operating mode in which one or more components of a Wi-Fi device or station are deactivated (e.g., to prolong battery life), par [0018]).
Consider claim 17, as applied to claim 16 above, Gaja, as modified by Tenny, discloses wherein the signal comprises a first signal, and the beacon component, is further configured to, in response to the beacon clustering activation status being active: wirelessly transmit the first signal in accordance with a first signal configuration, and wirelessly transmit a second signal in accordance with a second signal configuration, wherein the first signal configuration differs from the second signal configuration based on at least one of a communication protocol, a transmission frequency, or a packet format (read as the different beacons based on different determined battery charges being transmitted, figure 3, par [0047]).
Consider claim 18, as applied to claim 17 above, Gaja, as modified by Tenny, discloses wherein the beacon component is configured to: transition from a sleep mode to an awake mode; and in response to wirelessly transmitting the first signal and wirelessly transmitting the second signal, transition from the awake mode to the sleep mode (read as the power saving mode (reduced transmit power) and non-power saving mode (normal transmit power) of the transmission of beacon, par [0045]-[0047]).
Consider claim 19, Gaja discloses a method for transmitting a beacon signal from a data storage device (read as wireless device having one or more nonvolatile memory elements, such as EPROM, EEPROM, Flash memory, a hard drive, etc. that stores instructions for performing operations, figures 1 and 3, par [0022] and [0032]-[0033]), the data storage device comprising:
wirelessly transmitting the signal in accordance with a beacon configuration (read as processor 330 may transmit beacon frame 200 generated by beacon generation module 344 via transceiver 310, figure 3, par [0044] and [0047]); wherein the data storage device comprises:
a non-volatile storage medium configured to store user data (read one or more nonvolatile memory elements, such as EPROM, EEPROM, Flash memory, a hard drive, etc. that stores instructions for performing operations, figures 1 and 3, par [0022] and [0032]-[0033]); a data port configured to transmit data between a host computer system and the data storage device (read as wireless device connect to network services (e.g., internet services) via a back-haul connection using co-axial or optical cable (which inherently has a data port) to provide access to the network services for other wireless devices operating as client devices or stations (STAs), par [0020]); a beacon component configured to wirelessly transmit a signal (read as a beacon generation module 344 to generate beacon frame 200 for transmission by the one or more transceivers 310, figure 3, par [0036]); and a power manager configured to provide electrical energy to the beacon component (read as processor 330 may execute beacon generation module 344 to create or generate beacon frame 200 for transmission; for example, processor 330 may determine a charge associated with battery 325, create battery charge information element 230 to include values for one or more of battery charge threshold flag field 232, battery charge level field 234, and remaining operation time field 235, and embed the battery charge information element 230 within beacon frame 200, figure 3, par [0042]-[0044]),; and in response to determining a power availability level associated with the power manager is less than a minimum quantity of energy, adjusting the beacon configuration to change a rate of consumption of electrical energy by the beacon component (read as processor 330 may adjust the output transmit power of the one or more transceivers 310 (e.g., to reduce power consumption) for transmitting the beacon in response to the determined battery charge; for example, wireless device 300 may reduce the transmit power of its one or more transceivers 310 (e.g., when the determined battery charge falls below a threshold value or when the remaining operation time of wireless device 300 falls below a threshold time value), figure 3, par [0045]-[0047]).
However, Gaja discloses conserving power consumption by adjusting the beacon settings when determined battery charge falls below a threshold (figure 3, par [0045]-[0047]) but does not specifically disclose increasing a beacon interval.
Nonetheless, Tenny discloses when the battery condition of a device is below a battery threshold, the device would increase the beacon interval to conserve power and extend battery life, par [0052].
Therefore, it would have been obvious for a person with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teachings of Tenny into the teachings of Gaja to increase the beacon interval when battery charge falls below the threshold to conserve power.
Consider claim 20, Gaja discloses a data storage device (read as wireless device having one or more nonvolatile memory elements, such as EPROM, EEPROM, Flash memory, a hard drive, etc. that stores instructions for performing operations, figures 1 and 3, par [0022] and [0032]-[0033]) comprising: means for storing user data (read one or more nonvolatile memory elements, such as EPROM, EEPROM, Flash memory, a hard drive, etc. that stores instructions for performing operations, figures 1 and 3, par [0022] and [0032]-[0033]); means for transmitting data between a host computer system and the data storage device (read as wireless device connect to network services (e.g., internet services) via a back-haul connection using co-axial or optical cable (which inherently has a data port) to provide access to the network services for other wireless devices operating as client devices or stations (STAs), par [0020]); means for wirelessly transmitting a signal in accordance with a beacon configuration (read as a beacon generation module 344 to generate beacon frame 200 for transmission by the one or more transceivers 310, figure 3, par [0036]); and means for providing electrical energy to the means for wirelessly transmitting a signal, wherein, in response to determining a power availability level associated with the means for providing electrical energy is less than a minimum quantity of energy (read as processor 330 may execute beacon generation module 344 to create or generate beacon frame 200 for transmission; for example, processor 330 may determine a charge associated with battery 325, create battery charge information element 230 to include values for one or more of battery charge threshold flag field 232, battery charge level field 234, and remaining operation time field 235, and embed the battery charge information element 230 within beacon frame 200, figure 3, par [0042]-[0044]), the means for wirelessly transmitting a signal (read as processor 330 may transmit beacon frame 200 generated by beacon generation module 344 via transceiver 310, figure 3, par [0044] and [0047]) adjusts the beacon configuration to change a rate of consumption of electrical energy by the means for wirelessly transmitting a signal (read as processor 330 may adjust the output transmit power of the one or more transceivers 310 (e.g., to reduce power consumption) for transmitting the beacon in response to the determined battery charge; for example, wireless device 300 may reduce the transmit power of its one or more transceivers 310 (e.g., when the determined battery charge falls below a threshold value or when the remaining operation time of wireless device 300 falls below a threshold time value), figure 3, par [0045]-[0047]).
However, Gaja discloses conserving power consumption by adjusting the beacon settings when determined battery charge falls below a threshold (figure 3, par [0045]-[0047]) but does not specifically disclose increasing a beacon interval.
Nonetheless, Tenny discloses when the battery condition of a device is below a battery threshold, the device would increase the beacon interval to conserve power and extend battery life, par [0052].
Therefore, it would have been obvious for a person with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teachings of Tenny into the teachings of Gaja to increase the beacon interval when battery charge falls below the threshold to conserve power.
Claims 4-5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gaja (US 20160234786 A1) in view of Tenny et al. (US 20180049100 A1), and in further view of Sugasawa (US 20050240784 A1).
Consider claim 4, as applied to claim 1 above, Gaja, as modified by Tenny, discloses the claimed invention above but does not specifically disclose wherein the data storage device further comprises a power port configured to: receive electrical energy from a power interface; and provide electrical energy to the power manager.
Nonetheless, Sugasawa discloses a portable contents player having memory for data storage comprising USB cable 102 connecting the portable contents players to host PC 101 for data/power transfer based on the "USB connection mode", the portable contents player 1 operates with USB power supplied from the host PC 101 through the USB cable 102; and the portable contents player 1 is configured to operate with, other than the USB power and internal battery power, power from an Alternating Current (AC) adapter 80 connected to a commercial power source, [0029]-[0035].
Therefore, it would have been obvious for a person with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teachings of Sugasawa into the teachings of Gaja, as modified by Tenny, for the purpose of designing the wireless device to include a power port to allow the wireless device to be charged using cable when needed to.
Consider claim 5, as applied to claim 4 above, Gaja, as modified by Tenny and Sugasawa, discloses wherein the power availability level comprises an indication of whether the power port is electrically connected to a power source (read as the in the "USB connection mode", the portable contents player 1 operates with USB power supplied from the host PC 101 through the USB cable 102, [0029]-[0035]).
Claims 6-7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gaja (US 20160234786 A1) in view of Tenny et al. (US 20180049100 A1), and in further view of Sugasawa (US 20050240784 A1), and in further view of Noh (US 20150113425 A1).
Consider claim 6, as applied to claim 5 above, Gaja, as modified by Tenny and Sugasawa, discloses reduce power consumption mode which reduce the transmit power of its one or more transceivers 310 (e.g., when the determined battery charge falls below a threshold value) and an non-reduce power consumption (normal) mode which the transmit power is at normal level (par [0045]-[0047]) but does not specifically disclose wherein adjusting the beacon configuration comprises, in response to the power availability level indicating that the power port is electrically connected to the host computer system, performing at least one of: setting the beacon activation status from inactive to active; decreasing the beacon interval; or increasing the beacon transmission power level.
Nonetheless, Noh discloses changing between the power saving mode and normal node based on if the device is being charged or not when remaining battery charge level is less than a preset remaining battery charge level, par [0079].
Therefore, it would have been obvious for a person with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teachings of Noh into the teachings of Gaja, which modified by Tenny and Sugasawa, designing the wireless device to switch from power saving mode to normal mode (from reduce transmit power to normal transmit power) when it is being charged to achieve desired performance.
Consider claim 7, as applied to claim 5 above, Gaja, as modified by Tenny and Sugasawa, discloses reduce power consumption mode which reduce the transmit power of its one or more transceivers 310 (e.g., when the determined battery charge falls below a threshold value) and an non-reduce power consumption (normal) mode which the transmit power is at normal level (par [0045]-[0047]) but does not specifically disclose wherein adjusting the beacon configuration comprises, in response to the power availability level indicating that the power port is electrically disconnected from the power source, adjusting the beacon configuration to reduce a rate of consumption, by the beacon component, of electrical energy provided to the beacon component by the power manager.
Nonetheless, Noh discloses changing between the power saving mode and normal node based on if the device is being charged or not when remaining battery charge level is less than a preset remaining battery charge level, par [0079].
Therefore, it would have been obvious for a person with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teachings of Noh into the teachings of Gaja, which modified by Tenny and Sugasawa, designing the wireless device to switch from normal mode to power saving mode (from normal transmit power to reduce transmit power) when it is no longer in charging state and the battery level is still below the threshold to save power.
Claims 9 and 11-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gaja (US 20160234786 A1) in view of Tenny et al. (US 20180049100 A1), and in further view of Swan (US 20190372400 A1).
Consider claim 9, as applied to claim 8 above, Gaja, as modified by Tenny, discloses the claimed invention above but does not specifically disclose wherein the energy store comprises an energy harvesting component configured to produce the electrical energy from an ambient energy source.
Nonetheless, Swan discloses a WPRC for sending a beacon, comprising harvesting of ambient RF energy and using a super capacitor for energy storage, par [0088].
Therefore, it would have been obvious for a person with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teachings of Swan into the teachings of Gaja, as modified by Tenny, to design to wireless device to be able to harvest ambient energy to produce power to use in case other power charging ways are not available.
Consider claim 11, as applied to claim 8 above, Gaja, as modified by Tenny and Swan, discloses wherein the energy store comprises at least one capacitor for storing the stored electrical energy (read as capacitor for energy storage, par [0088] of Swan).
Consider claim 12, as applied to claim 8 above, Gaja, as modified by Tenny and Swan, discloses wherein the power availability level comprises an indication of a quantity of energy stored in the energy store (read as the battery charge level, par [0046]-[0047]); and the minimum quantity of energy corresponds to the quantity of energy stored in the energy store being less than a percentage of a storage capacity of the energy store that indicates a low power availability level (read as the energy storage is less than a charge percentage, par [0048]).
Consider claim 13, as applied to claim 12 above, Gaja, as modified by Tenny and Swan, discloses wherein, in response to the quantity of energy stored in the energy store being less than a minimum quantity of energy, the power manager is configured to set the power availability level to a minimum power availability level, and the beacon component is configured to, in response to the power availability level being set to the minimum power availability level, adjust the beacon configuration to reduce a rate of consumption, by the beacon component, of electrical energy provided to the beacon component by the power manager (read as processor 330 may adjust the output transmit power of the one or more transceivers 310 (e.g., to reduce power consumption) for transmitting the beacon in response to the determined battery charge; for example, wireless device 300 may reduce the transmit power of its one or more transceivers 310 (e.g., when the determined battery charge falls below a threshold value or when the remaining operation time of wireless device 300 falls below a threshold time value), figure 3, par [0045]-[0047]).
Claim 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gaja (US 20160234786 A1) in view of Tenny et al. (US 20180049100 A1), and in further view of Swan (US 20190372400 A1), and in further view of Sugasawa (US 20050240784 A1).
Consider claim 10, as applied to claim 8 above, Gaja, as modified by Tenny and Swan, discloses the claimed invention above but does not specifically disclose wherein the data storage device further comprises a power port configured to receive electrical energy from a power source, and the energy store is configured to store at least a portion of the electrical energy received from the power source
Nonetheless, Sugasawa discloses a portable contents player having memory for data storage comprising USB cable 102 connecting the portable contents players to host PC 101 for data/power transfer based on the "USB connection mode", the portable contents player 1 operates with USB power supplied from the host PC 101 through the USB cable 102; and the portable contents player 1 is configured to operate with, other than the USB power and internal battery power, power from an Alternating Current (AC) adapter 80 connected to a commercial power source, [0029]-[0035].
Therefore, it would have been obvious for a person with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teachings of Sugasawa into the teachings of Gaja, as modified by Tenny and Swan, for the purpose of designing the wireless device to include a power port to allow the wireless device to be charged using cable when needed to.
Claims 14 and 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gaja (US 20160234786 A1) in view of Tenny et al. (US 20180049100 A1), and in further view of Miyake (US 20230196902 A1)
Consider claim 14, as applied to claim 13 above, Gaja, as modified by Tenny, discloses adjusting beacon setting to conserve power consumption but does not specifically disclose wherein in response to the signal from the beacon component, a user device in range of the signal is configured to use proximity-based location services to detect a location of the data storage device.
Nonetheless, Miyake discloses a way of conserving power which if a beacon signal is transmitted from a beacon device when no wireless device capable of receiving beacon signals is in the vicinity of the beacon device, the beacon device consumes power uselessly; therefore, the beacon device includes a proximity sensor and adjusts a beacon signal transmission interval according to whether or not the presence of a wireless device is detected by a proximity sensor, par [0003].
Therefore, it would have been obvious for a person with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teachings of Miyake into the teachings of Gaja, as modified by Tenny, for the purpose of additionally detecting if other devices are in proximity to receive the beacon to conserve more power consumption.
Consider claim 15, as applied to claim 14 above, Gaja, as modified by Tenny and Miyake, discloses wherein the beacon component is further configured to: determine an indication of proximity of the user device; and adjust, responsive to the indication of proximity of the user device, the beacon interval (read as if a beacon signal is transmitted from a beacon device when no wireless device capable of receiving beacon signals is in the vicinity of the beacon device, the beacon device consumes power uselessly; therefore, the beacon device includes a proximity sensor and adjusts a beacon signal transmission interval according to whether or not the presence of a wireless device is detected by a proximity sensor, par [0003]); and adjusting the beacon configuration by increasing the beacon interval is responsive to a combination of the indication of proximity of the user device and the power availability level (read as using different ways to adjust the beacon interval to conserve more power, such as based on the whether if the battery charge is below the threshold (figure 3, par [0045]-[0047] of Tenny) and if the proximity sensor senses any devices in proximity (par [0003] of Miyake).
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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 date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Junpeng Chen whose telephone number is (571) 270-1112. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday - Thursday, 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Anthony S Addy can be reached on 571-272-7795. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Junpeng Chen/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2645