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 .
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 07/22/26 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Upon review, the amended language regarding assigning another Master Node is rejected in view of Mohanta et al. (Mohanta) (US 2019/0238634).
Priority
Claims 1-3, 5, 10-23, 30-32, 39 have been determined to currently have an effective filing date of 03/12/2020.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claims 1-3, 5, 10-22, 30-32, 39 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over AbdelAziz et al. (AbdelAziz) (US 7,461,130) (of record) in view of Nishanov et al. (Nishanov) (US 2016/0050123) (of record) and Mohanta et al. (Mohanta) (US 2019/0238634).
As to claim 1, while AbdelAziz discloses a method for deployment of at least one work order in a local network of a facility, the method comprising:
activating a plurality of nodes as observer agents, respectively, which plurality of nodes forms a cluster, which plurality of nodes is disposed in the facility, includes a number of nodes and is operatively coupled to the local network of the facility (Fig. 7, column 5, line 24-30, line 62-column 6, line 2, column 10, line 30-42);
using an observer agent of the observer agents to broadcast a query to the cluster and wait for a response, which query inquires whether any of the plurality of nodes is assigned a role of a Master Node (node broadcasting master node discovery query; column 10, line 35-42);
if the observer agent does not receive a positive response to the query, assigning (i) the role of the Master Node to the observer agent, thereby resulting in a first Master Node (node assumes the role of master node; column 10, line 44-51), and (ii) a role of a Worker Node to any node of the plurality of nodes different from the first Master Node to form at least one Worker Node (informing the rest of the nodes in the group it is now the master node; column 10, line 44-51); and
receiving a request to join from at least one node (upon startup a new node broadcasts a search to identify the Master Node; Fig. 3B, column 6, line 58-64, column 7, line 43-49);
assigning, by the first Master Node, the role of Master Node or a Worker Node to each node of the at least one node (node receiving indication of which node is Master and becoming “slave node”; Fig. 3C, column 6, line 60-64, column 7, line 3-5, 50-53); and
using the Master Node to (column 10, line 49-51) (I) retrieve the at least one work order (master node receiving jobs/tasks for distribution to worker nodes; column 6, line 30-40, column 8, line 64-column 9, line 12) and (II) orchestrate the at least one work order among any of the at least one Worker Node (master node distributing received jobs/tasks to worker nodes; column 6, line 30-40, column 8, line 64-column 9, line 12),
wherein the Master Node handles deployment of work orders (column 6, line 30-40, column 8, line 64-column 9, line 12),
they fail to specifically disclose wherein the first Master Node assigns the each node of the at least one node the role of the Master Node when the number of nodes in the cluster exceeds a predetermined number, thereby resulting in at least one other Master Node and wherein the plurality of Master Nodes handles deployment of work orders.
In an analogous art, Nishanov discloses a computer system implementing a plurality of worker clusters (Fig. 1, 7-8; paragraph 36-39) wherein a first Master Node (101, Fig. 1; paragraph 46) will determine a required number of Master Nodes (Fig. 3, 310; paragraph 58-59) and assign the role of Master Node to more than one nodes of a plurality of nodes to form a plurality of Master Nodes (see Fig. 1, 7-8; master cluster of master nodes; paragraph 39-40, 53, 61), when the number of Master nodes in the cluster is below the required number (Fig. 3, 320-340; paragraph 58-59), and wherein the plurality of Master Nodes handles deployment of work orders (Fig. 7-8, paragraph 39-40, 53, 61) so as to ensure consistency within the between multiple clusters and allow a nearly instant replacement of a failed computing node on master or worker cluster from the pool of computing nodes in their respective clusters (paragraph 3).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify AbdelAziz’s system to include wherein the first Master Node assigns the each node of the at least one node the role of the Master Node, thereby resulting in at least one other Master Node and wherein the plurality of Master Nodes handles deployment of work orders, as taught in combination with Nishanov, for the benefit of ensuring consistency within the between multiple clusters and allowing a nearly instant replacement of a failed computing node on master or worker cluster from the pool of computing nodes in their respective clusters (paragraph 3).
Additionally, in an analogous art, Mohanta discloses a system for managing nodes in a cluster (Fig. 1, paragraph 10-16) wherein a first Master Node assigns at least one node the role of the Master Node when the number of nodes in the cluster exceeds a predetermined number (n number of managing nodes is determined based upon total number of nodes; paragraph 15-16, and redetermined when new nodes are added to the cluster; paragraph 9, 18, 33) so that to select enough managing nodes that data availability is ensured and to avoid voting (paragraph 7-8, 15).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify AbdelAziz and Nishanov’s system to include wherein the first Master Node assigns the each node of the at least one node the role of the Master Node when the number of nodes in the cluster exceeds a predetermined number, as taught in combination with Mohanta, for the benefit of
selecting enough managing nodes that data availability is ensured and to avoid voting (paragraph 7-8, 15).
As to claim 2, AbdelAziz, Nishanov, and Mohanto disclose wherein at least one of the plurality of Master Nodes deploy the at least one work order to the at least one Worker Node (see AbdelAziz at column 6, line 30-40, column 8, line 64-column 9, line 12).
As to claim 3, AbdelAziz, Nishanov, and Mohanto disclose wherein the at least one Worker Node is communicatively coupled to at least one device disposed in the facility, wherein the at least one work order includes one or more commands for operating the at least one device (see AbdelAziz at column 1, line 13-27, column 7, line 26-38),
As to claim 5, while AbdelAziz, Nishanov, and Mohanto disclose wherein the local network is a wired network is configured to transmit communication, AbdelAziz fails to specifically disclose wherein the local network is configured to transmit communication and power on one cable.
The examiner takes Official Notice that it was notorious well known in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to transmit communication and power on one cable, such as via Power over Ethernet (PoE), so as to eliminate the need for separate power supplies, wiring and outlets.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include wherein the local network is configured to transmit communication and power on one cable for the typical benefit of eliminating the need for separate power supplies, wiring and outlets.
As to claim 10, AbdelAziz, Nishanov, and Mohanto disclose wherein the plurality of Master Nodes handles deployment of work orders communally (see Nishanov at paragraph 38, 51-52, 54).
As to claim 11, AbdelAziz, Nishanov, and Mohanto disclose wherein the plurality of Master Nodes handles deployment of work orders hierarchically (“director” master node instructing leader master nodes; see Nishanov at Fig. 1, 7-8; paragraph 40-43).
As to claim 12, AbdelAziz, Nishanov, and Mohanto disclose wherein at least one of the plurality of Master nodes handles deployment of a first group of work orders, and a second Master node of the plurality of Master Nodes handles deployment of a second group of work orders (see Nishanov at Fig. 7-8, paragraph 39-40, 53, 61).
As to claim 13, AbdelAziz, Nishanov, and Mohanto disclose wherein the first group of work orders and the second group of work orders differ in their order timing, deployment timing, device type they target, and/or device location they target (see Nishanov at paragraph 37, 52, 61).
As to claim 14, AbdelAziz, Nishanov, and Mohanto disclose wherein the assignment of the role of Master Node is at least in part according to (a) one or more assertions made by the first Master Node (node asserting it is now the master; see AbdelAziz at column 10, line 44-51) and (b) a time order in which the one or more assertions occur (see AbdelAziz at column 10, line 44-51, column 4, line 61-63).
As to claim 15, AbdelAziz, Nishanov, and Mohanto disclose wherein the observer agent is a first observer agent, wherein the query is a first query, and wherein the method further comprises using a second observer agent of the observer agents to broadcast a second query to the cluster that at least partially overlaps in time broadcasting of the first query, which second query inquires whether any of the plurality of nodes is assigned the role of the Master Node (multiple nodes simultaneously attempting to be become master node after not receiving response to broadcast query; see AbdelAziz at column 10, line 9-29, 44-51).
As to claim 16, AbdelAziz, Nishanov, and Mohanto disclose (A) determining the number of nodes that comprises the cluster; and (B) if the number exceeds a threshold then promoting a role of at least one Worker Node to the role of Master Node (see Mohanta at paragraph 15-16 and Nishanov at Fig. 3, 320-340; paragraph 58-59).
As to claim 17, AbdelAziz, Nishanov, and Mohanto disclose wherein a total number of Master Nodes after promoting the Worker Nodes is an odd number (see Nishanov at Fig. 3 and Mohanta at paragraph 15-16).
As to claim 18, AbdelAziz, Nishanov, and Mohanto disclose wherein the Worker Node promoted is selected randomly (see Nishanov at paragraph 20, 42, 56, 58-59).
As to claim 19, AbdelAziz, Nishanov, and Mohanto disclose wherein a plurality of Worker Nodes is promoted to the role of Master Node (see Nishanov at Fig. 1, 7-8; master cluster of master nodes; paragraph 39-40, 53, 61 and Mohanta at paragraph 14-18), and wherein the promoted Worker Nodes are selected from Worker Nodes that respond to a broadcast message sent by an observer agent (see AbdelAziz at column 10, line 9-29, 44-51 and Mohanta at paragraph 14-18).
As to claim 20, AbdelAziz, Nishanov, and Mohanto disclose one of the plurality of Master Nodes initializing the cluster (initializing cluster processing; see AbdelAziz at column 10, line 44-51 and Mohanta at paragraph 27).
As to claim 21, AbdelAziz discloses a system (column 1, line 13-27, column 9, line 13-58) for deployment of at least one work order in a local network of a facility, the system comprising a plurality of nodes (i) that forms a cluster, (ii) that is disposed in the facility, (iii) includes a number of nodes, (iv) that is operatively coupled to a local network of the facility (Fig. 6-7, column 5, line 24-30, line 62-column 6, line 2, column 10, line 30-42, column 9, line 13-58), (v) that comprise circuitry (column 1, line 13-27 and column 9, line 13-58), and (vi) that is configured to:
(a) activate the plurality of nodes as observer agents, respectively (Fig. 7, column 5, line 24-30, line 62-column 6, line 2, column 10, line 30-42);
(b) use an observer agent of the observer agents to broadcast a query to the cluster and wait for a response, which query inquires whether any of the plurality of nodes is assigned a role of a Master Node (node broadcasting master node discovery query; column 10, line 35-42);
(c) if the observer agent does not receive a positive response to the query, assign (i) the role of the Master Node to the observer agent, thereby resulting in a first Master Node (node assumes the role of master node; column 10, line 44-51) and (ii) a role of a Worker Node to any node of the plurality of nodes different from the first Master Node to form at least one Worker Node (informing the rest of the nodes in the group it is now the master node; column 10, line 44-51); and
receive a request to join from at least one node (upon startup a new node broadcasts a search to identify the Master Node; Fig. 3B, column 6, line 58-64, column 7, line 43-49);
assign, by the first Master Node, the role of Master Node or a Worker Node to each node of the at least one node (node receiving indication of which node is Master and becoming “slave node”; Fig. 3C, column 6, line 60-64, column 7, line 3-5, 50-53); and
use the Master Node to (column 10, line 49-51) (I) retrieve the at least one work order (master node receiving jobs/tasks for distribution to worker nodes; column 6, line 30-40, column 8, line 64-column 9, line 12) and (II) orchestrate the at least one work order among any of the at least one Worker Node (master node distributing received jobs/tasks to worker nodes; column 6, line 30-40, column 8, line 64-column 9, line 12),
wherein the Master Node handles deployment of work orders (column 6, line 30-40, column 8, line 64-column 9, line 12),
they fail to specifically disclose wherein the first Master Node assigns the each node of the at least one node the role of the Master Node when the number of nodes in the cluster exceeds a predetermined number, thereby resulting in at least one other Master Node and wherein the plurality of Master Nodes handles deployment of work orders.
In an analogous art, Nishanov discloses a computer system implementing a plurality of worker clusters (Fig. 1, 7-8; paragraph 36-39) wherein a first Master Node (101, Fig. 1; paragraph 46) will determine a required number of Master Nodes (Fig. 3, 310; paragraph 58-59) and assign the role of Master Node to more than one nodes of a plurality of nodes to form a plurality of Master Nodes (see Fig. 1, 7-8; master cluster of master nodes; paragraph 39-40, 53, 61), when the number of Master nodes in the cluster is below the required number (Fig. 3, 320-340; paragraph 58-59), and wherein the plurality of Master Nodes handles deployment of work orders (Fig. 7-8, paragraph 39-40, 53, 61) so as to ensure consistency within the between multiple clusters and allow a nearly instant replacement of a failed computing node on master or worker cluster from the pool of computing nodes in their respective clusters (paragraph 3).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify AbdelAziz’s system to include wherein the first Master Node assigns the each node of the at least one node the role of the Master Node, thereby resulting in at least one other Master Node and wherein the plurality of Master Nodes handles deployment of work orders, as taught in combination with Nishanov, for the benefit of ensuring consistency within the between multiple clusters and allowing a nearly instant replacement of a failed computing node on master or worker cluster from the pool of computing nodes in their respective clusters (paragraph 3).
Additionally, in an analogous art, Mohanta discloses a system for managing nodes in a cluster (Fig. 1, paragraph 10-16) wherein a first Master Node assigns at least one node the role of the Master Node when the number of nodes in the cluster exceeds a predetermined number (n number of managing nodes is determined based upon total number of nodes; paragraph 15-16, and redetermined when new nodes are added to the cluster; paragraph 9, 18, 33) so that to select enough managing nodes that data availability is ensured and to avoid voting (paragraph 7-8, 15).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify AbdelAziz and Nishanov’s system to include wherein the first Master Node assigns the each node of the at least one node the role of the Master Node when the number of nodes in the cluster exceeds a predetermined number, as taught in combination with Mohanta, for the benefit of
selecting enough managing nodes that data availability is ensured and to avoid voting (paragraph 7-8, 15).
As to claim 22, AbdelAziz, Nishanov, and Mohanto disclose wherein the system is configured so that at least one of the plurality of Master Nodes deploy the at least one work order to the at least one Worker Node (see AbdelAziz at column 6, line 30-40, column 8, line 64-column 9, line 12).
As to claim 30, AbdelAziz, Nishanov, and Mohanto disclose wherein the system is configured so that the assignment of the role of Master Node is at least in part according to (a) one or more assertions made by the Master Node (node asserting it is now the master; see AbdelAziz at column 10, line 44-51) and (b) a time order in which the one or more assertions occur (see AbdelAziz at column 10, line 44-51, column 4, line 61-63).
As to claim 31, AbdelAziz, Nishanov, and Mohanto disclose wherein the observer agent is a first observer agent, wherein the query is a first query, and wherein a second observer agent of the observer agents broadcasts a second query to the cluster that overlaps in time broadcasting of the first query, which second query inquires whether any of the plurality of nodes is assigned the role of the Master Node (multiple nodes simultaneously attempting to be become master node after not receiving response to broadcast query; see AbdelAziz at column 10, line 9-29, 44-51).
As to claim 32, AbdelAziz, Nishanov, and Mohanto disclose wherein the system is configured to:
(A) determine a number of nodes that comprises the cluster; and (B) if the number exceeds a threshold then promote a role of at least one Worker Node to the role of Master Node (see Mohanta at paragraph 15-16 and Nishanov at Fig. 3, 320-340; paragraph 58-59).
As to claim 39, AbdelAziz discloses a non-transitory computer program product for deployment of at least one work order in a local network of a facility, which non-transitory computer program product contains instructions inscribed thereon which, when executed by one or more processors (column 1, line 13-27, column 9, line 13-58), cause the one or more processors to execute operations, comprising:
activating a plurality of nodes as observer agents, which plurality of nodes form a cluster, which plurality of nodes is disposed in the facility, includes a number of nodes and is operatively coupled to the local network of the facility (Fig. 7, column 5, line 24-30, line 62-column 6, line 2, column 10, line 30-42);
using an observer agent of the observer agents to broadcast a query to the cluster and wait for a response, which query inquires whether any of the plurality of nodes is assigned a role of a Master Node (node broadcasting master node discovery query; column 10, line 35-42);
if the observer agent does not receive a positive response to the query, assigning (i) the role of the Master Node to the observer agent, thereby resulting in a first Master Node (node assumes the role of master node; column 10, line 44-51) and (ii) a role of a Worker Node to any node of the plurality of nodes different from the first Master Node to form at least one Worker Node (informing the rest of the nodes in the group it is now the master node; column 10, line 44-51); and
receiving a request to join from at least one node (upon startup a new node broadcasts a search to identify the Master Node; Fig. 3B, column 6, line 58-64, column 7, line 43-49);
receive a request to join from at least one node (upon startup a new node broadcasts a search to identify the Master Node; Fig. 3B, column 6, line 58-64, column 7, line 43-49);
assigning, by the first Master Node, the role of Master Node or a Worker Node to each node of the at least one node (node receiving indication of which node is Master and becoming “slave node”; Fig. 3C, column 6, line 60-64, column 7, line 3-5, 50-53); and
using the Master Node to (column 10, line 49-51) (I) retrieve the at least one work order (master node receiving jobs/tasks for distribution to worker nodes; column 6, line 30-40, column 8, line 64-column 9, line 12) and (II) orchestrate the at least one work order among any of the at least one Worker Node (master node distributing received jobs/tasks to worker nodes; column 6, line 30-40, column 8, line 64-column 9, line 12),
wherein the Master Node handles deployment of work orders (column 6, line 30-40, column 8, line 64-column 9, line 12),
they fail to specifically disclose wherein the first Master Node assigns the each node of the at least one node the role of the Master Node when the number of nodes in the cluster exceeds a predetermined number, thereby resulting in at least one other Master Node and wherein the plurality of Master Nodes handles deployment of work orders.
In an analogous art, Nishanov discloses a computer system implementing a plurality of worker clusters (Fig. 1, 7-8; paragraph 36-39) wherein a first Master Node (101, Fig. 1; paragraph 46) will determine a required number of Master Nodes (Fig. 3, 310; paragraph 58-59) and assign the role of Master Node to more than one nodes of a plurality of nodes to form a plurality of Master Nodes (see Fig. 1, 7-8; master cluster of master nodes; paragraph 39-40, 53, 61), when the number of Master nodes in the cluster is below the required number (Fig. 3, 320-340; paragraph 58-59), and wherein the plurality of Master Nodes handles deployment of work orders (Fig. 7-8, paragraph 39-40, 53, 61) so as to ensure consistency within the between multiple clusters and allow a nearly instant replacement of a failed computing node on master or worker cluster from the pool of computing nodes in their respective clusters (paragraph 3).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify AbdelAziz’s system to include wherein the first Master Node assigns the each node of the at least one node the role of the Master Node, thereby resulting in at least one other Master Node and wherein the plurality of Master Nodes handles deployment of work orders, as taught in combination with Nishanov, for the benefit of ensuring consistency within the between multiple clusters and allowing a nearly instant replacement of a failed computing node on master or worker cluster from the pool of computing nodes in their respective clusters (paragraph 3).
Additionally, in an analogous art, Mohanta discloses a system for managing nodes in a cluster (Fig. 1, paragraph 10-16) wherein a first Master Node assigns at least one node the role of the Master Node when the number of nodes in the cluster exceeds a predetermined number (n number of managing nodes is determined based upon total number of nodes; paragraph 15-16, and redetermined when new nodes are added to the cluster; paragraph 9, 18, 33) so that to select enough managing nodes that data availability is ensured and to avoid voting (paragraph 7-8, 15).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify AbdelAziz and Nishanov’s system to include wherein the first Master Node assigns the each node of the at least one node the role of the Master Node when the number of nodes in the cluster exceeds a predetermined number, as taught in combination with Mohanta, for the benefit of
selecting enough managing nodes that data availability is ensured and to avoid voting (paragraph 7-8, 15).
Claim 23 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over AbdelAziz, Nishanov, and Mohanto and further in view of Sequeira et al. (Sequeira) (US 2012/0215874) (of record).
As to claim 23, while AbdelAziz, Nishanov, and Mohanto disclose wherein the system is configured so that the at least one Worker Node is communicatively coupled to at least one device disposed in the facility, wherein the at least one work orders includes one or more commands for operating the at least one device (see AbdelAziz at column 1, line 13-27, column 7, line 26-38), they fail to specifically disclose the at least one device is included in a device ensemble comprising sensors or a sensor and an emitter.
In an analogous art, Sequiera discloses a computer system implementing a plurality of master and worker nodes within a cluster (Fig. 1; paragraph 9-10, 29-31) wherein the Worker Nodes are communicatively coupled to at least one device disposed in a facility (sensors within a store; Fig. 1-2, paragraph 4, 6-7, 28-30, 35), and receive work orders including commands for operating at least one device is included in a device ensemble comprising sensors (visual sensors to track/count people; Fig. 1-2, paragraph 28-30, 35-36, 39, 43) so as to provide a people tracking and security system which can automatically address and configure a cluster of sensors devices (paragraph 4, 8-9, 26).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify AbdelAziz’s system to include the at least one device is included in a device ensemble comprising sensors or a sensor and an emitter, as taught in combination with Sequiera, for the benefit of ensuring the system has the required number of master nodes to properly function and retain desired degree of redundancy (paragraph 42, 58-59).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to James R Sheleheda whose telephone number is (571)272-7357. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8 am-5 pm CST.
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, Benjamin Bruckart can be reached at (571) 272-3982. 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.
/James R Sheleheda/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2424
