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 communication is responsive to application filed on 09/28/2022.
Claims 1-6 are presented for examination.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed on 01/13/2024.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more.
Step 1 (Does this claim fall within at least one statutory category?):
Claims 1-6 are directed to a method.
Therefore, claims 1-6 fall into at least one of the four statutory categories.
Step 2A, Prong 1: ((a) identify the specific limitation(s) in the claim that recites an abstract idea: and (b) determine whether the identified limitation(s) falls within at least one of the groups of abstract ideas enumerates in MPEP 2106.04(a)(2)):
Claim 1:
A three-level grid multi-scale finite element method for simulating groundwater flow in heterogeneous aquifers, comprising the following steps:
S1, determining a groundwater flow equation and a solution condition according to a groundwater flow problem that needs to be solved, determining a scale of coarse grid elements, and dividing a study region into several coarse grid elements, wherein vertices of coarse grid are defined as coarse-scale nodes [mathematical concepts];
S2, determining a scale of the medium grid elements, dividing the coarse grid elements into several medium grid elements, wherein vertices of the medium grid are medium-scale nodes; determining a scale of fine grid elements, dividing the medium grid elements into several fine grid elements, and the vertices of fine grid are fine-scale nodes [mathematical concepts];
S3, on each of the medium grid elements within each of the coarse grid elements, considering a reduced elliptic problem with the medium-scale basis function as an unknown term, wherein the reduced elliptic problem is adapted according to boundary conditions of the medium-scale basis function; as to each of the medium grid elements, taking each of the medium grid elements as a problem area, applying the Galerkin method to conduct calculus of variations on the reduced elliptic problem, defining the fine grid element as a minimum sub-element, applying the finite element method to obtain values of the medium-scale basis function on all the fine-scale nodes in the medium grid elements, to complete a construction of the medium-scale basis function [mathematical concepts];
S4, on each of the coarse grid elements in the study region, considering the reduced elliptic problem with the coarse-scale basis function as an unknown term, wherein the reduced elliptic problem is adapted according to boundary conditions of the coarse-scale basis function [mathematical concepts]; as to each of the coarse-scale elements, taking each of the coarse-scale elements as a problem area, applying the Galerkin method to conduct calculus of variations on the problem, discretizing the problem to each of medium grid elements in each of the coarse grid elements, and further discretizing the problem to each of fine grid elements of each of medium grid elements in each of the coarse grid elements by using the medium-scale basis function obtained in S3, applying the multi-scale finite element method to obtain values of the coarse-scale basis functions of all nodes in the coarse grid elements [mathematical concepts];
S5, based on the groundwater flow problem and coarse grid generation in S1, applying the multi-scale finite element method to form a stiffness matrix of the coarse grid elements of the waterhead on each of the coarse grid elements according to the coarse-scale basis function obtained in S4, and obtaining a total stiffness matrix of the waterhead by adding all of the stiffness matrices of the coarse grid elements [mathematical concepts];
S6, calculating a right hand item to form an equation group according to the boundary conditions and a source-sink term of the study region [mathematical concepts];
S7, using an improved square root method to solve the equation group, so as to obtain a value of the waterhead of each node in the study region [mathematical concepts].
Step 2A, Prong 2 (1. Identifying whether there are any additional elements recited in the claim beyond the judicial exception; and 2. Evaluating those additional elements individually and in combination to determine whether the claim as a whole integrates the exception into a practical application): There is no any additional elements that integrate the exception into a practical application.
Step 2B: (Does the claim recite additional elements that amount to significantly more than the judicial exception? No): There is no any additional elements that amount to significantly more than the judicial exception.
As per claim 2, the claim falls into [mathematical concepts].
As per claim 3, the claim falls into [mathematical concepts].
As per claim 4, the claim falls into [mathematical concepts].
As per claim 5, the claim falls into [mathematical concepts].
As per claim 6, the claim falls into [mathematical concepts].
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites the limitation "the Galerkin" in 19. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Dependent claims do not resolve the indefinite issue in the independent claim, and thus are also rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) by virtue of their dependence on the rejected independent claim.
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.
The factual inquiries 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.
Claims 1-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CN105701315 (English translation) issued to YIFAN et al in view of US Publication No. 2012/0059865 A1 issued to SHAO et al.
1. YIFAN et al discloses a three-level grid multi-scale finite element method for simulating groundwater flow in heterogeneous aquifers (See: Abstract, the invention discloses an efficient multi-scale finite element method for simulating two-dimension water flow movement in porous media), comprising the following steps:
S1, determining a groundwater flow equation and a solution condition according to a groundwater flow problem that needs to be solved, determining a scale of coarse grid elements, and dividing a study region into several coarse grid elements, wherein vertices of coarse grid are defined as coarse-scale nodes (See: Abstract, The method comprises the steps that a problem needing to be solved is converted into a variation form; boundary conditions of a research area are determined, coarse grid unit dimension is set, the research area is divided, and coarse grid units are obtained; middle grid unit dimension is set, and each coarse grid unit is divided into middle grid units; fine grid unit dimension is set, and each middle grid unit is divided into fine grid units; the degenerate ellipse type problem on the coarse grid units is converted into subproblems of the number of the middle grid units through the area decomposition technique, and values of a multi-scale primary function on all nodes of the middle grid units are obtained by solving the subproblems; par [0009] determine the boundary conditions on the study area to be simulated, set the scale of the coarse grid unit, and divide the study area to obtain the coarse grid unit);
S2, determining a scale of the medium grid elements, dividing the coarse grid elements into several medium grid elements, wherein vertices of the medium grid are medium-scale nodes (See: par [0010] set the medium grid cell size and subdivide the above coarse grid cells to obtain the medium grid cells); determining a scale of fine grid elements, dividing the medium grid elements into several fine grid elements, and the vertices of fine grid are fine-scale nodes (See: par [0011] set the fine mesh element scale, and subdivide the above medium mesh elements to obtain fine mesh elements);
S3, on each of the medium grid elements within each of the coarse grid elements, considering a reduced elliptic problem with the medium-scale basis function as an unknown term, wherein the reduced elliptic problem is adapted according to boundary conditions of the medium-scale basis function (See: par [0012] based on the permeability coefficient K and the boundary conditions of the basis functions, degenerate elliptic problem is solved the coarse grid cells with the medium grid cells as the smallest sub-cells, and the basic function values at the vertices of all medium grid cells are determined); as to each of the medium grid elements, taking each of the medium grid elements as a problem area, defining the fine grid element as a minimum sub-element, applying the finite element method to obtain values of the medium-scale basis function on all the fine-scale nodes in the medium grid elements, to complete a construction of the medium-scale basis function (See: par [0014] based on the permeability coefficient K, the basis function values at the vertices of the medium grid cell, and the improved basis function boundary conditions, the boundary conditions of all sub-problems are obtained, the fine grid cell is taken as the smallest sub-cell, and the sub-problems are solved on each medium grid cell to obtain the values of the basis function at all nodes in each medium grid cell);
S4, on each of the coarse grid elements in the study region, considering the reduced elliptic problem with the coarse-scale basis function as an unknown term, wherein the reduced elliptic problem is adapted according to boundary conditions of the coarse-scale basis function (See: par [0025] the multi-scale finite element method can transform the basis function construction problem on each coarse grid element into several sub-problems, thereby solving the unknowns batches and significantly reducing the cost of constructing basis functions); as to each of the coarse-scale elements, taking each of the coarse-scale elements as a problem area, discretizing the problem to each of medium grid elements in each of the coarse grid elements, and further discretizing the problem to each of fine grid elements of each of medium grid elements in each of the coarse grid elements by using the medium-scale basis function obtained in S3 (See: Abstract, an efficient multi-scale finite element method for simulating two-dimension water flow movement in porous media. The method comprises the steps that a problem needing to be solved is converted into a variation form; boundary conditions of a research area are determined, coarse grid unit dimension is set, the research area is divided, and coarse grid units are obtained; middle grid unit dimension is set, and each coarse grid unit is divided into middle grid units; fine grid unit dimension is set, and each middle grid unit is divided into fine grid units; the degenerate ellipse type problem on the coarse grid units is converted into subproblems of the number of the middle grid units through the area decomposition technique, and values of a multi-scale primary function on all nodes of the middle grid units are obtained by solving the subproblems; par [0026] the entire study are can be divided into coarse, medium and fine three level grid units, which have higher unit flexibility and stronger resistance to distortion; applying the multi-scale finite element method to obtain values of the coarse-scale basis functions of all nodes in the coarse grid elements (See: Abstract, an efficient multi-scale finite element method for simulating two-dimension water flow movement in porous media. The method comprises the steps that a problem needing to be solved is converted into a variation form; boundary conditions of a research area are determined, coarse grid unit dimension is set, the research area is divided, and coarse grid units are obtained; middle grid unit dimension is set, and each coarse grid unit is divided into middle grid units; par [0014] based on the permeability coefficient K, the basis function values at the vertices of the medium grid cell, and the improved basis function boundary conditions, the boundary conditions of all sub-problems are obtained, the fine grid cell is taken as the smallest sub-cell, and the sub-problems are solved on each medium grid cell to obtain the values of the basis function at all nodes in each medium grid cell);
S5, based on the groundwater flow problem and coarse grid generation in S1, applying the multi-scale finite element method to form a stiffness matrix of the coarse grid elements of the waterhead on each of the coarse grid elements according to the coarse-scale basis function obtained in S4 (See: Abstract, the invention discloses an efficient multi-scale finite element method for simulating two-dimension water flow movement in porous media. The method comprises the steps that a problem needing to be solved is converted into a variation form; boundary conditions of a research area are determined, coarse grid unit dimension is set, the research area is divided, and coarse grid units are obtained; middle grid unit dimension is set, and each coarse grid unit is divided into middle grid units; fine grid unit dimension is set, and each middle grid unit is divided into fine grid units; the degenerate ellipse type problem on the coarse grid units is converted into subproblems of the number of the middle grid units through the area decomposition technique, and values of a multi-scale primary function on all nodes of the middle grid units are obtained by solving the subproblems; a total stiffness matrix can be obtained through the variation form, and a system of simultaneous equations of a water head total stiffness matrix and a right end term is solved through an effective calculation method; water heads of all nodes on the research area are obtained; par [0015] calculate the stiffness matrix of each coarse element and add them together to obtain the total stiffness matrix), and obtaining a total stiffness matrix of the waterhead by adding all of the stiffness matrices of the coarse grid elements (See: Abstract, values of a multi-scale primary function on all nodes of the middle grid units are obtained by solving the subproblems; a total stiffness matrix can be obtained through the variation form, and a system of simultaneous equations of a water head total stiffness matrix and a right end term is solved through an effective calculation method; water heads of all nodes on the research area are obtained. Compared with a traditional finite element method and a multi-scale finite element method, the calculation efficiency is higher; par [0015] calculate the stiffness matrix of each coarse element and add them together to obtain the total stiffness matrix);
S6, calculating a right hand item to form an equation group according to the boundary conditions and a source-sink term of the study region (See: par [0015] calculate the stiffness matrix of each coarse element and add them together to obtain the total stiffness matrix; calculate the right hand side terms based on the boundary condition and source/sink terms of the study are to form the finite element equation);
S7, using an improved square root method to solve the equation group, so as to obtain a value of the waterhead of each node in the study region (See: par [0014] based on the permeability coefficient K, the basis function values at the vertices of the medium grid cell, and the improved basis function boundary conditions, the boundary conditions of all sub-problems are obtained, the fine grid cell is taken as the smallest sub-cell, and the sub-problems are solved on each medium grid cell to obtain the values of the basis function at all nodes in each medium grid cell; par [0092] Figure 6 shows the average relative error of the hydraulic head at the section at y=0.5 for MSFEM and EMSFEM, it shows that the errors of the two methods are both below 0.2%, and their accuracy is similar… both EMSFEM and MSFEM require 4 iterations, EMSFEM takes 4 seconds, while MSFEM takes 156 seconds).
YIFAN et al discloses Cholesky decomposition method. However, YIFAN et al does not specify but SHAO et al discloses applying the Galerkin method to calculate calculation of variations on the reduced elliptic problem (See: par [0003] Generally, in the finite element method, a Galerkin weight function having the same form as a shape function is applied to each term of a differential equation, which is then integrated over an element domain around a node, so as to obtain numerical solutions; [0065] applying a Galerkin weight function (W) with respect to a given node (e.g., P whose node number in element e is 1, for example) in a given element (e.g., e) as one of the plurality of elements, and performing element integration so as to create a matrix of each of the elements; [0087] integrating a general function term as a product of the Galerkin weight function (W) and a general function (e.g., Q, f), wherein a concept of a nodal domain defined based on a result of discretization of a second-order differential term according to a Galerkin finite element method is introduced, and the general function term using a typical value of the element is integrated; [0160] More specifically, in the case of the Poisson equation, an elliptic operator on the left-hand side of Equation (1) is discretized according to the known finite element method, and the source term on the right-hand side is discretized according to the known finite element method).
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date to combine the Galerkin finite method as taught by SHAO et al to the multi-scale finite element method of YIFAN et al would be to add simple correction to a commercially available analysis software, without increasing the calculation cost (SHAO et al, par [0276]).
2. YIFAN et al discloses the three-level grid multi-scale finite element method for simulating groundwater flow in heterogeneous aquifers according to claim 1, wherein, in S1, the study region is divided by standard right triangle elements to form the coarse grid elements (Abstract, The invention discloses an efficient multi-scale finite element method for simulating two-dimension water flow movement in porous media. The method comprises the steps that a problem needing to be solved is converted into a variation form; boundary conditions of a research area are determined, coarse grid unit dimension is set, the research area is divided, and coarse grid units are obtained; middle grid unit dimension is set, and each coarse grid unit is divided into middle grid units; fine grid unit dimension is set, and each middle grid unit is divided into fine grid units; the degenerate ellipse type problem on the coarse grid units is converted into subproblems of the number of the middle grid units through the area decomposition technique, and values of a multi-scale primary function on all nodes of the middle grid units are obtained by solving the subproblems; par [0017] the study area divided into triangular unit to form coarse grid units).
3. Yifan et al discloses the three-level grid multi-scale finite element method for simulating groundwater flow in heterogeneous aquifers according to claim 1, wherein, in S2, the coarse grid elements are divided based on the standard right triangle elements to form medium grid elements (See: par [0018] preferably, in step (2) above, triangular units are used to divide course grid unit to form medium grid units); the medium grid elements are divided based on the standard right triangle elements to form the fine grid elements (Abstract, The invention discloses an efficient multi-scale finite element method for simulating two-dimension water flow movement in porous media. The method comprises the steps that a problem needing to be solved is converted into a variation form; boundary conditions of a research area are determined, coarse grid unit dimension is set, the research area is divided, and coarse grid units are obtained; middle grid unit dimension is set, and each coarse grid unit is divided into middle grid units; fine grid unit dimension is set, and each middle grid unit is divided into fine grid units; the degenerate ellipse type problem on the coarse grid units is converted into subproblems of the number of the middle grid units through the area decomposition technique, and values of a multi-scale primary function on all nodes of the middle grid units are obtained by solving the subproblems).
4. YIFAN et al discloses the three-level grid multi-scale finite element method for simulating groundwater flow in heterogeneous aquifers according to claim 1, wherein the method comprises S4.1 over-sampling, enlarging each coarse grid element in S1 into a temporary coarse grid element, adding nodes on the basis of the medium-scale nodes and fine-scale nodes of the original coarse grid obtained in S2 to divide the temporary coarse grid element (Abstract, The invention discloses an efficient multi-scale finite element method for simulating two-dimension water flow movement in porous media. The method comprises the steps that a problem needing to be solved is converted into a variation form; boundary conditions of a research area are determined, coarse grid unit dimension is set, the research area is divided, and coarse grid units are obtained; middle grid unit dimension is set, and each coarse grid unit is divided into middle grid units; fine grid unit dimension is set, and each middle grid unit is divided into fine grid units; the degenerate ellipse type problem on the coarse grid units is converted into subproblems of the number of the middle grid units through the area decomposition technique, and values of a multi-scale primary function on all nodes of the middle grid units are obtained by solving the subproblems); then applying S3 and S4 to construct a temporary coarse-scale basis function on the temporary coarse grid elements, and determining a over-sampling coefficient by using a vertex value of the coarse-scale basis function of the original coarse grid (See: par [0014] based on the permeability coefficient K, the basis function values at the vertices of the medium grid cell, and the improved basis function boundary conditions, the boundary conditions of all sub-problems are obtained, the fine grid cell is taken as the smallest sub-cell, and the sub-problems are solved on each medium grid cell to obtain the values of the basis function at all nodes in each medium grid cell); finally, obtaining the coarse-scale basis function of the original grid directly by using the temporary coarse-scale basis function and the over-sampling coefficient (See: par [0014] based on the permeability coefficient K, the basis function values at the vertices of the medium grid cell, and the improved basis function boundary conditions, the boundary conditions of all sub-problems are obtained, the fine grid cell is taken as the smallest sub-cell, and the sub-problems are solved on each medium grid cell to obtain the values of the basis function at all nodes in each medium grid cell).
5. YIFAN et al discloses the three-level grid multi-scale finite element method for simulating groundwater flow in heterogeneous aquifers according to claim 4, wherein the coarse-scale basis function obtained in S4.1 is used in S5 (Abstract, The invention discloses an efficient multi-scale finite element method for simulating two-dimension water flow movement in porous media. The method comprises the steps that a problem needing to be solved is converted into a variation form; boundary conditions of a research area are determined, coarse grid unit dimension is set, the research area is divided, and coarse grid units are obtained; middle grid unit dimension is set, and each coarse grid unit is divided into middle grid units; fine grid unit dimension is set, and each middle grid unit is divided into fine grid units; the degenerate ellipse type problem on the coarse grid units is converted into subproblems of the number of the middle grid units through the area decomposition technique, and values of a multi-scale primary function on all nodes of the middle grid units are obtained by solving the subproblems).
6. YIFAN et al discloses the three-level grid multi-scale finite element method for simulating groundwater flow in heterogeneous aquifers according to claim 1, wherein, in S6, a value of the source-sink term takes an average value of the source-sink term of all the fine grid elements in the coarse grid elements (See: par [0023] preferably, in step (7) above, the source and sink terms on the coarse grid cell are taken as the average of the source and sink terms of all the fine grid cells in that cell).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Parashkevov et al (US Publication No. 2010/0286968 A1) teaches:
[0008] Another example of using a velocity vector field is to compare fluxes computed on a fine grid to fluxes on several coarse grids for the purpose of evaluating the quality of different coarse (simulation scale) grids. Similarly, one could use such fine-coarse grid flux comparisons for evaluating and/or generating upscaled reservoir properties. Also, fluxes may be used to convert from an unstructured grid to a structured grid for visualization purposes. A comparison of fluxes computed on unstructured and structured grids can be used for testing and validating the computer code that uses the unstructured grid discretization. In particular, the effect of non-orthogonalities in the grid upon the accuracy of the computed fluxes may be tested. Since flux comparison is local, it could help pinpoint problem areas.
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Jenny et al (US Publication No. 2005/0203725 A1) teaches:
[0071] Alternatively, a conservative fine-scale velocity field may also be constructed directly in place. This construction may be performed as follows: (i) compute the fine-scale fluxes across the coarse cell interfaces using the dual basis functions with the pressures for the coarse cells; (ii) solve a pressure equation on each of the coarse cells using the fine-scale fluxes computed in step (i) as boundary conditions to obtain fine-scale pressures; (iii) compute the fine-scale velocity field from Darcy's law using the fine-scale pressures obtained in step (ii) with the underlying fine-scale permeability. The pressure solution of step (ii) may be performed on a system with larger support (e.g., by over-sampling around the coarse cell).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KIBROM K GEBRESILASSIE whose telephone number is (571)272-8571. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00 AM-5:30 PM.
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KIBROM K. GEBRESILASSIE
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2189
/KIBROM K GEBRESILASSIE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2189 01/12/2026