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 .
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.
Claim(s) 1-28 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over D’Amico et al. (US. Pub. No. 2007/0127421 A1; hereinafter “D’Amico”) in view of Klausen (US. Pub. NO. 2018/0212826 A1).
Regarding claim 1, D’Amico teaches a method in a monitoring system including a network comprising at least three network nodes (see D’Amico, fig. 1, nodes A-N) and a plurality of personal devices with short-range wireless communication capabilities (see fig. 3, node 300, para. [0032-34], laptop computer, WLAN/BT 302), said method comprising:
a. assigning only one node among the at least three network nodes to be the controller node having the sole responsibility for a particular personal device (see D’Amico, fig. 6, 610, manager node);
b. assigning, by said controller node, a connection node for establishing a short- range wireless communication connection between said connection node and said personal device (see D’Amico, fig. 6, 640, para. [0052], elect rely node);
c. establishing, by said assigned connection node, a short-range wireless communication connection with said personal device (see D’Amico, fig. 8, relay message 863, para. 0096]).
D’Amico is silent to teaching that comprising:
d. transmitting, from said personal device and via said established short-range wireless communication connection, a message to said connection node;
e. receiving, by said connection node, said message, wherein said message contains data including at least one of status data, sensor data and event data associated with said personal device;
f. transmitting, from the assigned connection node to the sole controller node for said personal device, said received message or a message including data corresponding to, or at least partly based on, said at least one of status data, sensor data and event data associated with said personal device; and
g. transmitting, from said controller node to at least one of at least one of the other at least three network nodes and a backend system, a message containing data adapted to be used for at least one of controlling and monitoring the personal device, wherein said message is at least partly based on said data corresponding to, or at least partly based on, said at least one of status data, sensor data and event data associated with said personal device.
In the same field of endeavor, Klausen teaches a method (see Klausen, fig. 1) comprising
d. transmitting, from said personal device and via said established short-range wireless communication connection, a message to said connection node (see Klausen, fig. 8a, device 811 tx 813 to bridge 85, para. [0093]);
e. receiving, by said connection node, said message (see Klausen, fig. 8a, device 811 tx 813 to bridge 85, para. [0093]), wherein said message contains data including at least one of status data, sensor data and event data associated with said personal device (see Klausen, para. [0065], fig. 9, 10, movement sensor 901, message 1001);
f. transmitting, from the assigned connection node to the sole controller node for said personal device (See Klausen, fig. 8a, bridge 85 tx 803 to CU 100, para. [0093]), said received message or a message including data corresponding to, or at least partly based on, said at least one of status data, sensor data and event data associated with said personal device (see Klausen, para. [0065], fig. 9, 10, movement sensor 901, message 1001, 1002); and
g. transmitting, from said controller node to at least one of at least one of the other at least three network nodes (see Klausen, fig. 8a, bridge 86, para. [0093] and a backend system (see Klausen, fig. 4, external system 115, para. [0077]), a message containing data adapted to be used for at least one of controlling and monitoring the personal device (see Klausen, fig. 4, interaction matrix 60, para. [0077], fig. 6, para. [0049,58]), wherein said message is at least partly based on said data corresponding to, or at least partly based on, said at least one of status data, sensor data and event data associated with said personal device (see Klausen, para. [0065], fig. 9, 10, movement sensor 901, message 1003,1004).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the teaching of D’Amico with the teaching of Klausen in order to extend communication ranges and device operability (see Klausen, para. [0015]).
Regarding claim 2, the combination of D’Amico and Klausen teaches the method of claim 1, wherein said short-range wireless communication connection is the only currently established communication connection between the network nodes and said personal device (see Klausen, fig. 5, para. [0081], single hop).
Regarding claim 3, the combination of D’Amico and Klausen teaches the method of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of personal devices is assigned only one of the at least three network nodes to be the controller node for the respective personal device (see D’Amico, fig. 6, 610, para. [0045], BMN).
Regarding claim 4, the combination of D’Amico and Klausen teaches the method of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of personal devices is assigned, by their respective controller node, only one of the at least three network nodes to be the connection node for the personal device (see Klausen, fig. 5, para. [0081], single hop)..
Regarding claim 5, the combination of D’Amico and Klausen teaches the method of claim 1, wherein each of the at least three network nodes has no more than one established short-range wireless connection with a personal device at a time (see Klausen, fig. 5, para. [0081], single hop)..
Regarding claim 6, the combination of D’Amico and Klausen teaches the method of claim 1, further comprising distributing or sharing data between the at least three network nodes via an IP-based network not using the same short-range wireless communication protocols used by the personal devices for communicating with the node network (see Klausen, fig. 4, 411,412, para. [0076], mesh network), wherein said distributing or sharing of data between the nodes is preceding the assignment of the controller node (see D’Amico, fig. 4, 6, 610, para. [0045], initial hello packet before designation 610), and wherein the data distributed or shared between the at least three network nodes is used for determining which of the at least three nodes is going to be the controller node for the personal device (see D’Amico, para. [0045]).
Regarding claim 7, the combination of D’Amico and Klausen teaches the method of claim 6, wherein said distributing or sharing of data between the nodes is preceding the assignment of the controller node (see D’Amico, fig. 4, 6, 610, para. [0045], initial hello packet before designation 610), and wherein the data distributed or shared between the at least three network nodes is used for determining which of the at least three nodes is going to be the controller node for the personal device (see D’Amico, para. [0045]).
Regarding claim 8, the combination of D’Amico and Klausen teaches the method of claim 1, further comprising determining which of the at least three nodes is going to be the controller node for the personal device by using a common decision model which is known to each of the at least three nodes (see D’Amico, fig. 4, 6, 610, para. [0045]).
Regarding claim 9, the combination of D’Amico and Klausen teaches the method of claim 8, wherein said common decision model use input values or parameters which are continuously and dynamically changed at least partly based on data distributed and shared between the network nodes, thereby allowing for the determining of which of the nodes among the at least three nodes is going to be the controller node for the personal device to be dynamically changed at least partly on data distributed and shared between the network nodes (see D’Amico, fig. 4, 6, 610, para. [0045]).
Regarding claim 10, the combination of D’Amico and Klausen teaches the method of claim 1, further comprising:
a. transmitting, from said personal device and via said established short-range wireless communication connection, a message to said connection node (see Klausen, fig. 8a, device 811 tx 813 to bridge 85, para. [0093]);
b. receiving, by said connection node, said message (see Klausen, fig. 8a, device 811 tx 813 to bridge 85, para. [0093]), wherein said message contains data including at least one of status data, sensor data and event data associated with said personal device (see Klausen, para. [0065], fig. 9, 10, movement sensor 901, message 1001);
c. transmitting, from the assigned connection node to the sole controller node for said personal device (See Klausen, fig. 8a, bridge 85 tx 803 to CU 100, para. [0093]), said received message or a message including data corresponding to, or at least partly based on, said at least one of status data, sensor data and event data associated with said personal device (see Klausen, para. [0065], fig. 9, 10, movement sensor 901, message 1001, 1002); and
d. transmitting, from said controller node to at least one of at least one of the other at least three network nodes (see Klausen, fig. 8a, bridge 86, para. [0093] and a backend system (see Klausen, fig. 4, external system 115, para. [0077]), a message containing data adapted to be used for at least one of controlling and monitoring the personal device (see Klausen, fig. 4, interaction matrix 60, para. [0077], fig. 6, para. [0049,58]), wherein said message is at least partly based on said data corresponding to, or at least partly based on, said at least one of status data, sensor data and event data associated with said personal device (see Klausen, para. [0065], fig. 9, 10, movement sensor 901, message 1003,1004).
Regarding Claim 11, the combination of D’Amico and Klausen teaches the method of claim 10, further comprising the following step prior to transmitting said message containing data adapted to be used for at least one of controlling and monitoring the personal device:
a. determining, by said controller node, whether to make any decisions or take any actions associated with and/or on behalf of said personal device at least partly in response to said received message and at least partly based on said received at least one of status data, sensor data and event data associated with said personal device (see Klausen, fig. 6, IM 60, para. [0076]).
Regarding Claim 12, the combination of D’Amico and Klausen teaches the method of claim 1, further comprising: a. transmitting, from said personal device, short-range wireless broadcast signals (see Klausen, fig. 12, 13, 1307,1308, para. [0101]).
Regarding Claim 13, the combination of D’Amico and Klausen teaches the method of claim 12, wherein said short-range wireless broadcast signals are transmitted while said personal device has an established short-range wireless communication connection with the currently assigned connection node (see Klausen, para. [0082], CLP, fig. 8a, para. [0093]).
Regarding Claim 14, the combination of D’Amico and Klausen teaches the method of claim 12, further comprising forwarding, by at least a plurality nodes within short-range wireless communication range with the personal device, at least a portion of the contents of said short-range wireless broadcast signals to the other network nodes, wherein the at least a portion of the contents of said broadcast signals is used by the network of nodes as input values to the for determining which of the at least three nodes is going to be the controller node for the personal device (see D’Amico, para. [0045], number of BRN).
Regarding Claim 15, the combination of D’Amico and Klausen teaches the method of claim 12, further comprising forwarding, by at least a plurality nodes within short-range wireless communication range with the personal device, at least a portion of the contents of said short-range wireless broadcast signals to the controller node, wherein the contents of said broadcast signals is adapted to be used by the controller node for determining which of the at least three nodes is to be assigned connection node for the personal device (see D’Amico, fig. 6, 640, para. [0080]).
Regarding Claim 16, the combination of D’Amico and Klausen teaches the method of claim 12, comprising:
a. receiving, by a plurality of nodes within short-range wireless communication range with the personal device, said short-range wireless broadcast signals (see D’Amico, para. [0026], hello broadcasts; Klausen, fig. 12, 13, BLE advertising 1307,1308, para. [0101]);
b. measuring, by each of said plurality of nodes, signal strengths of said received short-range wireless broadcast signals (see D’Amico, para. [0047], RSS);
c. transmitting, from each of said plurality of nodes and via the IP-based network connecting the at least three nodes, data to said controller node, wherein said data indicates said measured signal strengths values (see D’Amico, fig. 6, 630, para. [0050]);
d. receiving, by said controller node and via said IP-based network, said transmitted data indicating said measured signal strengths values (see D’Amico, fig. 6, 640, para. [0051-52], Klausen, fig. 13, CU 100 receives 1303, 1309,1310, para. [0101]); and
e. determining, by said only one controller node, to change connection node assigned to said personal device at least partly based on said received data indicating said measured broadcast signal strengths values, wherein said new connection node for said personal device is a different node from the current connection node and the current controller node for said personal device (see Klausen, fig. 13, CU 100, looks up 1311, para. [0101], new connection).
Regarding Claim 17, the combination of D’Amico and Klausen teaches the method of claim 16, further comprising:
a. determining, by said only one controller node, to change the only one connection node for said personal device at least partly based on said received data indicating said measured broadcast signal strengths values, wherein said new only one connection node is assigned for establishing a new short-range wireless communication connection between said new only one connection node and said personal device (see Klausen, fig. 13, CU 100, looks up 1311, para. [0101], new connection); and
b. establishing, by said new only one connection node for said personal device, a new short-range wireless communication connection, wherein said new short-range wireless connection is the only currently established short-range wireless connection between said node network and said personal device (see Klausen, fig. 13, new connection 1313, para. [0101]).
Regarding claim 18, D’Amico teaches a monitoring system including a network comprising at least three network nodes (see D’Amico, fig. 1, nodes A-N) and a plurality of personal devices with short-range wireless communication capabilities for communicating with the at least three network nodes (see fig. 3, node 300, para. [0032-34], laptop computer, WLAN/BT 302),
said plurality of personal devices are each assigned only one controller node among the at least three network nodes (see D’Amico, fig. 6, 610, manager node),
wherein the respective controller node is responsible for assigning a connection node among the at least three network nodes to establish a short-range wireless communication connection with a personal device the controller node is responsible for (see D’Amico, fig. 6, 640, para. [0052], elect rely node, fig. 8, relay message 863, para. [0096]).
D’Amico is silent to teaching that the at least three network nodes configured to transmit data to the other nodes via the network.
In the same field of endeavor, Klausen teaches a system, (see Klausen, fig. 1) wherein the at least three network nodes configured to transmit data to the other nodes via the network (see Klausen, fig. 4, 411,412, para. [0076], mesh network).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the teaching of D’Amico with the teaching of Klausen in order to extend communication ranges and device operability (see Klausen, para. [0015]).
Regarding claims 19-27, the dependent claims are interpreted and rejected for the same reasons as set forth above in claims 3, 8, 3, 9, 5, 13, 9, 16, and 17, respectively.
Regarding Claim 28, the combination of D’Amico and Klausen teaches the monitoring system according to claim18any of claims18 to 27, the network comprising at least three network nodes configured to transmit data to the other nodes via the network is an IP-based network and the short-range wireless communication capabilities of the plurality of personal devices for communicating with the at least three network nodes are Bluetooth communication capabilities (see D’Amico, para. [0025,34,36]).
Claim(s) 29 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over D’Amico and Klausen as applied to claim 18 above, and further in view of Tran (US. Pub. NO. 2008/0001735 A1).
Regarding Claim 29, the combination of D’Amico and Klausen teaches the monitoring system according to claim 18.
The combination of D’Amico and Klausen is silent to teaching that wherein said plurality of personal devices are at least one of wristbands, necklaces and clips.
In the same field of endeavor, Tran teaches a system wherein said plurality of personal devices are at least one of wristbands, necklaces and clips (see Tran, fig. 6, wristband 1374, para. [0186], necklace, fig. 12, clip, fig. 13, para. [0289-293]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the teaching of D’Amico and Klausen with the teaching of Tran in order to provide emergency and continuous cares of patients (see Tran, para. [0003]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Oguchi (2016/0278137), Liu (2011/0037589), Westrick (2021/0297927), and Taylor (2020/0084863) teach mesh network systems.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WEN WU HUANG whose telephone number is (571)272-7852. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 10-6.
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/WEN W HUANG/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2648