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 .
Response to Amendment
The Examiner acknowledges the receipt of the Applicant’s amendment filed on 10/22/2025. Claims 1-7 have been amended. Claims 1-7 are currently pending in the present application.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see Applicant Arguments/Remarks, filed 10/22/2025, with respect to the rejections of claims 1-7 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Espinosa (US 11,104,502 B2), and further in view of Arab et al. (US 10,433,270 B1).
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 1-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Espinosa (US 11,104,502 B2), and further in view of Arab et al. (US 10,433,270 B1).
Regarding claim 1, Espinosa teaches a wireless sensor module, comprising:
a plurality of terminals (read as plurality of user interface devices 120) (Espinosa – Figure 1A, column 18 lines 57-67), each configured to be detachably connected to a respective sensor (read as sensors 50 which can include humidity, gas, temperature, tactile, time, pressure and vacuum; designed so that it can be moveable and adjustable to position; a moveable system or arrangement) (Espinosa – column 33 lines 5-67);
a sensor interface integrated circuit (IC) for driving a sensor connected to at least one of the plurality of terminals (read as sensors in communication with wireless technologies such as Li-Fi interfaces) (Espinosa – column 5 lines 10-30); and
a control IC that controls the sensor interface IC to drive the connected sensor and obtains sensing data of the connected sensor (read as CPU of the user interface device 120 can be implemented as a microprocessor, application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), digital signal processor (DSP), programmable gate array (PGA), or the like; to be able to read sensors to view other sensor information) (Espinosa – column 19 lines 35-51; column 20 lines 28-58).
However, Espinosa fails to teach wherein the control IC transmits the obtained sensing data to at least one external device based on a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) method, and wherein the control IC selectively drives only one of a plurality of sensors connected to the plurality of terminals based on parameter information received from the at least one external device.
In the related art, Arab teaches wherein the control IC transmits the obtained sensing data to at least one external device based on a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) method (read as Bluetooth Low Energy) (Arab – column 1 lines 63-67, column 2 lines 1-23), and wherein the control IC selectively drives only one of a plurality of sensors connected to the plurality of terminals based on parameter information received from the at least one external device (read as coordinator node device may select the data time period for a particular end node device and may instruct particular end node device to send data to the coordinator node device during the selected data time period) (Arab – column 4 lines 14-26).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to incorporate the teachings of Arab into the teachings of Espinosa for the purpose of end node devices and one or more coordinator node devices to communicate with each other using short-range wireless technology and the end nod devices may collect data and/or perform other tasks and the coordinator node devices may coordinate the operation of the wireless IoT networks.
Regarding claim 2 as applied to claim 1, Espinosa as modified by Arab further teaches wherein the control IC transmits the sensing data to the at least one external device while operating in one of an advertising mode and a beacon mode (read as an advertise period 824) (Arab – column 15 lines 58-67, column 16 lines 1-2).
Regarding claim 3 as applied to claim 1, Espinosa as modified by Arab further teaches further including a wake-up IC that receives a wake-up signal from the at least one external device while the control IC is in a standby state, wherein the wake-up IC, upon receiving the wake-up signal from the at least one external device, activates the control IC from the standby state, and the control IC controls the sensor interface IC to drive the connected sensor and to transmit sensing data of the connected sensor to the at least one external device (read as an active coordinator node device may conserve battery power by being configured to enter a sleep mode and wake up at particular intervals to receive data from, and/or otherwise communicate with, end node devices in a wireless IoT network; if EN device 120 and/or CN device 130 send data to the active CN device 130 and the active CN device 130 is in a sleep mode, the EN device 120 and/or CN device 130 may need to keep advertising and/or re-sending the data until the active CN device 130 wakes up) (Arab – column 2 lines 24-36, column 5 lines 25-36, column 14 lines 22-45).
Regarding claim 4 as applied to claim 3, Espinosa as modified by Arab further teaches wherein the control IC determines whether there is a change in how one or more sensors connected to the plurality of terminals are combined after the control IC is put in a standby mode compared to how they were combined before standby, and, when there is a change, the control IC transmits information on the changed combination of the connected sensors to the at least one external device (read as EN device 120 may be in a standby mode with reduced power requirements until a sensor included in EN device 120 detects new data) (Arab – column 15 lines 58-67, column 16 lines 1-2).
Regarding claim 5 as applied to claim 3, Espinosa as modified by Arab further teaches wherein the wake-up IC transmits an advertising signal including information about the connected sensor to the at least one external device while the control IC is in standby, and wherein, when a wake-up signal is received from the at least one external device, the wake-up IC activates the control IC from standby to an operating state, and the control IC controls the sensor interface IC to drive the connected sensor and transmits sensing data of the connected sensor to the at least one external device (read as an active coordinator node device may conserve battery power by being configured to enter a sleep mode and wake up at particular intervals to receive data from, and/or otherwise communicate with, end node devices in a wireless IoT network; if EN device 120 and/or CN device 130 send data to the active CN device 130 and the active CN device 130 is in a sleep mode, the EN device 120 and/or CN device 130 may need to keep advertising and/or re-sending the data until the active CN device 130 wakes up) (Arab – column 2 lines 24-36, column 5 lines 25-36, column 14 lines 22-45).
Regarding claim 6 as applied to claim 1, Espinosa as modified by Arab further teaches further comprising a battery connected to at least one energy harvesting module for collecting energy, wherein the battery supplies the energy collected by the energy harvesting module to at least one of the control IC, the sensor interface IC, and the wake-up IC (read as EN device 120 may include a battery and be powered by the battery) (Arab – column 4 lines 61-67, column 5 lines 1-3).
Regarding claim 7 as applied to claim 1, Espinosa as modified by Arab further teaches wherein the plurality of terminals are connected to analog sensors, wherein the sensor interface IC converts an output of an analog sensor connected to at least one of the plurality of terminals into a digital form and inputs the converted output to the control IC, and wherein the control IC is directly connected to at least one terminal that can be connected to a digital sensor (Arab – column 5 lines 10-37).
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 nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to APRIL GUZMAN GONZALES whose telephone number is (571)270-1101. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8:00 am to 4:00 pm EST. The examiner’s email address is April.guzman@uspto.gov.
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/APRIL G GONZALES/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2648