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 .
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 01/16/2026 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
Applicant’s amendment filed 01/16/2026 has been entered. Claims 1-20 remain pending. Applicant’s amendment to Claim 14 overcomes the objection to the claims.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see Pages 8-9, filed 01/16/2026, with respect to 35 U.S.C. 101 rejection of Claims 1-15 have been fully considered and are persuasive. The 35 U.S.C. 101 rejection of Claims 1-15 has been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments, see Pages 9-11, filed 01/16/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-3, 5, 9-15 under the 35 U.S.C. 103 rejection 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 Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn.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 previously disclosed prior art Assion (US20210356501) in view of previously disclosed prior art Li (CN111132201A) and newly discovered prior art Valtari (US20130332095). Applicant details on Page 9-11 the amendment to independent Claims 1 and 13 with the resynchronization a posteriori by an interpolation method. Valtari teaches in [0045] the utilization of linear interpolation to determine the current value.
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, and 9-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Assion (US20210356501) in view of Li (CN111132201A) and Valtari (US20130332095).
In regards to Claim 1, Assion teaches “by way of the voltage measurement module (voltage measurement device 607 – [0309]):
- periodically measuring a voltage in the electrical installation (recording voltage measured values DPU of the supply voltage U by the voltage measurement device 607 for determining a voltage curve TCU of the supply voltage U in a voltage measurement step 101 – [0103]; measurements are recorded for time intervals T1 and time intervals T2 – [0107]; Figure 3 shows the periodic measurements of the voltage DPU),
- sending a synchronization signal to at least one of the current measurement modules (voltage measurement device 609 and current measurement 609 are synchronized to a reference time in a synchronization step 209 – [0140]; synchronizing the voltage measurement device 608 and the current measurement 609 in the synchronization step 209 is to synchronize the recording of the voltage measured values DPU by the voltage measurement device 6 in the voltage measurement step 101 and the recording of the current measured values DPI by the current measurement device 609 in the current measurement step 103 – [0141]; the voltage measurement device 607 and current measurement device 609 each have an individual local time determination where each has its own local clock – [0142]; local clock of the voltage measuring device 609 determined to be the global (reference) clock and the synchronization is performed by setting the local times in relation to the reference time of the reference clock – [0144]; time signals sent from the reference clock to the local clock – [0145]),
- sending to said current measurement module a message including at least one main timestamp datum indicating the instant in time at which the voltage measurement module has transmitted the synchronization signal, said instant being measured by the voltage measurement module using the clock thereof (the local clock of the voltage measuring device 607 serves as a global reference clock, the first start time tU may serve as a time stamp 915, by transmitting this time stamp 915 from the voltage measurement device 607 to the current measurement device 609, matching the first tstart time tU with the respective second start times tI of the current measurement devices results in synchronization of the voltage measurement device and the current measurement device – [0208]),
- sending to said current measurement module(s) a message including at least one measured voltage value (communication link is a bus system in which information of the voltage measuring device is read by the current measuring device – [0082]; voltage measurement device 607 is connected to the current measurement device 609 by a communication link 619, and the voltage measurement device 607 transmits data packet DP 1 with voltage characteristics DPU to the current measurement device 609 – [0238]),
by way of a current sensor measurement module (current measurement device 609 – [0309]):
- periodically measuring an electrical current in the electrical installation (recording current measured values DPI of a consumer current I of the at least one consumer by the at least one current measurement device 609 to determine a current curve TCI of the consumer current I in a current measurement step 103 – [0103]; measurements are recorded for time intervals T1 and time intervals T2 – [0107]),
- on receiving the synchronization signal sent by the voltage measurement module, calculating, using the clock of said current measurement module, a local timestamp datum indicating the instant in time at which the current measurement module has received said synchronization signal (“In case that e.g. the local clock of the voltage measuring device 607 serves as a global reference clock, the first start time tU may serve as a time stamp 915. By transmitting this time stamp 915 from the voltage measurement device 607 to the current measurement device 609 , matching the first start time tU with the respective second start times tI of the current measurement devices 609 may result in synchronization of the voltage measurement device 607 and the current measurement devices 609 by relating the local clocks of the current measurement devices 609 to the reference clock of the voltage measurement device 607”- [0208]),
- the successive current measurements taken by the current measurement module being timestamped by the current measurement module (local clock of the current measurement device 609 with second start time tI – [0208]), using the clock thereof, taking into account the delay correction values thus determined (synchronization step 209 has a corresponding correction of the measured current values – [0207]),
by way of a processor, calculating at least one value of an electrical quantity on the basis of the successive current and voltage values measured by the measurement modules (power determination by multiplying voltage and current – [0224]).”
Assion is silent with regards to “periodically sending a synchronization signal; determining successive delay correction values on the basis of the main timestamp datum received and the local timestamp datum calculated for each synchronization signal received from the voltage measurement module.”
Li teaches “periodically sending a synchronization signal (sink node and sensor node use micro-stepping of 10 milliseconds to correct the local clock in real time to ensure one way smooth increase of the macro time and timestamp – [0032]); determining successive delay correction values on the basis of the main timestamp datum received and the local timestamp datum calculated for each synchronization signal received from the voltage measurement module (sensor nodes measures the communication delay between each sensor node and sink node through delay measurement method and compensates it in each sensor node and compensates the local clock of the sensor node. The sensor node adds timestamp and sampling period to the sampled data and sends it – [0047]; TA1 and TA2 are the standard times of the sink node received twice in a row, TS1 and TS2 are the local timestamps of the sensor nodes corresponding to TA1 and TA2, Tp is the periodic correction time of the sensor node which is set to 10 milliseconds, that is the local clock is corrected once every 10 milliseconds and Tc is the modified value calculated – [0084]; propagation delay correction performed with the local clocks – [0090])”
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Assion to incorporate the teaching of Li to perform the synchronization process every ten milliseconds and to perform the delay corrections. By using 10 millisecond microsteps to synchronize the clock, this is an improvement that reduces error in the data.
Assion in view of Li are silent with regards to the language of “by way of a processor, re-synchronizing the measured current values with the measured voltage values a posteriori by interpolating current values for instants corresponding to instants for which the voltage values have been measured.”
Valtari teaches “by way of a processor, re-synchronizing the measured current values with the measured voltage values a posteriori by interpolating current values for instants corresponding to instants for which the voltage values have been measured (“Because the phase current I can be in practice different at every feeder F 1 to F 5 , depending on the load connected to the feeder, the measurement method for measuring the phase current I is somewhat different when compared to the measurement method of phase voltage U. This limitation, however, can be at least partially compensated by applying Kirchhoff's current law, according to which at a specific point of an electrical network EN the sum of the incoming currents, e.g., current in incoming feeder F 1 in this example, is equal to the sum of the outgoing currents and, e.g., currents in the outgoing feeders F 2 to F 5 . This condition leads to a measurement method of phase current I, in which at each time instant ti it is taken or measured one actual measurement value with one intelligent electronic device at one feeder. For the same time instant ti , it is provided an estimated values for the phase currents I at the other feeders, the last measured sample at each feeder being a starting value for the estimation at each specific feeder. The estimated values can be provided for example by linear interpolation, e.g., linear interpolation is used for calculating virtual measurement points or values at each specific feeder between actual measurement points or values at that specific feeder. With this procedure there are obtained from each time instant ti one actual or real measurement at one feeder and several virtual interpolated measurements at the other feeders” – [0045]).”
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Assion in view of Li to incorporate the teaching of Valtari to perform linear interpolation to determine the value of the current between time points at which the current was not measured. By utilizing linear interpolation this is an improvement that yields predictable results for the determination of the current in a system.
In regards to Claims 2 and 16, Assion in view of Li and Valtari discloses the claimed invention as detailed above. Assion further teaches “wherein the delay correction applied to the timestamp data associated with the measured current values is calculated according to the difference between the main timestamp datum received and the local timestamp datum calculated for one and the same synchronization signal (“In case that e.g. the local clock of the voltage measuring device 607 serves as a global reference clock, the first start time tU may serve as a time stamp 915 . By transmitting this time stamp 915 from the voltage measurement device 607 to the current measurement device 609 , matching the first start time tU with the respective second start times tI of the current measurement devices 609 may result in synchronization of the voltage measurement device 607 and the current measurement devices 609 by relating the local clocks of the current measurement devices 609 to the reference clock of the voltage measurement device 607”- [0208]).”
In regards to Claims 3 and 17, Assion in view of Li and Valtari discloses the claimed invention as detailed above. Assion further teaches “wherein the calculation of said electrical quantity includes the current values for the instants corresponding to the instants for which the voltage values have been measured by the voltage measurement module (the local clock of the voltage measuring device 607 serves as a global reference clock, the first start time tU may serve as a time stamp 915, by transmitting this time stamp 915 from the voltage measurement device 607 to the current measurement device 609, matching the first tstart time tU with the respective second start times tI of the current measurement devices results in synchronization of the voltage measurement device and the current measurement device – [0208]).”
Assion is silent with regards to the language of “wherein the calculation of said electrical quantity includes first interpolating the current values for the instants, said interpolation being performed on the basis of the measured current values and the timestamp data associated with the measured current values.”
Valtari further teaches “wherein the calculation of said electrical quantity includes first interpolating the current values for the instants, said interpolation being performed on the basis of the measured current values and the timestamp data associated with the measured current values (“Because the phase current I can be in practice different at every feeder F 1 to F 5 , depending on the load connected to the feeder, the measurement method for measuring the phase current I is somewhat different when compared to the measurement method of phase voltage U. This limitation, however, can be at least partially compensated by applying Kirchhoff's current law, according to which at a specific point of an electrical network EN the sum of the incoming currents, e.g., current in incoming feeder F 1 in this example, is equal to the sum of the outgoing currents and, e.g., currents in the outgoing feeders F 2 to F 5 . This condition leads to a measurement method of phase current I, in which at each time instant ti it is taken or measured one actual measurement value with one intelligent electronic device at one feeder. For the same time instant ti , it is provided an estimated values for the phase currents I at the other feeders, the last measured sample at each feeder being a starting value for the estimation at each specific feeder. The estimated values can be provided for example by linear interpolation, e.g., linear interpolation is used for calculating virtual measurement points or values at each specific feeder between actual measurement points or values at that specific feeder. With this procedure there are obtained from each time instant ti one actual or real measurement at one feeder and several virtual interpolated measurements at the other feeders” – [0045]).”
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Assion in view of Li to incorporate the teaching of Valtari to perform linear interpolation to determine the value of the current between time points at which the current was not measured. By utilizing linear interpolation this is an improvement that yields predictable results for the determination of the current in a system.
In regards to Claim 5, Assion in view of Li and Valtari discloses the claimed invention as detailed above. Assion further teaches “wherein each voltage measurement by the voltage measurement module is timestamped by the voltage measurement module, the corresponding timestamp datum being sent by the voltage measurement module including, for each measured voltage value (the local clock of the voltage measuring device 607 serves as a global reference clock, the first start time tU may serve as a time stamp 915, by transmitting this time stamp 915 from the voltage measurement device 607 to the current measurement device 609, matching the first tstart time tU with the respective second start times tI of the current measurement devices results in synchronization of the voltage measurement device and the current measurement device – [0208]; Figure 4 shows the supply voltage with the time stamp tU and interval T1).”
In regards to Claims 9 and 18, Assion in view of Li and Valtari discloses the claimed invention as detailed above. Assion is silent with regards to the language of “wherein the measurement modules of the system are in communication via a wireless communication link, the message sent by the voltage measurement module being a radio message.”
Li further teaches “wherein the measurement modules of the system are in communication via a wireless communication link, the message sent by the voltage measurement module being a radio message (wireless measurement systems based on UWB, i.e. ultra wide bandwidth [radio frequency] – [0009]) .”
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Assion in view of Li and Valtari to incorporate the further teaching of Li to use the system with wireless communication utilizing radio frequencies. By using a wireless network, is an improvement that yields predictable results with the communication between the sensors in the network.
In regards to Claim 10, Assion in view of Li and Valtari discloses the claimed invention as detailed above. Assion further teaches “wherein the measurement modules of the system are in communication via a wired communication link, such as a data bus (communication link is a bus system in which information of the voltage measuring device is read by the current measuring device – [0082].”
In regards to Claim 11 and 19, Assion in view of Li and Valtari discloses the claimed invention as detailed above. Assion further teaches “wherein the electrical quantity is calculated by an electronic processing circuit of at least one of the current measurement modules (current measurement device 609 includes the processor unit 611 – [0309], Figure 6).”
In regards to Claims 12 and 20, Assion in view of Li and Valtari discloses the claimed invention as detailed above. Assion further teaches “wherein the calculated electrical quantity is an electrical power calculated on the basis of the current and voltage values measured by the measurement modules (power determination, i.e. calculated electrical quantity, carried out in the current measuring device – [0074]; power determination by multiplying voltage and current – [0224]).”
In regards to Claim 13, Assion teaches “A system for determining an electrical quantity in an electrical installation, said system including at least one voltage measurement module and at least one current measurement module, which are coupled to the electrical installation (distributed electrical power system – [0096], Figure 6; voltage measurement device 607 and current measurement device 609 – [0309]; Figure 6 shows the coupling of the measurement devices with the system), each of said measurement modules including a sensor, a processor, a memory and a clock (voltage measurement device determines a voltage, i.e. sensor, and current measurement device determines a current, i.e. sensor – [0010]; voltage measuring device records voltage measured values to determine voltage curve and analyzes the voltage measured values, i.e. memory and processor functions, and the current measurement device records current measured and analyzes the current measured values, i.e. memory and processor functions – [0055]; processor unit is formed in the voltage measuring device and the current measuring device – [0073]; voltage measurement device 607 and current measurement device 609 have their own independent local clock – [0142]), the system being set up to implement a method for determining an electrical quantity, the method involving:
by way of the voltage measurement module:
- periodically measuring a voltage in the electrical installation (recording voltage measured values DPU of the supply voltage U by the voltage measurement device 607 for determining a voltage curve TCU of the supply voltage U in a voltage measurement step 101 – [0103]; measurements are recorded for time intervals T1 and time intervals T2 – [0107]; Figure 3 shows the periodic measurements of the voltage DPU),
- sending a synchronization signal to at least one of the current measurement modules (voltage measurement device 609 and current measurement 609 are synchronized to a reference time in a synchronization step 209 – [0140]; synchronizing the voltage measurement device 608 and the current measurement 609 in the synchronization step 209 is to synchronize the recording of the voltage measured values DPU by the voltage measurement device 6 in the voltage measurement step 101 and the recording of the current measured values DPI by the current measurement device 609 in the current measurement step 103 – [0141]; the voltage measurement device 607 and current measurement device 609 each have an individual local time determination where each has its own local clock – [0142]; local clock of the voltage measuring device 609 determined to be the global (reference) clock and the synchronization is performed by setting the local times in relation to the reference time of the reference clock – [0144]; time signals sent from the reference clock to the local clock – [0145]),
- sending to said current measurement module a message including at least one main timestamp datum indicating the instant in time at which the voltage measurement module has transmitted the synchronization signal, said instant being measured by the voltage measurement module using the clock thereof (the local clock of the voltage measuring device 607 serves as a global reference clock, the first start time tU may serve as a time stamp 915, by transmitting this time stamp 915 from the voltage measurement device 607 to the current measurement device 609, matching the first tstart time tU with the respective second start times tI of the current measurement devices results in synchronization of the voltage measurement device and the current measurement device – [0208]),
- sending to said current measurement module(s) a message including at least one measured voltage value (communication link is a bus system in which information of the voltage measuring device is read by the current measuring device – [0082]; voltage measurement device 607 is connected to the current measurement device 609 by a communication link 619, and the voltage measurement device 607 transmits data packet DP 1 with voltage characteristics DPU to the current measurement device 609 – [0238]),
by way of a current sensor measurement module:
- periodically measuring an electrical current in the electrical installation (recording current measured values DPI of a consumer current I of the at least one consumer by the at least one current measurement device 609 to determine a current curve TCI of the consumer current I in a current measurement step 103 – [0103]; measurements are recorded for time intervals T1 and time intervals T2 – [0107]),
- on receiving the synchronization signal sent by the voltage measurement module, calculating, using the clock of said current measurement module, a local timestamp datum indicating the instant in time at which the current measurement module has received said synchronization signal (“In case that e.g. the local clock of the voltage measuring device 607 serves as a global reference clock, the first start time tU may serve as a time stamp 915. By transmitting this time stamp 915 from the voltage measurement device 607 to the current measurement device 609 , matching the first start time tU with the respective second start times tI of the current measurement devices 609 may result in synchronization of the voltage measurement device 607 and the current measurement devices 609 by relating the local clocks of the current measurement devices 609 to the reference clock of the voltage measurement device 607”- [0208]),
- the successive current measurements taken by the current measurement module being timestamped by the current measurement module (local clock of the current measurement device 609 with second start time tI – [0208]), using the clock thereof, taking into account the delay correction values thus determined (synchronization step 209 has a corresponding correction of the measured current values – [0207]),
by way of a processor, calculating at least one value of an electrical quantity on the basis of the successive current and voltage values measured by the measurement modules (power determination by multiplying voltage and current – [0224]).”
Assion is silent with regards to “periodically sending a synchronization signal; determining successive delay correction values on the basis of the main timestamp datum received and the local timestamp datum calculated for each synchronization signal received from the voltage measurement module.”
Li teaches “periodically sending a synchronization signal (sink node and sensor node use micro-stepping of 10 milliseconds to correct the local clock in real time to ensure one way smooth increase of the macro time and timestamp – [0032]); determining successive delay correction values on the basis of the main timestamp datum received and the local timestamp datum calculated for each synchronization signal received from the voltage measurement module (sensor nodes measures the communication delay between each sensor node and sink node through delay measurement method and compensates it in each sensor node and compensates the local clock of the sensor node. The sensor node adds timestamp and sampling period to the sampled data and sends it – [0047]; TA1 and TA2 are the standard times of the sink node received twice in a row, TS1 and TS2 are the local timestamps of the sensor nodes corresponding to TA1 and TA2, Tp is the periodic correction time of the sensor node which is set to 10 milliseconds, that is the local clock is corrected once every 10 milliseconds and Tc is the modified value calculated – [0084]; propagation delay correction performed with the local clocks – [0090])”
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Assion to incorporate the teaching of Li to perform the synchronization process every ten milliseconds and to perform the delay corrections. By using 10 millisecond microsteps to synchronize the clock, this is an improvement that reduces error in the data.
Assion in view of Li are silent with regards to the language of “by way of a processor, re-synchronizing the measured current values with the measured voltage values a posteriori by interpolating current values for instants corresponding to instants for which the voltage values have been measured.”
Valtari teaches “by way of a processor, re-synchronizing the measured current values with the measured voltage values a posteriori by interpolating current values for instants corresponding to instants for which the voltage values have been measured (“Because the phase current I can be in practice different at every feeder F 1 to F 5 , depending on the load connected to the feeder, the measurement method for measuring the phase current I is somewhat different when compared to the measurement method of phase voltage U. This limitation, however, can be at least partially compensated by applying Kirchhoff's current law, according to which at a specific point of an electrical network EN the sum of the incoming currents, e.g., current in incoming feeder F 1 in this example, is equal to the sum of the outgoing currents and, e.g., currents in the outgoing feeders F 2 to F 5 . This condition leads to a measurement method of phase current I, in which at each time instant ti it is taken or measured one actual measurement value with one intelligent electronic device at one feeder. For the same time instant ti , it is provided an estimated values for the phase currents I at the other feeders, the last measured sample at each feeder being a starting value for the estimation at each specific feeder. The estimated values can be provided for example by linear interpolation, e.g., linear interpolation is used for calculating virtual measurement points or values at each specific feeder between actual measurement points or values at that specific feeder. With this procedure there are obtained from each time instant ti one actual or real measurement at one feeder and several virtual interpolated measurements at the other feeders” – [0045]).”
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Assion in view of Li to incorporate the teaching of Valtari to perform linear interpolation to determine the value of the current between time points at which the current was not measured. By utilizing linear interpolation this is an improvement that yields predictable results for the determination of the current in a system.
In regards to Claims 14 and 15, Assion in view of Li and Valtari discloses the claimed invention as detailed above. Assion further teaches “wherein the clock of the voltage measurement module is independent of the clock of the current measurement module (the voltage measurement device and the current measurement device may have their own independent local clock that provides individual independent time determination for the respective measurement device – [0142]).”
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Assion in view of Li and Valtari as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Wang (CN105763641A)
In regards to Claim 4, Assion in view of Li and Valtari discloses the claimed invention as detailed above. Assion in view of Li and Valtari is silent with regards to the language of “wherein a drift of the current measurement module is estimated on the basis of a ratio between, a sending time interval between two consecutive sendings of the synchronization signal by the voltage measurement module, said sending time interval being determined on the basis of the main timestamp datum, and a receiving time interval between reception of two synchronization signals received consecutively by the current measurement module, said receiving time interval being determined on the basis of the local timestamp datum.”
Wang teaches “wherein a drift of the current measurement module is estimated on the basis of a ratio between, a sending time interval between two consecutive sendings of the synchronization signal by the voltage measurement module, said sending time interval being determined on the basis of the main timestamp datum, and a receiving time interval between reception of two synchronization signals received consecutively by the current measurement module, said receiving time interval being determined on the basis of the local timestamp datum (“When each slave station in the EtherCAT master station control system enters the running state, the master station periodically collects the timestamp of the reference clock according to the current clock cycle δmi, and calculates the clock interval δr of the reference clock corresponding to the master station clock cycle δmi; according to the ratio relationship between the two, the timing time interval of the next synchronization cycle can be obtained as δm(i+1)=Tδmi/δr, where T is the ideal cycle time of the system with the parameter clock as the reference clock; the cycle size of the master station variable cycle timing thread is adjusted according to the calculated value to achieve clock synchronization between the master station clock and the reference clock.” – [0011]).”
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Assion in view of Li and Valtari to incorporate the teaching of Wang to use the ratio of intervals from the timestamps. By using the ratio of intervals this is an improvement to the clock synchronization function between a plurality of devices in a system and allows for fast clock synchronization.
Claims 6-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Assion in view of Li and Valtari as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Luciani (US20160033990)
In regards to Claim 6, Assion in view of Li and Valtari discloses the claimed invention as detailed above. Assion further teaches “wherein the timestamp datum associated with the measured voltage values (the local clock of the voltage measuring device 607 serves as a global reference clock, the first start time tU may serve as a time stamp 915, by transmitting this time stamp 915 from the voltage measurement device 607 – [0208]).”
Assion in view of Li and Valtari is silent with regards to the language of “wherein the timestamp datum associated with the measured values are automatically corrected, before being sent in said message, taking into account a time correction value previously stored in memory, said time correction value being from a preliminary calibration method.”
Luciani teaches “wherein the timestamp datum associated with the measured values are automatically corrected, before being sent in said message, taking into account a time correction value previously stored in memory, said time correction value being from a preliminary calibration method (non-volatile memory utilizes the memory to save various data including event data sets and offset times, i.e. time correction value, and offset time calculation algorithms for correlating relative time to absolute time and event data with corrected time stamps – [0058]; corrected time stamp is corrected by adding or subtracting the offset time – [0030]; offset time is the difference between the relative transfer time and the absolute transfer time – [0029]).”
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Assion in view of Li and Valtari to incorporate the teaching of Luciani to perform calibration and to store data relating to the data and offset times for the time stamps. By using memory to store data of the offset time and performing calibration with the offset data, this is an improvement to the synchronizing of time stamp events with a real time clock.
In regards to Claim 7, Assion in view of Li and Valtari discloses the claimed invention as detailed above. Assion further teaches “wherein the timestamp datum associated with the measured current values (the respective second start times tI of the current measurement devices – [0208]).”
Assion in view of Li and Valtari is silent with regards to the language of “wherein the timestamp datum associated with the measured values are automatically corrected taking into account a time correction value previously stored in memory, said time correction value being from a preliminary calibration method.”
Luciani teaches “wherein the timestamp datum associated with the measured values are automatically corrected taking into account a time correction value previously stored in memory, said time correction value being from a preliminary calibration method (non-volatile memory utilizes the memory to save various data including event data sets and offset times, i.e. time correction value, and offset time calculation algorithms for correlating relative time to absolute time and event data with corrected time stamps – [0058]; corrected time stamp is corrected by adding or subtracting the offset time – [0030]; offset time is the difference between the relative transfer time and the absolute transfer time – [0029]).”
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Assion in view of Li and Valtari to incorporate the teaching of Luciani to perform calibration and to store data relating to the data and offset times for the time stamps. By using memory to store data of the offset time and performing calibration with the offset data, this is an improvement to the synchronizing of time stamp events with a real time clock.
In regards to Claim 8, Assion in view of Li, Valtari, and Luciani discloses the claimed invention as detailed above. Assion further teaches “wherein, to calculate the time correction value, the preliminary calibration method involves a method for determining an electrical quantity (power determination by multiplying voltage and current – [0224]).”
Conclusion
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/YOSSEF KORANG-BEHESHTI/Examiner, Art Unit 2857
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