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.
Claim(s) 21-40 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Deng et al. (CN 111954296A), hereinafter referred to as D1, machine-translation provided, in view of Lee et al. (US 2014/0177604 A1), hereinafter referred to as D2.
Regarding claims 21, 31, and 40, D1 discloses a time synchronization method and device for self-organizing, which comprises:
plurality of base stations; allocate a transceiving time slot to each of the plurality of base stations (Self-organizing network comprising a number of base stations. See page 11, first paragraph. The communication time slots of all the base stations are distributed to ensure that all the base stations cannot interfere with each other. See page 13, third paragraph.);
obtain a transceiving time slot periodic table according to the transceiving time slot allocated to each of the plurality of base stations, to ensure that each of the plurality of base stations transmits and receives synchronous signals in a different transceiving time slot and instruct the plurality of base stations to transmit and receive synchronous signals according to the transceiving time slot periodic table (The Examiner interprets the allocation of time slots for the base stations as the claimed transceiving time slot period table, the communication time slots of all the base stations are distributed to ensure that all the base stations cannot interfere with each other. Further note, the claim limitation “to ensure . . .” is interpreted as an intended-use limitation of future intended purpose and is not given patentable weight. An intended-use limitation is merely a statement of sure future intended purpose and is not a positive limitation requiring patentable weight. As the prior art is also capable of such configuration, the limitation is taught. With fast synchronization, the time of the reference base station can be communicated to the base stations, transmit and receive synchronous signals according to the allocated time slots. In the first synchronization stage 1, the master node transmits a master synchronization frame to the primary slave node at the Tx0 time slot, and records the transmission time stamp of the master synchronization frame: first time, N primary slave nodes receive the primary synchronization frame at Rx0 time slot and record the arrival time stamp of the primary synchronization frame: a second time. See page 13, fourth paragraph.)
D1 does not disclose a server that communicates with the plurality of base stations and one or more electronic shelf labels configured to receive the synchronous signals transmitted by the plurality of base stations according to the transceiving time slot periodic table.
D2 teaches an electronic shelf label system comprising and method which comprises a server and gateways (plurality of base stations) to communicate to electronic shelf label tags. See Figures 1 and paragraph 0040.
D2 teaches the well-known system of an electronic shelf label system comprising wireless communication between a server, gateways, and electronic shelf label tags. D1 teaches the well-known technique of self-organizing networks. It would have been obvious to implement the well-known technique in the well-known system. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to implement the well-known technique of D2 in the well-known system of D1. One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention would have done so to quickly establish large wireless networks for electronic shelf label system with minimal signaling.
Regarding claims 22 and 32, the primary reference further teaches obtain a target network topological structure for the plurality of base stations according to an initial network topological structure; and allocate the transceiving time slot to each of the plurality of base stations according to the target network topological structure (Referring to Figures 1 and 2, the topological structure building module is used for carrying out grade division on each base station in the self-organizing network according to the information of the reference base station and the information of the base station to obtain a network topological structure of the self-organizing network; and the time synchronization module is used for exchanging time synchronization information with a superior base station according to the network topology structure, performing time synchronization with the reference base station by using the time synchronization information obtained by the exchange, and transmitting the time synchronization information only by the self-organizing network when the time synchronization precision meets the time synchronization precision condition according to the allocated time slots. See page 8, paragraphs 1-8 and page 13, paragraphs 1-3.)
D1 does not disclose a server.
D2 teaches an electronic shelf label system comprising and method which comprises a server and gateways (plurality of base stations) to communicate to electronic shelf label tags. See Figures 1 and paragraph 0040.
D2 teaches the well-known system of an electronic shelf label system comprising wireless communication between a server, gateways, and electronic shelf label tags. D1 teaches the well-known technique of self-organizing networks. It would have been obvious to implement the well-known technique in the well-known system. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to implement the well-known technique of D2 in the well-known system of D1. One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention would have done so to quickly establish large wireless networks for electronic shelf label system with minimal signaling.
Regarding claims 23 and 33, the primary reference further teaches obtain an initial network topological structure based on the plurality of base stations; and obtaining the target network topological structure by adjusting the initial network topological structure according to a ranging result between each base station and a corresponding superior base station (Referring to Figures 1 and 2, the topological structure building module is used for carrying out grade division on each base station in the self-organizing network according to the information of the reference base station and the information of the base station to obtain a network topological structure of the self-organizing network; and the time synchronization module is used for exchanging time synchronization information with a superior base station according to the network topology structure, performing time synchronization with the reference base station by using the time synchronization information obtained by the exchange (according to a range result between each base station and corresponding superior base station), and transmitting the time synchronization information only by the self-organizing network when the time synchronization precision meets the time synchronization precision condition according to the allocated time slots. When the upper level base station (superior base station) obtains the time of the reference base station, it is equivalent to that the upper level base station is already synchronized with the time of the reference base station, and then the local time of the upper level base station is also the local time of the reference base station: the time is referenced. See page 8, paragraphs 1-8 and page 13, paragraphs 1-3.)
D1 does not disclose a server.
D2 teaches an electronic shelf label system comprising and method which comprises a server and gateways (plurality of base stations) to communicate to electronic shelf label tags. See Figures 1 and paragraph 0040.
D2 teaches the well-known system of an electronic shelf label system comprising wireless communication between a server, gateways, and electronic shelf label tags. D1 teaches the well-known technique of self-organizing networks. It would have been obvious to implement the well-known technique in the well-known system. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to implement the well-known technique of D2 in the well-known system of D1. One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention would have done so to quickly establish large wireless networks for electronic shelf label system with minimal signaling.
Regarding claims 24 and 34, the primary reference further teaches obtain the initial network topological structure according to one or more ranging results between the plurality of base stations; obtain a topological depth for each base station by performing topology depth traversal on the initial network topological structure; select a master base station that has a shallowest topological depth, wherein the master base station is associated with a plurality auxiliary base stations at different hierarchies; and obtain the transceiving time slot periodic table by allocating transceiving time slots to the plurality auxiliary base stations, wherein the main base station is taken as a time slot starting point (Referring to Figures 1 and 2, the topological structure building module is used for carrying out grade division on each base station in the self-organizing network according to the information of the reference base station and the information of the base station to obtain a network topological structure of the self-organizing network; and the time synchronization module is used for exchanging time synchronization information with a superior base station according to the network topology structure, performing time synchronization with the reference base station by using the time synchronization information obtained by the exchange (according to a range result between each base station and corresponding superior base station), and transmitting the time synchronization information only by the self-organizing network when the time synchronization precision meets the time synchronization precision condition according to the allocated time slots. When the upper level base station (superior base station) obtains the time of the reference base station, it is equivalent to that the upper level base station is already synchronized with the time of the reference base station, and then the local time of the upper level base station is also the local time of the reference base station: the time is referenced. See page 8, paragraphs 1-8 and page 13, paragraphs 1-3. Referring to Figures 1 and 2, the base station comprises an upper level and series of slave base stations comprising a topological depth that is traversed according to the time synchronization method, the superior base station is the upper level base station, considered the time slot starting point, that has the shallowest topological depth, associated with a series of slave base stations, and the time slots allocated according to the assigned time slots for the base stations. See page 13.)
D1 does not disclose a server.
D2 teaches an electronic shelf label system comprising and method which comprises a server and gateways (plurality of base stations) to communicate to electronic shelf label tags. See Figures 1 and paragraph 0040.
D2 teaches the well-known system of an electronic shelf label system comprising wireless communication between a server, gateways, and electronic shelf label tags. D1 teaches the well-known technique of self-organizing networks. It would have been obvious to implement the well-known technique in the well-known system. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to implement the well-known technique of D2 in the well-known system of D1. One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention would have done so to quickly establish large wireless networks for electronic shelf label system with minimal signaling.
Regarding claims 25, 29, 30, 35, and 39, the primary reference further teaches obtain a Nth-hierarchy auxiliary base station by taking a lower-hierarchy base station directly connected to the master base station as a first-hierarchy auxiliary base station and taking a lower- hierarchy base station connected to the (N-1)th-hierarchy auxiliary base station as a Nth-hierarchy auxiliary base station, wherein N is a positive integer that is greater than 1; and obtain the transceiving time slot periodic table by allocating the transceiving time slots to the first-hierarchy auxiliary base station to the Nth-hierarchy auxiliary base station in turn/wherein performing the topology depth traversal on the initial network topological structure of the plurality of base stations comprises :taking a current base station as a root node, and taking a base station directly connected to the current base station as a first-hierarchy depth base station; in response to determining that there is a lower-hierarchy base station connected to the M-th depth base station, taking the lower-hierarchy base station as a Mth-hierarchy depth base station, wherein M is a positive integer greater than 1; and in response to determining that there is no base station connected to the Mth-hierarchy depth base station, setting a topological depth of the current base station as M/ wherein performing the topology depth traversal on the initial network topological structure of the plurality of base stations further comprises:in response to determining that there is a target depth base station belonging to an Xth_ hierarchy depth base station or an (X-1)th-hierarchy depth base station among lower-hierarchy base stations connected to the Xth-hierarchy depth base station, determining that the target depth base station is not counted in an (X+1)th-hierarchy depth base station, wherein X is a positive integer greater than 1. (Referring to Figures 1 and 2, the topological structure building module is used for carrying out grade division on each base station in the self-organizing network according to the information of the reference base station and the information of the base station to obtain a network topological structure of the self-organizing network; and the time synchronization module is used for exchanging time synchronization information with a superior base station according to the network topology structure, performing time synchronization with the reference base station by using the time synchronization information obtained by the exchange (according to a range result between each base station and corresponding superior base station), and transmitting the time synchronization information only by the self-organizing network when the time synchronization precision meets the time synchronization precision condition according to the allocated time slots. When the upper level base station (superior base station) obtains the time of the reference base station, it is equivalent to that the upper level base station is already synchronized with the time of the reference base station, and then the local time of the upper level base station is also the local time of the reference base station: the time is referenced. See page 8, paragraphs 1-8 and page 13, paragraphs 1-3. Referring to Figures 1 and 2, the base station comprises an upper level and series of slave base stations comprising a topological depth (of N greater than 1/M) that is traversed according to the time synchronization method, the superior base station is the upper level base station (master base station), considered the time slot starting point, that has the shallowest topological depth, associated with a series of slave base stations (auxiliary base station by taking a lower-hierarchy base station directly connected to the master base station and lower-hierarch base station), and the time slots allocated according to the assigned time slots for the base stations (interpreted as allocating transceiving time slots to the first to N hierarch y auxiliary base station in turn as the time slots are assigned to the slave base stations/M-th hierarchy/comprising X-th hierarch depth base station as demonstrated by the slave base station depth and not counting X+1 as the prior art is silent to such). See page 13.)
D1 does not disclose a server.
D2 teaches an electronic shelf label system comprising and method which comprises a server and gateways (plurality of base stations) to communicate to electronic shelf label tags. See Figures 1 and paragraph 0040.
D2 teaches the well-known system of an electronic shelf label system comprising wireless communication between a server, gateways, and electronic shelf label tags. D1 teaches the well-known technique of self-organizing networks. It would have been obvious to implement the well-known technique in the well-known system. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to implement the well-known technique of D2 in the well-known system of D1. One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention would have done so to quickly establish large wireless networks for electronic shelf label system with minimal signaling.
Regarding claims 26 and 36, the primary reference further teaches wherein in response to determining that there are at least two independent sub-networks in the initial network topological structure: obtain a target sub-network topological structure corresponding to each sub-network; and obtain a transceiving time slot period sub-table corresponding to each sub-network according to the target sub-network topological structure such that a base station in each sub-network transmits and receives a synchronous signal according to a corresponding transceiving time slot period sub-table to obtain a synchronous network of the system (Referring to Figures 1 and 2, the topological structure building module is used for carrying out grade division on each base station in the self-organizing network according to the information of the reference base station and the information of the base station to obtain a network topological structure of the self-organizing network; and the time synchronization module is used for exchanging time synchronization information with a superior base station according to the network topology structure, performing time synchronization with the reference base station by using the time synchronization information obtained by the exchange (according to a range result between each base station and corresponding superior base station), and transmitting the time synchronization information only by the self-organizing network when the time synchronization precision meets the time synchronization precision condition according to the allocated time slots. When the upper level base station (superior base station) obtains the time of the reference base station, it is equivalent to that the upper level base station is already synchronized with the time of the reference base station, and then the local time of the upper level base station is also the local time of the reference base station: the time is referenced. See page 8, paragraphs 1-8 and page 13, paragraphs 1-3. Referring to Figures 1 and 2, the base station comprises an upper level and series of slave base stations comprising a topological depth (interpreted as independent subnetworks) that is traversed according to the time synchronization method (transmits and receives a sync signal according to a corresponding transceiving time slot period sub-table to obtain a sync network), the superior base station is the upper level base station (master base station), considered the time slot starting point, that has the shallowest topological depth, associated with a series of slave base stations (independent subnetworks), and the time slots allocated according to the assigned time slots for the base stations (interpreted as allocating transceiving time slots for independent subnetworks as sub-tables). See page 13.)
D1 does not disclose a server and shelf label system.
D2 teaches an electronic shelf label system comprising and method which comprises a server and gateways (plurality of base stations) to communicate to electronic shelf label tags. See Figures 1 and paragraph 0040.
D2 teaches the well-known system of an electronic shelf label system comprising wireless communication between a server, gateways, and electronic shelf label tags. D1 teaches the well-known technique of self-organizing networks. It would have been obvious to implement the well-known technique in the well-known system. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to implement the well-known technique of D2 in the well-known system of D1. One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention would have done so to quickly establish large wireless networks for electronic shelf label system with minimal signaling.
Regarding claims 27, 28, 37, and 38, the primary reference further teaches wherein the server is further configured to: in response to determining that a current base station does not receive a synchronization signal transmitted by a first target base station within a preset time duration, or in response to determining that the current base station receives a synchronization signal with an intensity less than a preset threshold, instruct the current base station to initiate a ranging mode to obtain a second target base station closest to the current base station, wherein the first target base station is a superior base station of the current base station in the target network topological structure; and in response to determining that the first target base station and the second target base station belong to a same hierarchy in the target network topological structure, obtain a first updated network topological structure by adjusting the target network topological structure by taking the second target base station as the superior base station of the current base station, wherein the plurality of base stations transmit and receive the synchronization signals in the first updated network topological structure according to the transceiving time slot periodic table (Referring to Figures 1 and 2, The time synchronization precision condition may include a time difference value between the base station as the execution subject of the present invention and the reference base station, which is less than or equal to a time synchronization difference threshold (interpreted as in response to determining that the current base station receives a sync signal with an intensity less than a preset threshold, note the claim is recited in the alternative form and the instant limitation does not recite a first target base station, therefore, the claim limitation is taught) required by the communication-positioning service. In a specific application, the time synchronization accuracy condition may be pre-stored in each base station. In step S103, each level of base stations may complete time synchronization with the upper level base station by exchanging synchronization information point to point according to the network topology, so as to achieve the effect of time synchronization between all base stations and the reference base station. In the process, the self-organizing network only transmits the time synchronization information before the time synchronization precision meets the time synchronization precision condition, so that the frequency of transmitting the time synchronization information in a certain time interval can be increased. Compared with the time interval which is long when the time slot is used for transmitting the time synchronization information, the time synchronization can be completed in a shorter time, the convergence rate of the time synchronization is improved, and the method can be regarded as a phase of rapid synchronization. See page 11.)
D1 does not disclose a server.
D2 teaches an electronic shelf label system comprising and method which comprises a server and gateways (plurality of base stations) to communicate to electronic shelf label tags. See Figures 1 and paragraph 0040.
D2 teaches the well-known system of an electronic shelf label system comprising wireless communication between a server, gateways, and electronic shelf label tags. D1 teaches the well-known technique of self-organizing networks. It would have been obvious to implement the well-known technique in the well-known system. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to implement the well-known technique of D2 in the well-known system of D1. One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention would have done so to quickly establish large wireless networks for electronic shelf label system with minimal signaling.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 02 April 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
On page 11 of the remarks, regarding claims 21, 31, and 40, the Applicant argues D1 does not disclose a transceiving time slot periodic table to ensure that each node transmits and receives synchronous singles in a different transceiving time slot. The Examiner respectfully disagrees. The claim limitation “to ensure . . .” is interpreted as an intended-use limitation of future intended purpose and is not given patentable weight. An intended-use limitation is merely a statement of sure future intended purpose and is not a positive limitation requiring patentable weight. As the prior art is also capable of such configuration, the limitation is taught.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Nakagawa et al. (US 2023/0247534 A1) - A communication system includes a management server, a plurality of master stations, and a plurality of slave stations, where a first slave station transmitting a search signal identifying a first master station which corresponds to the first slave station, each of the plurality of master stations, when having received the search signal, transmitting a report to the management server, and the report including identification information of the master station.
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 DONALD L MILLS whose telephone number is (571)272-3094. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday from 9-5 PM EST.
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DONALD L. MILLS
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2462
/Donald L Mills/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2462
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