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 Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the instant amendment have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 34 and 38-39 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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) 1-6, 7-9, 11, 14, 17, 20, 35- 37 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li et al. (PG/PUB 20090099701) in view over Chrisfort (PG/PUB 20090216345) in view over Manongi “RF Based Smart Irrigation Monitoring System, 2020”) in view over Struhsaker et al. (PG/PUB 20200367069) in view over Peitz et al. (PG/PUB 20200218438)
Claim 1
Li et al. teaches an irrigation system but does not expressly teach the irrigation component comprising a satellite transceiver and communicating with the irrigation controller and central irrigation controller. Christfort teaches an irrigation component comprising a satellite transceiver communicating with an irrigation controller while Manongi teaches an irrigation component communicating with a central irrigation controller over satellite networks, described below, comprising:
a central irrigation controller (Li, Figure 1-144, 155, 153, 0024-26, 0034)
an irrigation controller controlled by the central irrigation controller (Li, Figure 1-122, 0024-26) and
an irrigation system component controlled by the irrigation controller and comprising or connected to a satellite transceiver configured to transmit communications (Li, 0050-51 e.g. providing sensor data and other information to irrigation controller) to one or more of the central irrigation controller and the irrigation controller and/or receive communications from the one or more of the central irrigation controller and the irrigation controller via one or more communication satellites (Li et al., Figure 1-124, see Christfort 0054, 0067 e.g. “Controllers 100 and 200 also each comprise a satellite receiver 130 a or 230 a, and/or a UHF radio 130 b or 230 b, all of which facilitate backup connections for receiving data from server 500 when no connection may be established to server 500 via radios 120 a/220 a. Satellite receivers 130 a and 230 a may receive communications from, for example, a satellite serving as public radio gateway 400. UHF radios 130 b and 230 b may be connected to base station 300 via UHF 1- way links 930 and 940, respectively. In both cases receivers 130 a and 230 a and UHF radios 130 b and 230 b are examples of backup communication mechanisms 130 and 230. Each may have been selected as a backup communication mechanism for a variety of reasons, including their high reliability, but high power consumption and/or network provider fees, as well as their uni-directional nature (meaning that a controller cannot respond to server 500 via these mechanisms), see Mangoni, Figure 2, page 4 e.g. see “SN”/irrigation component communicating with central irrigation controller/headquarter, see also page 3)
Examiner Note: As applied below, the satellite controllers of Li are adapted with satellite communication circuitry to communicate with both the central irrigation controller and irrigation controller over a satellite network based on the teachings of Christfort and Mangoni.
One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention applying the teachings of Li, namely communicating irrigation parameters from a satellite controller/irrigation component to a central control unit/irrigation controller, to the teachings of Christfort, namely employing satellite communication for an irrigation system, would achieve an expected and predictable result via adapting the satellite controllers of Li to comprise a satellite transceiver of Christfort. Christfort expressly teaches a satellite transceiver of a first irrigation component communicating with an irrigation controller. Li teaches wirelessly enabling access between controllers for data exchange, 0033-34. Accordingly, one of ordinary skill in the art recognizing the applicability of satellite communications between irrigation controllers, and given the wireless communication capabilities of Li, would achieve an expected and predictable result via communicating between a satellite controller adapted with a satellite transceiver for communicating with at least the central control unit of Li.
The combination does not expressly teach the irrigation component communicating with the central irrigation controller of Li using satellite transceivers. Manongi teaches an irrigation component (“SN”) communicating with a central irrigation controller (e.g. see directly communicating with a central irrigation controller) while Li teaches an adapted satellite controller communicating with a central irrigation controller, 0083, Figure 7, Figure 1 ) while Christfort teaches satellite transceivers.
Accordingly, one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention applying the teachings of Li, as modified, namely providing a satellite irrigation controller adapted with a satellite transceiver for communicating with an irrigation controller[s] of Li, to the teachings of Manongi, namely providing an irrigation component/SN configured to communicate with a central irrigation controller via a satellite, would achieve an expected and predictable result of using satellite receivers/transceivers for communicating between distributed irrigation controllers (e.g. central controller, irrigation controller, and irrigation component). Manongi is in the same field of endeavor and reasonably pertinent to enabling irrigation components to communicate with remote computers via satellite systems.
Li, as modified, teaches:
wherein the irrigation system component (Li, see satellite controllers adapted with satellite communication circuitry) comprises:
at least one of a water emitter, a valve actuator, a valve, a decoder, a pump, a power control device, and a sensor (Li et al., Figure 1-126, 130, see Christfort Figure 1-170, 180)
The applied prior art does not expressly teach the parameter control unit limitations and desired battery life described below. Struhsaker et al. teaches the parameter control unit described below and Christfort, as modified, teaches a central irrigation control and irrigation control for communicating via satellite communication.
a parameter control unit configured to control communication parameters of the irrigation system component (Struhsaker et al., 0057, 0112, Figure 1B-119 -> 120 e.g. as interpreted, application for adjusting communication parameters via a controller/processor) , the parameter control unit comprising:
a control circuit configured to execute a parameter control application, wherein the parameter control application is configured, when executed, to receive an indication of a desired battery life for the irrigation system component and to determine a set of communication parameters for the irrigation system component in order to meet the received indication of the desired battery life (Struhsaker et al., 0057, 0100, 0112, infra below for Peitz adjusting communication parameters based on battery life indications)
One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention applying the teachings of Struhsaker et al., namely controlling satellite communication parameters based on battery life, to the teachings of Christfort, as modified, supra claim 1, employing satellite communication via irrigation controllers, would achieve an expected and predictable result via adapting the irrigation controller to comprise the parameter control unit to adjust at least communication frequency based on remaining battery life/low SoC.. Struhsaker is reasonably pertinent to a problem of regulating satellite communication parameters based upon predetermined battery levels.
The applied combination of prior art does not expressly teach the communication parameters of Struhsaker are based on receiving an indication of desired battery life. Peitz teaches:
receive an indication of a desired battery life for the irrigation system component and to determine a set of communication parameters for the irrigation system component in order to meet the received indication of the desired battery life (Peitz, Figure 3-333, 332, 0025, Figure 2 e.g. see adapting communication parameters based on desired battery life, supra above for modified irrigation component comprising satellite communication means)
One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention applying the teachings of Peitz, namely receiving an indication of a desired battery life and adapting communication parameters/power levels/ intervals, to meet the desired battery life, to the teachings of Christfort, as modified, namely adjusting satellite communication parameters based on SoC levels, would achieve an expected and predictable result of reducing communication performance to meet the requirements of the desired battery life because limiting at least the frequency of communication at least meets the target battery life. Peitz is reasonably pertinent to a problem of adapting communication parameters based on target battery life and would logically commend itself to the optimizing satellite communication parameters in light of battery based irrigation systems.
Claim 2.
The irrigation system of claim 1 wherein the irrigation system component comprises a battery and is battery powered (Christfort, 0031 e.g. “Another form of irrigation control is the wireless irrigation control, wherein each valve is controlled by a “wireless node.” A wireless irrigation controller typically is a small solar and battery-powered micro-computer with an associated radio modem. Each wireless irrigation controller is networked either directly to a base station or via each other back to such a base station (“mesh networking”), see also 0065, 0098, 0110, claim 28)
Claim 3.
The irrigation system of claim 1 wherein the one or more of the central irrigation controller and the irrigation controller comprise or are connected to a satellite transceiver (supra claim 1, Chrstifort, 0054, 0067, 0078, 0115, 0143)
Claim 4.
The irrigation system of claim 3 wherein the one or more of the central irrigation controller and the irrigation controller operate in accordance with a schedule (Christfort, 0029-32, 0042 e.g. see schedules, see also Li, 0003, 0050-51)
Claim 5.
The irrigation system of claim 3 but does not expressly teach communicating between a mobile device and irrigation component using satellite communications. Li teaches a mobile device communicating with an irrigation component while Manongi teaches communicating with the irrigation component and a remote device via satellite communication
wherein the irrigation system component is configured to transmit communications to a mobile electronic device and/or receive communication from the mobile electronic device via the one or more communication satellites (e.g. supra claim 1 for employing communication satellites for communicating between a remote device/headquarter and irrigation component), wherein the mobile electronic device has an irrigation control application installed one or more irrigation control devices comprise at least one of an irrigation controller, a central irrigation controller, and a mobile electronic device having an irrigation control application installed thereon (Li, see mobile device having control applications, 0050-51, 0100, Figure 1-152
One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention applying the teachings of Li, as modified by Christfort, namely communicating between a satellite irrigation controller w/satellite transceiver/receiver and irrigation controllers, to the teachings of Li, namely communicating between a mobile device and irrigation controllers over a wireless network, to the teachings of Manongi, namely communicating between an irrigation component and remote computer/headquarter via satellite, would achieve an expected and predictable result via communicating between a mobile device and irrigation component using satellite communication. Whether a mobile device/remote computer is used in place of or in addition to the central irrigation controller, an expected and predictable result is realized that satellite communications enable the mobile device to communicate with the irrigation component for data exchange.
Claim 6.
The irrigation system of claim 1, wherein the parameter control unit comprises a memory storing the parameter control application (supra claim 1 for storing communication parameters and software application, see Peitz, 0023 for device implementing a parameter control unit, see also Struhsaker et a;., 0052 for memory based applications for adjusting at least communication frequency
Claim 7.
The irrigation system of claim 1, wherein the irrigation system component is configured to directly communicate with the one or more communication satellites (supra claim 1, Christfort, 0054 , 0067, 0078, 0082, see also Rhee, Figure 4, Figure 6, supra claim 1)
Claim 8.
The irrigation system of claim 1, wherein the irrigation system component is configured to transmit communications to the satellite server and/or receive communications from the satellite server via the one or more communication satellites (supra claim 1, Christfort, 0054 , 0067, 0078, 0082)
Claim 9.
The irrigation system of claim 1 wherein the one or more of the central irrigation controller and the irrigation controller are configured to transmit communications to the satellite server and/or receive communications from the satellite server via the one or more communication satellites (supra claim 1, see also Christfort for data exchange, 0054 , 0067, 0078, 0082, see also Rhee, Figure 4, Figure 6)
Claim 11.
The irrigation system of claim 1, wherein the one or more communication satellites comprise communication satellites that are configured for satellite-to-satellite communications (Rhee, 0031 e.g. “In embodiments, the authentication process described above may be performed by the satellite 104 b instead of the satellite 104 a. The satellite 104 a may relay the control data received from the mobile device 102 a to the satellite 104 b by the inter-satellite communication, and the satellite 104 b may validate the user ID and send a signal for granting an access right to the mobile device 102 a via the satellite 102 a. By way of example, the mobile device 102 a may control the satellite 104 b to acquire an image of tsunami on a specific location on the Earth at a specific point in time.:)
Claim 14.
The irrigation system of claim 1 further comprising an irrigation control application described below.
and, when executed by a processor of the mobile electronic device, the irrigation control application is configured to control communication parameters of the irrigation system component (supra claim 1 for employing mobile device for setting a desired battery life, Peitz
Claim 17.
The irrigation system of claim 1, wherein the irrigation system component is a component with one of the water emitter, the valve actuator, the valve, the decoder, the pump, the power control device, and the sensor, or a component with any one or more of or any combination of the water emitter, the valve actuator, the valve, the decoder, the pump, the power control device, and the sensor (Christfort, Figure 1, supra claim 1, ABSTRACT)
Claim 20.
The irrigation system of claim 1, further comprising multiple irrigation control devices including the central irrigation controller, the irrigation controller, and at least one additional irrigation controller, supra claim 1, and multiple irrigation system components comprising at least one of the water emitter, the valve actuator, the valve, the decoder, the pump, the power control device, and the sensor, wherein the multiple irrigation control devices are interconnected in a hierarchy to distribute the multiple irrigation system components across the multiple irrigation control devices (Christfort, Figure 1, ABSTRACT)
Claim 35.
The applied prior art teaches the irrigation system of claim 1, wherein the parameter control application is configured, when executed, to set up or update, with the determined set of communication parameters, communication parameters of the irrigation system component., supra claim 1 e.g. see adapting communication parameters)
Claim 36. The irrigation system of claim 1, wherein the parameter control unit comprises a mobile electronic device comprising the control circuit and storing the parameter control application in a memory of the mobile electronic device (supra claim 1 for mobile device receiving and controlling communication parameters, see Peitz. 0023, Figure 2)
Claim 37. The irrigation system of claim 1, wherein the parameter control unit is implemented by: a server executing the parameter control application; the central irrigation controller executing the parameter control application; or the irrigation controller executing the parameter control application, supra claim 1 for an irrigation controller comprising the parameter control unit)
Claims 10, 30, and 32 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li et al. (PG/PUB 20090099701) in view over Chrisfort (PG/PUB 20090216345) in view over Struhsaker et al. (PG/PUB 20200367069) in view over Peitz et al. (PG/PUB 20200218438) in view over Manongi “RF Based Smart Irrigation Monitoring System, 2020”) in view over Rhee (PG/PUB 20210011173)
Claim 10.
The irrigation system of claim 1 but does not expressly teach the satellite server described below. Rhee teaches the satellite server described below,
wherein the one or more central irrigation controller and the irrigation controller are configured to communicate, via a terrestrial network, with a server to deliver, via the server and the one or more communication satellites, messages to the irrigation system component (supra claim 1, see Rhee for “of or related to earth”/terrestrial communication and satellite server , Figure 5, Figure 6, 0054-55 , 0084, 0086, see also Christfort, 0054 , 0067, 0078, 0082) and satellite server , Figure 5, Figure 6, 0054-55 , 0084, 0086, see also Christfort, 0054 , 0067, 0078, 0082)
One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention applying the teachings of Rhee, namely providing a satellite server for assisting communication between a mobile device and multiple satellites, to the teachings of Li, as modified (supra claim 1), namely enabling the central controller, irrigation controller, irrigation controller, and mobile device to communicate over satellites, would achieve an expected and predictable result via incorporating a satellite server to assist with satellite communications between the distributed irrigation controllers, see Rhee for “of or related to earth”/terrestrial communication and satellite server , Figure 5, Figure 6, 0054-55 , 0084, 0086, see also Christfort, 0054 , 0067, 0078, 0082)
Claim 30.
The irrigation system of claim 1 but does not teach the request limitations described below. Rhee teaches the request limitations described below
wherein the one or more of the central irrigation controller and the irrigation controller comprise an irrigation control application stored in a memory of the one or more the central irrigation controller and the irrigation controller (supra claim 1 e,g, see irrigation control applications/programs/schedules) and, when executed by a processor of the one or more of the central irrigation controller and the irrigation controller, the irrigation control application is configured to: request satellite communication availability information from a server; and receive the satellite communication availability information from the server ( see Rhee for “of or related to earth”/terrestrial communication and satellite server , Figure 5, Figure 6, 0054-55 , 0084, 0086, see also Christfort, 0054 , 0067, 0078, 0082)
One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention applying the teachings of Rhee, namely providing a satellite server for assisting communication between a mobile device and multiple satellites as well as providing a listing of available satellite, to the teachings of Li, as modified (supra claim 1), namely enabling the central controller, irrigation controller, irrigation controller, and mobile device to communicate over satellites, would achieve an expected and predictable result via incorporating a satellite server to assist with satellite communications between the distributed irrigation controllers. Moreover, one of ordinary skill in the art adapting the irrigation control applications to include the functions of Rhee (e.g. displaying availability) satellites would achieve an expected and predictable result of enabling a user to view availability from multiple computer for redundancy. Whether one or multiple irrigation applications are adapted to include the display function of Rhee for showing listings, an expected and predictable result is realized.
Claim 32.
The irrigation system of claim 30 but does not teach displaying the satellite availability. Rhee teaches displaying the satellite availability,
wherein the irrigation control application is further configured to display to a user, via a display of the one or more of the central irrigation controller and the irrigation controller, the satellite communication availability information (supra claim 1, see Rhee, Figure 5-506e)
One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention applying the teachings of Rhee, namely providing a satellite server for assisting communication between a mobile device and multiple satellites, to the teachings of Li, as modified (supra claim 1), namely enabling the central controller, irrigation controller, irrigation controller, and mobile device to communicate over satellites and including controller applications, would achieve an expected and predictable result via incorporating a satellite server to assist with satellite communications between the distributed irrigation controllers, see Rhee for “of or related to earth”/terrestrial communication and satellite server , Figure 5, Figure 6, 0054-55 , 0084, 0086, see also Christfort, 0054 , 0067, 0078, 0082). Moreover, one of ordinary skill in the art adapting the irrigation control applications to include the functions of Rhee (e.g. displaying availability) satellites would achieve an expected and predictable result of enabling a user to view availability from multiple computer for redundancy. Whether one or multiple irrigation applications are adapted to include the display function of Rhee for showing listings, an expected and predictable result is realized.
Claim 31 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li et al. (PG/PUB 20090099701) in view over Christfort (PG/PUB 20090216345) in view over Struhsaker et al. (PG/PUB 20200367069) in view over Peitz et al. (PG/PUB 20200218438) in view over Manongi “RF Based Smart Irrigation Monitoring System, 2020”) in view over Rhee (PG/PUB 20210011173)in view over Andrews (PG/PUB 20140039695)
Claim 31.
The irrigation system of claim 30 but does not expressly teach the location limitations described below. Andrews teaches the location limitations described below
wherein, when executed by the processor of the one or more irrigation control devices, the irrigation control application is further configured to receive, from the one or more communication satellites, locations of the irrigation system component (0059, 0060, 0061 e.g. see receiving satellite depiction of area including locations of irrigation components)
One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention applying the teachings of Andrews, namely receiving satellite depictions of irrigation systems location, to the teachings of Christfort, namely providing client devices for irrigation control, would achieve an expected and predictable result of identifying irrigation regions and associated equipment for optimizing irrigation watering and fertilization as described, 0006.
Claim 33 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li et al. (PG/PUB 20090099701) in view over Chrisfort (PG/PUB 20090216345) in view over Struhsaker et al. (PG/PUB 20200367069) in view over Peitz et al. (PG/PUB 20200218438) in view over Manongi “RF Based Smart Irrigation Monitoring System, 2020”) in view over Rhee (PG/PUB 20210011173) in view over Monet (USPN 6272316)
Claim 33.
Li, as modified, teaches the irrigation system of claim 30 but does not expressly teach the upcoming time and duration described below. Monet et al. teaches the upcoming time and duration described below
wherein the satellite communication availability information comprises upcoming time and duration for communication with at least one of the one or more communication satellites based on a geographic location (ABSTRACT, Figure 2A, Col 4 lines 28-48, Col 10 lines 44-52)
One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention applying the teachings of Rhee, namely providing a mobile device configured to control communication parameters, to the teachings of Christfort, namely providing client devices for irrigation control, to the teachings of Monet, namely displaying upcoming satellite schedules indicative of duration and time, would achieve an expected and predictable result via adapting a mobile device with the irrigation programs for use in regulating control parameters for satellite communication while facilitating user selection of an optimal satellite based on desired communication,
Claim 22 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li et al. (PG/PUB 20090099701) in view over Chrisfort (PG/PUB 20090216345) in view over Struhsaker et al. (PG/PUB 20200367069) in view over Peitz et al. (PG/PUB 20200218438) in view over Manongi “RF Based Smart Irrigation Monitoring System, 2020”)) in view over Haaland (PG/PUB 20130211717)
Claim 22.
The irrigation system of claim 1 but does not expressly teach the sharing limitations described below. Haaland teaches the sharing limitations described below
wherein the irrigation system component comprising the sensor, the sensor comprising or connected to the satellite transceiver, and the sensor is configured to: communicate with the one or more communication satellites; and share, via the one or more communication satellites, sensor data to the one or more of the central irrigation controller devices and/or an irrigation control device of another irrigation system used by another user (Haaland, ABSTRACT, Figure 1, ABSTRACT, 0053 , 0069, 0073 e.g. see satellite relaying sensor data from ground location to remote monitoring site for control, see also Christfort, Figure 1, )
One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention applying the teachings of Haaland, namely sharing sensor data via a satellite within a control site, to the teachings of Christfort, as modified by Rees, namely providing satellite based remote servers and controllers, would achieve an expected and predictable result of relaying irrigation data to multiple control sites, including irrigation sites, for coordinated control. Haaland is reasonably pertinent to a problem of data sharing via satellite networks while sharing the same field of endeavor of irrigation.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Claim 1 relevancy
20210011173 20220060254 20210011173 10797785 20210209748 6690934
20090216345 20210011173
Claim 13 relevancy (location identification via satellites)
20180084742 20180276594 20180348714 20160202679 20160029545 20140039695
Claim 22 relevancy
20190307084 6317029 20140222374 20220150738 20230336696 20200218438
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/DARRIN D DUNN/Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2117