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 Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities. In Claim 1, the phrase “the candidate relay device” should be changed to “the relay device” or “a candidate relay device”, otherwise, it is not defined.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding Claim 17, “the ordered set of the one or more candidate relay devices” is not defined. There is insufficient antecedent basis in the claim. Furthermore, since there is only one ordered set of candidate relay devices, not sure what each ordered set of candidate relay devices refers to? At the last limitation, determine, …, an ordered set of candidate relay divides again, is this ordered set of candidate relay devices the same as the ordered set of candidate relay devices received from the network side in claim 16?
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) 1, 9, 16-18, 23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wu (US 20170367027) in view of Chen (US 20170347338) further in view of Matthews (US 20170025857).
Regarding claim 1. Wu discloses electronic device, comprising:
at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code, where the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured, with the at least one processor (fig. 9), to cause the electronic device to:
determine one or more candidate relay devices for user equipment ([0035][0068-69] sorts the candidate communication devices in a descending order of the predictive energy values);
rank the one or more candidate relay devices based on energy ([0035][0069] sorts the candidate communication devices in a descending order of the predictive energy values, and determine the first N candidate communication devices with maximum energy values as the relay communication devices, where N≧1).
Wu does not explicitly disclose: send the ordered set of candidate relay devices to the user equipment, for the user equipment to determine a relay device based on the ordered set of candidate relay devices and to communicate with a satellite device using the relay device.
Chen discloses: send the ordered set of candidate relay devices to the user equipment, for the user equipment to determine a relay device based on the ordered set of candidate relay devices and to communicate with a (Chen, [0737], the user equipment receives a relay reception resource pool (or an ordered set of relay devices) sent or preconfigured by a network control node. Here, the relay resource pool can be modified to include the ordered set of candidate relay devices taught by Wu).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the time of effective filing to combine the teachings of ranking candidate devices as given by Wu with the teachings of exchanges resources given by Chen. The motivation for doing so would have been to dynamically select relay nodes (Chen, [0005]).
Wu and Chen do not explicitly disclose the electronic device communicates with a satellite,
energy data is related to energy harvesting capability, wherein the candidate relay device converts harvested energy into electrical energy to supply power to the candidate relay device.
Matthews discloses the electronic device communicates with a satellite (Matthews, fig. 1, [0059], communicate with a satellite device),
energy data is related energy harvesting capability (Matthews, [0016] compares the power data to the amount of electrical energy that the energy harvesting device has harvested), wherein the candidate relay device converts harvested energy into electrical energy to supply power to the candidate relay device (Matthews, [0016] compares the power data to the amount of electrical energy that the energy harvesting device has harvested or is capable of harvesting; begins transmitting electrical energy or converting harvested energy to electrical energy).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the time of effective filing to combine the teachings of ranking candidate devices as given by Wu with the teachings of harvesting energy given by Matthews. The motivation for doing so would have been to dynamically allocate and distribute electrical power between one or more source nodes (Matthews, [0006]).
Claims 16, 23 are rejected similarly with claim 1 noting that Matthews discloses sequentially perform connection with candidate relay devices in the ordered set of candidate relay devices according to an order in the ordered set of candidate relay devices until successful connection with a candidate relay device, and determine the candidate relay device in successful connection as a relay device; and communicate with a satellite device using the relay device, wherein the candidate relay device converts harvested energy into electrical energy to supply power to the candidate relay device (Matthews, [0016], in some cases, may send the confirmation signal to all nodes in the wireless network to notify that it is able (successful) to address the energy needs of the power draining device. On the other hand, if the energy harvesting device determines that it is unable to provide sufficient electrical energy to the requesting power draining device (e.g., to fully charge the power draining device), the energy harvesting device forwards sequentially the power request signal to its neighboring nodes; compares the power data to the amount of electrical energy that the energy harvesting device has harvested or is capable of harvesting; begins transmitting electrical energy or converting harvested energy to electrical energy).
Regarding claim 9. Wu, Chen and Matthews disclose the electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are further configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the electronic device to the processing circuitry is further configured to:
rank the one or more candidate relay devices further based on one or more of the following parameters of the one or more candidate relay devices:
a distance between the candidate relay device and the user equipment,
weather conditions associated with an energy source of the candidate relay device,
a buffer size of the candidate relay device,
the number of user equipment served by the candidate relay device (Matthews, [0068], there is first a check to see if the number of devices requiring power at that level is above a certain threshold (steps 222, 232, 242). If the threshold is met, the energy harvesting device raises and transmits at high power emission, that is, the selection or ranking of the candidate devices), and
quality of connection between the candidate relay device and the satellite device.
It is noted that the applicant uses selective language in this claim and the examiner is only showing one of the claimed options.
Regarding claim 17. Wu, Chen and Matthews disclose the user equipment according to claim 16, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are further configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the user equipment to the processing circuitry is further configured to:
receive the ordered set of the one or more candidate relay devices from the network side device, wherein each ordered set of candidate relay devices corresponds to one transmission power of the user equipment; and determine, based on an actual transmission power of the user equipment, an ordered set of candidate relay devices corresponding to the actual transmission power (Wu, [0035][0069] sorts the candidate communication devices in a descending order of the predictive energy values, and determine the first N candidate communication devices with maximum energy values as the relay communication devices, where N≧1; Chen, [0737] the user equipment receives a relay reception resource pool (or an ordered set of relay devices) sent or preconfigured by a network control node. Here, the relay pool can be modified to include the ordered set of candidate relay devices taught by Wu).
Regarding claim 18. Wu, Chen and Matthews disclose the user equipment according to claim 16, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are further configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the user equipment to the processing circuitry is further configured to:
send, to the network side device, one or more of the following parameters:
a position of the user equipment, current energy of the user equipment, an energy source of the user equipment (Chen, [0258]-[0264], network control node receiving an access relay request containing relay-related information sent by user equipment, the access relay request includes a geographical location of the user equipment),
a mapping relationship between energy and transmission power of the user equipment,
an antenna parameter of the user equipment,
an energy harvesting capability of the user equipment,
sizes of data packets of the user equipment,
a transmission rate of the data packets of the user equipment,
an time interval between the data packets of the user equipment, and
requirements of the user equipment for a transmission delay.
It is noted that the applicant uses selective language in this claim and the examiner is only showing one of the claimed options.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-7, 10-14, 19-21 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ZHENSHENG ZHANG whose telephone number is (571)270-1985. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 8:00am-6:00pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Michael Thier can be reached at 571-272-2832. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/ZHENSHENG ZHANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2474