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 rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-20 under 35 U.S.C. 103 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 Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn.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 US9534928 to Taft.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1-10, 12 and 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US20240429716 to Sharif-Askary (hereinafter “Sharif”), in view of US20220166221 to Brombach, in view of US9534928 to Taft.
As per claim 1, Sharif substantially discloses an electric grid operation system (Sharif, see Fig. 1 and [0018]-[0024]) comprising:
a central controller layer configured to monitor conditions of an electric grid and control operations of the electric grid (Sharif, see Fig. 1 and [0018]-[0024]);
an intermediate controller layer in communication with the central controller layer, wherein the intermediate controller layer comprises a plurality of hubs configured to monitor operations of grid edge device connected to different regions of the electric grid (Sharif, see Fig. 1 and [0018]-[0024]);
wherein the central controller layer is configured to perform operations comprising:
obtaining, from each hub, sensor data performed by the grid edge devices monitored by the hub (Sharif, see Fig. 1-Fig. 2 and [0018]-[0040]);
determining, based on the sensor data and expected grid-wide operations, individual control strategies for each different region of the electric grid, wherein each control strategy comprise expected electrical operating conditions for the respective region of the electric grid over a period of time (Sharif, see Fig. 1-Fig. 2, [0018]-[0040] and [0059]-[0061]); and
providing a respective control strategy to each hub (Sharif, see Fig. 2, [0018] and [0025]-[0061]);
wherein each hub of the plurality of hubs in the intermediate controller layer is configured to perform operations comprising:
in response to receiving the respective control strategy for the hub, generating one or more operational parameters for at least one grid edge device for the operation of the electric grid (Sharif, see Fig. 2, [0018]-[0025]-[0061]); and
providing the one or more operational parameters to the at least one grid edge device; wherein providing the one or more operational parameters cause the at least one grid edge device to adjust its operation (Sharif, see Fig. 2, [0018]-[0025]-[0061]).
Sharif does not explicitly disclose wherein generating the one or more operational parameters is based on the expected operating conditions for the hub.
However, Brombach in an analogous art discloses wherein generating the one or more operational parameters is based on the expected operating conditions for the hub (Brombach, see Fig. 3, [0148]-[0168], [0076] and [0025]-[0028]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate teaching of Brombach into the system of Sharif. The modification would be obvious because one of the ordinary skill in the art would want to operate an electrical grid stably but also in as economically optimized a manner as possible (Brombach, see [0005]).
The combination of Sharif and Brombach does not explicitly disclose each of the plurality of hubs configured to monitor grid conditions for the respective region of the electric grid, obtaining sensor data corresponding to measurements of the grid conditions in the respective region of the hub, wherein the measurements are performed by the grid edge devices monitored by the hub.
However, Taft in an analogous art discloses each of the plurality of hubs configured to monitor grid conditions for the respective region of the electric grid, obtaining sensor data corresponding to measurements of the grid conditions in the respective region of the hub, wherein the measurements are performed by the grid edge devices monitored by the hub (Taft, see col. 3 lines 9-50)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate teaching of Taft into the above combination of Sharif and Brombach. The modification would be obvious because one of the ordinary skill in the art would want to improve the management of the power grid in several aspects including grid state measurement, non-operational collection and storage, event management, demand reduction signaling, outage intelligence, fault intelligence, remote asset monitoring (including monitoring one or more assets within the power grid), power quality monitoring (such as the purity of the current/voltage waveform), system performance measurement (such as reliability as to whether the power is on or off), work order initiation, meta data management, notification agent, meter data collection, transactional analytics, grid control processes, and real-time analytics (Taft, see col. 4 lines 1-13).
As per claim 2, the rejection of claim 1 is incorporated, Brombach further discloses the expected electrical operating condition of the control strategy for the region comprise a power flow for the region (Brombach, see Fig. 3, [0148]-[0168], [0076] and [0025]-[0028]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate teaching of Brombach into the system of Sharif. The modification would be obvious because one of the ordinary skill in the art would want to operate an electrical grid stably but also in as economically optimized a manner as possible (Brombach, see [0005]).
As per claim 3, the rejection of claim 1 is incorporated, Sharif further discloses wherein the central controller layer monitoring conditions of the electric grid further comprises obtaining geographical data related to the electric grid, wherein the geographical data includes weather conditions of the electric grid (Sharif, see [0059]-[0061]).
As per claim 4, the rejection of claim 3 is incorporated, Sharif further discloses wherein the data related to the electric grid comprises distribution management data (Sharif, see [0051]-[0061]).
As per claim 5, the rejection of claim 1 is incorporated, Sharif further discloses wherein the different regions of the electric grid comprise one or more different electrical feeders (Sharif, see Fig. 1 and [0022]).
As per claim 6, the rejection of claim 1 is incorporated, Sharif further discloses wherein providing the one or more operational parameters to the edge device causes the edge device to operate autonomously within the one or more operational parameters (Sharif, see [0021]-[0023] and Fig. 1). Brombach further discloses the at least one grid edge device is an inverter, operating the inverter (Brombach, see [0089]-[0090]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate teaching of Brombach into the system of Sharif. The modification would be obvious because one of the ordinary skill in the art would want to operate an electrical grid stably but also in as economically optimized a manner as possible (Brombach, see [0005]).
As per claim 7, the rejection of claim 1 is incorporated, Sharif further discloses the grid edge device comprise an electric vehicle charging station (Sharif, see [0022]).
As per claim 8, the rejection of claim 1 is incorporated, Sharif further discloses each of the hubs are configured to report electric grid data for the respective region of the hub, the electric grid data representing historical/current measurements of respective grid edge devices (Sharif, see Fig. 1-Fig. 2 and [0018]-[0040]).
As per claim 9, the rejection of claim 1 is incorporated, Sharif further discloses wherein obtaining, by the central controller layer, the sensor data corresponding to the measurements performed by the grid edge devices comprises transmitting a request for the sensor data to at least one hub of the plurality of hubs and, in response to the request, receiving the sensor data from respective grid edge devices associated with the at least one hub (Sharif, see Fig. 1-Fig. 2, [0018]-[0040] and [0117]).
As per claim 10, the rejection of claim 1 is incorporated, Sharif further discloses determining, by the central controller layer, the individual control strategies for each different region of the electric grid comprises performing data analytics using the sensor data and the expected grid-wide operations (Sharif, see Fig. 1-Fig. 2, and [0018]-[0061]).
As per claim 12, the rejection of claim 10 is incorporated, Sharif further discloses the expected grid-wide operations further comprises weather data related to geographic regions encompassed by the electric grid (Sharif, see [0059]-[0061]).
As per claim 14, the rejection of claim 1 is incorporated, Sharif further discloses wherein each of the plurality of hubs are communicatively coupled to each other, wherein the central controller layer is configured to publish one or more of the individual control strategies to the intermediate controller layer, and the plurality of hubs are configured to subscribe to the intermediate controller layer to receive the respective one or more of the individual control strategies (Sharif, see Fig. 1-Fig. 2, and [0018]-[0061]).
Claim(s) 11, 13 and 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sharif, in view Brombach, in view of Taft, further in view of US20140350743 to Asghari et al. (hereinafter “Asghari”).
As per claim 11, the rejection of claim 10 is incorporated, the combination of Sharif, Brombach and Taft does not explicitly disclose determining battery charging and discharging pattern. However, Asghari in an analogous art discloses determining battery charging and discharging pattern (Asghari, see [0046]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate teaching of Asghari into the above combination of Sharif, Brombach and Taft. The modification would be obvious because one of the ordinary skill in the art would want to provide a system that guarantees the balance between generation and consumption within the micro-grid at each time step while it satisfies the optimal performance constraints (Asghari, see [0060]).
As per claim 13, the rejection of claim 1 is incorporated, Sharif further discloses the central controller layer is configured to perform operation comprising: updating a model based on the sensor data from each of the hubs, and determining, using the model, expected operations for each region in the electric grid during the period of time (Sharif, see Fig. 1-Fig. 2, and [0018]-[0061]). The combination of Sharif, Brombach and Taft does not explicitly disclose determining expected loads for each region using the model.
However, Asghari in an analogous art discloses determining expected loads for each region using the model (Asghari, see Fig. 3A-Fig. 3B and [0036]-[0045]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate teaching of Asghari into the above combination of Sharif, Brombach and Taft. The modification would be obvious because one of the ordinary skill in the art would want to provide a system that guarantees the balance between generation and consumption within the micro-grid at each time step while it satisfies the optimal performance constraints (Asghari, see [0060]).
As per claim 15, the rejection of claim 1 is incorporated, Sharif further discloses the plurality of hubs is configured to provide the one or more operational parameters to adjust operation of the at least one grid edge device (Sharif, see Fig. 1-Fig. 2, and [0018]-[0061]). The combination of Sharif, Brombach and Taft does not explicitly disclose incrementally adjust operation of the grid edge device. However, Asghari in an analogous art discloses incrementally adjust operation of the grid edge device (Asghari, see [0044]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate teaching of Asghari into the above combination of Sharif, Brombach and Taft. The modification would be obvious because one of the ordinary skill in the art would want to provide a system that guarantees the balance between generation and consumption within the micro-grid at each time step while it satisfies the optimal performance constraints (Asghari, see [0060]).
Claim(s) 16-17 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sharif, in view Asghari, in view of Taft.
As per claim 16, Sharif substantially discloses an electric grid operation method executed by one or more computers of an intermediate controller layer of a grid control architecture (Sharif, see Fig. 1-Fig. 2 and Fig. 5), the method comprising:
communicating sensor data from one or more grid edge devices under supervision of the intermediate controller layer to a central controller layer of the grid control architecture, the intermediate controller layer configured to monitor operations of grid edge devices within the respective region of an electric grid (Sharif, see Fig. 1-Fig. 2 and [0018]-[0040]);
receiving, from the central controller layer, a control strategy for the region of the electric grid, wherein the control strategy comprises expected electrical operating conditions for the region of the electric grid over a period of time (Sharif, see Fig. 2, [0018] and [0025]-[0061];
determining, based on the control strategy, one or more operational parameters for at least one grid edge device, wherein the one or more operational parameters provide for autonomous operations of the at least one grid edge device during the time period based on the expected electrical operating conditions of the region of the electric grid (Sharif, see Fig. 1-Fig. 2, and [0018]-[0061]); and
providing the one or more operational parameters to the least one grid edge device, wherein providing the one or more operational parameters causes the at least one grid edge device to adjust its operation (Sharif, see Fig. 1-Fig. 2, and [0018]-[0061]).
Sharif does not explicitly disclose the operational parameters provide constraints for operations of the grid edge device. However, Asghari in an analogous art discloses the operational parameters provide constraints for operations of the grid edge device (Asghari, see [0037]-[0046]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate teaching of Asghari into the method of Sharif. The modification would be obvious because one of the ordinary skill in the art would want to provide a system that guarantees the balance between generation and consumption within the micro-grid at each time step while it satisfies the optimal performance constraints (Asghari, see [0060]).
The combination of Sharif and Asghari does not explicitly disclose sensor data corresponding to measurements performed by one or more grid edge device, the sensor data representing grid operating conditions at the one or more grid edge devices in a respective region for a hub in the intermediate controller layer.
However, Taft in an analogous art discloses sensor data corresponding to measurements performed by one or more grid edge device, the sensor data representing grid operating conditions at the one or more grid edge devices in a respective region for a hub in the intermediate controller layer (Taft, see col. 3 lines 9-50 and col. 7 lines 25-42).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate teaching of Taft into the above combination of Sharif and Asghari. The modification would be obvious because one of the ordinary skill in the art would want to improve the management of the power grid in several aspects including grid state measurement, non-operational collection and storage, event management, demand reduction signaling, outage intelligence, fault intelligence, remote asset monitoring (including monitoring one or more assets within the power grid), power quality monitoring (such as the purity of the current/voltage waveform), system performance measurement (such as reliability as to whether the power is on or off), work order initiation, meta data management, notification agent, meter data collection, transactional analytics, grid control processes, and real-time analytics (Taft, see col. 4 lines 1-13).
As per claim 17, the rejection of claim 16 is incorporated, Sharif further discloses the region comprises an electrical feeder (Sharif, see Fig. 1 and [0022]).
As per claim 20, the rejection of claim 16 is incorporated, Sharif further discloses wherein the grid edge devices comprise an electric vehicle charging station (Sharif, see [0022]).
Claim(s) 18-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sharif, in view Asghari, in view of Taft, in view of Brombach.
As per claim 18, the rejection of claim 16 is incorporated, Sharif further discloses wherein providing the one or more operational parameters to the grid edge device causes the grid edge device to operate autonomously within the one or more operational parameter (Sharif, see [0021]-[0023] and Fig. 1). The combination of Sharif, Asghari and Taft does not explicitly disclose the at least one grid edge device is an inverter, operating the inverter. However, Brombach in an analogous art discloses the at least one grid edge device is an inverter, operating the inverter (Brombach, see [0089]-[0090]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate teaching of Brombach into the above combination of Sharif, Asghari and Taft. The modification would be obvious because one of the ordinary skill in the art would want to operate an electrical grid stably but also in as economically optimized a manner as possible (Brombach, see [0005]).
As per claim 19, the rejection of claim 16 is incorporated, the combination of Sharif, Asghari and Taft does not explicitly disclose the expected electrical operating condition of the control strategy for the region comprise a power flow for the region. However, Brombach in an analogous art discloses the expected electrical operating condition of the control strategy for the region comprise a power flow for the region (Brombach, see Fig. 3, [0148]-[0168], [0076] and [0025]-[0028]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate teaching of Brombach into the above combination of Sharif, Asghari and Taft. The modification would be obvious because one of the ordinary skill in the art would want to operate an electrical grid stably but also in as economically optimized a manner as possible (Brombach, see [0005]).
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any extension fee 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 date of this final action.
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/JASON LIN/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2117