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 .
Claims 1-20 are pending.
Claims 1-20 are rejected below.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 3-12, and 17-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Schindler (U.S. Pat. 6,817,890).
As to claim 1, 17 and 20 a networking device, comprising: ports connectable via respective communications links to remote devices ( col. 3 lines 59-65 Network segments 18A through 18C each comprises one or more communications devices 20. A connector assembly 30 is coupled to communications switch 14 to provide one or more ports that may be used to physically connect communications devices 20.); port status lights (col. 4 lines 9 - 12 In accordance with aspects of the present invention, connector assembly 30 integrates components that are used to provide status indicators for connector assembly 30 and its associated ports.), each of the ports being associated with at least one of the port status lights configured to indicate a status of the port (col. 4 lines 9 - 12 In accordance with aspects of the present invention, connector assembly 30 integrates components that are used to provide status indicators for connector assembly 30 and its associated ports.); one or more fans (element 46), each of the one or more fans being configured to provide an airflow through the networking device (col. 5 lines 33-45 FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating components of a switch 14, including connector assembly 30, in accordance with a particular embodiment of the present invention. Switch 14 includes a printed circuit board 40. Printed circuit board 40 may be referred to as the "primary" or "main" circuit board of switch 14, since many basic components of switch 14 are coupled with and/or affixed to printed circuit board 40. Accordingly, such printed circuit boards are commonly referred to as the "motherboard" of switch 14. For example, a processor 42, power supply 44 and fan 46 may be coupled with printed circuit board 40, in accordance with a particular embodiment of the present invention.); and control circuitry configured to, in a state of at least one remote device being connected to at least one of the ports: monitor drive signals for driving the port status lights; and control the airflows provided by the one or more fans based at least in part on the drive signals for driving the port status lights (col. Lines 21-34 This allows secondary processor 62 to control the operation of fan 46. For example, if secondary processor 62 detects more than a certain number of "active" ports of connection assembly 30, secondary processor may cause fan 46 to actuate (in an alternative embodiment, the secondary processor may receive high level instructions regarding the operation of the tans from the CPU). Similarly, if fan 46 is a variable speed fan, secondary processor 62 may control the speed of the fan based upon the number of devices that are coupled with switch 14. In an alternative embodiment, secondary processor may be coupled with temperature sensor, and secondary processor may control the fan speed based upon the measured temperature).
As to claim 3, Schindler teaches wherein the port status lights comprise light-emitting diodes (LEDs) (col. 7 lines 46-60).
As to claim 4, Schindler teaches wherein the control circuitry is further configured to: monitor signals from one or more temperature sensors; and control the airflows provided by the one or more fans based at least in part on the signals for the one or more temperature sensors (col. 9 lines 17-34).
As to claim 5, Schindler teaches wherein the control circuitry is configured to, as part of monitoring the drive signals for driving the port status lights: determine a total number of the drive signals that satisfy a first criterion; and compare the total number of the drive signals that satisfy the first criterion to a first threshold (col. 9 lines 17-34 active ports).
As to claim 6, Schindler teaches wherein the first criterion comprises at least one of: the drive signal having an ON value configured to turn on one of the port status lights (col.7 lines 47-60); the drive signal having an ON value configured to cause one of the port status lights to emit a predetermined color (col.7 lines 47-60); the drive signal having a voltage equal to a predetermined voltage; the drive signal having a voltage equal to or greater than the predetermined voltage; the drive signal having a duty cycle or frequency equal to or greater than a predetermined value; and/or the drive signal being indicative of a predetermined status.
As to claim 7, Schindler teaches wherein each drive signal that satisfied the first criterion is indicative of an established connection between one of the ports and one of the remote devices and/or a transmission of data between one of the ports and one of the remote devices (col.7 lines 47-60).
As to claim 8, Schindler teaches wherein the control circuitry is configured to, in controlling the airflows provided by the one or more fans based at least in part on the drive signals: activate the one or more fans if the total number of the drive signals that satisfy the first criterion is greater than or equal to the first threshold; and deactivate the one or more fans if the total number of the drive signals that satisfy the first criterion is less than the first threshold (col. 9 lines 22-34 active ports being the threshold).
As to claim 9, Schindler teaches wherein activating the one or more fans comprises the control circuitry setting respective speeds of the one or more fans based on a first fan speed curve (col. 9 lines 22-34 variable fan speed).
As to claim 10, Schindler teaches wherein the control circuitry is configured to: In monitoring the drive signals for driving the port status lights, if the total number of the drive signals that satisfy the first criterion is greater than or equal to the first threshold, compare the total number of the drive signals to a second threshold; and in controlling the one or more fans based at least in part on the drive signals: set a speed of the one or more fans based on a first fan speed curve if the total number of the drive signals is less than the second threshold and equal to or greater than the first threshold; and set the speed of the one or more fans based on a second fan speed curve if the total number of the drive signals is greater than or equal to the second threshold (col. 9 lines 22-34 shows that based on the number of active ports the fan speed can be change to accommodate those ports).
As to claim 11, Schindler teaches wherein the control circuitry is configured to, in monitoring the drive signals for driving the port status lights, if the total number of the drive signals that satisfy the first criterion is greater than or equal to the first threshold, compare the total number of the drive signals to a second threshold (col. 9 lines 22-34 shows that based on the number of active ports the fan speed can be change to accommodate those ports the number of active ports being the various thresholds).
As to claim 12, Schindler teaches wherein the control circuitry is configured to, in controlling the airflows provided by the one or more fans based at least in part on the drive signals: select a first fan speed curve for controlling rotational speeds of the one or more fans if the total number of the drive signals that satisfy the first criterion is less than the first threshold; and select a second fan curve for controlling rotational speeds of the one or more fans if the total number of the drive signals that satisfy the first criterion is equal to or greater than the first threshold (col. 9 lines 22-34 shows that based on the number of active ports the fan speed can be change to accommodate those ports).
As to claim 18, Schindler teaches wherein monitoring the drive signals for driving the port status lights comprises: determining a total number of the drive signals that satisfy a first criterion; determining an aggregate duty cycle of the drive signals within a predetermined measurement time window; and/or determining a color change of one or more of the port status lights (col.7 lines 47-60).
As to claim 19, Schindler teaches wherein setting a speed of the one or more fans of the network device based at least in part on the drive signals comprises: activating the one or more fans based on the drive signals; deactivating the one or more fans based on the drive signals; selecting a fan speed curve from among multiple fan speed curves based on the drive signals, the selected fan speed curve being used to determine a fan speed set point; and/or determining a fan speed set point based on a predetermined functional relationship between the drive signals and the fan speed (col. 9 lines 21-34).
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.
Claim(s) 2, 13-16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Schindler (U.S. Pat. 6,817,890) in view of Gong (U.S. PG Pub. 2019/0386836).
Schindler teaches most of the claimed invention, but does not teach all of the claimed invention, however, these are an obvious variation as taught by Gong as follows:
As to claim 2, Gong teaches wherein the ports are configured to provide power-over- ethernet (PoE) and the remote devices comprise PoE powered devices (PD), such that the ports are connectable via the respective communications links to the PDs to supply power to and exchange communications with the PDs [0010].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date to include the teachings of Gong into the system and methods of Schindler. The motivation to combine is that Gong teaches the power control and monitor circuitry can be individually turned off by the micro-controller to minimize standby power, the micro-controller can be put into deep sleep if no PD is detected or can be come out of deep sleep if a PD is detected [0010].
As to claim 13, Gong teaches wherein the control circuitry is configured to, in monitoring the drive signals for driving the port status lights: determine an aggregate duty cycle of the drive signals within a predetermined measurement time window; and compare the aggregate duty cycle to a first threshold[0041 high or low].
As to claim 14, Gong teaches wherein a duty cycle of each drive signal is indicative of a load associated with one of the ports [0041].
As to claim 15, Schindler teaches based on an active port load the fan can be increased in speed (col. 9 lines 21-34), Gong then teaches that the duty cycles can determine how active a port is. As such the duty cycle would determine port activity and then the need for a fan.
As to claim 16, Schindler teaches wherein activating the one or more fans comprises the control circuitry setting a speed of the one or more fans based on a first fan speed curve (col. 9 lines 21-34).
Other prior art of record
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Gupta (U.S. Pat. 12,380,791) teaches color changing port lights.
Jacks (U.S. Pat. 7,938,700) teaches transmitting control signals to control indicator lights.
Zou (U.S. PG Pub. 2024/0187266) teaches a PSE with power use status lights.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NATHAN L LAUGHLIN whose telephone number is (571)270-1042. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8AM-4PM.
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/NATHAN L LAUGHLIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2119