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 .
This office action is in response to Applicant’s communication filed on 06/23/2026. Claims 5-9,16-25 have been examined. Claims 1-4, 10-15 are Cancelled. Claims 16 – 25 are new.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim 5 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.
With regards to 112 2nd, Applicant’s amendment overcomes the rejection. Therefore, the rejection is withdrawn.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 25 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, and Claim Objections, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Claim Objections
Claims 5,16,20,24,25 are objected to because of the following informalities:
With regards to claims 5,16, 20, the claim recites “the one or more luminaires”. Examiner suggests amending the claims to recite “ the one or more luminaire devices” because claim 5 recites “ one or more luminaire devices”. Appropriate correction is required.
With regards to claim 24,25 the claim recites “each node ”. Examiner suggests amending the claim to recite “ each device” because claims 24 &25 recite “ plurality of devices”. Appropriate correction is required.
With regards to claim 25, the claim recites “ the mobile device”. Examiner suggests amending the claim to recite “ the one or more mobile devices” because claims 20 and 24 which claim 25 depends on recite “ one or more mobile devices”.
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.
Claims 5-9,16-25 are 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.
With regards to claim 5, the claim recites “ one or more remote devices including backend devices”. The claim can be interpreted as one remote device including backend devices. It is unclear how the one remote device comprises backend devices. Therefore, the examiner is unable to determine the metes and bounds of the claim language. Examiner suggests amending the claim to recite “ one or more remote devices including one or more backend devices”.
With regards to claims 24,25, the claims recite “ the plurality of devices”. It is unclear what the plurality of devices are referring to. Therefore, the examiner is unable to determines the metes and bounds of the claim language.
With regards to claim 24, the claim recites “ wherein each light device”. It is unclear what the light device is referring to. The “wherein” clause is usually refers to a previous recitation. The previous recitation recites “ a plurality of devices”. Therefore, the examiner is unable to determines the metes and bounds of the claim language.
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.
Claims 5-6, 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vendetti et al. Publication No. US 2018/0235060 A1 ( Vendetti hereinafter) in view of Reed et al. Publication No. US 2016/0150369 A1 ( Reed hereinafter)
Regarding claim 5,
Vendetti teaches a system to manage non-networked devices (Fig.1), the system comprising:
one or more luminaire devices, the one or more luminaire devices configured for short-range wireless communication but not long-range wireless communication (Fig.1 A, ¶0033 - The luminaire 104F may include a short-range wireless communications protocol (e.g., Bluetooth®) which communicates with a wireless network node 124 physically connected to or located nearby the luminaire 104F by a suitable connection 126. For example, the luminaire 104F may comprise an Area Max™ LED area lighting fixture available from Evluma of Renton, Washington) ;
one or more mobile devices associated with one or more mobile users, the one or more mobile devices configured to establish a short-range wireless communication link with the one or more luminaires (Fig.1A - ¶0034 - the mobile system 106 may communicate with the gateway luminaire 104A via a short-range wireless communications protocol (e.g., Bluetooth ®) when the mobile system is positioned proximate (e.g., within 100 meters) the gateway luminaire 104 by an operator. The gateway luminaire 104A communicates with the terminal luminaires 104B-D via a suitable wireless network (e.g., 802.15.4, Zigbee, 6Lowpan). In at least some implementations, the mobile system 106 is operative to control the luminaires 104A-104D for at least one of commissioning, decommissioning, setting dimming levels and schedules, setting operational parameters, providing firmware updates); and
an asset management platform, the asset management platform including circuitry configured to: establish a wireless mobile device communication link with the one or more mobile devices (Fig.1B , ¶ 0032 - As shown in FIG. 1B, the mobile system 106 may in turn communicate instructions and/or data with a central management system (CMS) 108 via a network 113. As an example, the mobile system 106 may communicate with the CMS 108 via a third communications protocol using wireless transceiver of a third type ("third type transceiver"). In at least some implementations, the mobile system 106 may wirelessly communicate with an access point 110 (e.g., cellular tower, WIFI® access point) communicatively coupled to the CMS 108 via one or more suitable data communications networks 113);
establish a remote device communication link with one or more remote devices, the one or more remote devices including backend devices (¶ 0037 - The central management system 108 may be implemented as a SCADA system or as one or more components thereof. Generally, a SCADA system is a system operating with coded signals over communication channels to provide control of remote equipment. The supervisory system may be combined with a data acquisition system by adding the use of coded signals over communication channels to acquire information about the status of the remote equipment for display or for recording functions – ¶ 0046 - the central management system 108 uses one or more of the logical connections to communicate with one or more mobile systems 106, remote computers, servers and/or other devices via one or more communications channels, for example, the one or more networks 113. These logical connections may facilitate any known method of permitting computers to communicate, such as through one or more LANs and/or WANs – ¶ 0068 - The central management system 108 may also include mapping functions that generate an asset management map which may visually present luminaire information to one or more users. The central management system 108 may also analyze the collected data and generate one or more electronic reports that are valuable for users associated with the illumination system 102);
receive asset management data from the one or more remote users via the remote device communication link, and from the one or more mobile devices via the wireless mobile device communication link (Abstract - Information sent to or collected from the luminaires through the mobile system may be transferred via a mobile network interface from or to a CMS – ¶ 0084 - The mobile system 106 may periodically connect to the gateway luminaire 104A (e.g., over Bluetooth®), which enables the mobile system to access the sensor data stored by the data collector 312 and to transfer the set of data to the central management system 108 or other remote repository. In at least some implementations, the data collector 312 may also be enabled for short-range wireless communication (e.g., Bluetooth®), which allows for direct connection between the data collector 312 and the mobile system 106.);
store the asset management data in a [..] media ;establish a wireless communication connection to the one or more luminaires through the one or more mobile devices via the wireless mobile device communication link and the short-range wireless communication link (Fig.4, ¶ 0040 - The central management system 108 also may include one or more drives 218 for reading from and writing to one or more non transitory computer- or processor-readable media 220 ( e.g., hard disk, magnetic disk, optical disk). The drive 218 may communicate with the processor 206 via the system bus 210. The drive 218 may include interfaces or controllers (not shown) coupled between such drives and the system bus 210, as is known by those skilled in the art. The drives 218 and their associated non- transitory computer- or processor-readable media 220 provide nonvolatile storage of computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules and other data for the central management system 108. Those skilled in the relevant art will appreciate that other types of computer-readable media may be employed to store data accessible by a computer. – ¶ 00043 -0044 - The system memory 208 may include communications programs 240 that permit the central management system 108 to access and exchange data with other networked systems or components, such as the luminaires 104, the mobile systems 106, and/or other computing devices. [0044] While shown in FIG. 4 as being stored in the system memory 208, the operating system 230, application programs 232, other programs/modules 234, program data and communications 240 can be stored on the non transitory computer- or processor-readable media 220 or other non -transitory computer- or processor-readable media Abstract - Information sent to or collected from the luminaires through the mobile system may be transferred via a mobile network interface from or to a CMS);
send the asset management data from the [..] media to the one or more luminaires through the one or more mobile devices via the wireless mobile device communication link and the short-range wireless communication link (Abstract - Information sent to or collected from the luminaires through the mobile system may be transferred via a mobile network interface from or to a CMS - ¶0043 -¶0044 - The system memory 208 may include communications programs 240 that permit the central management system 108 to access and exchange data with other networked systems or components, such as the luminaires 104, the mobile systems 106, and/or other computing devices. [0044] While shown in FIG. 4 as being stored in the system memory 208, the operating system 230, application programs 232, other programs/modules 234, program data and communications 240 can be stored on the non transitory computer- or processor-readable media 220 or other non -transitory computer- or processor-readable media Abstract - Information sent to or collected from the luminaires through the mobile system may be transferred via a mobile network interface from or to a CMS -Fig.1A - ¶ 0034 - the mobile system 106 may communicate with the gateway luminaire 104A via a short-range wireless communications protocol (e.g., Bluetooth ®) when the mobile system is positioned proximate (e.g., within 100 meters) the gateway luminaire 104 by an operator. The gateway luminaire 104A communicates with the terminal luminaires 104B-D via a suitable wireless network (e.g., 802.15.4, Zigbee, 6Lowpan). In at least some implementations, the mobile system 106 is operative to control the luminaires 104A-104D for at least one of commissioning, decommissioning, setting dimming levels and schedules, setting operational parameters, providing firmware updates - Fig.1B , ¶ 0032 - As shown in FIG. 1B, the mobile system 106 may in turn communicate instructions and/or data with a central management system (CMS) 108 via a network 113. As an example, the mobile system 106 may communicate with the CMS 108 via a third communications protocol using wireless transceiver of a third type ("third type transceiver"). In at least some implementations, the mobile system 106 may wirelessly communicate with an access point 110 (e.g., cellular tower, WIFI® access point) communicatively coupled to the CMS 108 via one or more suitable data communications networks 113));
receive luminaire data from the one or more luminaires through the one or more mobile devices via the wireless mobile device communication link and the short-range wireless communication link; and store the luminaire data in the [..] media ((Fig.1B , ¶ 0032 - As shown in FIG. 1B, the mobile system 106 may in turn communicate instructions and/or data with a central management system (CMS) 108 via a network 113. As an example, the mobile system 106 may communicate with the CMS 108 via a third communications protocol using wireless transceiver of a third type ("third type transceiver"). In at least some implementations, the mobile system 106 may wirelessly communicate with an access point 110 (e.g., cellular tower, WIFI® access point) communicatively coupled to the CMS 108 via one or more suitable data communications networks 113 - Abstract - Information sent to or collected from the luminaires through the mobile system may be transferred via a mobile network interface from or to a CMS -(Fig.1B , ¶ 0032 - As shown in FIG. 1B, the mobile system 106 may in turn communicate instructions and/or data with a central management system (CMS) 108 via a network 113. As an example, the mobile system 106 may communicate with the CMS 108 via a third communications protocol using wireless transceiver of a third type ("third type transceiver"). In at least some implementations, the mobile system 106 may wirelessly communicate with an access point 110 (e.g., cellular tower, WIFI® access point) communicatively coupled to the CMS 108 via one or more suitable data communications networks 113));
However, Vendetti does not explicitly teach that the media is a database.
Reed teaches
database (¶ 0098- the central asset management system may store received luminaire information in a database or other non - transitory processor-readable storage medium).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Vendetti to include the teachings of Reed. The motivation for doing so is to allow the system to utilize a database in order to provide organized structure, fast search speeds using indexes, and reliable multi-user access.
Regarding claim 6,
Vendetti further teaches
wherein the asset management data includes at least one of asset data, user data, customer data, and data related to an organization of assets (¶ 0013 at least one of commissioning data, decommissioning data, dimming level data, light schedule data, firmware update data or operational parameter data from the at least one mobile system – ¶ 0013 – The at least one sensor may include at least one of a motion sensor, a temperature sensor, a humidity sensor, a carbon monoxide sensor, a noise sensor, or a gunshot detection sensor.).
Regarding claim 8,
Vendetti further teaches
wherein the asset management platform is a server (¶ 0036 - The central management system 108 may take the form of a PC, server, or other computing system executing logic or other machine executable instructions).
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vendetti in view of Reed further in view of Bernardi et al. Publication No. US 2023/0216947 A1 (Bernardi hereinafter)
Regarding claim 7,
Vendetti further teaches wherein the one or more mobile devices function as an [..] intermediary (Fig.4 &5 show the mobile device acts as intermediary between CMS and Luminaires),
However, Vendetti does not explicitly teach that the intermediary is IoT gateway.
Bernardi teaches
wherein the one or more mobile users using the one or more mobile devices function as an Internet of Things (IoT) gateway (¶ 0309 - Mobile phones and tablets can act as gateways that allow IoT devices to connect to the cloud. Bluetooth-enabled mobile devices in a phone-as-a-gateway (PaaG) setup enable users to connect to the cloud. Used as a gateway, these phones and tablets can reduce the cost of acquiring external IoT gateways. In many cases, Bluetooth devices use IP protocols to connect to the internet, making it possible to connect virtually any device in your home or office to an IoT network).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Vendetti to include the teachings of Bernardi. The motivation for doing so is to allow the system to reduce the cost of acquiring external IoT gateways. In many cases, Bluetooth devices use IP protocols to connect to the internet, making it possible to connect virtually any device in your home or office to an IoT network (Bernardi – ¶ 0309).
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vendetti in view of Reed further in view of Martin et al. Publication No. US 2023/0201395 A1 ( Martin hereinafter)
Regarding claim 9,
Vendetti in view of Reed teaches a database ( Reed - ¶0098). However, Vendetti in view of Reed does not explicitly teach
wherein the database is remote from the asset management platform.
However, Martin teaches
wherein the repository is remote from the asset management platform (¶ 0079 - The control module 28 is connected to a communications network such as the Internet 38 and is in communication with a server 39 that manages an external database of sanitization profiles detailing regimens of doses of SER illumination, as well as calibration data).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Vendetti in view of Reed to include the teachings of Martin. The motivation for doing so is to allow the system to provide better scalability, higher reliability, and freed-up application resources.
Claims 16,17, 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vendetti in view of Reed further in view of DENG et al. Publication No. US 2018/0308348 A1 (DENG hereinafter)
Regarding claim 16,
Vendetti further teaches
the one or more luminaires including: an LED [..]; and a controller communicatively coupled to the LED[..], the controller including circuitry configured to: connect wirelessly to the one or more mobile devices; receive the asset management data from the one or more mobile devices; send the asset management data to the LED ; read status from the LED driver; and send the status from the LED driver to the one or more mobile devices(Fig.1 A -¶ 0033 The luminaire 104F may include a short-range wireless communications protocol (e.g., Bluetooth®) which communicates with a wireless network node 124 physically connected to or located nearby the luminaire 104F by a suitable connection 126. For example, the luminaire 104F may comprise an Area Max™ LED area lighting fixture available from Evluma of Renton, Washington - Fig.1A - ¶ 0034 - the mobile system 106 may communicate with the gateway luminaire 104A via a short-range wireless communications protocol (e.g., Bluetooth ®) when the mobile system is positioned proximate (e.g., within 100 meters) the gateway luminaire 104 by an operator. The gateway luminaire 104A communicates with the terminal luminaires 104B-D via a suitable wireless network (e.g., 802.15.4, Zigbee, 6Lowpan). In at least some implementations, the mobile system 106 is operative to control the luminaires 104A-104D for at least one of commissioning, decommissioning, setting dimming levels and schedules, setting operational parameters, providing firmware updates - Information sent to or collected from the luminaires through the mobile system may be transferred via a mobile network interface from or to a CMS. The luminaires may use their wireless communication ability to obtain data from nearby wireless sensors, which data may be collected by the mobile system from luminaires in the network of luminaires when the mobile system is positioned proximate at least one of the luminaires);
read status[..]; and send the status from the [..] to the one or more mobile devices (¶ 0033 - the mobile system 106 is operative to control the luminaires 104A-104D for at least one of commissioning, decommissioning, setting dimming levels and schedules, setting operational parameters, providing firmware updates, etc. The luminaires 104 may be configured to operate as a group, as multiple groups with different parameters, or individually. The luminaires 104 may each retain their respective settings, which may be saved in nonvolatile memory associated with each of the luminaires. In at least some implementations, the mobile system 106 may also retrieve information from each of the luminaires 104, including information such as programmable settings, manufacturing information (e.g., model number, serial number, network ID), any operational or maintenance information or logs retained in the luminaire, etc.).
However, Vendetti does not explicitly teach
a controller communicatively coupled to the LED driver, send the asset management data to the LED driver; read status from the LED driver; and send the status from the LED driver to the one or more mobile devices.
DENG teaches
a controller communicatively coupled to the LED driver, send the asset management data to the LED driver; read status from the LED driver; and send the status from the LED driver to the one or more mobile devices (Fig.3, ¶ 0059 -As shown in FIG. 3, the lighting device may include a control unit 12, a wireless transmission unit 13, an LED driver 14, and a light emitting module 15. The lighting device may further include a lamp cover 16, ¶ 0060 -The LED driver 14 may be further configured to adjust lighting status of the light emitting module 15 (e.g., brightness, color, temperature). The light emitting module 15 may be configured to emit light accordingly. In some embodiments, the control unit 12, the wireless transmission unit 13, and the LED driver 14 may be integrated in one circuit board, which is installed in the lighting device – ¶ 0065 -the control unit 12 may instruct the LED driver to adjust the emitted light of the light emitting module 15 based on the voice command. In another example, the control unit may obtain information from the LED driver about the current lighting status and send to the smartphone through the wireless communication unit 13..)
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Vendetti to include the teachings of DENG. The motivation for doing so is to allow the system to instruct the LED driver to adjust the emitted light of the light emitting module 15 based on the voice command (¶ 0065).
Regarding claim 17,
Vendetti further teaches
wherein the controller is further configured to send the luminaire data to the one or more mobile devices; the one or more mobile devices is further configured to send the luminaire data to the asset management platform; and the asset management platform is further configured to store the luminaire data in the [..] media (Fig.1B , ¶ 0032 - As shown in FIG. 1B, the mobile system 106 may in turn communicate instructions and/or data with a central management system (CMS) 108 via a network 113. As an example, the mobile system 106 may communicate with the CMS 108 via a third communications protocol using wireless transceiver of a third type ("third type transceiver"). In at least some implementations, the mobile system 106 may wirelessly communicate with an access point 110 (e.g., cellular tower, WIFI® access point) communicatively coupled to the CMS 108 via one or more suitable data communications networks 113 - Abstract - Information sent to or collected from the luminaires through the mobile system may be transferred via a mobile network interface from or to a CMS -(Fig.1B , ¶ 0032 - As shown in FIG. 1B, the mobile system 106 may in turn communicate instructions and/or data with a central management system (CMS) 108 via a network 113. As an example, the mobile system 106 may communicate with the CMS 108 via a third communications protocol using wireless transceiver of a third type ("third type transceiver"). In at least some implementations, the mobile system 106 may wirelessly communicate with an access point 110 (e.g., cellular tower, WIFI® access point) communicatively coupled to the CMS 108 via one or more suitable data communications networks 113));
However, Vendetti does not explicitly teach that the media is a database.
Reed teaches
database (¶ 0098- the central asset management system may store received luminaire information in a database or other non - transitory processor-readable storage medium).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Vendetti to include the teachings of Reed. The motivation for doing so is to allow the system to utilize the database in order to provide organized structure, fast search speeds using indexes, and reliable multi-user access.
Regarding claim 18,
Vendetti further teaches
wherein the controller includes a low energy communications interface (¶ 0032 - The terminal luminaires 104B-D and the gateway luminaire 104A each include a wireless transceiver of a first type ("first type transceiver") that allows the luminaires to wirelessly communicate with each other via a first communications protocol (e.g., 802. 15.4, Zigbee, 6Lowpan).
Claim 19 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vendetti in view of Reed further in view of DENG further in view of Gosset et al. Publication No. US 2012/0276852 A1 ( Gosset hereinafter)
Regarding claim 19,
Vendetti does not explicitly teach
wherein the controller is configured to: receive a security token generated by the asset management platform; decrypt the security token; and responsive to decrypting the security token using a proper public-key, authenticate the one or more mobile devices..
However, Gosset teaches
wherein the controller is configured to: receive a security token generated by the asset management platform; decrypt the security token; and responsive to decrypting the security token using a proper public-key, authenticate the one or more mobile devices (¶ 0045 - When the second mobile terminal 103 receives request for authentication from the first mobile terminal 101, then second mobile terminal first generates 300 an encrypted authentication token. The encrypted authentication token comprises an encrypted copy of data already known to the first mobile terminal 10. – ¶ 0047 - The first mobile terminal then authenticates 305 the token. This is performed by decrypting 306 the authentication token using the public key 114 of the second mobile terminal 103 (obtained during the pairing operation). Note that the public key 114 of the second mobile terminal 103 can only decrypt data that was encrypted using the (secret) private key 119). ¶ 0048 - If the decrypted authentication token matches the hardware identity 113 of the second mobile terminal 103, then the authentication is successful).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Vendetti to include the teachings of Gosset. The motivation for doing so is to allow the system to authenticate the mobile device (Gosset – ¶ 0048).
Claim 20, 21, 24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vendetti in view of Reed further in view of Woolley et al.” Bluetooth mesh networking /An Introduction for Developers” – 2017 (Woolley hereinafter) further in view of Pang et al. Publication No. US 2017/0346729 A1 (Pang hereinafter).
Regarding claim 20,
Vendetti further teaches
wherein the one or more luminaires includes a plurality of luminaires, each of the plurality of luminaires further comprising: a controller, the controller including circuitry configured to: connect to the one or more mobile devices Fig.1A - ¶ 0034 - the mobile system 106 may communicate with the gateway luminaire 104A via a short-range wireless communications protocol (e.g., Bluetooth ®) when the mobile system is positioned proximate (e.g., within 100 meters) the gateway luminaire 104 by an operator. The gateway luminaire 104A communicates with the terminal luminaires 104B-D via a suitable wireless network (e.g., 802.15.4, Zigbee, 6Lowpan). In at least some implementations, the mobile system 106 is operative to control the luminaires 104A-104D for at least one of commissioning, decommissioning, setting dimming levels and schedules, setting operational parameters, providing firmware updates);
However, Vendetti does not explicitly teach
authenticate the one or more mobile devices; responsive to authenticating the one or more mobile devices, establishing a mesh network of the plurality of luminaires, wherein each luminaire of the plurality of luminaires is configured to connect to at least one other luminaire of the plurality of luminaires to create a mesh network; and responsive to disconnecting from the one or more mobile devices, dissolving the mesh network by disconnecting each luminaire of the plurality of luminaires from each other luminaire of the plurality of luminaires.
Woolley teaches
authenticate the one or more mobile devices; responsive to authenticating the one or more mobile devices, establishing a mesh network of the plurality of luminaires, wherein each luminaire of the plurality of luminaires is configured to connect to at least one other luminaire of the plurality of luminaires to create a mesh network (Page 14 - Provisioning is accomplished using an application on a device such as a tablet. In this capacity, the device used to drive the provisioning process is referred to as the Provisioner. The provisioning process progresses through five steps and these are described Step 4. Authentication During the authentication step, the device to be provisioned outputs a random, single or multi-digit number to the user in some form, using an action appropriate to its capabilities. For example, it might flash an LED several times. The user enters the digit(s) output by the new device into the Provisioner and a cryptographic exchange takes place between the two devices, involving the random number, to complete the authentication of each of the two devices to the other. Step 5. Distribution of the Provisioning Data After authentication has successfully completed, a session key is derived by each of the two devices from their private keys and the exchanged, peer public keys. The session key is then used to secure the subsequent distribution of the data required to complete the provisioning process, including a security key known as the network key (NetKey).Page 23 - All nodes in a mesh network possess the network key (NetKey). Indeed, it is possession of this shared key which makes a node a member of the network. A network encryption key and a Privacy Key are derived directly from the NetKey. – Page 9 - Some nodes have multiple, constituent parts,
each of which can be independently controlled. In Bluetooth mesh terminology, these parts are called elements. Figure 3 shows an LED lighting product which if added to a Bluetooth mesh network, would form a single node with three elements, one for each of the individual LED lights),
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Vendetti to include the teachings of Woolley. The motivation for doing so is to allow the system to relay messages to other devices so that the end-to-end communication range is extended far beyond the radio range of each individual node (Woolley – Page 8).
Vendetti in view of Woolley does not explicitly teach
responsive to disconnecting from the one or more mobile devices, dissolving the mesh network by disconnecting each luminaire of the plurality of luminaires from each other luminaire of the plurality of luminaires.
Pang teaches
responsive to disconnecting from the one or more devices, dissolving the mesh network by disconnecting each device of the plurality of devices from each other devices of the plurality of devices ( ¶ 0003 - The controller connects with each root AP to route data traffic associated with the AP, for example, from wireless clients served by the AP, to and from the wired network. If such connectivity between the APs and the controller is lost, the mesh network dissolves and the data traffic associated with each AP can no longer be routed to and from the wired network. ¶ 0078 - At 745, if the AP is the RAP and connectivity to the router is not available, the RAP instructs descendent APs (the mesh APs) to break-down the backhaul links and dissolve the mesh network ¶ 0110 - Loss of network connectivity during a prolonged controller down time can cause AP stranding or isolation while the controller is absent. Therefore, a mechanism is introduced to enable an RAP to detect a presence of a local switch/router through its root port and through which traffic associated with the RAP and descendent mesh APs may be routed to and from the wired network. If the router is not present, the mesh network dissolves to allow the network to form again thereafter).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Vendetti to include the teachings of Pang. The motivation for doing so is to allow the mesh network to dissolve to allow the network to form again thereafter (Pang– ¶ 0110).
Regarding claim 21,
Vendetti further teaches
wherein the controller includes a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) radio (¶ 0032 - The terminal luminaires 104B-D and the gateway luminaire 104A each include a wireless transceiver of a first type ("first type transceiver") that allows the luminaires to wirelessly communicate with each other via a first communications protocol (e.g., 802. 15.4, Zigbee, 6Lowpan).
Regarding claim 24,
Vendetti does not explicitly teach
wherein responsive to authenticating the one or more mobile devices, establishing the mesh network of the plurality of devices, wherein each light device connects to at least one other device of the plurality of devices to create a mesh network further comprises: create one or more security keys for the mesh network; and store the one or more security keys for the mesh network in each node of the mesh network
However, Woolley teaches
wherein responsive to authenticating the one or more mobile devices, establishing the mesh network of the plurality of devices, wherein each light device connects to at least one other device of the plurality of devices to create a mesh network further comprises: create one or more security keys for the mesh network; and store the one or more security keys for the mesh network in each node of the mesh network (Page 14 - Provisioning is accomplished using an application on a device such as a tablet. In this capacity, the device used to drive the provisioning process is referred to as the Provisioner. The provisioning process progresses through five steps and these are described Step 4. Authentication During the authentication step, the device to be provisioned outputs a random, single or multi-digit number to the user in some form, using an action appropriate to its capabilities. For example, it might flash an LED several times. The user enters the digit(s) output by the new device into the Provisioner and a cryptographic exchange takes place between the two devices, involving the random number, to complete the authentication of each of the two devices to the other. Step 5. Distribution of the Provisioning Data After authentication has successfully completed, a session key is derived by each of the two devices from their private keys and the exchanged, peer public keys. The session key is then used to secure the subsequent distribution of the data required to complete the provisioning process, including a security key known as the network key (NetKey).Page 23 - All nodes in a mesh network possess the network key (NetKey). Indeed, it is possession of this shared key which makes a node a member of the network. A network encryption key and a Privacy Key are derived directly from the NetKey. – Page 9 - Some nodes have multiple, constituent parts, each of which can be independently controlled. In Bluetooth mesh terminology, these parts are called elements. Figure 3 shows an LED lighting product which if added to a Bluetooth mesh network, would form a single node with three elements, one for each of the individual LED lights),
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Vendetti to include the teachings of Woolley. The motivation for doing so is to allow the system to relay messages to other devices so that the end-to-end communication range is extended far beyond the radio range of each individual node (Woolley – Page 8).
Claim 22 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vendetti in view of Reed further in view of Woolley further in view of Pang further in view of Golota et al. Publication No. US 2018/0198848 A1( Golota hereinafter)
Regarding claim 22,
Vendetti does not explicitly teach
wherein one or more messages are passed between a plurality of nodes of the mesh network to span a distance greater than a maximum range of an underlying networking topology
However, Golota teaches
wherein one or more messages are passed between a plurality of nodes of the mesh network to span a distance greater than a maximum range of an underlying networking topology (¶ 0021 - the mesh network may utilize one or more intermediary basic nodes that are located physically in-between the origination node and a destination node to relay the message. Nodes in the broadcast range may be referred to as local nodes and nodes outside with broadcast range may be referred to as remote nodes. Given that basic node 110 and basic node 112 are local nodes in the broadcast range, any messages that need to be exchanged between them can be done directly referred to as local nodes. If node 110 is to communicate with remote nodes beyond the broadcast range, intermediary nodes, for example basic node 118, may relay the message between basic node 110 and basic node)
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Vendetti to include the teachings of Golota. The motivation for doing so is to allow the system to utilize one or more intermediary basic nodes that are located physically in-between the origination node and a destination node to relay the message (Golota – ¶ 0021).
Claim 23 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vendetti in view of Reed further in view of Woolley further in view of Pang further in view of Mighani et al. Publication No. US 2008/0192713 A1 (Mighani hereinafter) .
Regarding claim 23,
Vendetti does not explicitly teach
wherein the mesh network uses a network-to-network bridge to exceed a maximum node limitation of an underlying networking topology.
However, Mighani teaches
wherein the mesh network uses a network-to-network bridge to exceed a maximum node limitation of an underlying networking topology (Abstract - Several clusters of nodes each acting as access points may be organized in numerous first-level meshes (102, 106, 110, 112), with each of the first-level meshes being coupled to a second-level mesh having several nodes that act as gateways (Gl-G5) to the first-level meshes. The number of nodes in each of the first-level and second level meshes may be limited to a predetermined number of nodes throughout the full topology of the mesh network in order to improve performance of the mesh network – ¶ 0024 - a gateway node in a second-level
mesh will communicate with at least one access point node in a first-level mesh. For example, node Gl is in regular communication with node APl. A gateway node may be coupled to external network 112. Additional gateway nodes may be coupled to other external networks outside of mesh network 100. It should be noted that, for example, node Gl is a member of both first-level mesh 104 and of the second-level mesh that includes nodes G2, G3, G4 and GS, in that node Gl has
at least two radios----one radio communicates with first-level mesh 104 and the other radio communicates with the second level mesh – See Also ¶ 0058) .
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Vendetti to include the teachings of Mighani. The motivation for doing so is to allow the system to improve performance of the mesh network (Mighani– Abstract).
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 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.
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/YOUNES NAJI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2445
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