DETAILED ACTION
This office action is a response to an application filed on 01/09/2024.
Claims 1- 10 are pending for examination.
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application is being examined under the pre-AIA first to invent provisions.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application.
Drawings
The Examiner contends that the drawings submitted on 01/09/2024 are acceptable for examination proceedings.
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 set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) 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 non-obviousness.
Claims 1-2, 9 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cui et al. (US 20220408369 A1), hereinafter “Cui”; and in further view of Lindqvist et al. (US 20180115879 A1), hereinafter “Lindqvist”.
Regarding claim 1, Cui teaches A low-power adaptive method for the MAC layer of a wireless sensor network [Cui: Par. 27, 86 teaches system and method for identifying power level and/or maximum transmit power in uplink MAC layer in wireless communication], comprising: determining the environmental traffic based on the number of packets sent and received by nodes within a specified time; [Cui: Par. 59 teaches identifying to determine whether use of the maximum duty cycle for device with given current traffic load];
set the maximum duty cycle frequency RDCmax and minimum duty cycle frequency RDCmin; adjust the current duty cycle frequency based on the environmental flow [Cui: Fig. 9; and Par. 42- 45, 116 teaches of setting/adjusting Maximum duty cycle based on power level;
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However, Cui does not teach adjust the current duty cycle frequency based on the environmental flow when the remaining battery energy percentage is above 50%; when the remaining battery energy percentage is approximately greater than or equal to 20% and less than or equal to 50%, reduce the maximum duty cycle frequency RDCmax to decrease the maximum value of duty cycle frequency variation; simultaneously, adjust the current duty cycle frequency based on the environmental flow; when the remaining battery energy percentage is below 20%, determine the current duty cycle frequency based on the power of the current node and the average node frequency.
Nevertheless, Lindqvist, in the similar filed of endeavor, teaches adjust the current duty cycle frequency based on the environmental flow when the remaining battery energy percentage is above 50%; when the remaining battery energy percentage is approximately greater than or equal to 20% and less than or equal to 50%, reduce the maximum duty cycle frequency RDCmax to decrease the maximum value of duty cycle frequency variation; simultaneously, adjust the current duty cycle frequency based on the environmental flow; when the remaining battery energy percentage is below 20%, determine the current duty cycle frequency based on the power of the current node and the average node frequency[Lindqvist: Fig. 3; Par. 76 teaches of when remaining battery threshold be set at 5%, 10%, 20% and another level(50%) and if indication is below threshold, modify the frequency of the communication between devices].
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Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill at the time the invention was made to utilize the teachings of Lindqvist for having different threshold level of power/battery. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to utilize the teachings of Lindqvist in the Cui system in order to conserve wireless device battery [Cui: Par. 76].
Regarding claim 9, Cui teaches A wireless sensor network MAC layer adaptive low-power device comprising a processor configured to [Cui: Par. 27, 86 teaches system and method for identifying power level and/or maximum transmit power in uplink MAC layer in wireless communication]: determine environmental traffic based on the number of packets sent and received by nodes within a set time; [Cui: Par. 59 teaches identifying to determine whether use of the maximum duty cycle for device with given current traffic load];
determine the average node frequency based on the power of all nodes [Cui: par. 80- 81, fig. 7 teaches calculate level of RF] setting the maximum duty cycle frequency (RDCmax) and minimum duty cycle frequency (RDCmin); adjusting the current duty cycle frequency based on the environmental traffic [Cui: Fig. 9; and Par. 42- 45, 116 teaches of setting/adjusting Maximum duty cycle based on power level;
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However, Cui does not teach obtain the remaining battery energy percentage;
when the remaining battery energy percentage is above 50%, adjusting the current duty cycle frequency based on the environmental traffic; when the remaining battery energy percentage is approximately 20% to 50%, reducing the maximum duty cycle frequency (RDCmax) to decrease the maximum change in duty cycle frequency, while simultaneously adjusting the current duty cycle frequency based on environmental traffic; when the remaining battery energy percentage is below 20%, determining the current duty cycle frequency based on the current node's power and average node frequency.
Nevertheless, Lindqvist, in the similar filed of endeavor, teaches obtain the remaining battery energy percentage [Lindqvist: abstract. Fig. 3],
when the remaining battery energy percentage is above 50%, adjusting the current duty cycle frequency based on the environmental traffic; when the remaining battery energy percentage is approximately 20% to 50%, reducing the maximum duty cycle frequency (RDCmax) to decrease the maximum change in duty cycle frequency, while simultaneously adjusting the current duty cycle frequency based on environmental traffic; when the remaining battery energy percentage is below 20%, determining the current duty cycle frequency based on the current node's power and average node frequency [Lindqvist: Fig. 3; Par. 76 teaches of when remaining battery threshold be set at 5%, 10%, 20% and another level(50%) and if indication is below threshold, modify the frequency of the communication between devices].
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Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill at the time the invention was made to utilize the teachings of Lindqvist for having different threshold level of power/battery. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to utilize the teachings of Lindqvist in the Cui system in order to conserve wireless device battery [Cui: Par. 76].
Regarding claim 2, the combined Cui in view of Lindqvist teaches all the limitations in the parent claim 1. Cui in view of Lindqvist further teaches wherein, the specific process of determining environmental traffic based on the number of packets sent and received by nodes within a specified time includes:
setting a time interval t and calculating the quantity of data packets sent and/or received by nodes within time t; the formula to obtain the current environmental traffic information is as follows:
T=Npacketst
wherein, T represents the environmental traffic, Npackets is the number of data packets sent and/or received by the node within t time [Lindqvist: Par. 111 teaches sending packets where packet of 20 bytes to an access point once per hour (i.e. Np/t)].
Regarding claim 10, the combined Cui in view of Lindqvist teaches all the limitations in the parent claim 1. Cui in view of Lindqvist further teaches A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions, executed by a processor, performing the low-power adaptive method for the MAC layer of a wireless sensor network as claimed in claim 1 [Cui: Par. 129 Fig. 1, item 10].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-8 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.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowable subject matter:
A full search was conducted and the features of the instant claims 3- 8 were not found to be in any reasonable combination of the closest prior art in combination of Cui in view of Lindqvist.
With respect to exemplary, the prior arts in above teach of method for controlling maximum duty cycle frequency with power level in wireless system [Cui: Fig. 9, Par. 59, 42, 116] and generating indication of remaining battery life in wireless device [Lindqvist: Fig. 3; Par. 76].
However, the combined Cui in view of Lindqvist does not disclose, suggest or render obvious the limitations of the instant claim 3 reciting;
“wherein, the method of obtaining the remaining energy percentage of the battery specifically includes: calculate the energy consumed in a given time using the following formula;
ENode=ETX+ERX+ECPU+ELPM
wherein, ETX represents energy consumption in the transmission (TX) mode, ERX represents energy consumption in the reception (RX) mode, ECPU represents energy consumption in the CPU mode, and ELPM represents energy consumption in the low-power mode (LPM); TX mode signifies the node being in packet transmission mode, RX mode indicates the node being in packet reception mode, CPU mode signifies the operational mode of the CPU when there's no sending or receiving of packets, and LPM mode represents the low-power mode;
the remaining battery energy percentage is calculated using the following formula:
B=Etotal-ENodeEtotal
wherein, B represents the remaining energy percentage of the battery, and E represents the total energy of the battery”
In addition, the combined Cui in view of Lindqvist does not disclose, suggest or render obvious the limitations of the instant claim 4 reciting;
“wherein, when the remaining battery energy percentage is greater than 50%, adjusting the current duty cycle frequency based on the environmental traffic involves the following:
in the scenario where the remaining battery energy percentage exceeds 50%:
if the current duty cycle frequency (RDC) is greater than the maximum duty cycle frequency (RDCmax), set RDC=RDCmax;
if the environmental traffic is greater than or equal to 15 and RDCmin≤RDC*2≤ RDCmax, set RDC=RDC*2;
if the environmental traffic is greater than or equal to 0 but less than or equal to 5, and RDCmin≤RDC/2≤RDCmax, set RDC=RDC/2”.
Moreover, the combined Cui in view of Lindqvist does not disclose, suggest or render obvious the limitations of the instant claim 5 reciting;
“wherein, when the remaining battery energy percentage is approximately greater than or equal to 20% and less than or equal to 50%, the maximum duty cycle frequency RDCmax is reduced to decrease the maximum value of duty cycle frequency variation. Simultaneously, the current duty cycle frequency is adjusted based on the environmental flow, specifically including:
in cases where the remaining battery energy percentage is approximately greater than or equal to 20% and less than or equal to 50%:
adjust the maximum duty cycle frequency RDCmax to half of the initially set maximum duty cycle frequency;
if the current duty cycle frequency RDC is greater than the maximum duty cycle frequency RDCmax, set RDC=RDCmax;
if the environmental flow is greater than or equal to 15 and RDCmin<=RDC2<=RDCmax, set RDC=RDC2;
if the environmental flow is greater than or equal to 0 but less than or equal to 5, and RDCmin<=RDC/2<=RDCmax, set RDC=RDC/2”.
Moreover, the combined Cui in view of Lindqvist does not disclose, suggest or render obvious the limitations of the instant claim 6 reciting;
“wherein, when the remaining battery energy percentage is below 20%, the current duty cycle frequency is determined based on the power of the current node and the average node frequency, specifically including:
in cases where the remaining battery energy percentage is below 20%:
adjust the maximum duty cycle frequency RDCmax to half of the initially set maximum duty cycle frequency;
if the current duty cycle frequency RDC is greater than the maximum duty cycle frequency RDCmax, set RDC=RDCmax; if the power of the current node is greater than the average node frequency and RDCmin<=RDC/2<=RDCmax, set RDC=RDC/2”.
Moreover, the combined Cui in view of Lindqvist does not disclose, suggest or render obvious the limitations of the instant claims 7-8 reciting;
“wherein, the method further includes: constructing an RSSI_FALSE list comprising three groups of RSSI values: positive wake-up, false wake-up, and idle listening, each group storing at least one RSSI value; the positive wake-up indicates valid RSSI values within the group, where data can be received; false wake-up indicates invalid RSSI values within the group, where data cannot be received; idle listening indicates no detection of any radio activity on the channel;
directing ContikiMAC nodes to perform CCA channel detection to validate RSSI values:
if the RSSI value is within the RSSI_FALSE list, the current ContikiMAC node goes into sleep mode;
if the RSSI value is not within the RSSI_FALSE list, the CCA component is used to check and classify RSSI values; if the return value is 1, the corresponding RSSI value belongs to idle listening and is stored in the RSSI_FALSE list; if the return value is 0, the corresponding RSSI value is classified based on a timing constraint; if it's a positive wake-up, the node receives the data packet; if it's a false wake-up, the node enters sleep mode, and the corresponding RSSI value is stored in the respective RSSI_FALSE list group”.
Therefore, Claims 3-8 are indicated as containing allowable subject matter and allowed over the closest Prior Art references of Cui in view of Lindqvist.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
The prior art made of record (see attached PTO-892) and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
A shortened statutory period for reply to this action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of the action. An extension of time may be obtained under 37 CFR 1.136(a). However, in no event, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KYAW Z SOE whose telephone number is (571)270-0304. The examiner can normally be reached on 9am-5pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Charles C Jiang can be reached on 5712707191. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/KYAW Z SOE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2412