DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claims 1-21 are pending.
Information Disclosure Statement
The references cited in the information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 01/30/2024 have been considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
The following claims are objected to for informalities, lack of antecedent support, or for redundancies. The Examiner recommends the following changes:
Claim 3, line 4, replace “the components” with “the two or more components”, and line 6, replace “the components” with “the two or more components”
Claim 8, line 1, replace “and comprising” with “further comprising”
Claim 11, line 9, replace “controling” with “controlling”
Claim 13, line 4, replace “the components” with “the two or more components”, and lines 5-6, replace “the components” with “the two or more components”
Claim 18, line 1, replace “and comprising” with “further comprising”
Appropriate correction is respectfully requested.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claims 1-3, 5, 11-13, 15 and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Locke et al. (US 2018/0269821 A1) (“Locke”).
Regarding independent claim 1, Locke teaches:
An apparatus, comprising: an interface, to receive multiple measurements of multiple temperatures measured in multiple locations of an electronic system, respectively; and thermal management circuitry (TMC), to: (Locke: [0020] “For purposes of this disclosure, an information handling system may include any instrumentality or aggregate of instrumentalities operable to compute, calculate, determine, classify, process, transmit, receive, retrieve, originate, switch, store, display, communicate, manifest, detect, record, reproduce, handle, or utilize any form of information, intelligence, or data for business, scientific, control, or other purposes. …”) (Locke: [0035] “FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an information handling system cooling system 300 according to some embodiments of the disclosure. An information handling system cooling system may be configured to cool a system component 302, such as a CPU, a hard drive, memory, video card, or other system component. The component 302 may be cooled by a component fan 304 and a variety of system fans such as system fan A 306 and system fan B 308. Additional system and component fans may also be present. A fan controller 310, such as an embedded controller attached to a motherboard, may be coupled to the component or a sensor proximate to the component to monitor a process value such as a component temperature margin of the component 302. For example, the fan controller 310 may be coupled to a temperature diode integrated in a CPU die or may be coupled to a thermal management sensor integrated in a CPU die. The fan controller 310 may be further coupled to the component fan 304, system fan A 306, and system fan B 308. The controller 310 may be further coupled to memory 318 for storing information about the component 302 and system 300 such as process values and parameters. The fan controller 310 may be a programmable logic controller (PLC) or microprocessor and may include a pulse-width-modulation (PWM) generator 312 to generate one or more PWM control signals for cooling fans such as system fan A 306, system fan B 308, and/or component fan 304. The PWM generator 312 may include a PID controller. The fan controller 310 may further include an adjuster 314 to adjust the PWM control signal to the parameters of a specific fan to be controlled. The fan controller 310 may include a filter 316 configured to filter one or more of the PWM control signals before it is applied to a cooling fan. The fan controller 310 may be configured to perform steps of generating, altering, and filtering, performed by the PWM generator 312, adjuster 314, and filter 316, a PWM control signal before applying the signal to the applicable fan. Although PWM generator 312, adjuster 314, and filter 316 are show as physical blocks inside the fan controller 310, these blocks may represent hardware, software, or a combination of software and hardware that perform the described functions.”) (Locke: [0036] “FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an information handling system 400 according to some embodiments of the invention. An information handling system 400 may include sensors designed to collect data as to the environment of the information handling system, such as temperature sensors 402A-F. The system 400 may also include system cooling fans such as system fans 404A-D, and component cooling fans such as CPU fans 410A-B and hard drive fans 408A-B. The system 400 may include one or more system components such as CPUs 414A-B, hard drives 412A-B, peripheral component interconnect express (PCIe) peripherals 406A-B, such as video cards, and memory units 416A-B. The system 400 may also include controllers, such as controllers 418A-D. The controllers 418A-D may receive data from the sensors in the form of process values. The controllers may generate, adjust, and/or filter control signals for control of the system and component fans based, at least in part on the data obtained from the temperature sensors. Controllers 418A-D may be contained in a single chip configuration or may be located on separate chips. Controller 418B may be a master controller and may control operation of controllers 418A and 418C-D.”) [The information handling system reads on “an electronic system”, and the fan controller reads on an “apparatus”. The fan controller coupling reads on “an interface”. The sensors 402A-F collecting data from various locations within the information handling system, as illustrated in FIG. 4, reads on “to receive multiple measurements of multiple temperatures measured in multiple locations of an electronic system”. The hardware and software combination of the fan controller reads on “thermal management circuitry”.]
convert the multiple measurements into multiple pulse width modulation (PWM) parameters; (Locke: [0035] as discussed above) [The PWM control signals for the cooling fans using the PID controls or based on data obtained from the temperature sensors reads on “convert the multiple measurements into multiple pulse width modulation PWM parameters”.]
calculate, based on at least the multiple PWM parameters, one or more PWM signals; and (Locke: [0027] “At step 2004, a PID controller may generate a first PWM control signal. A PWM control signal may be any signal related to a PWM control signal, for example, a change in a PWM control signal. The first PWM control signal may be based on a CPU temperature margin and may be generated based on parameters of a CPU component cooling fan (e.g., fan diameter). Alternatively, the first PWM control signal may be based on another process value, such as a hard drive temperature margin or system temperature margin, and may be generated based on parameters of another cooling fan such as a system fan. Then, at step 2006, the first PWM control signal may be adjusted based on the parameters of a cooling fan different from the fan for which the first PWM control signal was originally generated. For example, a control signal that was generated based on a CPU temperature margin for a CPU component cooling fan may be adjusted based on the parameters of a system cooling fan such that the control signal may be applied to the system cooling fan. Adjusting a previously generated PID control signal for application to a system cooling fan instead of generating a new PID control signal for application to the system cooling fan can reduce processing requirements of the system because a single signal is being generated and adjusted instead of, for example, generating two separate PID control signals for a component fan and a system fan.”) (Locke: [0029] “Adjustment of the control signal at block 2006 may involve multiplying a modifier, determined based on the specific parameters of the fan for which the signal is being adjusted, such as a system fan, by the generated first PWM control signal and adding that value to a base PWM value. Alternatively, the modifier may be multiplied by a change in the first PWM control signal, and the product may be added to a base PWM value. Adjusting the first PWM control signal by application of the modifier may comprise using a linear or non-linear function. The first PWM control signal that was originally generated for control of a CPU component fan may be adjusted to control a system fan such that the adjusted control signal creates approximately similar airflow in the system fan as the first PWM control signal creates in the CPU fan. When the component fan and the system fan are of a substantially similar size and performance, substantially similar airflow may be realized by adjusting the PWM control signal to create substantially similar RPM values in the CPU fan and the system fan. Adjustment of the PWM control signal based on the specific fan for which the signal is being adjusted can help to optimize both cooling system acoustics and cooling performance.”) [The adjustments of the PWM control signals to the components and the system based on the first generated PWM control signals read on “calculate … one or more PWM signals.]
control the multiple temperatures by applying the one or more PWM signals to one or more cooling devices. (Locke: [0029] as discussed above) [Any one or more of the component fans, the system fans or any combination of the fans read on “one or more cooling devices”. Optimized cooling using the adjusted PWM control signals to the fans reads on “control the multiple temperatures by applying the one or more PWM signals …”.]
Regarding claim 2, Locke teaches all the claimed features of claim 1. Locke further teaches:
wherein the TMC is to: (i) select a maximal PWM parameter among the multiple PWM parameters, and (ii) apply the maximal PWM parameter to all of the cooling devices. (Locke: [0034] as discussed in claim 1) [The largest of the compared signals or selecting the maximum of the fan speed levels for the system fans read on “(i) select a maximal PWM parameter …, and (ii) apply the mfaximal PWM …”.]
Regarding claim 3, Locke teaches all the claimed features of claim 1. Locke further teaches:
wherein the TMC is to select a list of two or more components positioned at two or more of the locations, and comprising two or more temperature sensors coupled to the components, respectively, to perform the measurements of the temperatures in the components on the list, respectively. (Locke: FIG. 4 and [0034]-[0035] as discussed in claim 1) [The fan controller considering the multiple temperature values corresponding to the multiple components in order to generate the PWM control signals reads on “TMC is to select a list of two or more components …”. See temperature sensors 402 for corresponding components, as illustrated in FIG. 4. The temperature diodes being integrated in the CPU dies reads on “coupled to the components.]
Regarding claim 5, Locke teaches all the claimed features of claims 1 and 3. Locke further teaches:
wherein the multiple temperature sensors comprise first and second temperature sensors to perform first and second measurements, respectively, among the multiple measurements, and wherein the TMC comprises a controller, which is to define: (i) for the first temperature sensor, a first frequency of the first measurements, and (ii) for the second temperature sensor, a second frequency of the second measurements, different from the first frequency. (Locke: FIG. 4 and [0034]-[0035] as discussed in claims 1 and 3) [Any one of the generated PWM control signals based on the respective temperature sensor data reads on “a first frequency”, and any other one of the generated PWM control signals reads on “a second frequency”. The comparing the PWM control signals to determine the highest frequency reads on “a second frequency … different from the first frequency”.]
Regarding independent claim 11:
The claim recites similar limitations as corresponding claim 1 and is rejected using the same teachings and rationale.
Regarding claim 12, Locke teaches all the claimed features of claim 11.
The claim recites similar limitations as corresponding claim 2 and is rejected using the same teachings and rationale.
Regarding claim 13, Locke teaches all the claimed features of claim 11.
The claim recites similar limitations as corresponding claim 3 and is rejected using the same teachings and rationale.
Regarding claim 15, Locke teaches all the claimed features of claims 11 and 13.
The claim recites similar limitations as corresponding claim 5 and is rejected using the same teachings and rationale.
Regarding claim 21, Locke teaches all the claimed features of claim 11. Locke further teaches:
wherein calculating the one or more PWM signals comprises selecting a PWM parameter among the multiple PWM parameters that meets a predetermined condition, and wherein applying the one or more PWM signals comprises applying the selected PWM parameter to all of the cooling devices. (Locke: [0023] “PID controllers may be used in fan control for information handling systems. PID control may operate to prevent a process value, such as component temperature, from exceeding a target process value, such as a target component temperature or maximum component temperature. An error, such as a difference between a target process value and process value, may be used in calculating the P, I, and D components of the PID control signal for generation of the PID control signal. …”) (Locke: [0031] “The signal may be dampened at block 2008 using a linear or non-linear function having a gain parameter or another coefficient that may be a constant value or may decrease as a target process value is approached. The gain parameter may, in some embodiments, be a value between zero and one and may be proportional to the distance between the target process value and a first process value. A lower gain parameter may dampen the control signal more than a higher gain parameter. The gain parameter and its potential modification as the target process value is approached may be tailored to the specific fan for which the filtered first PWM control signal is being adjusted and filtered, such as a system or component fan. The target process value may, for example, include a target system temperature margin, component temperature margin, a target system temperature, or a target component temperature. In some embodiments, the first PWM control signal may be filtered by feeding back the filtered first PWM control signal and adding that signal to the gain parameter multiplied by a second parameter proportional to a difference between the current first PWM control signal and the fed back filtered first PWM control signal.”) [Using PID control and calculating the gain parameter of the PID for each of the fans of the components and the system to stabilize the fan controls read on “calculating … comprises selecting … and … applying the selected PWM parameter …”.]
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 4 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Locke, in view of LI et al. (US 2021/0357011 A1) (“Li”).
Regarding claim 4, Locke teaches all the claimed features of claims 1 and 3. Locke does not expressly teach the recitations of claim 4.
Li teaches:
wherein the interface is to receive an error signal indicative of an error in at least one of: (i) one or more of the cooling devices, and (ii) one or more of the temperature sensors, and wherein the TMC is to adjust at least one of the PWM signals responsively to the error. (Li: [0018] “Certain aspects and features of the present disclosure relate to early detection of fan failure in a computing device, such as a server. A management device located in the computing device or remote from the computing device can receive information about the fan duty and use the fan duty information to determine a safe fan speed below which future or imminent fan failure can be inferred. The management device can receive the current speed of the fan and compare it with the safe fan speed to determine if the fan is likely to fail, in which case the management device can direct the computing device to perform mitigation action and/or a maintenance warning can be sent. The maintenance warning can result in replacement of the failing or soon-to-fail fan.”) (Li: [0027] “Once a fan is determined to be in an unsafe condition, mitigation action can be taken and/or a maintenance warning can be generated. Mitigation action can involve adjusting the operation of the fan or nearby fans to compensate for the reduced fan speed. For example, the fan indicated as unsafe can be driven at a higher duty cycle to achieve a fan speed closer to the desired fan speed expected from the initial duty cycle. In some cases, numerous mitigation actions can be repeated to keep the computing system in operation as long as possible until maintenance can be performed. In some cases, after a threshold number of mitigation action or if certain other thresholds are exceeded (e.g., fan duty thresholds, fan speed thresholds, or the like), further mitigation action can be restricted and a critical warning can be issued.”) [The early detection of fan failure using the received fan duty information and current speed of the fan reads on “an error signal in at least one of: (i) one or more of the cooling devices, and (ii) one or more of the temperature sensors”. Adjusting the operation of the fan to a higher duty cycle reads on “to adjust … PWM signals …”.]
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, having the teachings of Locke and Li before them, to modify the information handling system cooling system that uses fans and temperature sensors located in multiple places within the information handling system enclosure, to incorporate detecting and predicting a fan failure to adjust the operation of the fan or the nearby fans.
One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to do this modification because it would allow for mitigating the potential fan failure and reduce the risk of shutting down the system that could cause downtime and damage to the system. (Li: [0003])
Regarding claim 14, Locke teaches all the claimed features of claims 11 and 13.
The claim recites similar limitations as corresponding claim 4 and is rejected using the same teachings and rationale.
Claims 6-7 and 16-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Locke, in view of Lambert et al. (US 2021/0364386 A1) (“Lambert”).
Regarding claim 6, Locke teaches all the claimed features of claim 1. Locke does not expressly teach the recitations of claim 6.
Lambert teaches:
wherein the TMC comprises a controller, which is to calculate a ratio between the multiple PWM parameters and multiple parameters of the one or more cooling devices. (Lambert: [0021] “During operation, BMC can generate signal INPUT PWM having a duty cycle selected to operate rotor at a desired speed, measured in revolutions per minute (RPM). A higher duty cycle value corresponds to a higher rotor RPM. MCU 193 is configured to generate signal ACTUAL PWM that is provided to rotor 194. A duty cycle of signal ACTUAL PWM is determined based on the duty cycle of signal INPUT PWM and the RPM of rotor 194 as communicated to MCU 193 by signal Tach via interconnect 195. When rotor 194 is new and without wear, the duty cycle of signal ACTUAL PWM can be expected to be substantially the same as the duty cycle of signal INPUT PWM. However, as rotor 194 experiences wear, the speed of rotor 194, as indicated by signal Tach, may decrease given a particular PWM duty cycle, relative to the speed achieved by rotor 194 given the same PWM duty cycle when rotor 194 was new. Accordingly, MCU 193 is configured to increase the duty cycle of signal ACTUAL PWM as necessary to achieve a desired RPM of rotor 194. For example, MCU can include a lookup table, a polynomial expression, or the like, that identifies a relationship between duty cycle of a PWM signal applied to rotor 194 and a corresponding RPM of rotor 194 when the rotor is new or without wear. If MCU determines that the RPM of rotor 194 is less than specified by the lookup table, given the duty cycle of the INPUT PWM signal, MCU can increase the duty cycle of signal ACTUAL PWM so that the desired RPM corresponding to the duty cycle of the INPUT PWM signal is achieved.”) (Lambert: [0022] “FIG. 4 shows a waveform 401 corresponding to the INPUT PWM signal and a waveform 402 corresponding to the ACTUAL PWM signal. As illustrated, the INPUT PWM signal has a duty cycle of 50 percent, and the ACTUAL PWM signal has a duty cycle of 75 percent. During operation, MCU 193 can utilize the lookup table or polynomial expression to determine an RPM of rotor 194 that should be provided given an INPUT PWM duty cycle of 50 percent. If the RPM of rotor 194, as indicated by signal TACH, is less than the expected value, MCU can determine that rotor 194 is experiencing wear. Accordingly, MCU can utilized the lookup table or polynomial expression to perform a reverse-lookup to identify a duty cycle of signal ACTUAL PWM that will provide the desired rotor RPM that BMC 190 intended when it generated the 50 percent duty cycle of signal INPUT PWM.”) (Lambert: [0023] “FIG. 5 shows a graph 500 illustrating how the performance of fan 192 can degrade over time due to wear, according to a specific embodiment of the present disclosure. Graph 500 includes a vertical axis representing a duty cycle of an applied PWM energizing signal, and a horizontal axis representing rotor RPM, as indicated by signal TACH. Graph 500 further includes a curve 501 representing a relationship between a duty cycle of an applied PWM signal and a corresponding rotor RPM when the fan is new, and a curve 502 representing a relationship between a duty cycle of an applied PWM signal and a corresponding rotor RPM when the fan is exhibiting wear. In particular, curve 502 shows that the rotor RPM decreases for a given PWM duty cycle relative to curve 501. In an embodiment, curve 501 can provide the basis for the lookup table or polynomial described above.”) [The RPM of the fan rotor and the fan wear read on “multiple parameters …”. The value of the polynomial is a curve, as illustrated in FIG. 5, which reads on “a ratio between multiple …”.]
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, having the teachings of Locke and Lambert before them, to modify the information handling system cooling system that uses PWM signal for a variable speed fan control, to incorporate generating the equation to calculate the relationship between the duty cycle of the PWM signal and the motor speed of the fan.
One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to do this modification because it would allow for providing appropriate cooling of the information handling system by adjusting the PWM signal to provide appropriate fan speed, where the fan speed with respect to the PWM signal may change for a reason, such as, the wear of the fan motor. (Lambert: [0023])
Regarding claim 7, Locke and Lambert teach all the claimed features of claims 1 and 6. Locke further teaches:
wherein at least one of the cooling devices comprises a fan, wherein at least a parameter among the multiple parameters comprises a rotation speed of the fan. (Locke: [0037] “FIG. 5 is a graph illustrating a fan speed response of a CPU fan 502 and a fan speed response of a system fan 504, in RPM, over time when no filtering is applied to a PWM control signal generated by a PID controller and applied to a cooling fan. FIG. 6 illustrates a fan speed response of a CPU fan 602 and a system fan 604, in RPM, over time when filtering is applied to the PWM control signal. The oscillation in fan speed over time present in FIG. 5 is minimized when filtering is applied, resulting in enhanced system stability and performance.”)
Locke does not expressly teach: wherein the controller is to calculate the ratio between the rotation speed of the fan and a corresponding PWM parameter among the multiple PWM parameters.
Lambert teaches:
wherein the controller is to calculate the ratio between the rotation speed of the fan and a corresponding PWM parameter among the multiple PWM parameters. (Lambert: [0021]-[0023] as discussed in claim 6) [The RPM of the fan rotor reads on “the rotation speed of the fan”.]
The motivation to combine Locke and Lambert as described in claim 6 is incorporated herein.
Regarding claim 16, Locke teaches all the claimed features of claim 11.
The claim recites similar limitations as corresponding claim 6 and is rejected using the same teachings and rationale.
Regarding claim 17, Locke and Lambert teach all the claimed features of claims 11 and 16.
The claim recites similar limitations as corresponding claim 7 and is rejected using the same teachings and rationale.
Claims 8 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Locke, in view of Lambert, further in view of Byquist et al. (US 2012/0217316 A1) (“Byquist”).
Regarding claim 8, Locke and Lambert teach all the claimed features of claims 1 and 6-7. Locke further teaches:
(i) multiple fans controlled to operate at multiple rotation speeds, respectively, (Locke: [0037] “FIG. 5 is a graph illustrating a fan speed response of a CPU fan 502 and a fan speed response of a system fan 504, in RPM, over time when no filtering is applied to a PWM control signal generated by a PID controller and applied to a cooling fan. FIG. 6 illustrates a fan speed response of a CPU fan 602 and a system fan 604, in RPM, over time when filtering is applied to the PWM control signal. The oscillation in fan speed over time present in FIG. 5 is minimized when filtering is applied, resulting in enhanced system stability and performance.”)
(ii) multiple components located in at least some of the multiple locations. (Locke: FIG. 4)
Locke and Lambert do not expressly teach: (iii) a power supply unit (PSU) to supply power to at least some of the multiple components, wherein the PSU comprises a PSU fan, and wherein the TMC is to set a given rotation speed of the PSU fan to be equal to or larger than a maximal value of the multiple rotation speeds.
Byquist teaches:
(iii) a power supply unit (PSU) to supply power to at least some of the multiple components, wherein the PSU comprises a PSU fan, and wherein the TMC is to set a given rotation speed of the PSU fan to be equal to or larger than a maximal value of the multiple rotation speeds. (Byquist: FIGS. 2-3) (Byquist: [0023] “Thermal management controller 205 may provide a number of weighted output signals 255 as outputs therefrom. Weighted output signals 255 may be provided to control, at least in part, an operational parameter of thermal cooling devices 235, 240, 245, and 250. The thermal cooling devices may include, for example, CPU fan 235, chassis fan 240, power supply fan 245, and fan 250. The thermal cooling devices may be located at a variety of locations to provide thermal cooling to a variety of device locations. For example, fan 1 (235) may be located in the vicinity of a CPU to cool the CPU, fan 2 (240) may be located within a chassis of an electrical device to cool the ambient air therein, and fan 3 (245) may be located in the vicinity or on a power supply to cool the power supply.”) (Byquist: [0034] “Weighted output signals 376 may be provided to a PWM comparator mechanism prior to being received at thermal cooling devices 366, 370, and 374. For example, the weighted output signals associated with controlling thermal cooling device 366 are first received by PWM comparator mechanism 364, the weighted output signals associated with controlling thermal cooling device 370 are received by PWM comparator mechanism 368, and the weighted output signals associated with controlling thermal cooling device 374 are received by PWM comparator mechanism 372. The PWM comparator mechanisms may compare the weighted output signals 376 received thereby and pass the weighted output signal(s) having the greatest value on to the thermal cooling device associated therewith.”) [The fan F3, as illustrated as 245 in FIG. 2 and 374 in FIG. 3, reads on “a PSU fan”. The PWM comparator mechanism 372 passing the weighted output signal having the greatest value to the fan F3 reads on “set a given rotation speed of the PSU fan to be equal to or larger than a maximal value …”.]
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, having the teachings of Locke, Lambert and Byquist before them, to modify the information handling system cooling system that uses a variable speed fan control for certain components of the information handling system, to incorporate a fan for the power supply that operates at the greatest of the weighted fan speed calculations.
One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to do this modification because it would allow for providing optimal cooling of the power supply of the information handling system efficiently and reliably. (Byquist: [0035]-[0036])
Regarding claim 18, Locke and Lambert teach all the claimed features of claims 11 and 16-17.
The claim recites similar limitations as corresponding claim 8 and is rejected using the same teachings and rationale.
Claims 9 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Locke, in view of Lambert, further in view of North et al. (US 2019/0235982 A1) (“North”).
Regarding claim 9, Locke and Lambert teach all the claimed features of claims 1 and 6-7. Locke further teaches:
wherein the multiple measurements comprise two or more given measurements indicative of ambient temperatures of the electronic system. (Locke: FIG. 4) [The temperature data from the temperature sensor 402B and 402F that measure the ambient temperatures reads on “two or more given measurements indicative of ambient temperatures …”.]
Locke and Lambert do not expressly teach: wherein the controller is to control a rotation direction of the fan, wherein the controller is to determine the rotation direction of the fan based on a minimal ambient temperature among the ambient temperatures.
North teaches:
wherein the controller is to control a rotation direction of the fan, (North: [0028] “In the embodiment of FIG. 1A, an embedded controller (EC) 180 is coupled to PCH 150 by data bus 189 and is configured to perform out-of-band and system tasks including, but not limited to, providing control signals 187 to control operation of power supply/voltage regulation circuitry 192 that itself receives external power 190 (e.g., direct current power from an AC adapter or alternating current from AC mains) and in turn provides suitable regulated and/or converted direct current power 183 for operating the system power-consuming components and for charging system battery pack 185. EC 180 may also supply control signals 181 to fan control circuitry 115 for controlling direction of air flow produced by cooling fan/s 110, control signals across bus 189 to control power throttling for processing devices 135 and/or 132 based on internal system temperature measurement signals 179 received from one or more temperature sensors 191 inside or on chassis enclosure 105, etc. It will be understood that one or more such tasks may alternatively or additionally be performed by other processing device/s of an information handling system 100.”)
wherein the controller is to determine the rotation direction of the fan based on a minimal ambient temperature among the ambient temperatures. (North: [0040] “FIG. 2B illustrates how cooling fan/s 110 may be controlled (e.g., automatically by impeded air flow detection algorithm 138) to reverse the direction of air flow through chassis enclosure 105 in a second direction when air pressure measured by pressure sensor 173 meets or exceeds a predetermined critical absolute pressure threshold value that is above the normal absolute pressure value range.”) [The measurements of the chassis enclosure pressure read on “the ambient temperatures”. Reversing the direction of the cooling fan/s based on the chassis enclosure pressure meeting or exceeding the predetermined critical absolute pressure threshold value reads on “to determine the rotation direction … based on a minimal ambient temperature”.]
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, having the teachings of Locke, Lambert and North before them, to modify the information handling system cooling system that uses a variable speed fan control, to incorporate controlling the direction of the fan based on the pressure or the temperature of the chassis enclosure of the information handling system.
One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to do this modification because it would allow for cooling the information handling system to the desired pressure by expelling the air from the interior of the chassis enclosure. (North: [0015])
Regarding claim 19, Locke and Lambert teach all the claimed features of claims 11 and 16-17.
The claim recites similar limitations as corresponding claim 9 and is rejected using the same teachings and rationale.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 10 and 20 are objected to as being dependent upon respective rejected base claims, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent forms including all of the limitations of the respective base claims and any respective intervening claims.
As allowable subject matter has been indicated, applicant's reply must either comply with all formal requirements or specifically traverse each requirement not complied with. See 37 CFR 1.111(b) and MPEP § 707.07(a).
It is noted that any citations to specific, pages, columns, lines, or figures in the prior art references and any interpretation of the reference should not be considered to be limiting in any way. A reference is relevant for all it contains and may be relied upon for all that it would have reasonably suggested to one having ordinary skill in the art. See MPEP 2123.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL W CHOI whose telephone number is (571)270-5069. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8am-5pm.
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/MICHAEL W CHOI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2116