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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 03/18/2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant Remarks filed on 03/18/2026 in response to the Final office action mailed on 01/20/2026 have been fully considered and are addressed as follows:
Regarding the Claim Rejections under 35 USC § 103: With respect to the previous claim rejections under 35 U.S.C. § 103, Applicant has amended the independent claims and these amendments have changed the scope of the original application. Therefore, the Office has supplied new grounds of rejection attached below in the NON-FINAL office action and therefore the prior arguments are considered moot.
NON-FINAL OFFICE ACTION
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 21, 26-28, 30, 35-37, and 39 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jeong et al. (US 2019/0148954 A1, hereinafter “Jeong”) in view of Onti Srinivasan et al. (US 2023/0171314 A1, hereinafter “Onti”) further in view of Rajaie et al. (US 2018/0229613 A1, hereinafter “Rajaie”).
Regarding claim 21, Jeong discloses a method at a vehicle communications subsystem comprising:
(Jeong at para. [0047]: “The battery charging apparatus 110 determines a number of charging ports to be used to charge the battery 120 based on the state of the battery 120”; The total number of charging ports on the vehicle to be used to charge the battery is determined);
(Jeong at para. [0058]: “the BMS 210 controls the switching, on and off, of a plurality of relays using the PRA 240. In FIG. 3, arrows of the BMS 210, showing output connections, and arrows input to the plurality of relays connect the BMS 210 and to the plurality of relays”; para. [0097]: “The plurality of battery modules in the battery 710 are connected to or disconnected from each other via a relay 720 that is located between two battery modules. In an example, when all relays 720 are switched off based on a control of a PRA, the battery 710 is divided into the same number of sections as the plurality of battery modules. In another example, the relays 720 are selectively switched, on or off, the battery 710 is divided every at least two battery modules”; para. [0098]: “The battery 710 or the sections of the battery 710 are connected to corresponding charging ports by an operation that selectively switches, on or off, relays 730 to perform slow charging or fast charging”).
However, Jeong does not explicitly state receiving a first request from a client device, querying a first Vehicle Signal Specification (VSS) tree node, transmitting a first response to the client device, receiving a second request from the client device to identify each battery associated with each charging port, querying VSS tree nodes, transmitting a second response identifying the batteries associated with each charging port.
In the same field of endeavor, Onti teaches receiving a first request from a client device, transmitting a first response to the client device, receiving a second request from the client device, transmitting a second response (Onti at para. [0028]: “Customers 122a through 122n are furthermore, connected to vehicle information extraction service via the network 116”; para. [0029]: “The customers 122a, 122n interact with the control plane 104 through extraction service requests 118, 120 to perform vehicle modeling, vehicle sensor testing, vehicle asset registration, vehicle fleet definitions, and data collection scheme management”).
Onti further teaches querying a first Vehicle Signal Specification (VSS) tree node, querying VSS tree nodes (Onti at para. [0033]: “The signal catalog may follow a Vehicle Signal Specification (VSS) naming guide and may be accessible using qualified names ( e.g., Vehicle.Powertrain.CombustionEngine.FuelType). There may be one unique path per signal of the signal catalog wherein in some embodiments the data collection scheme controller 108 may assign the signal a unique signal id. The data collection scheme controller 108 of the data plane 104 may guarantee that the signal id be unique across the signal catalog. In some embodiments, customers 122a, 122n may create multiple signal catalogs” “As further discussed in FIG. 2, the data collection scheme controller 108 of the data plane 104 may manage a vehicle model configuration using the signal catalog and the decoder rules to enable a unified signal representation for the vehicle data extraction service 102 to collect data across heterogenous vehicles in a fleet via a workflow that applies the same data collection scheme when extracting data from the heterogenous vehicles in the fleet”; para. [0045]: “The model configuration may be a collection of signals chosen from the signal catalog that are applicable to that specific vehicle model” “For a different model of the vehicle that has an electric engine and cruise control, the model configuration will contain the cruise control branch and the battery branch”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Jeong by adding receiving requests, transmitting responses, and querying the VSS tree nodes as taught by Onti with a reasonable expectation of success. The motivation to modify the method of Jeong in view of Onti is to provide efficient data management.
Specifically, it is obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize widely adopted VSS tree nodes of Onti to access various vehicle data including data regarding charging ports and respective batteries of Jeong for efficient data management.
However, Jeong in view of Onti does not explicitly state:
identify each battery associated with each charging port,
identifying the batteries associated with each charging port.
In the same field of endeavor, Rajaie teaches:
identify each battery associated with each charging port,
identifying the batteries associated with each charging port (Rajaie at para. [0064]: “the charge management unit 720 may determine that each of the first battery 716A and the second battery 716B may receive a charge, or power, consistent with a respective plug or receptacle of the first charging port 304A and/or the second charging port 304B”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Jeong in view of Onti by adding identifying each battery associated with each charging port of Rajaie with a reasonable expectation of success. The motivation to modify the method of Jeong in view of Onti further in view of Rajaie is to take advantage of new technology utilizing multiple charging ports on a vehicle.
Office Note: Examiner notes that the limitation “the total number of charging ports” is not further specified, and thus the limitation includes (1) the total number of charging ports to be used on the vehicle, (2) the total number of charging ports existing on the vehicle, (3) the total number of charging ports available on the vehicle, (4) the total number of charging ports being detected on the vehicle, or the like.
Regarding claims 26 and 27, Jeong in view of Onti further in view of Rajaie teaches the method of claim 21.
As to the limitations of claim 26, the limitation, wherein the first VSS tree node is Vehicle. ChargingPort.PortCount, is nonfunctional descriptive material, and no patentable weight should be given to such nonfunctional descriptive material. MPEP § 2111.05.
To be given patentable weight, the printed matter and associated product must be in a functional relationship. However, where the claim as a whole is directed to conveying a message or meaning to a human reader independent of the intended computer system, and/or the computer-readable medium merely serves as a support for information or data, no functional relationship exists. MPEP § 2111.05 (III).
The limitation, wherein the first VSS tree node is Vehicle. ChargingPort.PortCount, is directed to an attribute name that merely serves as a support of vehicle data and there is no functional relationship exists, and thus the limitation is directed to nonfunctional descriptive material. Therefore, the Office has given no patentable weight to the limitation.
Additionally, naming conventions for attributes for the VSS are well-known in the art (see Onti at para. [0033]).
As to the limitations of claim 27, they are directed to nonfunctional descriptive material as set forth in MPEP § 2111.05 and thus obvious over the prior art.
Regarding claim 28, Jeong in view of Onti further in view of Rajaie teaches the method of claim 21.
Jeong further discloses wherein a battery is associated with more than one charging port (Jeong at para. [0064]: “When a plurality of charging ports are determined to be used to charge the battery 220, the BMS 210 selectively switches, on or off, the plurality of relays based on a control of a PRA. For example, a relay 3 is switched off to divide the battery 220 into two battery sections, and relays 1, 2 and 4 are switched on so that the battery sections of the battery 220 are connected to corresponding DC charging ports”).
Regarding claim 30, Jeong discloses a vehicle communications subsystem comprising:
a processor (Jeong at para. [0101]: “the battery charging apparatus 800 includes a memory 810 and a processor 820”); and
a communications subsystem (Jeong at para. [0101]: “The memory 810 and the processor 820 communicate with each other via a bus 830”),
wherein the vehicle communications subsystem is configured to:
(Jeong at para. [0047]: “The battery charging apparatus 110 determines a number of charging ports to be used to charge the battery 120 based on the state of the battery 120”; The total number of charging ports on the vehicle to be used to charge the battery is determined);
(Jeong at para. [0058]: “the BMS 210 controls the switching, on and off, of a plurality of relays using the PRA 240. In FIG. 3, arrows of the BMS 210, showing output connections, and arrows input to the plurality of relays connect the BMS 210 and to the plurality of relays”; para. [0097]: “The plurality of battery modules in the battery 710 are connected to or disconnected from each other via a relay 720 that is located between two battery modules. In an example, when all relays 720 are switched off based on a control of a PRA, the battery 710 is divided into the same number of sections as the plurality of battery modules. In another example, the relays 720 are selectively switched, on or off, the battery 710 is divided every at least two battery modules”; para. [0098]: “The battery 710 or the sections of the battery 710 are connected to corresponding charging ports by an operation that selectively switches, on or off, relays 730 to perform slow charging or fast charging”).
However, Jeong does not explicitly state receive a first request from a client device, query a first Vehicle Signal Specification (VSS) tree node, transmit a first response to the client device, receive a second request from the client device to identify each battery associated with each charging port, query VSS tree nodes, transmit a second response identifying the batteries associated with each charging port.
In the same field of endeavor, Onti teaches receive a first request from a client device, transmit a first response to the client device, receive a second request from the client device, transmit a second response (Onti at para. [0028]: “Customers 122a through 122n are furthermore, connected to vehicle information extraction service via the network 116”; para. [0029]: “The customers 122a, 122n interact with the control plane 104 through extraction service requests 118, 120 to perform vehicle modeling, vehicle sensor testing, vehicle asset registration, vehicle fleet definitions, and data collection scheme management”).
Onti further teaches query a first Vehicle Signal Specification (VSS) tree node, query VSS tree nodes (Onti at para. [0033]: “The signal catalog may follow a Vehicle Signal Specification (VSS) naming guide and may be accessible using qualified names ( e.g., Vehicle.Powertrain.CombustionEngine.FuelType). There may be one unique path per signal of the signal catalog wherein in some embodiments the data collection scheme controller 108 may assign the signal a unique signal id. The data collection scheme controller 108 of the data plane 104 may guarantee that the signal id be unique across the signal catalog. In some embodiments, customers 122a, 122n may create multiple signal catalogs” “As further discussed in FIG. 2, the data collection scheme controller 108 of the data plane 104 may manage a vehicle model configuration using the signal catalog and the decoder rules to enable a unified signal representation for the vehicle data extraction service 102 to collect data across heterogenous vehicles in a fleet via a workflow that applies the same data collection scheme when extracting data from the heterogenous vehicles in the fleet”; para. [0045]: “The model configuration may be a collection of signals chosen from the signal catalog that are applicable to that specific vehicle model” “For a different model of the vehicle that has an electric engine and cruise control, the model configuration will contain the cruise control branch and the battery branch”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the subsystem of Jeong by adding receiving requests, transmitting responses, and querying the VSS tree nodes as taught by Onti with a reasonable expectation of success. The motivation to modify the subsystem of Jeong in view of Onti is to provide efficient data management.
Specifically, it is obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize widely adopted VSS tree nodes of Onti to access various vehicle data including data regarding charging ports and respective batteries of Jeong for efficient data management.
However, Jeong in view of Onti does not explicitly state:
identify each battery associated with each charging port,
identifying the batteries associated with each charging port.
In the same field of endeavor, Rajaie teaches:
identify each battery associated with each charging port,
identifying the batteries associated with each charging port (Rajaie at para. [0064]: “the charge management unit 720 may determine that each of the first battery 716A and the second battery 716B may receive a charge, or power, consistent with a respective plug or receptacle of the first charging port 304A and/or the second charging port 304B”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the subsystem of Jeong in view of Onti by adding identifying each battery associated with each charging port of Rajaie with a reasonable expectation of success. The motivation to modify the subsystem of Jeong in view of Onti further in view of Rajaie is to take advantage of new technology utilizing multiple charging ports on a vehicle.
Office Note: Examiner notes that the limitation “the total number of charging ports” is not further specified, and thus the limitation includes (1) the total number of charging ports to be used on the vehicle, (2) the total number of charging ports existing on the vehicle, (3) the total number of charging ports available on the vehicle, (4) the total number of charging ports being detected on the vehicle, or the like.
Regarding claims 35 and 36, Jeong in view of Onti further in view of Rajaie teaches the vehicle communications subsystem of claim 30.
As to the limitations of claim 35, the limitation, wherein the first VSS tree node is Vehicle.ChargingPort.PortCount, is nonfunctional descriptive material, and no patentable weight should be given to such nonfunctional descriptive material. MPEP § 2111.05.
To be given patentable weight, the printed matter and associated product must be in a functional relationship. However, where the claim as a whole is directed to conveying a message or meaning to a human reader independent of the intended computer system, and/or the computer-readable medium merely serves as a support for information or data, no functional relationship exists. MPEP § 2111.05 (III).
The limitation, wherein the first VSS tree node is Vehicle.ChargingPort.PortCount, is directed to an attribute name that merely serves as a support of vehicle data and there is no functional relationship exists, and thus the limitation is directed to nonfunctional descriptive material. Therefore, the Office has given no patentable weight to the limitation.
Additionally, naming conventions for attributes for the VSS are well-known in the art (see Onti at para. [0033]).
As to the limitations of claim 36, they are directed to nonfunctional descriptive material as set forth in MPEP § 2111.05 and thus obvious over the prior art.
Regarding claim 37, Jeong in view of Onti further in view of Rajaie teaches the vehicle communications subsystem of claim 30.
Jeong further discloses wherein a battery is associated with more than one charging port (Jeong at para. [0064]: “When a plurality of charging ports are determined to be used to charge the battery 220, the BMS 210 selectively switches, on or off, the plurality of relays based on a control of a PRA. For example, a relay 3 is switched off to divide the battery 220 into two battery sections, and relays 1, 2 and 4 are switched on so that the battery sections of the battery 220 are connected to corresponding DC charging ports”).
Regarding claim 39, Jeong discloses a non-transitory computer readable medium for storing instruction code, which, when executed by a processor of a computing device (Jeong at para. [0102]: “The memory 810 includes a computer-readable instruction. The processor 820 performs the above-described operations in response to the instruction in the memory 810 being executed by the processor 820. The memory 810 is, for example, a volatile memory or a non-volatile memory”), cause the computing device to:
(Jeong at para. [0047]: “The battery charging apparatus 110 determines a number of charging ports to be used to charge the battery 120 based on the state of the battery 120”);
(Jeong at para. [0058]: “the BMS 210 controls the switching, on and off, of a plurality of relays using the PRA 240. In FIG. 3, arrows of the BMS 210, showing output connections, and arrows input to the plurality of relays connect the BMS 210 and to the plurality of relays”; para. [0097]: “The plurality of battery modules in the battery 710 are connected to or disconnected from each other via a relay 720 that is located between two battery modules. In an example, when all relays 720 are switched off based on a control of a PRA, the battery 710 is divided into the same number of sections as the plurality of battery modules. In another example, the relays 720 are selectively switched, on or off, the battery 710 is divided every at least two battery modules”; para. [0098]: “The battery 710 or the sections of the battery 710 are connected to corresponding charging ports by an operation that selectively switches, on or off, relays 730 to perform slow charging or fast charging”).
However, Jeong does not explicitly state receive a first request from a client device, query a first Vehicle Signal Specification (VSS) tree node, transmit a first response to the client device, receive a second request from the client device to identify each battery associated with each charging port, query VSS tree nodes, transmit a second response identifying the batteries associated with each charging port.
In the same field of endeavor, Onti teaches receive a first request from a client device, transmit a first response to the client device, receive a second request from the client device, transmit a second response (Onti at para. [0028]: “Customers 122a through 122n are furthermore, connected to vehicle information extraction service via the network 116”; para. [0029]: “The customers 122a, 122n interact with the control plane 104 through extraction service requests 118, 120 to perform vehicle modeling, vehicle sensor testing, vehicle asset registration, vehicle fleet definitions, and data collection scheme management”).
Onti further teaches query a first Vehicle Signal Specification (VSS) tree node, query VSS tree nodes (Onti at para. [0033]: “The signal catalog may follow a Vehicle Signal Specification (VSS) naming guide and may be accessible using qualified names ( e.g., Vehicle.Powertrain.CombustionEngine.FuelType). There may be one unique path per signal of the signal catalog wherein in some embodiments the data collection scheme controller 108 may assign the signal a unique signal id. The data collection scheme controller 108 of the data plane 104 may guarantee that the signal id be unique across the signal catalog. In some embodiments, customers 122a, 122n may create multiple signal catalogs” “As further discussed in FIG. 2, the data collection scheme controller 108 of the data plane 104 may manage a vehicle model configuration using the signal catalog and the decoder rules to enable a unified signal representation for the vehicle data extraction service 102 to collect data across heterogenous vehicles in a fleet via a workflow that applies the same data collection scheme when extracting data from the heterogenous vehicles in the fleet”; para. [0045]: “The model configuration may be a collection of signals chosen from the signal catalog that are applicable to that specific vehicle model” “For a different model of the vehicle that has an electric engine and cruise control, the model configuration will contain the cruise control branch and the battery branch”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the medium of Jeong by adding receiving requests, transmitting responses, and querying the VSS tree nodes as taught by Onti with a reasonable expectation of success. The motivation to modify the medium of Jeong in view of Onti is to provide efficient data management.
Specifically, it is obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize widely adopted VSS tree nodes of Onti to access various vehicle data including data regarding charging ports and respective batteries of Jeong for efficient data management.
However, Jeong in view of Onti does not explicitly state:
identify each battery associated with each charging port,
identifying the batteries associated with each charging port.
In the same field of endeavor, Rajaie teaches:
identify each battery associated with each charging port,
identifying the batteries associated with each charging port (Rajaie at para. [0064]: “the charge management unit 720 may determine that each of the first battery 716A and the second battery 716B may receive a charge, or power, consistent with a respective plug or receptacle of the first charging port 304A and/or the second charging port 304B”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the medium of Jeong in view of Onti by adding identifying each battery associated with each charging port of Rajaie with a reasonable expectation of success. The motivation to modify the medium of Jeong in view of Onti further in view of Rajaie is to take advantage of new technology utilizing multiple charging ports on a vehicle.
Office Note: Examiner notes that the limitation “the total number of charging ports” is not further specified, and thus the limitation includes (1) the total number of charging ports to be used on the vehicle, (2) the total number of charging ports existing on the vehicle, (3) the total number of charging ports available on the vehicle, (4) the total number of charging ports being detected on the vehicle, or the like.
Claims 22, 31, and 40 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jeong in view of Onti further in view of Rajaie and NPL-1 (D. Wilms, D. Alvarez-Coello and A. Bekan, "An Evolving Ontology for Vehicle Signals," 2021 IEEE 93rd Vehicular Technology Conference (VTC2021-Spring), Helsinki, Finland, 2021, pp. 1-5, doi: 10.1109/VTC2021-Spring51267.2021.9448884.).
Regarding claim 22, Jeong in view of Onti further in view of Rajaie teaches the method of claim 21.
However, Jeong in view of Onti further in view of Rajaie does not explicitly state wherein the total number of charging ports is defined as an attribute of the vehicle.
In the same field of endeavor, NPL-1 teaches wherein the total number of charging ports is defined as an attribute of the vehicle (NPL-1 at pg. 1: “new data sources might extend the user's preferences”; pg. 2: “VSS started in 2016 as a project of the GENIVI Alliance aiming at standardizing vehicle signals and attributes”; pg. 3: “It started off defining vehicle attributes, which were then adapted into VSS, and it recently started discussions about extensions of the current offering”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Jeong in view of Onti further in view of Rajaie by adding the attribute of the vehicle as taught by NPL-1 with a reasonable expectation of success. The motivation to modify the method of Jeong in view of Onti further in view of Rajaie and NPL-1 is to extend the list of attributes in the vehicle signal specification (VSS).
Regarding claim 31, Jeong in view of Onti further in view of Rajaie teaches the vehicle communications subsystem of claim 30.
However, Jeong in view of Onti further in view of Rajaie does not explicitly state wherein the total number of charging ports is defined as an attribute of the vehicle.
In the same field of endeavor, NPL-1 teaches wherein the total number of charging ports is defined as an attribute of the vehicle (NPL-1 at pg. 1: “new data sources might extend the user's preferences”; pg. 2: “VSS started in 2016 as a project of the GENIVI Alliance aiming at standardizing vehicle signals and attributes”; pg. 3: “It started off defining vehicle attributes, which were then adapted into VSS, and it recently started discussions about extensions of the current offering”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Jeong in view of Onti further in view of Rajaie by adding the attribute of the vehicle as taught by NPL-1 with a reasonable expectation of success. The motivation to modify the device of Jeong in view of Onti further in view of Rajaie and NPL-1 is to extend the list of attributes in the vehicle signal specification (VSS).
Regarding claim 40, Jeong in view of Onti further in view of Rajaie teaches the non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 39.
However, Jeong et al. in view of Onti further in view of Rajaie does not explicitly state wherein the total number of charging ports is defined as an attribute of the vehicle.
In the same field of endeavor, NPL-1 teaches wherein the number of charging ports is defined as an attribute of the vehicle (NPL-1 at pg. 1: “new data sources might extend the user's preferences”; pg. 2: “VSS started in 2016 as a project of the GENIVI Alliance aiming at standardizing vehicle signals and attributes”; pg. 3: “It started off defining vehicle attributes, which were then adapted into VSS, and it recently started discussions about extensions of the current offering”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the medium of Jeong in view of Onti further in view of Rajaie by adding the attribute of the vehicle as taught by NPL-1 with a reasonable expectation of success. The motivation to modify the medium of Jeong in view of Onti further in view of Rajaie and NPL-1 is to extend the list of attributes in the vehicle signal specification (VSS).
Claims 23-25 and 32-34 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jeong et al. in view of Onti further in view of Rajaie and Pariseau et al. (US 2012/0013290 A1, hereinafter “Pariseau”).
Regarding claim 23, Jeong in view of Onti further in view of Rajaie teaches the method of claim 21.
However, Jeong in view of Onti further in view of Rajaie does not explicitly state wherein the batteries associated with each charging port are provided as an enumerated list of battery addresses.
In the same field of endeavor, Pariseau further teaches wherein the batteries associated with each charging port are provided as an enumerated list of battery addresses (Pariseau at para. [0033]: “The present invention provides a system and method of registering the battery module components, such as the BMUs and the battery cells, with the BMS using an enumeration method. As a result, a configuration table, such as a look-up table, can easily be established linking the virtual address of the battery module components with their physical setup”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Jeong in view of Onti further in view of Rajaie by adding the enumerated list of the battery addresses as taught by Pariseau with a reasonable expectation of success. The motivation to modify the method of Jeong in view of Onti further in view of Rajaie and Pariseau is to monitor electric vehicles having multiple batteries (see Pariseau at para. [0003]).
Regarding claim 24, Jeong in view of Onti further in view of Rajaie and Pariseau teaches the method of claim 23.
Pariseau further teaches further comprising:
receiving a third request for a status of at least one battery in the enumerated list of battery addresses;
transmitting a third response indicating the status of the at least one battery (Pariseau at para. [0032]: “the electric vehicle may ping the BMS 110 to retrieve battery data from the BMUs 121-132. Alternatively, an instruction can require the BMUs 121-132 to continually broadcast their status”; para. [0033]: “a configuration table, such as a look-up table, can easily be established linking the virtual address of the battery module components with their physical setup. The configuration table can store a variety of information about the battery pack's configuration, such as how many module boards are in the battery pack ( e.g., 8 module boards), how many BMU s are on each module board ( e.g., 1 BMU on each of the first 4 module boards and 2 BMUs on each of the last 4 module boards), how many battery cells in series the battery pack has ( e.g., 100 battery cells in series), how many battery cells in parallel the battery pack has ( e.g., 32 battery cells in parallel), and which particular BMU corresponds to which particular module board and to which particular battery cells in the battery pack ( e.g., BMU number 5 corresponds to: module board number 5, in-series battery cells 37-44, and in-parallel battery cells 1-8)”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Jeong in view of Onti further in view of Rajaie and Pariseau by adding requesting and receiving the status of the battery as taught by Pariseau with a reasonable expectation of success. The motivation to modify the method of Jeong in view of Onti further in view of Rajaie and Pariseau is to monitor electric vehicles having multiple batteries (see Pariseau at para. [0003]).
Onti further teaches querying battery VSS tree nodes (Onti at para. [0033]: “The signal catalog may follow a Vehicle Signal Specification (VSS) naming guide and may be accessible using qualified names ( e.g., Vehicle.Powertrain.CombustionEngine.FuelType). There may be one unique path per signal of the signal catalog wherein in some embodiments the data collection scheme controller 108 may assign the signal a unique signal id. The data collection scheme controller 108 of the data plane 104 may guarantee that the signal id be unique across the signal catalog. In some embodiments, customers 122a, 122n may create multiple signal catalogs” “As further discussed in FIG. 2, the data collection scheme controller 108 of the data plane 104 may manage a vehicle model configuration using the signal catalog and the decoder rules to enable a unified signal representation for the vehicle data extraction service 102 to collect data across heterogenous vehicles in a fleet via a workflow that applies the same data collection scheme when extracting data from the heterogenous vehicles in the fleet”; para. [0045]: “The model configuration may be a collection of signals chosen from the signal catalog that are applicable to that specific vehicle model” “For a different model of the vehicle that has an electric engine and cruise control, the model configuration will contain the cruise control branch and the battery branch”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Jeong in view of Onti further in view of Rajaie and Pariseau by adding the VSS tree nodes as taught by Onti with a reasonable expectation of success. The motivation to modify the method of Jeong in view of Onti further in view of Rajaie and Pariseau is to provide data standardization and interoperability.
Specifically, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize commonly and widely adopted VSS tree nodes of Onti to access various vehicle data including data regarding charging ports and respective batteries of Jeong in view of Pariseau for efficient data management.
Regarding claim 25, Jeong in view of Onti Jeong in view of Onti further in view of Rajaie and Pariseau teaches the method of claim 24.
Jeong further discloses wherein a charging port has a plurality of traction batteries associated with it (Jeong at para. [0003]: “A battery is used as a power source of an electric vehicle (EV) or a mobile device, and battery cells included in the battery are connected in series or in parallel and are charged with current supplied via a single path”; para. [0006]: “In response to the number of charging ports being determined to be a plural number of charging ports, the battery may be divided into a number of battery sections equal to the plural number of charging ports”).
Regarding claim 32, Jeong in view of Onti further in view of Rajaie teaches the vehicle communications subsystem of claim 30.
However, Jeong in view of Onti further in view of Rajaie does not explicitly state wherein the batteries associated with each charging port are provided as an enumerated list of battery addresses.
In the same field of endeavor, Pariseau further teaches wherein the batteries associated with each charging port are provided as an enumerated list of battery addresses (Pariseau at para. [0033]: “The present invention provides a system and method of registering the battery module components, such as the BMUs and the battery cells, with the BMS using an enumeration method. As a result, a configuration table, such as a look-up table, can easily be established linking the virtual address of the battery module components with their physical setup”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the subsystem of Jeong in view of Onti further in view of Rajaie by adding the enumerated list of the battery addresses as taught by Pariseau with a reasonable expectation of success. The motivation to modify the subsystem of Jeong in view of Onti further in view of Rajaie and Pariseau is to monitor electric vehicles having multiple batteries (see Pariseau at para. [0003]).
Regarding claim 33, Jeong in view of Onti further in view of Rajaie and Pariseau teaches the vehicle communications subsystem of claim 32.
Pariseau further teaches further configured to:
receive a third request for a status of at least one battery in the enumerated list of battery addresses;
transmit a third response indicating the status of the at least one battery (Pariseau at para. [0032]: “the electric vehicle may ping the BMS 110 to retrieve battery data from the BMUs 121-132. Alternatively, an instruction can require the BMUs 121-132 to continually broadcast their status”; para. [0033]: “a configuration table, such as a look-up table, can easily be established linking the virtual address of the battery module components with their physical setup. The configuration table can store a variety of information about the battery pack's configuration, such as how many module boards are in the battery pack ( e.g., 8 module boards), how many BMU s are on each module board ( e.g., 1 BMU on each of the first 4 module boards and 2 BMUs on each of the last 4 module boards), how many battery cells in series the battery pack has ( e.g., 100 battery cells in series), how many battery cells in parallel the battery pack has ( e.g., 32 battery cells in parallel), and which particular BMU corresponds to which particular module board and to which particular battery cells in the battery pack ( e.g., BMU number 5 corresponds to: module board number 5, in-series battery cells 37-44, and in-parallel battery cells 1-8)”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the subsystem of Jeong in view of Onti further in view of Rajaie and Pariseau by adding requesting and receiving the status of the battery as taught by Pariseau with a reasonable expectation of success. The motivation to modify the subsystem of Jeong in view of Onti further in view of Rajaie and Pariseau is to monitor electric vehicles having multiple batteries (see Pariseau at para. [0003]).
Onti further teaches query battery VSS tree nodes (Onti at para. [0033]: “The signal catalog may follow a Vehicle Signal Specification (VSS) naming guide and may be accessible using qualified names ( e.g., Vehicle.Powertrain.CombustionEngine.FuelType). There may be one unique path per signal of the signal catalog wherein in some embodiments the data collection scheme controller 108 may assign the signal a unique signal id. The data collection scheme controller 108 of the data plane 104 may guarantee that the signal id be unique across the signal catalog. In some embodiments, customers 122a, 122n may create multiple signal catalogs” “As further discussed in FIG. 2, the data collection scheme controller 108 of the data plane 104 may manage a vehicle model configuration using the signal catalog and the decoder rules to enable a unified signal representation for the vehicle data extraction service 102 to collect data across heterogenous vehicles in a fleet via a workflow that applies the same data collection scheme when extracting data from the heterogenous vehicles in the fleet”; para. [0045]: “The model configuration may be a collection of signals chosen from the signal catalog that are applicable to that specific vehicle model” “For a different model of the vehicle that has an electric engine and cruise control, the model configuration will contain the cruise control branch and the battery branch”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the subsystem of Jeong in view of Onti further in view of Rajaie and Pariseau by adding the VSS tree nodes as taught by Onti with a reasonable expectation of success. The motivation to modify the subsystem of Jeong in view of Onti further in view of Rajaie and Pariseau is to provide data standardization and interoperability.
Specifically, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize commonly and widely adopted VSS tree nodes of Onti to access various vehicle data including data regarding charging ports and respective batteries of Jeong in view of Pariseau for efficient data management.
Regarding claim 34, Jeong in view of Onti further in view of Rajaie and Pariseau teaches the vehicle communications subsystem of claim 33.
Jeong further discloses wherein a charging port has a plurality of traction batteries associated with it (Jeong at para. [0003]: “A battery is used as a power source of an electric vehicle (EV) or a mobile device, and battery cells included in the battery are connected in series or in parallel and are charged with current supplied via a single path”; para. [0006]: “In response to the number of charging ports being determined to be a plural number of charging ports, the battery may be divided into a number of battery sections equal to the plural number of charging ports”).
Claims 29 and 38 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jeong in view of Onti further in view of Rajaie and Kim et al. (KR 20230079727 A, hereinafter “Kim”). The rejections below are based on the machine translation of the Kim reference.
Regarding claim 29, Jeong in view of Onti further in view of Rajaie teaches the method of claim 21.
Jeong further discloses wherein the total number of charging ports is greater than or equal to two, and wherein batteries associated with a first charging port comprise traction batteries (Jeong at para. [0003]: “A battery is used as a power source of an electric vehicle (EV) or a mobile device, and battery cells included in the battery are connected in series or in parallel and are charged with current supplied via a single path”; para. [0006]: “In response to the number of charging ports being determined to be a plural number of charging ports, the battery may be divided into a number of battery sections equal to the plural number of charging ports”).
However, Jeong in view of Onti further in view of Rajaie does not explicitly state batteries associated with a second charging port comprise emergency equipment batteries for the vehicle.
In the same field of endeavor, Kim teaches batteries associated with a second charging port comprise emergency equipment batteries for the vehicle (Kim at para. [0036]: “The load unit (6) has multiple loads (6A, 6B, ...) is included. Multiple loads (6A, 6B, ...) may include a first load (6A) such as a driving inverter/motor, and a second load (6B) such as a lighting lamp/auxiliary battery”; para. [0052]: “if the first and second battery packs (5A, 5B) are 360 V and 50 Ah, respectively, 720 V and 50 Ah can be supplied to the first and second loads (6A, 6B)”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Jeong in view of Onti further in view of Rajaie by adding the second charging port as taught by Kim with a reasonable expectation of success. The motivation to modify the method of Jeong in view of Onti further in view of Rajaie and Kim is to enable efficient use of batteries (see Kim at para. [0013]).
Office Note: The Office has interpreted “emergency equipment” as “any equipment associated with urgent need for assistance” (see “emergency,” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/emergency. Accessed 5/27/2025.).
Regarding claim 38, Jeong in view of Onti further in view of Rajaie teaches the vehicle communications subsystem of claim 30.
Jeong further discloses wherein the number of charging ports is greater than or equal to two, and wherein batteries associated with a first charging port comprise traction batteries (Jeong at para. [0003]: “A battery is used as a power source of an electric vehicle (EV) or a mobile device, and battery cells included in the battery are connected in series or in parallel and are charged with current supplied via a single path”; para. [0006]: “In response to the number of charging ports being determined to be a plural number of charging ports, the battery may be divided into a number of battery sections equal to the plural number of charging ports”).
However, Jeong in view of Onti further in view of Rajaie does not explicitly state batteries associated with a second charging port comprise emergency equipment batteries for the vehicle.
In the same field of endeavor, Kim teaches batteries associated with a second charging port comprise emergency equipment batteries for the vehicle (Kim at para. [0036]: “The load unit (6) has multiple loads (6A, 6B, ...) is included. Multiple loads (6A, 6B, ...) may include a first load (6A) such as a driving inverter/motor, and a second load (6B) such as a lighting lamp/auxiliary battery”; para. [0052]: “if the first and second battery packs (5A, 5B) are 360 V and 50 Ah, respectively, 720 V and 50 Ah can be supplied to the first and second loads (6A, 6B)”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the subsystem of Jeong in view of Onti further in view of Rajaie by adding the second charging port as taught by Kim with a reasonable expectation of success. The motivation to modify the subsystem of Jeong in view of Onti further in view of Rajaie and Kim is to enable efficient use of batteries (see Kim at para. [0013]).
Office Note: The Office has interpreted “emergency equipment” as “any equipment associated with urgent need for assistance” (see “emergency,” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/emergency. Accessed 5/27/2025.).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure and can be found in the attached PTO-892 form.
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/JISUN CHOI/Examiner, Art Unit 3666
/SCOTT A BROWNE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3666
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