DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Response to Amendment
The amendment under 37 CFR 1.132 filed is sufficient to overcome the rejection of claim 11 based upon 35 U.S.C § 101.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see Applicant Arguments/Remarks, Page 7, Par. Response to Claim Interpretation under 35 U.S.C. § 112(f), filed April 9, 2026 (4/9/2026), with respect to Claims 1-8 have been fully considered and are persuasive.
Applicant’s arguments, see Applicant Arguments/Remarks, Page 8, Par. Response to Claim Rejections under 35 U.S.C. § 101, filed April 9, 2026 (4/9/2026), with respect to Claim 11 have been fully considered and are persuasive. The rejection under 35 U.S.C § 101 of Claim 11 has been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-11 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on the combination of references applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wu et al. (US 2017/0270776) in view of Stauffer et al. (US 2020/0015295).
Regarding Claim 1, Wu teaches a communication device that acquires an output signal from an external device and transmits it to an external server (Fig. 1 Par. [0023] “The wireless base station 200 receives the wireless messages from wireless sensor 100 and make a sensor contact report, which comprising the sensor identity, received signal strength indicator (RSSI), and the sensing data”), the communication device comprising a processor configured to perform operations comprising: operation as a signal acquisition unit configured to acquire an output signal from the external device (Fig. 1 Par. [0023] “The wireless base station 200 receives the wireless messages from wireless sensor 100 and make a sensor contact report, which comprising the sensor identity, received signal strength indicator (RSSI), and the sensing data. The wireless base station 100 sends the server contact report to the server 300 via network connection”), operation as a communication unit configured to transmit the output signal acquired by the signal acquisition unit to the external server (Fig. 1 Par. [0023] “The wireless base station 200 receives the wireless messages from wireless sensor 100 and make a sensor contact report, which comprising the sensor identity, received signal strength indicator (RSSI), and the sensing data. The wireless base station 100 sends the server contact report to the server 300 via network connection”).
Wu, however, does not teach operation as an analysis unit configured to acquire a radio field strength of the signal transmitted from the communication unit to the external server and analyzes a communication environment between the communication unit and the external server.
Stauffer teaches operation as an analysis unit configured to acquire a radio field strength of the signal transmitted from the communication unit to the external server and analyzes a communication environment between the communication unit and the external server (Par. [0035] “The base station 104 also includes processor(s) 308 and computer-readable storage media 310 (CRM 310). The processor 308 may be a single core processor or a multiple core processor composed of a variety of materials, such as silicon, polysilicon, high-K dielectric, copper, and so on. CRM 310 may include any suitable memory or storage device such as random-access memory (RAM), static RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), non-volatile RAM (NVRAM), read-only memory (ROM), or Flash memory useful to store device data 312 of the base station 104” and Par. [0037] “The IB-AMF 216 may be provided as a service in the core network, distributed across multiple servers, or embodied on a dedicated server. For example, the IB-AMF 216 is illustrated as being embodied on a single server that includes processor(s) 320 and computer-readable storage media 322 (CRM 322)” and Par. [0041] “In another aspect, the IB-AMF 216 actively maintains a backhaul link by monitoring link quality, throughput performance, and/or congestion levels of the backhaul link and of other base stations 104 that can be used as relay base stations 202. For example, the base station 104 and the relay base station 202a send monitoring data, at 410 and 412 respectively, to the IB-AMF 216. The monitoring data may include one or more of radio measurements of the backhaul link quality, radio measurements of the environment around the base station 104 or relay base station 202a, a traffic load on the backhaul link, data throughput on the backhaul link, data retransmission rates, the number of user devices 102 connected through the base station 104 or the relay base station 202a, or the like”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to incorporate Stauffer’s base station analyzing its communication environment with Wu’s base station receiving an output signal from a sensor to provide flexible access in a communication environment as channel conditions change.
Claims 2, 6-8, 10, and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wu et al. (US 2017/0270776) in view of Mengwasser et al. (US 2023/0308911).
Regarding Claim 2, Wu teaches a communication system, comprising an external device, an external server, and a communication device that acquires an output signal from the external device and transmits it to the external server, (Fig. 1 Par. [0023] "The wireless base station 200 receives the wireless messages from wireless sensor 100 and make a sensor contact report, which comprising the sensor identity, received signal strength indicator (RSSI), and the sensing data. The wireless base station 100 sends the server contact report to the server 300 via network connection"), wherein the communication device comprises a first processor configured to perform operations comprising: operation as a signal acquisition unit configured to acquire an output signal from the external device; (Fig. 1 Par. [0023] The wireless base station 200 receives the wireless messages from wireless sensor 100 and make a sensor contact report, which comprising the sensor identity, received signal strength indicator (RSSI), and the sensing data. The wireless base station 100 sends the server contact report to the server 300 via network connection), operation as a communication unit configured to transmit the output signal acquired by the signal acquisition unit to the external server; (Fig. 1 Par. [0023] “The wireless base station 200 receives the wireless messages from wireless sensor 100 and make a sensor contact report, which comprising the sensor identity, received signal strength indicator (RSSI), and the sensing data. The wireless base station 100 sends the server contact report to the server 300 via network connection”), and operation as a radio field strength acquisition unit configured to acquire a radio field strength of the output signal transmitted from the communication unit, (Fig. 1 Par. [0023] “The wireless base station 200 receives the wireless messages from wireless sensor 100 and make a sensor contact report, which comprising the sensor identity, received signal strength indicator (RSSI), and the sensing data. The wireless base station 100 sends the server contact report to the server 300 via network connection”), and the external server (Par. [0023] “The wireless base station 100 sends the server contact report to the server 300 via network connection”), comprises a second processor configured to perform operations comprising: operation as a data acquisition unit configured to acquire data about the output signal and the radio field strength from the communication unit of the communication device (Fig. 1 Par. [0023] “The wireless base station 200 receives the wireless messages from wireless sensor 100 and make a sensor contact report, which comprising the sensor identity, received signal strength indicator (RSSI), and the sensing data. The wireless base station 100 sends the server contact report to the server 300 via network connection”).
Wu, however, does not teach operation as an analysis unit configured to analyze a communication environment between the communication device and the external server on the basis of a magnitude of the radio field strength.
Mengwasser teaches operation as an analysis unit configured to analyze a communication environment between the communication device and the external server on the basis of a magnitude of the radio field strength (Par. [0039] “At 204, a network entity, such as the measurement analysis server 116, determines the signal quality in the communication environment. The measurement analysis server 116 may receive local signal quality measurements from devices actively communicating in the environment, such as the base station 102 and user equipment 104”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Mengwasser’s signal strength analysis with Wu’s communication system to improve network coverage and quality in a communication environment that changes over time.
Regarding Claim 6, Wu in view of Mengwasser teaches the invention of Claim 2, where Mengwasser further teaches wherein the second processor of the external server performs operations further comprising operations as a notification unit that notifies a user of an analysis result for the communication environment in the analysis unit (Par. [0043] “If a positive determination is made, a network entity, such as the measurement analysis server 116, at 208 outputs a report of signal quality and/or adjusts network parameters for subsequent operation based on an optima of the signal quality”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Mengwasser’s signal strength analysis reporting with Wu’s communication system to improve network coverage and quality in a communication environment that changes over time.
Regarding Claim 7, Wu in view of Mengwasser teaches the invention of Claim 2, where Mengwasser further teaches wherein operation as the analysis unit uses RSSI (received signal strength indicator) or RSRP (reference signal received power) data as the data for analysis using radio field strength (Par. [0021] “The performance of the network in terms of network coverage and quality in the environment 100 may be quantified using a signal quality metric. The signal quality may include a signal-to-noise-and-interference ratio (SINR), power spectral density, channel impulse response, channel state information (CSI), modulation error vector magnitude (EVM), reference signal strength including a reference signal received power (RSRP), received signal strength indicator (RSSI)“).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Mengwasser’s signal strength being measured in RSSI or RSRP with Wu’s communication system to improve network coverage and quality in a communication environment that changes over time.
Regarding Claim 8, Wu in view of Mengwasser teaches the invention of Claim 2, where Wu further teaches, wherein the external server further has a storage unit comprising a memory configured to store data about the output signal and the radio field strength acquired by the data acquisition unit (Par. [0024] “Server 300 comprises a locating engine 301, a database 302, and an alarm module 303. The locating engine 301 holds the deployment information of the wireless base stations. The locating engine 301 calculates the location of the wireless sensor 100 according to the sensor contact reports, which comprising sensor identity, RSSI, and the sensing data. The database 302 records the locating of the wireless sensor 100 and the sensing data 102” and Par. [0050] “The locating engine stories the locating position information of the wireless base station, and calculates the location position of the wireless sensor according to the sensor identity, the RSSI and the locating position information”).
Regarding Claim 10, Wu teaches a communication method performed using a communication system comprising an external device, an external server, and a communication device that acquires an output signal from the external device and transmits it to the external server, (Fig. 1) the method comprising: acquiring, by the communication device, an output signal from the external device; (Fig. 1 Par. [0023] “The wireless base station 200 receives the wireless messages from wireless sensor 100 and make a sensor contact report, which comprising the sensor identity, received signal strength indicator (RSSI), and the sensing data"), transmitting, by the communication device, the acquired output signal acquired by the signal acquisition unit to the external server; (Fig. 1 Par. [0023] “The wireless base station 200 receives the wireless messages from wireless sensor 100 and make a sensor contact report, which comprising the sensor identity, received signal strength indicator (RSSI), and the sensing data. The wireless base station 100 sends the server contact report to the server 300 via network connection”), acquiring, by the communication device, a radio field strength of the transmitted output signal transmitted from the communication unit; (Fig. 1 Par. [0023] “The wireless base station 200 receives the wireless messages from wireless sensor 100 and make a sensor contact report, which comprising the sensor identity, received signal strength indicator (RSSI), and the sensing data. The wireless base station 100 sends the server contact report to the server 300 via network connection”), acquiring, by the external service, data about the output signal and the radio field strength from the communication unit of the communication device; (Fig. 1 Par. [0023] “The wireless base station 200 receives the wireless messages from wireless sensor 100 and make a sensor contact report, which comprising the sensor identity, received signal strength indicator (RSSI), and the sensing data. The wireless base station 100 sends the server contact report to the server 300 via network connection").
Wu, however, does not teach analyzing, by the external service, a communication environment between the communication device and the external server on the basis of a magnitude of the radio field strength.
Mengwasser teaches analyzing, by the external service, a communication environment between the communication device and the external server on the basis of a magnitude of the radio field strength (Par. [0039] “At 204, a network entity, such as the measurement analysis server 116, determines the signal quality in the communication environment. The measurement analysis server 116 may receive local signal quality measurements from devices actively communicating in the environment, such as the base station 102 and user equipment 104”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Mengwasser’s signal strength analysis with Wu’s communication system to improve network coverage and quality in a communication environment that changes over time.
Regarding Claim 11, Wu teaches a non-transitory computer readable medium storing a communication program which, when executed by a computer of a communication system comprising an external device, an external server, and a communication device that acquires an output signal from the external device and transmits it to the external server, causes the computer to execute operations (Fig. 1), comprising: a signal acquisition step in which a signal acquisition unit of the communication device acquires acquiring, by the communication device, an output signal from the external device; (Fig. 1, Par. [0023] “The wireless base station 200 receives the wireless messages from wireless sensor 100 and make a sensor contact report, which comprising the sensor identity, received signal strength indicator (RSSI), and the sensing data”), transmitting, by the communication device, the acquired output signal acquired by the signal acquisition unit to the external server; (Fig. 1 Par. [0023] “The wireless base station 200 receives the wireless messages from wireless sensor 100 and make a sensor contact report, which comprising the sensor identity, received signal strength indicator (RSSI), and the sensing data. The wireless base station 100 sends the server contact report to the server 300 via network connection”), acquiring, by the communication device, a radio field strength of the transmitted output signal transmitted from the communication unit; (Fig. 1 [0023] “The wireless base station 200 receives the wireless messages from wireless sensor 100 and make a sensor contact report, which comprising the sensor identity, received signal strength indicator (RSSI), and the sensing data. The wireless base station 100 sends the server contact report to the server 300 via network connection”), acquiring, by the external service, data about the output signal and the radio field strength from the communication unit of the communication device; (Fig. 1 Par. [0023] “The wireless base station 200 receives the wireless messages from wireless sensor 100 and make a sensor contact report, which comprising the sensor identity, received signal strength indicator (RSSI), and the sensing data. The wireless base station 100 sends the server contact report to the server 300 via network connection").
Wu, however, does not teach analyzing, by the external service, a communication environment between the communication device and the external server on the basis of a magnitude of the radio field strength.
Mengwasser teaches an analysis step in which an analysis unit of the external server analyzes analyzing, by the external service, a communication environment between the communication device and the external server on the basis of a magnitude of the radio field strength (Par. [0039] “At 204, a network entity, such as the measurement analysis server 116, determines the signal quality in the communication environment. The measurement analysis server 116 may receive local signal quality measurements from devices actively communicating in the environment, such as the base station 102 and user equipment 104”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Mengwasser’s signal strength analysis with Wu’s communication system to improve network coverage and quality in a communication environment that changes over time.
Claims 3, 5, and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wu et al. (US 2017/0270776) in view of Mengwasser et al. (US 2023/0308911) in further view of Henry et al. (US 2012/015530).
Regarding Claim 3, Wu in view of Mengwasser teaches the invention of Claim 2, but does not teach operation as the analysis unit determines that the communication environment has deteriorated based on the radio field strength acquired by the data acquisition unit being lower than an average value of past radio field strengths by at least a specific threshold.
Henry teaches operation as the analysis unit determines that the communication environment has deteriorated based on the radio field strength acquired by the data acquisition unit being lower than an average value of past radio field strengths by at least a specific threshold (Fig. 21, Par. [0338] “Method 2100 can also be used when more than one intermediate antenna system experiences an operational fault as illustrated in FIG. 21C. In this illustration the second and third antenna systems (N2, N3) experience a fault. The first antenna system (N1) can determine that the second antenna system (N2) is experiencing a fault when the RSSI measurement of the second antenna system (N2) falls below a first RSSI threshold used to analyze the second antenna system (N2)”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Henry’s fault reporting system with Wu’s communication system and Mengwasser’s analysis server to improve fault detection in a communication environment.
Regarding Claim 5, Wu in view of Mengwasser teaches the invention of Claim 2, but does not teach the analysis unit determines that the communication environment has deteriorated based on data loss has occurred occurring at least a specific number of times when receiving the output signal acquired by the data acquisition unit.
Henry teaches the analysis unit determines that the communication environment has deteriorated based on data loss has occurred occurring at least a specific number of times when receiving the output signal acquired by the data acquisition unit (Fig. 16A, 16B, 17A, Par. [0184] “In one embodiment, a duration threshold and a frequency of occurrence threshold can be used at step 1710 to determine when a disturbance adversely affects communications in the communication system 1655. For illustration purposes only, assume a duration threshold is set to 500 ms, while a frequency of occurrence threshold is set to 5 disturbances occurring in an observation period of 10 sec. Thus, a disturbance having a duration greater than 500 ms will trigger the duration threshold. Additionally, any disturbance occurring more than 5 times in a 10 sec time interval will trigger the frequency of occurrence threshold”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Henry’s disturbance detection with Wu’s communication system and Mengwasser’s analysis server to improve fault detection in a communication environment.
Regarding Claim 9, Wu in view of Mengwasser teaches the invention of Claim 2, but does not teach wherein the external device includes either a weather sensor that acquires weather data, a power monitoring sensor that acquires power information, or an agricultural sensor that acquires information from equipment that grows crops.
Henry teaches wherein the external device includes either a weather sensor that acquires weather data, a power monitoring sensor that acquires power information, or an agricultural sensor that acquires information from equipment that grows crops (Fig. 16A, Par. [0170] “Referring now to the sensors 1604 of the waveguide system 1602, the sensors 1604 can comprise one or more of: a temperature sensor 1604a, a disturbance detection sensor 1604b, a loss of energy sensor 1604c, a noise sensor 1604d, a vibration sensor 1604e, an environmental (e.g., weather) sensor 1604f, and/or an image sensor 1604g” Par. [0175] “The loss of energy sensor 1604c can be used to detect when the waveguide system 1602 has a loss of power condition and/or the occurrence of some other malfunctions. For example, the loss of energy sensor 1604c can detect when there is a loss of power due to defective solar cells, an obstruction on the solar cells that causes them to malfunction, loss of power on the power line 1610, and/or when the backup power system malfunctions due to expiration of a backup battery, or a detectable defect in a super capacitor” Par. [0178] “The environmental sensor 1604f can include a barometer for measuring atmospheric pressure, ambient temperature (which can be provided by the temperature sensor 1604a), wind speed, humidity, wind direction, and rainfall, among other things”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Henry’s sensors with Wu’s communication system and Mengwasser’s analysis server to improve fault detection in a communication environment.
Improve fault detection in a communication environment
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wu et al. (US 2017/0270776) in view of Mengwasser et al. (US 2023/0308911) in further view of Henry et al. (US 2012/015530) and in further view of Dong et al. (US 2019/0246341).
Regarding Claim 4, Wu in view of Mengwasser in further view of Henry teaches the invention of Claim 3, but does not teach operation as the analysis unit updates the threshold by averaging the radio field strength acquired during a specific period in which the data acquisition unit was able to receive the output signal properly.
Dong teaches operation as the analysis unit updates the threshold by averaging the radio field strength acquired during a specific period in which the data acquisition unit was able to receive the output signal properly (Par. [0057] “The routing node samples an RSSI value of a listening channel on the N working channels on the N working channels in a frequency hopping area for time T1, and takes an RSSI average value on the N channels, and based on the average value, after an increment, it is used as the RSSI threshold of the routing node, and the RSSI threshold is updated every T2 time”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Dong’s updating signal strength threshold with Henry’s fault reporting system, Wu’s communication system, and Mengwasser’s analysis server to improve versatility in monitoring a communication environment.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Galan et al. (US 10361798) discloses “In other embodiments, the electronic processor 104 receives a plurality of received signal strength indications for the self-quieting signal. In other embodiments, the electronic processor 104 receives a plurality of received signal strength indications from multiple self-quieting signal frequencies or channels in a redundant system to reduce signal strength indications errors caused by external interference, and other environmental conditions. In such embodiments, the electronic processor 104 calculates an average received signal strength indication for the self-quieting signal or signals based on the plurality of received signal strength indications” (Col. 7, lines 10-21).
Aminaka et al. (JP 2022/117261) discloses “Alternatively, as another example, an average measurement value or the like for the most recent multiple days may be calculated, and it may be determined whether or not a measurement value deviating from the average measurement value by a certain amount or more has been detected” (Pg. 3).
Jeong et al. (US 2012/0155302) discloses “After the location measuring server 250 arranges the signal strength of the specific access point in the order of time, the location measuring server 250 extracts a rising point of inflection by analyzing the changes in the signal strength over time (operation S505)” (Par. [0055]).
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/J.N.D./Examiner, Art Unit 2641
/CHARLES N APPIAH/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2641
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