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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 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 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Azizi, Intel Corporation (EP 3563595).
Regarding claim 1, Aziz discloses a device controller (200; figs. 3, 11, 183; sec 0038, 0049) comprising:
one or more processors (308; figs. 3, 11, 183; sec 0038, 0049);
a memory to store instructions (312; figs. 3, 11, 183; sec 0013-0018, 0038, 0049);
wherein the one or more processors execute the instructions to perform operations that include:
detecting that a target device (node 1106 connected to home, office, etc) is outside of a range for receiving a wireless communication that is transmitted from the device controller 200 using a first wireless communication protocol (figs. 11, 194, 221; sec 0251, 0252);
in response to detecting that the target device is outside of the range (node 1106 connected to home, office, etc), identifying an intermediary device (1102, fig. 11) that is within the range for receiving the wireless communication (figs. 11, 194, 221; sec 0251, 0252; citing, “…..Not only may cellular network access nodes provide a larger coverage area than short-range network access nodes, many cellular radio access networks may collectively provide more consistent coverage over large geographic areas. For example, Wi-Fi network access nodes that are available to terminal device 200 (e.g., that terminal device 200 has permission or credentials to connect to) may only be sporadically available on a geographic basis, e.g., such as in a home, office, or certain other public or private locations, and may generally not form a continuous geographic region of availability. Accordingly, if terminal device 200 moves outside of the coverage area of e.g., network access node 1106, terminal device 200 may not have any available Wi-Fi network access nodes to connect to. Consequently, if terminal device 200 selects to use a Wi-Fi connection as a forwarding link and later moves out of the coverage of the associated Wi-Fi network access node, terminal device 200 may not be able to continue to use the Wi-Fi connection as a forwarding link.
However, cellular radio access networks may generally have a largely continuous coverage area collectively formed by each cell, thus providing that terminal device 200 will have another cellular network access node available even if terminal device 200 moves outside of the coverage area of network access node 1108. Accordingly, controller 308 may additionally or alternatively also consider which underlying radio access network provides more continuous coverage, where cellular radio access networks and other long-range radio access networks are generally considered to provide more continuous coverage than short-range radio access network such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.);
wirelessly communicating, using the first wireless communication protocol, with the intermediary device (1102, fig. 11) to form a mesh bridge with the target device (figs. 11, 194, 221; sec 0251, 0252); and
transmitting one or more commands to control an aspect or operation of the target device (node 1106 connected to home, office, etc; sec 0251, 0252-0258) using the mesh bridge (figs. 1, 2, 11, 194, 221; Sec 0222-0229, 0239, 0240) formed with the intermediary device (1102, figs. 11, 194, 221; sec 0251, 0252).
Regarding claim 2, Aziz discloses the device controller of claim 1, wherein the mesh bridge utilizes a second communication protocol between the intermediary device and the target device (figs. 1, 2, 11, 194, 221; Sec 0222-0229, 0239, 0240).
Regarding claim 3, Aziz discloses the device controller of claim 2, wherein the second communication protocol is wireless (figs. 1, 2, 11, 194, 221; Sec 0222-0229, 0239, 0240).
Regarding claim 4, Aziz discloses the device controller of claim 2, wherein the second communication protocol utilizes a powerline communication medium (1102, figs. 11, 194, 221; sec 0251, 0252).
Regarding claim 5, Aziz discloses the device controller of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:
wirelessly communicating with the intermediary device to form a second mesh bridge with a second target device (figs. 1, 2, 11, 194, 221; Sec 0222-0229, 0239, 0240, 0251, 0252); and
transmitting one or more commands to control an aspect or operation of the second target device using the second mesh bridge (sec 0251, 0252-0258).
Regarding claim 6, Aziz discloses the device controller of claim 5, wherein transmitting the one or more commands to control the aspect of the target device includes causing the target device to implement a first scene (sec 0251, 0252-0258); and
wherein transmitting the one or more commands to control the aspect of the second target device includes causing the second target device to implement a second scene sec 0251, 0252-0258).
Regarding claim 7, Aziz discloses the device controller of claim 1, wherein the intermediary device comprises a home device controller (node 1106 connected to home, office, etc; sec 0251, 0252-0258).
Regarding claim 8, Aziz discloses the device controller of claim 1, wherein the device controller is a mobile device (node 1106 connected to home, office, etc; sec 0251, 0252-0258).
Regarding claim 9, Aziz discloses the device controller of claim 1, wherein the intermediary device is a mobile computing device (node 1106 connected to home, office, etc; sec 0251, 0252-0258).
Regarding claim 10, Aziz discloses the device controller of claim 1, wherein transmitting the one or more commands includes communicating with the intermediary device to cause the intermediary device to form the mesh bridge to target device using a second intermediary device (figs. 1, 2, 11, 194, 221; Sec 0222-0229, 0239, 0240, 0251, 0252).
Regarding claim 11, Aziz discloses the device controller of claim 10, wherein the second intermediary device is outside of a given range for receiving a wireless communication transmitted using the first wireless communication protocol from the device controller (figs. 11, 194, 221; sec 0251, 0252).
Regarding claim 12, Aziz discloses the device controller of claim 10, wherein the second intermediary device comprises a load control device that controls a power output on a load line of a first controlled device (figs. 11, 194, 221; sec 0004-0006, 0027, 0028, 0038, 0044, 0251, 0252).
Regarding claim 13, Aziz discloses the device controller of claim 1, wherein a memory of the device controller includes a database that stores multiple scenes, each scene of the multiple scenes specifying a corresponding set of settings for a corresponding set of target devices figs. 3, 11, 183; sec 0013-0018, 0038, 0049), and
wherein the operations include selecting the scene from the multiple scenes based on an event detected by one or more sensors of the device controller (Sec 0653, 0654, 0655, 0659, 0661).
Regarding claim 14, Aziz discloses the device controller of claim 13, wherein the one or more sensors of the device controller include a set of touch sensors, and wherein selecting the scene includes detecting and interpret a touch input detected by the set of touch sensors (Sec 0654, 0655, 0665, 0692, 0693, 0965).
Regarding claim 15, Aziz discloses the device controller of claim 1, wherein one or more sensors of the device controller include at least one of a proximity sensor or a presence sensor (sec 0167), and wherein selecting the scene includes detecting a proximity or presence of a user (Sec 0654, 0655, 0665, 0692, 0693, 0965).
Regarding claim 16, Aziz discloses the device controller of claim 1, wherein a device controller includes a housing structure, an exterior panel and a base assembly for receiving a circuit board (312; figs. 3, 11, 183; sec 0013-0018, 0038, 0049).
Regarding claim 17, Aziz discloses the device controller of claim 1, wherein the one or more commands includes (i) a command to dim a light of the target device, (ii) a command to control an audio output of the target device, (iii) a command to generate a visual output from the target device, or (iv) a command to select a temperature of a space surrounding the target device (sec 0013-0018, 0965).
Regarding claim 18, Aziz discloses a non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a device controller, cause the device controller to perform operations that include:
detecting that a target device (node 1106 connected to home, office, etc) is outside of a range for receiving a wireless communication that is transmitted from the device controller using a first wireless communication protocol (figs. 11, 194, 221; sec 0251, 0252);
in response to detecting that the target device is outside of the range (node 1106 connected to home, office, etc), identifying an intermediary device (1102, fig. 11) that is within the range for receiving the wireless communication (figs. 11, 194, 221; sec 0251, 0252);
wirelessly communicating, using the first wireless communication protocol, with the intermediary device (1102, fig. 11) to form a mesh bridge with the target device (figs. 11, 194, 221; sec 0251, 0252); and
transmitting one or more commands to control an aspect or operation of the target device (node 1106 connected to home, office, etc; sec 0251, 0252-0258) using the mesh bridge (figs. 1, 2, 11, 194, 221; Sec 0222-0229, 0239, 0240) formed with the intermediary device (1102, figs. 11, 194, 221; sec 0251, 0252).
Regarding claim 19, Aziz discloses the non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 18, wherein the intermediary device comprises a mobile computing device (node 1106 connected to home, office, etc; sec 0251, 0252-0258).
Regarding claim 20, Aziz discloses a computer-implemented method for operating a device controller, the method comprising:
detecting that a target device (node 1106 connected to home, office, etc) is outside of a range for receiving a wireless communication that is transmitted from the device controller using a first wireless communication protocol (figs. 11, 194, 221; sec 0251, 0252);
in response to detecting that the target device is outside of the range (node 1106 connected to home, office, etc), identifying an intermediary device (1102, fig. 11) that is within the range for receiving the wireless communication (figs. 11, 194, 221; sec 0251, 0252);
wirelessly communicating, using the first wireless communication protocol, with the intermediary device (1102, fig. 11) to form a mesh bridge with the target device (figs. 11, 194, 221; sec 0251, 0252; and
transmitting one or more commands to control an aspect or operation of the target device (node 1106 connected to home, office, etc; sec 0251, 0252-0258) using the mesh bridge (figs. 1, 2, 11, 194, 221; Sec 0222-0229, 0239, 0240) formed with the intermediary device (1102, figs. 11, 194, 221; sec 0251, 0252).
Conclusion
The prior art, AU 2020302101 A1, CA 3003146 C made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Communication
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/RONNIE M MANCHO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3657