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 Interpretation
1. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
2. This application includes one or more claim limitations that use the word “means” or “step” but are nonetheless not being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph because the claim limitation(s) recite(s) sufficient structure, materials, or acts to entirely perform the recited function. Such claim limitation(s) is/are: “means” in claims 25-28.
Because this/these claim limitation(s) is/are not being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, it/they is/are not being interpreted to cover only the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof.
If applicant intends to have this/these limitation(s) interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, applicant may: (1) amend the claim limitation(s) to remove the structure, materials, or acts that performs the claimed function; or (2) present a sufficient showing that the claim limitation(s) does/do not recite sufficient structure, materials, or acts to perform the claimed function.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
3. In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
4. Claims 1-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sultenfuss et al. (Pub. No. US2015/0365220) in view of Zhang et al. (Pub. No. US20210159995)
As per claim 1, Sultenfuss discloses an apparatus (fig.1, information handling system 100) comprising
an aggregator (fig.1, aggregator/de-aggregator unit 130) configured to aggregate a plurality of signals (fig. 1, from high-speed data modules 112 and low-speed data modules 120) to form an aggregated signal (fig.1, the aggregated signal transmitter 131);
a common transmission path (fig.1, an aggregated signal line 133) coupled to the aggregator, the common transmission path configured to transport the aggregated signal, wherein the common transmission path includes a mechanical discontinuity (fig.1, connector 103); and
a deaggregator (fig.1, aggregator/de-aggregator unit 134) coupled to the common transmission path (fig.1, an aggregated signal line 133), the deaggregator configured to decompose the aggregated signal into one or more constituent signals. (fig.2 and paragraph 27, aggregator/de-aggregator unit 134 applies a de-aggregation algorithm to de-aggregate the received aggregated signal into each component of the high-speed signals and the low-speed signals to recover the speed signals associated with data modules.)
Sultenfuss discloses all the limitations as the above but does not explicitly disclose “wherein the aggregated signal includes a local time representation with a specified time accuracy relative to Coordinated universal time (UTC), and wherein the common transmission path includes a mechanical discontinuity”. However, Zhang discloses this. (paragraph 30, the timestamp application module can timestamp sensor data based on a hierarchy of time sources. In general, times embedded in location data provided by GNSS signals tends to be most accurate and precise to absolute time (e.g., GMT, UTC, etc.) kept by NIST or other national or scientific entities or institutions.)
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of Zhang with the teaching of Sultenfuss so as make system more efficient so as to yield the predicatable result so as to control efficiently, thus enhance the system performance.
As per claim 11, Sultenfuss discloses a method comprising:
aggregating (fig.1, aggregator/de-aggregator unit 130) a first plurality of signals (fig. 1, from high-speed data modules 112 and low-speed data modules 120) to form an aggregated signal (fig.1, the aggregated signal transmitter 131);
transporting the aggregated signal over a common transmission path (fig.1, an aggregated signal line 133), wherein the common transmission path includes a mechanical discontinuity (fig.1, connector 103); and
decomposing the aggregated signal into one or more constituent signals (fig.2 and paragraph 27, aggregator/de-aggregator unit 134 applies a de-aggregation algorithm to de-aggregate the received aggregated signal into each component of the high-speed signals and the low-speed signals to recover the speed signals associated with data modules.)
Sultenfuss discloses all the limitations as the above but does not explicitly disclose “wherein the aggregated signal includes a local time representation with a specified time accuracy relative to Coordinated universal time (UTC), and wherein the common transmission path includes a mechanical discontinuity”. However, Zhang discloses this. (paragraph 30, the timestamp application module can timestamp sensor data based on a hierarchy of time sources. In general, times embedded in location data provided by GNSS signals tends to be most accurate and precise to absolute time (e.g., GMT, UTC, etc.) kept by NIST or other national or scientific entities or institutions.)
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of Zhang with the teaching of Sultenfuss so as make system more efficient so as to yield the predicatable result so as to control efficiently, thus enhance the system performance.
As per claim 2, Sultenfuss discloses the apparatus further comprising a processor (fig.4, processor 402) coupled to the aggregator (see figure 1 & paragraph 11, information handling system 100 can include processing resources for executing machine-executable code, such as a Central Processing Unit (CPU))
As per claim 3, Sultenfuss discloses wherein the aggregator is further configured to receive a plurality of signals in proximity to the processor (paragraph 11. Lines 12-13, information handling system 100 can include one or more storage devices that can store machine-executable code, one or more communications ports for communicating with external devices, and various Input and Output (I/O) devices.)
As per claim 4, Sultenfuss discloses wherein the plurality of signals originates from a plurality of peripheral devices (paragraph 14, line 2, a Display Port (DP)), an Embedded Display Port (eDP), an embedded display port auxiliary channel.)
As per claim 5, Sultenfuss discloses wherein the plurality of peripheral devices includes one or more of the following: a camera, a display processor unit (DPU), an audio device, a serial engine (SE) information, or a first general purpose input output (GPIO) interface (paragraph 14, line 2, a Display Port (DP))
As per claim 6, Sultenfuss discloses wherein the one or more constituent signals is the plurality of signals (fig.2 and paragraph 27, aggregator/de-aggregator unit 134 applies a de-aggregation algorithm to de-aggregate the received aggregated signal into each component of the high-speed signals and the low-speed signals to recover the speed signals associated with data modules.)
As per claims 7, 16, Zhang discloses wherein the aggregated signal includes a time stamp (paragraph 29, The timestamp application module can aggregate the sensor data and insert times at which the sensor data is aggregated).
As per claims 8, 17, Zhang discloses wherein the time stamp is a numeric representation of a local time at the processor. (paragraph 29, lines 20-21, the timestamp application module 202 can timestamp sensor data based on a local time source)
As per claim 9, Zhang discloses wherein the numeric representation of local time includes a specified time accuracy and a specified time stability. (paragraph 30, lines 17-18, timestamping sensor data based on the time kept by the on-board computing device may lack accuracy and precision needed for the sensor data to be aggregated for data.)
As per claim 10, Zhang discloses wherein the aggregated signal includes a plurality of incremental time stamps for each of the plurality of signals. (paragraph 29, lines 2-4, The timestamp application module 202 can aggregate the sensor data and insert times at which the sensor data is aggregated.)
As per claim 12, Sultenfuss discloses wherein the first plurality of signals originates from a plurality of peripheral devices. (paragraph 14, line 2, a Display Port (DP)), an Embedded Display Port (eDP), an embedded display port auxiliary channel)
As per claim 13, Sultenfuss discloses the method further comprising using a packet aggregation protocol for aggregating the first plurality of signals. (paragraph 15, 12-15, The aggregation algorithm further includes a time domain protocol that aggregates the encoded signals into an aggregated signal (a concatenation of the diverse set of encoded signals))
As per claim 14, Sultenfuss discloses wherein the packet aggregation protocol is performed asynchronously (paragraph 14, line 11, an asynchronous signal)
As per claim 15, Zhang discloses wherein the packet aggregation protocol is performed synchronously (paragraph 22, lines 1-2, the timestamp synchronization module can detect a time deviation between times embedded in location data provided by a plurality of GNSS signals.)
As per claim 18, Sultenfuss discloses The method further comprising receiving the aggregated signal from the common transmission path in proximity to a first processor. (paragraph 11. Lines 12-13, information handling system 100 can include one or more storage devices that can store machine-executable code, one or more communications ports for communicating with external devices, and various Input and Output (I/O) devices.)
As per claim 19, Sultenfuss discloses the method further comprising receiving one or more control signals from the common transmission path (fig.1, an aggregated signal line 133).
As per claim 20, Sultenfuss discloses the method further comprising receiving the first plurality of signals in proximity to a second processor. (paragraph 11. Lines 12-13, information handling system 100 can include one or more storage devices that can store machine-executable code, one or more communications ports for communicating with external devices, and various Input and Output (I/O) devices.)
As per claim 21, Sultenfuss discloses the method further comprising sending the one or more constituent signals to a plurality of output devices. (fig.2 and paragraph 27, aggregator/de-aggregator unit 134 applies a de-aggregation algorithm to de-aggregate the received aggregated signal into each component of the high-speed signals and the low-speed signals to recover the high-speed signals associated with high-speed data modules 112, and to recover the low-speed signals associated with low-speed data modules 120.)
As per claim 22, Sultenfuss discloses wherein the one or more constituent signals is the first plurality of signals. (fig.2 and paragraph 27, aggregator/de-aggregator unit 134 applies a de-aggregation algorithm to de-aggregate the received aggregated signal into each component of the high-speed signals and the low-speed signals to recover the speed signals associated with data modules.)
As per claim 23, Sultenfuss discloses the method further comprising sending a second plurality of signals from the first processor over the common transmission path. (fig.1, an aggregated signal line 133)
As per claim 24, Sultenfuss discloses the method further comprising receiving the second plurality of signals at a second processor and relaying the second plurality of signals to the plurality of peripheral devices. (fig.2 and paragraph 27, aggregator/de-aggregator unit 134 applies a de-aggregation algorithm to de-aggregate the received aggregated signal into each component of the high-speed signals and the low-speed signals to recover the speed signals associated with data modules.)
As per claim 25, Sultenfuss discloses an apparatus for bidirectional high-speed interfaces (fig.1, connector 103), the apparatus comprising:
means for aggregating a plurality of signals (fig. 1, from high-speed data modules 112 and low-speed data modules 120) to form an aggregated signal (fig.1, the aggregated signal transmitter 131);
means for transporting the aggregated signal over a common transmission path (fig.1, an aggregated signal line 133), wherein the common transmission path includes a mechanical discontinuity (fig.1, connector 103); and
means for decomposing the aggregated signal into one or more constituent signals (fig.2 and paragraph 27, aggregator/de-aggregator unit 134 applies a de-aggregation algorithm to de-aggregate the received aggregated signal into each component of the high-speed signals and the low-speed signals to recover the speed signals associated with data modules.)
Sultenfuss discloses all the limitations as the above but does not explicitly disclose “wherein the aggregated signal includes a local time representation with a specified time accuracy relative to Coordinated universal time (UTC), and wherein the common transmission path includes a mechanical discontinuity”. However, Zhang discloses this. (paragraph 30, the timestamp application module can timestamp sensor data based on a hierarchy of time sources. In general, times embedded in location data provided by GNSS signals tends to be most accurate and precise to absolute time (e.g., GMT, UTC, etc.) kept by NIST or other national or scientific entities or institutions.)
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of Zhang with the teaching of Sultenfuss so as make system more efficient so as to yield the predicatable result so as to control efficiently, thus enhance the system performance.
As per claim 26, Sultenfuss discloses the apparatus further comprising:
means for receiving the aggregated signal from the common transmission path (fig.1, an aggregated signal line 133) in proximity to a first processor (fig.4, processor 402);
means for receiving the plurality of signals (fig. 1, from high-speed data modules 112 and low-speed data modules 120) in proximity to a second processor (fig.4, processor 404); and
means for sending the one or more constituent signals to a plurality of output devices (fig.2 and paragraph 27, aggregator/de-aggregator unit 134 applies a de-aggregation algorithm to de-aggregate the received aggregated signal into each component of the high-speed signals and the low-speed signals to recover the speed signals associated with data modules.)
As per claim 27, Zhang discloses wherein the aggregated signal includes a time stamp and wherein the time stamp is a numeric representation of a local time at the second processor, and the numeric representation of local time includes a specified time accuracy and a specified time stability. (paragraph 30, lines 17-18, timestamping sensor data based on the time kept by the on-board computing device may lack accuracy and precision needed for the sensor data to be aggregated for data.)
As per claim 28, Zhang discloses wherein the aggregated signal includes a plurality of incremental time stamps for each of the plurality of signals (paragraph 29, lines 2-4, The timestamp application module 202 can aggregate the sensor data and insert times at which the sensor data is aggregated.)
As per claim 29, Sultenfuss discloses a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer executable code, operable on a device comprising at least one processor (fig.4, processor 402) and at least one memory coupled to the at least one processor, wherein the at least one processor is configured to implement bidirectional high-speed interfaces (fig.1, connector 103), the computer executable code comprising:
instructions for causing a computer (fig.1, subsystem 101) to aggregate a plurality of signals to form an aggregated signal (fig. 1, from high-speed data modules 112 and low-speed data modules 120);
instructions for causing the computer to transport the aggregated signal over a common transmission path (fig.1, an aggregated signal line 133), wherein the common transmission path includes a mechanical discontinuity (fig.1, connector 103); and
instructions for causing the computer to decompose the aggregated signal into one or more constituent signals (fig.2 and paragraph 27, aggregator/de-aggregator unit 134 applies a de-aggregation algorithm to de-aggregate the received aggregated signal into each component of the high-speed signals and the low-speed signals to recover the speed signals associated with data modules.)
Sultenfuss discloses all the limitations as the above but does not explicitly disclose “wherein the aggregated signal includes a local time representation with a specified time accuracy relative to Coordinated universal time (UTC), and wherein the common transmission path includes a mechanical discontinuity”. However, Zhang discloses this. (paragraph 30, the timestamp application module can timestamp sensor data based on a hierarchy of time sources. In general, times embedded in location data provided by GNSS signals tends to be most accurate and precise to absolute time (e.g., GMT, UTC, etc.) kept by NIST or other national or scientific entities or institutions.)
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of Zhang with the teaching of Sultenfuss so as make system more efficient so as to yield the predicatable result so as to control efficiently, thus enhance the system performance.
As per claim 30, Sultenfuss discloses the non-transitory computer-readable medium further comprising:
instructions for causing the computer to receive the aggregated signal from the common transmission path (fig.1, an aggregated signal line 133) in proximity to a first processor (fig.4, processor 402);
instructions for causing the computer to receive the plurality of signals (fig. 1, from high-speed data modules 112 and low-speed data modules 120) in proximity to a second processor (fig.4, processor 404); and
instructions for causing the computer to send the one or more constituent signals to a plurality of output devices (fig.2 and paragraph 27, aggregator/de-aggregator unit 134 applies a de-aggregation algorithm to de-aggregate the received aggregated signal into each component of the high-speed signals and the low-speed signals to recover the speed signals associated with data modules.)
Sultenfuss discloses all the limitations as the above but does not explicitly disclose “wherein the aggregated signal includes a time stamp and wherein the stamp is a numeric representation of a local time at the second processor, and the numeric representation of local time includes a specified time stability”. However, Zhang discloses this. (paragraphs 29- 30, the timestamp application module can timestamp sensor data based on a hierarchy of time sources. In general, times embedded in location data provided by GNSS signals tends to be most accurate and precise to absolute time (e.g., GMT, UTC, etc.) kept by NIST or other national or scientific entities or institutions.)
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of Zhang with the teaching of Sultenfuss so as make system more efficient so as to yield the predicatable result so as to control efficiently, thus enhance the system performance.
Response to Amendment
5. Applicant's amendment filed on 4/06/2026 have been fully considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection.
6. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure.
Cvijetic et al. [Pub. No. US2013/0148963] discloses The important part of the scheme is super-waveband aggregator/deaggregator, and the waveband selector.
Conclusion
7. Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Contact Information
8. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KIM T HUYNH whose telephone number is (571)272-3635 or via e-mail addressed to [kim.huynh3@uspto.gov]. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 7.00AM- 4:00PM. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Tsai Henry can be reached at (571)272-4176 or via e-mail addressed to [Henry.Tsai@USPTO.GOV].
The fax phone numbers for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned are (571)273-8300 for regular communications and After Final communications. Any inquiry of a general nature or relating to the status of this application or proceeding should be directed to the receptionist whose telephone number is (571)272-2100.
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/K. T. H./
Examiner, Art Unit 2184
/HENRY TSAI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2184
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