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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This is a first office action in response to application filed, with the above serial number, on 27 December 2023 in which claims 1-20 are presented for examination. Claims 1-20 are therefore pending in the application.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter.
The claim is drawn to a “program”. Applying the broadest reasonable interpretation in light of the specification (eg par. 47) and taking into account the meaning of the words in their ordinary usage as they would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art (MPEP 2111), the claim as a whole covers programs that are software itself that may be stored on a storage unit. A program does not fall into any of the four categories of invention (process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter).
In order to expedite a comprehensive examination of the instant application, the claims rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 (non-statutory) above, are further rejected as set forth below in anticipation of applicant amending these claims to place them within the admissible statutory categories of invention.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 3, 5-6, 13-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. It is not clear if the claimed ‘a setting change instruction’ and/or corresponding time point in the dependent claim is different from the ‘a setting change instruction’ and/or time period in the claim from which it depends.
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.
Claim(s) 1-4, 6-13, 17-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Matsumoto et al (hereinafter “Matsumoto”, 2023/0163983) in view of Zinner et al (hereinafter “Zinner”, 2021/0392013).
As per Claim 1, Matsumoto discloses an in-vehicle control device to be installed in a vehicle and comprising a control circuit performing control related to communication between a first in-vehicle device and a second in-vehicle device via an in-vehicle network,
wherein the control circuit executes
generates setting information of the in-vehicle network according to a state of the vehicle (at least paragraph 46, 51, 64, 71; settings of control profile being changed with vehicle state transition information for future state),
derives a required time period required to change a network setting according to the setting information in the first in-vehicle device (at least paragraph 67-69; clocking part 07 may output a clock signal to each piece of equipment connected to the in-vehicle network and the control device/control unit that controls it; each piece of equipment may have a timer; each piece of equipment can operate synchronously..to align the timing of restoring a normal active state from a low-power consumption standby state; each piece of equipment to operate synchronously according to the signal),
derives a required time period required to change a network setting according to the setting information in the second in-vehicle device (at least paragraph 67-69; clocking part 07 may output a clock signal to each piece of equipment connected to the in-vehicle network and the control device/control unit that controls it; each piece of equipment may have a timer; each piece of equipment can operate synchronously..to align the timing of restoring a normal active state from a low-power consumption standby state; each piece of equipment to operate synchronously according to the signal), and
performs a setting change instruction on at least one of the network setting in the first in-vehicle device and the network setting in the second in-vehicle device (at least paragraph 73; apply a control profile according to a next transition destination state by acquiring a control profile using such vehicle state transition information. For instance, in FIG. 9, since it is known that the vehicle state ID 1 will transition to the vehicle state ID 2, it is possible to control equipment in advance anticipating an ACC state. Concretely, since in-vehicle information terminals may turn on in an ACC state, by activating control units and ECUs controlling the in-vehicle information terminals in advance, the operation can be started without delay when the state transitions to the vehicle state ID 2).
Matsumoto fails to explicitly disclose so that the derived two required time periods at least partially overlap with each other. However, the use and advantages for using such a system was well known to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention as evidenced by the teachings of Zinner. Zinner discloses, in an analogous vehicle control unit configuration art, activating communication configuration changes at the same time (at least paragraph 98-100). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate the use of Zinner’s timing with Matsumoto as Zinner teaches that the control units need to use the new configuration at the same time so that old values are not used with new values and the network would block newer staggered processes.
As per Claim 2. The in-vehicle control device according to claim 1, wherein the in-vehicle control device is included in at least one of the first in-vehicle device and the second in-vehicle device (at least Fig. 3; eg. master control management).
As per Claim 3. The in-vehicle control device according to claim 1, wherein the control circuit includes a relay processing circuit that performs relay processing of communication between the first in-vehicle device and the second in-vehicle device, the control circuit specifies an order of and a time point at which changes of the network settings are started by the first in-vehicle device and the second in-vehicle device based on the required time periods, outputs the setting information to the relay processing circuit and performs a setting change instruction on at least one of the network setting in the first in-vehicle device and the network setting in the second in-vehicle device, according to specified order and time point, and the relay processing circuit starts changing the network setting according to the outputted setting information (at least Fig. 3; paragraph 82-84, 73-74; eg. communication from slave #1 ecu relayed by master to slave #2 ecu; timer and each device interrupt sync timing for each device to transition to next vehicle transition destination state).
As per Claim 4. The in-vehicle control device according to claim 3, wherein the relay processing circuit functions as a layer 2 switch or a layer 3 switch (at least paragraph 67; eg. layer 2 802.1AS).
As per Claim 6. The in-vehicle control device according to claim 1, wherein the control circuit performs a setting change instruction on at least one of the network setting in the first in-vehicle device and the network setting in the second in-vehicle device so that a time point when a change of the network setting in the first in-vehicle device is completed coincides with a time point when a change of the network setting in the second in-vehicle device is completed (at least paragraph 67-70; synchronized timing of state change and respective configuration).
As per Claim 7. Matsumoto fails to explicitly disclose wherein the required time period for the second in-vehicle device includes a reception time period from a time point when the control circuit outputs the setting change instruction to the second in-vehicle device to a time point when the second in-vehicle device completes reception processing in response to the setting change instruction, and a change time period from a time point when a change of the network setting is started to a time point when the change of the network setting is completed based on the setting change instruction for which the reception processing is completed in the second in-vehicle device.
However, the use and advantages for using such a system was well known to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention as evidenced by the teachings of Zinner. Zinner discloses, in an analogous vehicle control unit configuration art, distributing changed configurations in random succession and then activating the changes at the same time such that the activation time can only be after the time periods of distribution to all devices and synchronized activation time (at least paragraph 98-100). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate the use of Zinner’s timing with Matsumoto as Zinner teaches that the control units need to use the new configuration at the same time so that old values are not used with new values and the network would block newer staggered processes and as the new values cannot be activated until all of the devices have the changed configurations distributed to them and can subsequently activate them together.
As per Claim 8. The in-vehicle control device according to claim 1, wherein the control circuit generates, in a case where an event that shifts a state of the vehicle is detected, the setting information based on the event (at least paragraph 73; operation started without delay when state transitions).
As per Claim 9. The in-vehicle control device according to as claim 1, wherein the in-vehicle network is connected to a plurality of the second in-vehicle devices functioning as relay devices, and the control circuit of the first in-vehicle device functioning as the in-vehicle control device controls communication with the relay devices (at least Fig. 3; master management network control for slave network control apparatus’).
Claims 10-12 do not, in substance, add or define any additional limitations over claims 1 and therefore are rejected for similar reasons, supra. Claim 10 is a system, claim 11 is a method, and claim 12 is a corresponding program for performing the operations performed by the device of claim 1.
Claim 13 does not, in substance, add or define any additional limitations over claims 3 and therefore is rejected for similar reasons, supra.
Claim 17-20 do not, in substance, add or define any additional limitations over claim 6 and therefore is/are rejected for similar reasons, supra.
Claim(s) 5, 14-16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Matsumoto in view of Zinner, further in view of Sagfors et al (hereinafter “Sagfors”, 2011/0007698).
Matsumoto in view of Zinner fail to explicitly disclose wherein the control circuit specifies a longest required time period for each of the required time periods, and performs a setting change instruction on at least one of the network setting in the first in-vehicle device and the network setting in the second in-vehicle device so that in a time period during which one of the network settings that requires the specified longest required time period is being changed, the other one of the network settings is changed.
However, the use and advantages for using such a system was well known to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention as evidenced by the teachings of Sagfors. Sagfors discloses activation time of a configuration change taking into account the longest possible reconfiguration delay (at least paragraph 28). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate the use of Sagfors timing with Matsumoto and Zinner as Sagfors teaches a device may take on a reconfiguration before the other device is also reconfigured which would obviously result in a potential lost connection as both devices would not be able to communicate if their configurations aren’t changed together, thus delaying by a worst case transmission delay alleviates such scenario.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure is indicated in PTO form 892.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GREGORY G TODD whose telephone number is (303)297-4763. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30-5 MST.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor Nicholas Taylor can be reached on (571)272-3889. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/GREGORY TODD/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2443
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