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
Status of Claim
1. Applicant's amendment dated 03/30/2026 responding to the Office Action 12/31/2025 provided in the rejection of claims 1-7.
2. Claims 1 and 5-7 have been amended.
3. Claims 1-7 are pending in the application, of which claims 1 and 5-7 in independent form and which have been fully considered by the examiner.
Response to Amendments
4. (A). Regarding claim interpretation: Claim interpretation raised in previous office action has been maintained in view of Applicant's amendment.
(B) Regarding art rejection: Applicants' amendment necessitated new grounds of rejections presented in the following art rejection. Please see Shiozawa (US Pub. No. 2024/0403027 A1)
Examiner Notes
5. Examiner cites particular columns and line numbers in the references as applied to the claims below for the convenience of the applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings in the art and are applied to the specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply as well. It is respectfully requested that, in preparing responses, the applicant fully consider the references in entirety as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention, as well as the context of the passage as taught by the prior art or disclosed by the examiner.
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.
6. Claim(s) 1-3 and 5-7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shiozawa (US Pub. No. 2024/0403027 A1 – herein after Shiozawa) in view of Harata et al. (DE 112019004040 T5 – art of record -- herein after Harata-DE).
Regarding claim 1.
Shiozawa discloses
An update apparatus of software (updating a program of an in-vehicle ECU mounted in the vehicle – See paragraph [0006]), comprising one or more processors configured to execute:
transmitting an activation signal for instructing activation of software to an information processing apparatus mounted on a vehicle (transmits a control signal (activation request signal) to the in-vehicle ECU 3 to be updated, for example, and makes an activation request (instruction to apply the update program) to the in-vehicle ECU 3 to be updated. The trigger of the activation request is turning off of the IG switch 6, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and the in-vehicle device 2 may also make an activation request to the in-vehicle ECU 3 to be updated, by using preset scheduling information, a multicast of a sleep signal, or the like as the trigger – See paragraphs [0058-0059]);
starting to wait for reception of a product number signal indicating a product number of the software transmitted from the information processing apparatus only after the transmission o (shift request for operation check mode S10 after activation result S09 – See Fig. 3. The in-vehicle device 2 may be configured to shift (transition) from the normal mode (the state during the normal operation of the vehicle C) to the update mode, by obtaining the package from the program providing device S1. The in-vehicle device 2 outputs (transmits), to the in-vehicle ECU 3 to be updated, the update program and the operation check scenario included in the package (step S05) – See paragraphs [0055-0057]); and
performing, on [[a condition that]] the product number signal is received, a consistency check of the software based on the received product number signal (The program providing device S1 creates a package including the update program and the operation check scenario (step S02). The program providing device S1 creates the package, based on the vehicle configuration information obtained from the in-vehicle device 2. The package includes package information (campaign information), which is information related to the program update, information (target information) related to the in-vehicle ECU 3 to be updated, an update program to be applied to the in-vehicle ECU 3 to be updated, and an operation check scenario for performing an operation check when the update program is applied to the in-vehicle ECU 3 – See paragraph [0054]. The in-vehicle device 2 requests the in-vehicle ECU 3 to be updated to shift to the operation check mode, in accordance with the operation check scenario stored in the storage unit 21 (step S10). The in-vehicle device 2 transmits a control signal (operation-check-mode shift signal) to the in-vehicle ECU 3 to be updated, for example, to request the in-vehicle ECU 3 to be updated to shift to the operation check mode – See paragraphs [0060-0062]).
Shiozawa does not disclose
…a condition that the product number signal is received…
Harata-DE discloses
performing, on a condition that the product number signal is received (the rewrite target ECU (ID1) and the rewrite target ECU (ID2) determine that a version notification signal transmission condition is satisfied when, for example, it is determined that a version notification signal transmission request is from the master device 11 was received. When the transmission condition for the version notification signal is satisfied, the rewrite target ECU (ID1) transmits the version notification signal including version information of an application program storing it and an ECU (ID) which the ECU can identify to the master device 11 – See page 19), a consistency check of the software based on the received product number signal (the master device 11 checks a software version and rolls back as necessary by receiving the version notification signal from the rewrite target ECU (ID1) and the rewrite target ECU (ID2) – See page 21).
It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to use Harata-DE’s teaching into Shiozawa’s invention because incorporating Harata-DE’s teaching would enhance Shiozawa to enable to determine that a version notification signal transmission condition as suggested by Harata-DE (page 25)
Regarding claim 2, the update apparatus of software according to claim 1, wherein the one or more processors is configured to execute:
Shiozawa discloses
storing the product number signal by linking the product number signal to the information processing apparatus that transmitted the product number signal when the product number signal is received (the storage unit 21 stores vehicle configuration information in which pieces of configuration information of the respective in-vehicle ECUs mounted in the vehicle are aggregated. The vehicle configuration information includes, for example, serial numbers of the respective in-vehicle ECUs, ECU part numbers (model numbers), software part numbers, current versions of the programs, old versions of the programs, the number of operation planes, operation planes, MAC (Media Access Control) addresses, IP addresses, a date and time of completion of the previous update, reprogram statuses, and a VIN (Vehicle Identification Number)/vehicle identification number (VIN) – See paragraph [0045]);
Shiozawa does not disclose
performing the consistency check of the software based on the received product number signal on a condition that the product number signal is received from each of all of the information processing apparatuses after a state of a system of the vehicle changes from an OFF state to an ON state while waiting for the reception of the product number signal; and
performing the consistency check of the software based on the received product number signal and the stored product number signal on a condition that the product number signal is received from one or more of the information processing apparatuses until the state of the system of the vehicle changes from the OFF state to the ON state while waiting for the reception of the product number signal.
Harata-DE discloses
performing the consistency check of the software based on the received product number signal on a condition that the product number signal is received from each of all of the information processing apparatuses after a state of a system of the vehicle changes from an OFF state to an ON state while waiting for the reception of the product number signal (difference data consistency determination process,146 a diagram illustrating an aspect of determining the consistency of difference data, 147 a diagram illustrating an aspect of determining the consistency of difference data – See pages 4-5. The rewrite target ECU is reset and restarted to activate the application program when the IG power changes from the off state to the on state – See page 64. Orders the CGW 13th the power management ECU 20th to switch off the IG power that is switched on ( S1415 ), ends the activation request command process and returns to the rewrite target group management process – See page 69); and
performing the consistency check of the software based on the received product number signal and the stored product number signal on a condition that the product number signal is received from one or more of the information processing apparatuses until the state of the system of the vehicle changes from the OFF state to the ON state while waiting for the reception of the product number signal (the boot program during normal operation of executing application processes such as a vehicle control process and a diagnosis process and during rewrite operation of executing a rewrite process – See page 18. Determines the consistency of the difference data. The data identification information (old) stored in the flash memory is information that is stored together when the program is stored in the flash memory of the rewrite target ECU 19th is written – See page 82. The rewrite target ECU is reset and restarted to activate the application program when the IG power changes from the off state to the on state – See page 64).
It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to use Harata-DE’s teaching into Shiozawa’s invention because incorporating Harata-DE’s teaching would enhance Shiozawa to enable to determine the consistency of difference data and state transitions as suggested by Harata-DE (pages 4-5)
Regarding claim 3, the update apparatus of software according to claim 1,
Harata-DE discloses
wherein the one or more processors is configured to execute transmitting, when communication with the information processing apparatus becomes possible after the communication with the information processing apparatus is interrupted (When it is determined that the data communication between the center device 3 and the DCM 12th is not in a connection state but in an interruption state ( S303 : No), the DCM transmits 12th the write data is not sent to the CGW 13th and ends the write data transfer determination process – See page 35. When it is determined during the acquisition of the write data that the data communication is in a connection state, the CGW sets 13th the procurement of the write data continues; but if it is determined during the acquisition of the write data that the data communication is in an interruption state – See page 37), a request signal for requesting transmission of the product number signal to the information processing apparatus with which the communication is interrupted (the DCM initiates 12th the transfer of the write data, and when it is determined that the data communication is in an interrupted state – See pages 35-36).
It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to use Harata-DE’s teaching into Shiozawa’s invention because incorporating Harata-DE’s teaching would enhance Shiozawa to enable to validate condition for updating a program or the like is inappropriate to the user and thus to provide appropriate information to the user as suggested by Harata-DE (page 32).
Regarding claim 5.
Shiozawa and Harata-DE disclose
An update method of software executed by an update apparatus, the update method comprising:
Regarding claim 5, recites the same limitations as rejected claim 1 above.
Regarding claim 6.
Shiozawa and Harata-DE disclose
A non-transitory storage medium storing instructions that are executable by one or more processors of an update apparatus and that cause the one or more processors to perform an update method of software comprising:
Regarding claim 6, recites the same limitations as rejected claim 1 above.
Regarding claim 7.
Shiozawa discloses
An update system of software (an in-vehicle device obtains an update program – See Abstract), comprising:
an update apparatus mounted on a vehicle (performs processing for updating a program of an in-vehicle ECU mounted in the vehicle – see Abstract), the update apparatus comprising one or more first processors being configured to execute:
transmitting an activation signal for instructing activation of software to an information processing apparatus mounted on the vehicle (transmits a control signal (activation request signal) to the in-vehicle ECU 3 to be updated, for example, and makes an activation request (instruction to apply the update program) to the in-vehicle ECU 3 to be updated. The trigger of the activation request is turning off of the IG switch 6, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and the in-vehicle device 2 may also make an activation request to the in-vehicle ECU 3 to be updated, by using preset scheduling information, a multicast of a sleep signal, or the like as the trigger – See paragraphs [0058-0059]);
starting to wait for reception of a product number signal indicating a product number of the software transmitted from the information processing apparatus only after the transmission of the activation signal (shift request for operation check mode S10 after activation result S09 – See Fig. 3. The in-vehicle device 2 may be configured to shift (transition) from the normal mode (the state during the normal operation of the vehicle C) to the update mode, by obtaining the package from the program providing device S1. The in-vehicle device 2 outputs (transmits), to the in-vehicle ECU 3 to be updated, the update program and the operation check scenario included in the package (step S05) – See paragraphs [0055-0057]. In data transmission and reception to and from the in-vehicle ECU 3 to be updated – See paragraph [0068]); and
performing, on [[a condition that]] the product number signal is received, a consistency check of the software based on the received product number signal (the program providing device S1 creates a package including the update program and the operation check scenario (step S02). The program providing device S1 creates the package, based on the vehicle configuration information obtained from the in-vehicle device 2. The package includes package information (campaign information), which is information related to the program update, information (target information) related to the in-vehicle ECU 3 to be updated, an update program to be applied to the in-vehicle ECU 3 to be updated, and an operation check scenario for performing an operation check when the update program is applied to the in-vehicle ECU 3 – See paragraph [0054]); and the information processing apparatus comprising one or more second processors being configured to execute:
Shiozawa does not disclose
…a condition that the product number signal is received…
performing the activation of the software at a timing when a state of the information processing apparatus changes from an OFF state to an ON state on a condition that the activation signal is received; and
transmitting the product number signal to the update apparatus on a condition that the activation is performed.
Harata-DE discloses
performing, on a condition that the product number signal is received (the rewrite target ECU (ID1) and the rewrite target ECU (ID2) determine that a version notification signal transmission condition is satisfied when, for example, it is determined that a version notification signal transmission request is from the master device 11 was received. When the transmission condition for the version notification signal is satisfied, the rewrite target ECU (ID1) transmits the version notification signal including version information of an application program storing it and an ECU (ID) which the ECU can identify to the master device 11 – See page 19), a consistency check of the software based on the received product number signal (the master device 11 checks a software version and rolls back as necessary by receiving the version notification signal from the rewrite target ECU (ID1) and the rewrite target ECU (ID2) – See page 21);
performing the activation of the software at a timing when a state of the information processing apparatus changes from an OFF state to an ON state on a condition that the activation signal is received (the single bank suspension memory ECU goes into activation standby from the boot process. That is, the single bank suspension memory ECU is not started on the new bank (bank B) in which the application program was rewritten at the time when the activation phase was not performed, and remains in the old bank (bank A) started. When the single bank memory ECU has finished writing the write data and rewriting the application program, the single bank memory ECU ends the installation phase in the boot process and waits for activation (t 35) – See page 25); and
transmitting the product number signal to the update apparatus on a condition that the activation is performed (If the DCM 12th the center device 3 notifies the completion of activation, ECU configuration information including a program version and bank information of each ECU can be sent to the center device 3 be transmitted. 111 illustrates a case where the rewrite target ECU 19th is a dual bank memory ECU or a single bank suspension memory ECU – See page 65).
It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to use Harata-DE’s teaching into Shiozawa’s invention because incorporating Harata-DE’s teaching would enhance Shiozawa to enable to determine that a version notification signal transmission condition as suggested by Harata-DE (page 25).
7. Claim(s) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shiozawa and Harata-DE as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Teraoka et al. (WO 2022195915 A1 – art of record --herein after Teraoka).
Regarding claim 4, the update apparatus of software according to claim 1,
Teraoka discloses
wherein the one or more processors is configured to execute ending the waiting for the reception of the product number signal on a condition that one or more of a first requirement and a second requirement are satisfied (the software update device 10 can execute the update process after confirming the state of the vehicle based on the execution condition 256, so that the software update can be performed safely. can do. In addition, by including the execution condition in the distribution package 250 and transmitting it, it is possible to flexibly set the safety condition according to the contents of the update – See page 18), the first requirement being a requirement that the product number signal from each of all of the information processing apparatuses is received (in response to a search request received from first communication unit 163, software of each ECU issues a service notification indicating the existence of its own service. As an example of the search request in steps S102 to S105, FIG. 13shows how a service notification is issued from the ECU_A13 on the first PF. In this case, the ECU_A13 responds to the first communication unit 163 with a service notification regarding its own software update function (update management unit) service (step S104), and the first communication unit 163transmits the received service notification to the service management unit – See page 9), and the second requirement being a requirement that a determination is made that the software of the information processing apparatus is consistent by the consistency check (updating software of subordinate ECUs, and checking consistency of software installed in subordinate ECUs. The gateway 10 is configured on a legacy platform such as AUTOSAR CP (second PF) – See page 3).
It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to use Teraoka’s teaching into Shiozawa’s and Harata-DE’s inventions because incorporating Teraoka’s teaching would enhance Shiozawa and Harata-DE to enable to execute the update process after confirming the state of the vehicle based on the execution condition as suggested by Teraoka (page 18).
Conclusion
8. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Onda et al. (US Pub. No. 2021/0064409 A1) discloses the relationships of dependence of each of the VMs 110 are prescribed in the activation order table 220. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, the automatic driving control VM 110C depends on the engine control VM 110B. Namely, in a case in which automatic driving is carried out, the engine control VM 110B must be activated before the automatic driving control VM 110C is activated – See paragraph [0029].
Shionoya et al. (US Pub. No. 2021/0201599 A1) discloses An OTA manager, when an activation switch of a vehicle is OFF, transmits a unique identifier of each electronic control unit acquired before the activation switch was switched from ON to OFF to an OTA server via a communication line and receives update data from the OTA server via the communication line, and after the activation switch was switched from OFF to ON, the OTA manager makes a comparison between the identifiers transmitted to the OTA server before the activation switch was switched from OFF to ON and the identifiers acquired after the activation switch was switched from OFF to ON – See Abstract.
9. 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.
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/MONGBAO NGUYEN/ Examiner, Art Unit 2192
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