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 Office Action is in response to the Applicants’ communication filed on 03/13/2024. In virtue of this communication, claims 1-15 are currently pending in the instant application.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 1-5, 7 and 9-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Panther et al. (US 2014/0273858 A1).
Regarding Claim 1 Panther teaches the limitations "An electronic device comprising: a network interface device including:
a first transceiver to communicate via a short-range wireless communication protocol; and
a second transceiver to communicate via the short-range wireless communication protocol; and
a processor connected to the network interface device, (see abstract, par. 0006, par. 0415 and fig. 17-18 “FIG. 17 depicts a simplified block schematic of a device with both Bluetooth base rate/enhanced data rate and Bluetooth low-energy capability. A device such as device 1700 may include a controller 1702 that includes at least one processor 1704 and a memory 1706. The at least one processor 1704 and the memory 1706 may be communicatively connected. The controller 1702 (or the at least one processor 1704) may be communicatively connected with a BR/EDR controller 1708 and a BLE controller 1710.”);
wherein the processor is to: receive a request to search a first device in accordance with the short-range wireless communication protocol;
search a first radio frequency channel via the first transceiver to detect the first device; and search a second radio frequency channel via the second transceiver to detect the first device, wherein the first radio frequency channel and the second radio frequency channel are searched in parallel" (see fig. 18 and par. 0416 “Technique 1800 begins in block 1802, in which an apparatus having both BR/EDR and BLE functionality may establish a BR/EDR connection between itself and another, remote device. An apparatus having both BR/EDR and BLE functionality may, in the context of the portions of this disclosure discussing Bluetooth communications, also be referred to as a "common device." In block 1804, the apparatus may establish a BLE connection between itself and the remote device--thus, the apparatus may have the option of utilizing either the BR/EDR connection or the BLE connection as potential data transmission paths between the apparatus and the remote device. It is to be understood that blocks 1802 and 1804 may be performed in the order shown, in reverse order, or wholly or partially simultaneously as well.”
Regarding Claim 2 Panther teaches the limitations "The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the short-range wireless communication protocol is a Bluetooth communication protocol" (see abstract).
Claims 11 is rejected for the same reasons set forth above because the claims have similar limitations or have been addressed.
Regarding Claim 3 Panther teaches the limitations "The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the first radio frequency channel is a Bluetooth classic channel, and wherein the second radio frequency channel is a Bluetooth low energy channel" (see abstract).
Regarding Claim 4 Panther teaches the limitations "The electronic device of claim 1, wherein, in response to detecting the first device, the processor is to:
utilize the first transceiver to: establish a first connection with the first device in accordance with the short-range wireless communication protocol; and perform a first activity between the electronic device and the first device via the first connection (see par. 0415-0416, fig. 17 and 18 (1802 and 1808));
and utilize the second transceiver to: establish a second connection with a second device in accordance with the short-range wireless communication protocol; and perform a second activity between the electronic device and the second device via the second connection" (see par. 0415-0416, fig. 17 and 18 (1804 and 1810). Here, transmitting data via first and second transceiver is equated to first and second activity.
Regarding Claim 5 Panther teaches the limitations "The electronic device of claim 4, wherein the first activity comprises a real-time data communication and the second activity comprises a non-real-time data communication" (see par. 0449 “…data sent from the remote device to the apparatus may, in some implementations, be application data or real-time notification data, and a higher bandwidth transmission of the data may thus be desirable.”).
Regarding Claim 7 Panther teaches the limitations "An electronic device comprising: a network interface device including: a first transceiver to communicate with an external device via a first wireless channel of a short-range wireless communication protocol; and a second transceiver to communicate with the external device via a second wireless channel of the short-range wireless communication protocol; and a processor connected to the network interface device to: (see abstract, par. 0006, par. 0415 and fig. 17-18 “FIG. 17 depicts a simplified block schematic of a device with both Bluetooth base rate/enhanced data rate and Bluetooth low-energy capability. A device such as device 1700 may include a controller 1702 that includes at least one processor 1704 and a memory 1706. The at least one processor 1704 and the memory 1706 may be communicatively connected. The controller 1702 (or the at least one processor 1704) may be communicatively connected with a BR/EDR controller 1708 and a BLE controller 1710.”);
utilize the first transceiver and the second transceiver to perform data communication with the external device via the first wireless channel and the second wireless channel, respectively" (see fig. 18 and par. 0418, where BR/EDR and BLE are connected and utilized to perform data communication (1808 and 1810). Further, block 1806 may be repeated for additional data (i.e. continuously using both transceivers). Also see par. 0416 “It is to be understood that blocks 1802 and 1804 may be performed in the order shown, in reverse order, or wholly or partially simultaneously as well.”).
Regarding Claim 9 Panther teaches the limitations "The electronic device of claim 7, wherein the processor is to: utilize the first transceiver and the second transceiver to transmit a first data packet and a second data packet, respectively, to the external device in accordance with the short-range wireless communication protocol; (see fig. 18 and par. 0418) or utilize the first transceiver and the second transceiver to receive a third data packet and a fourth data packet, respectively, from the external device in accordance with the short-range wireless communication protocol" (see par. 0418 “ it may be desirable to transmit data, e.g., first data, between the apparatus and the remote device, e.g., from the apparatus to the remote device, from the remote device to the apparatus, or both.”).
Regarding Claim 10 Panther teaches the limitations "The electronic device of claim 7, wherein the first transceiver comprises a first media access controller (MAC) and a first physical layer interface to establish the first connection with the external device via the short-range wireless communication protocol, and wherein the second transceiver comprises a second MAC and a second physical layer interface to establish the second connection with the external device via the short-range wireless communication protocol" (see fig. 17 and par. 0415 “The controller 1702 (or the at least one processor 1704) may be communicatively connected with a BR/EDR controller 1708 and a BLE controller 1710. While shown as separate blocks in FIG. 17, the BR/EDR controller 1708 and BLE controller 1710 may be provided, at least in part, using common hardware, e.g., the same Bluetooth controller may be used to provide both BR/EDR and BLE functionality.” Here, the BR/EDR and the BLE transceivers include media access controllers and physical layers or connections).
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 of this title, 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.
Claims 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Panther et al. (US 20140273858 A1) in view of Walley et al. (US 2010/0120362 A1).
Regarding Claim 6 Panther teaches the limitations "The electronic device of claim 1, wherein, in response to detecting the first device, the processor is to: utilize the first transceiver to: establish a first connection with the first device in accordance with the short-range wireless communication protocol; and perform a real-time activity between the electronic device and the first device via the first connection; (see par. 0415-0416, fig. 17 and 18 (1802 and 1808));
However, Panther does not explicitly disclose the limitation “utilize the second transceiver to: scan a set of radio frequency channels for channel interference while the first transceiver performs the real-time activity; and determine a radio frequency channel having no interference or an interference below an interference threshold based on the scanning; and notify the first transceiver to utilize the determined radio frequency channel to perform the real-time activity.”
In the same field of endeavor, Walley teaches a method for quick BLE signal presence detection and coexistence, where (see abstract, fig. 2, 3 and par. 0039-0042 “In step 504, the wireless device 200 may determine which frequencies may be used to avoid interfering with the Bluetooth low energy devices. For example, a wireless device such as a non-BLE Bluetooth device and/or a WiFi LAN device that transmits in a same frequency spectrum as that allocated for the Bluetooth low energy device may interfere with the Bluetooth low energy communication. In step 506, the wireless device may communicate via, for example, the transceiver 210 and/or 212, according to the frequencies that may be allocated for use by each of the transceivers 210 and 212.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to scan channels while a first transceiver is in use to determine interference and notifying the first transceiver to use the non-interfered channel as taught by __in the system of Panther, in order to avoid interference (see par. 0042 of Walley).
Claims 8, 12-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Panther et al. (US 20140273858 A1) in view of Gu et al. (US 2016/0227351 A1).
Regarding Claim 8 Panther teaches the limitations "The electronic device of claim 7, wherein the processor is to:
utilize the first transceiver to communicate a portion of the data between the electronic device and the external device via the first wireless channel; (see fig. 18 (1808) and par. 0418);
and utilize the second transceiver to communicate a remaining portion of the data between the electronic device and the external device via the second wireless channel, (see fig. 18 (1810) and par. 0416 “Alternatively, a separate determination may be made as to whether to use the BR/EDR protocol or the BLE protocol to transmit the additional data, i.e., block 1806 may be repeated for the additional data. A variety of factors may influence the determination of whether to use the BR/EDR protocol or the BLE protocol to transmit the data .”);
However, Panther shows a determination is made as to either BR/EDR transceiver or BLE transceiver is used (see fig. 18) and therefore does not explicitly disclose the limitation “wherein the portion of the data and the remaining portion of the data are communicated in parallel.”
In the same field of endeavor Gu discloses a device that includes a first Bluetooth transceiver for connecting to a Bluetooth device, a second Bluetooth transceiver for connecting to a client device (see abstract) and that the data communication is in parallel (see par. 0064-0065 “…master and slave simultaneously…”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to operate the Bluetooth chips simultaneously as taught by Gu in the system of Panther, in order to increase communication range to multiple devices (see par. 0005).
Regarding Claim 12 Panther teaches the limitations "A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium encoded with instructions that, when executed by a processor of an electronic device, cause the processor to: (see abstract, fig. 17 and par. 0416);
establish a first connection with a first device via a first transceiver of a wireless module in accordance with a short-range wireless communication protocol, (see fig. 18 (1802), par. 0418)
; and establish a second connection with a second device via a second transceiver of the wireless module in accordance with the short-range wireless communication protocol, (see fig. 18 and par. 0418 (1804));
However, Panther does not explicitly disclose the limitation “the electronic device operating in a slave mode with respect to the second connection; the electronic device operating in a master mode with respect to the first connection, utilize the first transceiver to perform a first activity associated with the electronic device in the master mode with respect to the first connection; and utilize the second transceiver to perform a second activity associated with the electronic device in the slave mode with respect to the second connection.”
In the same field of endeavor Gu discloses a device that includes a first Bluetooth transceiver for connecting to a Bluetooth device, a second Bluetooth transceiver for connecting to a client device (see abstract). “The Bluetooth chips 410 and 420 may each include a Bluetooth transceiver and be configured to communicate with other Bluetooth devices. For example, the Bluetooth chip 410 may serve as a master device in a connection with a Bluetooth device, and the Bluetooth chip 420 may serve as a slave device in a connection with a Bluetooth-enabled client device, such as a smart phone.” (see par. 0056 and fig. 5). Also see fig. 8 and par. 0065 “there may be a plurality of Bluetooth devices that requires assistance of the Bluetooth hub for forwarding a data request or response between the Bluetooth devices and a Bluetooth-enabled client device, such as a smart phone. If the Bluetooth chip does not support the Bluetooth hub acting as a master device and a slave device simultaneously (e.g., the Bluetooth 4.0 standard), more than one Bluetooth chip may be required in the Bluetooth hub to perform relaying for a plurality of Bluetooth devices, with at least one Bluetooth chip acting as a master device and at least another Bluetooth chip acting as a slave device.”
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to operate the Bluetooth chips as master and slave simultaneously as taught by Gu in the system of Panther, in order to increase communication range (see par. 0005).
Claims 13 is rejected for the same reasons set forth above in claim 2 because the claims have similar limitations or have been addressed.
Regarding Claim 14 Panther and Gu teach the limitations "The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein instructions to cause the first transceiver to operate the electronic device in the master mode comprise instructions to: utilize the first transceiver having a first media access controller (MAC) and a first physical layer interface to perform the first activity associated with the electronic device in the master mode with respect to the first connection with the first device, wherein the first physical layer interface is an interface between the first transceiver and a first wireless channel" (see Panther fig. 17 and par. 0415 “The controller 1702 (or the at least one processor 1704) may be communicatively connected with a BR/EDR controller 1708 and a BLE controller 1710. While shown as separate blocks in FIG. 17, the BR/EDR controller 1708 and BLE controller 1710 may be provided, at least in part, using common hardware, e.g., the same Bluetooth controller may be used to provide both BR/EDR and BLE functionality.” Here, the BR/EDR and the BLE transceivers include media access controllers and physical layers or connections). See Gu fig. 8 and par. 0065 “there may be a plurality of Bluetooth devices that requires assistance of the Bluetooth hub for forwarding a data request or response between the Bluetooth devices and a Bluetooth-enabled client device, such as a smart phone. If the Bluetooth chip does not support the Bluetooth hub acting as a master device and a slave device simultaneously (e.g., the Bluetooth 4.0 standard), more than one Bluetooth chip may be required in the Bluetooth hub to perform relaying for a plurality of Bluetooth devices, with at least one Bluetooth chip acting as a master device and at least another Bluetooth chip acting as a slave device.”
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to operate the Bluetooth chips with (MAC) as master and slave simultaneously as taught by Gu in the system of Panther, in order to increase communication range (see par. 0005).
Regarding Claim 15 Panther teaches the limitations "The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein instructions to cause the second transceiver to operate the electronic device in the slave mode comprise instructions to: utilize the second transceiver having a second media access controller (MAC) and a second physical layer interface to perform the second activity associated with the electronic device in the slave mode with respect to the second connection with the second device, wherein the second physical layer interface is an interface between the second transceiver and a second wireless channel" (see Panther fig. 17 and par. 0415 “The controller 1702 (or the at least one processor 1704) may be communicatively connected with a BR/EDR controller 1708 and a BLE controller 1710. While shown as separate blocks in FIG. 17, the BR/EDR controller 1708 and BLE controller 1710 may be provided, at least in part, using common hardware, e.g., the same Bluetooth controller may be used to provide both BR/EDR and BLE functionality.” Here, the BR/EDR and the BLE transceivers include media access controllers and physical layers or connections). See Gu fig. 8 and par. 0065 “there may be a plurality of Bluetooth devices that requires assistance of the Bluetooth hub for forwarding a data request or response between the Bluetooth devices and a Bluetooth-enabled client device, such as a smart phone. If the Bluetooth chip does not support the Bluetooth hub acting as a master device and a slave device simultaneously (e.g., the Bluetooth 4.0 standard), more than one Bluetooth chip may be required in the Bluetooth hub to perform relaying for a plurality of Bluetooth devices, with at least one Bluetooth chip acting as a master device and at least another Bluetooth chip acting as a slave device.”
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to operate the Bluetooth chips with (MAC) as master and slave simultaneously as taught by Gu in the system of Panther, in order to increase communication range (see par. 0005).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DAVID BILODEAU whose telephone number is (571)270-3192. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 6:00am-4:00pm Eastern Standard Time. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, Applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Wesley Kim can be reached at (571) 272-7867. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/David Bilodeau/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2648