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 .
Priority
Application 18/692,315, filed on 03/14/2024, is a 371 of PCT/CN2022/118413 filed on 09/13/2022, and claims priority to CHINA 202111116898.5 filed on 09/23/2021.
Current Status
This office action is a first office action, non-final rejection based on the merits wherein claims 1-12 are pending and have been considered below. Examiner acknowledges the preliminary amendments.
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 1-12 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.
Regarding Independent claims 1, 9, and 10: Applicant claims “a target device” in claims 1, 9, and 10. The claims are indefinite as Examiner is uncertain what is intended to be used as “a target device” to collect, change, and send a signal. Examiner will interpret “a target device” as a processor.
Claims 1, 9, and 10 will be examined based on the merits as best understood.
Regarding claims 2-8 and 11-12: Claims 2-8 and 11-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as they depend from parent claim 1.
Regarding claim 8 and independent claim 10: Applicant claims, “the feedback information is a target power supply rail determined from the power supply rail” (claim 8 line 8-9, claim 10 line 9-10). Examiner is uncertain how “feedback information,” which is determined by the server (claim 8 and 10) can be a target power supply rail.
Claims 8 and 10 will be examined based on the merits as best understood.
Regarding claim 8: Applicant claims “sending, by the target device, the two-dimensional array to the server through Bluetooth” (line 5). The use of a trademark or trade name, Bluetooth, in a claim to describe a material or product would not only render a claim indefinite, but would also constitute an improper use of the trademark or trade name. Examiner respectfully suggests replacing “Bluetooth” with a generic term (see MPEP 2173.05(u)).
Claim 8 will be examined based on the merits as best understood.
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.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more. The claims recite an abstract idea as discussed below. This abstract idea is not integrated into a practical application for the reasons discussed below. The claims do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception for the reasons discussed below.
Step 1 of the 2019 Guidance requires the examiner to determine if the claims are to one of the statutory categories of invention. Applied to the present application, the claims belong to one of the statutory classes of a process or product as a computer implemented method or a computer system/product.
Step 2A of the 2019 Guidance is divided into two Prongs. Prong 1 requires the examiner to determine if the claims recite an abstract idea, and further requires that the abstract idea belong to one of three enumerated groupings: mathematical concepts, mental processes, and certain methods of organizing human activity.
Claim 1 is copied below, with the limitations belonging to an abstract idea being underlined.
A position recognition method, applied to a position recognition apparatus comprising a power supply system, a sampling resistor and a target device, wherein the sampling resistor is connected in series to a power supply path in the power supply system, and the target device is mounted in the power supply system, and the method comprises:
collecting, by the target device, a changed voltage signal in the power supply system, processing the changed voltage signal, and sending a processing result to a server; and determining, by the target device, a target position according to feedback information from the server.
Claim 9 is copied below, with the limitations belonging to an abstract idea being underlined.
A position recognition apparatus, comprising a power supply system, a sampling resistor and a target device, wherein the sampling resistor is connected in series to a power supply path in the power supply system, and
the target device is mounted in the power supply system, and the target device is configured to collect a changed voltage signal in the power supply system, process the changed voltage signal, and send a processing result to a server; and
the target device is configured to determine a target position according to feedback information from the server.
Claim 10 is copied below, with the limitations belonging to an abstract idea being underlined.
A position recognition system, comprising a shelf power supply rail, an electronic shelf label and a server, wherein the electronic shelf label is mounted on the shelf power supply rail, wherein
the electronic shelf label is configured to collect a changed voltage signal of the shelf power supply rail, process the voltage signal, and send a processing result to the server;
the server is configured to perform similarity comparison between the processing result and a preset array corresponding to the shelf power supply rail to determine feedback information, and send the feedback information to the electronic shelf label, wherein the feedback information is a target power supply rail determined from the power supply rail; and
the electronic shelf label is further configured to receive the feedback information, and determine a position in the shelf power supply rail based on the feedback information.
The limitations underlined can be considered to describe a series of mental and/or mathematical concepts where “determine” and “determining” may include a series of calculations leading to one or more numerical results or answers, obtained by a sequence of mathematical operations on numbers. The lack of a specific equation in the claim merely points out that the claim would monopolize all possible appropriate equations/two-group significance tests for accomplishing this purpose in all possible systems. These steps recited by the claim therefore amount to a series of mental and/or mathematical steps, making these limitations amount to an abstract idea.
Regarding the underlined limitations “determining, by the target device, a target position according to feedback information from the server” (claim 1), “the target device is configured to determine a target position according to feedback information from the server” (claim 9), and “the electronic shelf label is further configured to receive the feedback information, and determine a position in the shelf power supply rail based on the feedback information” (claim 10) each is an abstract idea as each is a set of programming routines and patterns for determining a position. It is an algorithm or program which is a mathematical routine.
Regarding the underlined limitations “perform similarity comparison between the processing result and a preset array corresponding to the shelf power supply rail to determine feedback information” (claim 10) is an abstract idea as it is a set of programming routines using programming routines and patterns to find similarities and feedback information. It is an algorithm or program which is a mathematical routine.
In summary, the highlighted steps in the claims above therefore recite an abstract idea at
Prong 1 of the 101 analysis.
The additional elements, in the claims have been left in normal font. This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because the additional elements within the claims only amount to instructions to implement the judicial exception using a computer [MPEP
2106.05(f)].
Claims 1, 9 and 10 recite “collecting/collect,” “processing, process,” and “sending, send.” The specification, in at least ¶ 0179, supports a general purpose computer which would
include a processor and memory. Each of these elements is only recited as a tool for performing
steps of the abstract idea, such as the use of the storage mediums to store data and data
processing devices to apply the algorithm. These additional elements therefore only amount to mere instructions to perform the abstract idea using a computer and are not sufficient to amount
to significantly more than the abstract idea (MPEP 2016.05(f) see for additional guidance on the
"mere instructions to apply an exception").
The above claims, as a whole, are therefore directed to an abstract idea.
Step 2b of the 2019 Guidance requires the examiner to determine whether the additional
elements cause the claim to amount to significantly more than the abstract idea itself. The
considerations for this particular claim are essentially the same as the considerations for Prong 2
of Step 2a, and the same analysis leads to the conclusion that the claim does not amount to
significantly more than the abstract idea.
The claims do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application. Various
considerations are used to determine whether the additional elements are sufficient to integrate
the abstract idea into a practical application. The claims does not recite a particular machine
applying or being used by the abstract idea. The claims do not effect a real-world transformation
or reduction of any particular article to a different state or thing. (Manipulating data from one
form to another or obtaining a mathematical answer using input data does not qualify as a
transformation in the sense of Prong 2.)
The claims do not contain additional elements which describe the functioning of a
computer, or which describe a particular technology or technical field, being improved by the use
of the abstract idea. (This is understood in the sense of the claimed invention from Diamond v
Diehr, in which the claim as a whole recited a complete rubber-curing process including a
rubber-molding press, a timer, a temperature sensor adjacent the mold cavity, and the steps of
closing and opening the press, in which the recited use of a mathematical calculation served to
improve that particular technology by providing a better estimate of the time when curing was complete. Here, the claim does not recite carrying out any comparable particular technological
process.) In all of these respects, the claim fails to recite additional elements which might
possibly integrate the claim into a particular practical application. Instead, based on the above
considerations, the claim would tend to monopolize the abstract idea itself, rather than integrate
the abstract idea into a practical application.
Therefore, claims 1, 9, and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 as directed to an abstract
idea without significantly more.
Dependent claims 2-8 and 11-12 are similarly ineligible. The dependent claims merely add limitations which further detail or limit the abstract idea with limitations such as:
“the collecting, by the target device, the changed voltage signal in the power supply system comprises: determining, by the target device, whether a condition under which a voltage signal changes is met, and if the condition is met, collecting a voltage signal of the power supply system, wherein the voltage signal of the power supply system changes as an electric current state of the target device changes” (claim 3),
“determining, by the target device, whether an operation instruction for a target component is received” (claim 4),
“receiving a shutdown instruction for the target component, in a case where the target device determines that the target component is a component with energy consumption greater than or equal to a preset energy consumption threshold; or receiving an instruction to reduce computational resource occupancy for the target component, an instruction to reduce operating main frequency for the target component, or an instruction to reduce power consumption for the target component, in a case where the target device determines that the target component is a processor” (claim 5),
“determining, by the target device, whether a preset voltage signal collection node is reached, wherein the voltage signal collection node is determined by the target device according to a media access control position within a preset time” (claim 6),
“determining, by the target device, whether the target device is mounted to the power supply system or whether the target device is removed from the power supply system” (claim 7),
“performing, by the target device, filter processing for the voltage signal to obtain a filtered voltage signal sequence, and convert the voltage signal sequence into a two-dimensional array; and sending, by the target device, the two-dimensional array to the server through Bluetooth, and receiving the feedback information determined by the server after performing similarity comparison between the two-dimensional array and a preset array corresponding to the power supply rail, wherein the feedback information is a target power supply rail determined from the power supply rail” (claim 8),
which do not help to integrate the claim into a practical application or make it significantly more than the abstract idea (which is recited in slightly more detail, but not in enough detail to be considered to narrow the claim to a particular practical application itself).
Claims 11-12 recite a memory, processor, and non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. The specification, in at least ¶ 0179, supports a general purpose computer which would
include a processor and memory. Each of these elements is only recited as a tool for performing
steps of the abstract idea, such as the use of the storage mediums to store data and data
processing devices to apply the algorithm. These additional elements therefore only amount to mere instructions to perform the abstract idea using a computer and are not sufficient to amount
to significantly more than the abstract idea (MPEP 2016.05(f) see for additional guidance on the
"mere instructions to apply an exception").
Considering all the limitations individually and in combination, the claimed additional elements do not show any inventive concept to applying the algorithms such as improving the performance of a computer or any technology, and do not meaningfully limit the performance of the application.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claims, 1-3, 6-7, 9, and 11-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Niu Liming et al., hereinafter Niu, CN111160498A, in view of Deng Jia et al., hereinafter Deng, WO20211160160A1.
Regarding Independent claim 1 Niu teaches:
A position recognition method, applied to a position recognition apparatus (Niu, Abstract,)
comprising a power supply system, a sampling resistor and a target device wherein the sampling resistor is connected in series to a power supply path in the power supply system, and the target device is mounted in the power supply system (Niu teaches “A2. Apply a constant voltage source (power supply system) to the resistive wire (sampling resistor) and wire connected in series; A3. Obtain the voltage A on the resistance wire and the voltage B on the wire corresponding to the location of the electronic price tag (target device) through the electronic price tag,” Additionally, “the base station supplies power to the electronic price tag through a power cord” (2nd and 3rd page, § Summary of Invention) disclosing “target device is mounted in the power supply system.”)
the method comprises: collecting, by the target device, a changed voltage signal in the power supply system, processing the changed voltage signal, and sending a processing result to a server (Niu teaches “A3. Obtain the voltage A on the resistance wire and the voltage B on the wire corresponding to the location of the electronic price tag (target device) through the electronic price tag, and the layer position of the layer of the electronic price tag can be obtained through the voltage B (2nd page, § Summary of Invention) and the “present invention uses the voltage B on the wire to locate the layer position of the electronic price tag (that is, which layer), and obtains the horizontal position of the electronic price tag on the layer (that is, in the layer) by the difference between the voltage A and the voltage B” (5th page, § Detailed Description). Moreover, “the electronic price tag communicates with the base station” (3rd page § Summary of Invention) and the “base station 3 is in communication connection with the background server 4” (6th page, 9th paragraph) thereby disclosing “collecting, by the target device, a changed voltage signal in the power supply system, processing the changed voltage signal, and sending a processing result to a server”
While Niu teaches an electronic price tag (target device) in communication with a server (see fig. 7), Niu does not explicitly teach the target position is determined “according to feedback information from the server.
Deng teaches: “the electronic price tag in this example may include” (among other things) “a controller and a communication module, the controller is used to obtain the voltage value information collected by the positioning contact, and submit the voltage value information to the cloud server through the communication module”(6th page 7th paragraph) where the positioning contact is part of the electronic price tag and is “electrically connected to obtain the voltage value at the partial pressure contact line, which is used to determine the installation position of the electronic price tag” (6th page last paragraph) thereby disclosing “determining, by the target device, a target position according to feedback information from the server”
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the device and system for determining a position of an electronic price tag as taught by Niu by including information from a server as taught by Deng as a server allows access to information from different location thereby allowing a user to obtain information from the server concerning a wrongly place item in order to correct the placement to conform to the preset display method (Deng, 2nd page, § Background technique, 4th paragraph).
Regarding claim 2 Niu as modified teaches:
“the sampling resistor is connected in series to a power supply path at a positive pole in the power supply system, wherein the power supply system comprises a power-drawing head, a power- drawing wire and a power supply rail; and the target device is mounted on the power supply rail” (figs. 2-4 and 7-8, 7th page: Niu teaches “base station 3 provides constant voltage source VDDR” (7th page 3rd paragraph) to series connected resistance wire 21 and wires 22. A junction box 26 (power drawing head) (fig 2, fig 7) is provided on the guide rail 2 (fig. 2-fig. 4) through which the base station 3 provides the constant voltage source to the resistance wire 21 and wire 22 which are connected in series to the electronic price tags 1 along the guide rail 2. As the constant voltage is provided along the guide rail 2 via the resistance wire 21, the wire 22 and the power line 23 (power drawing wire), the guide rail discloses the “power supply rail.”)
Regarding claim 3 Niu as modified teaches:
“determining, by the target device, whether a condition under which a voltage signal changes is met, and if the condition is met, collecting a voltage signal of the power supply system, wherein the voltage signal of the power supply system changes as an electric current state of the target device changes.” (Niu, fig. 7-8, page 8, 3rd paragraph: Niu teaches when the electronic price tag is moved (up, down, left, or right) the voltage signal changes where moving the electronic price tag discloses a “condition under which a voltage signal changes is met.” The electronic price tag will recognize the change in location by detecting the voltage of the resistance wire and the wire and send the change in location to the server (page 8, 3rd paragraph) disclosing “a voltage signal of the power supply system” is collected. A person of ordinary skill in the art would understand if the electric current state of the target device changes, the voltage signal changes.)
Regarding claim 6 Niu as modified does not teach:
“determining, by the target device, whether a preset voltage signal collection node is reached, wherein the voltage signal collection node is determined by the target device according to a media access control position within a preset time”
Deng teaches:
“determining, by the target device, whether a preset voltage signal collection node is reached, wherein the voltage signal collection node is determined by the target device according to a media access control position within a preset time” (Deng, 5th and 6th page: Deng teaches a guiderail that “can provide at least one installation position, each installation position is provided with a corresponding positioning detection circuit, and each positioning detection circuit corresponds to a different detection voltage value” (5th page 5th paragraph). After the electronic price tag is installed on the guide rail a position calibration can be performed by electrically connecting the electronic price tag with the position detection circuit set at the installation position to obtain the first voltage value information which is then submitted to the cloud server. The cloud server can then determine the target installation location information associated with the first voltage value information according to “the pre-obtained associated relationship between the installation location information and the voltage value information” where “the pre-obtained associated relationship between the installation location information and the voltage value information” discloses “preset voltage signal collection node” which is reached in order for the server to determine the location. After the electronic price tag installed discloses a “preset time.” Moreover, “the electronic price tag in this example may include” (among other things) “a controller and a communication module, the controller is used to obtain the voltage value information collected by the positioning contact, and submit the voltage value information to the cloud server through the communication module”(6th page 7th paragraph) where the positioning contact is part of the electronic price tag and is “electrically connected to obtain the voltage value at the partial pressure contact line, which is used to determine the installation position of the electronic price tag” (6th page last paragraph) thereby disclosing the voltage signal collection node is determined by the target device according to a media access control position within a preset time” as the information submitted to the cloud server by the electronic price tag (target device) via the communication module discloses the voltage signal collection node is determined by the target device according to a media access control position within a preset time”
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the device and system for determining a position of an electronic price tag as taught by Niu by including information transmitted from a communication module (media access control) of an electronic price tag (target device) to a cloud server as taught by Deng as media access control through a communications module allows for more efficient transfer of data which is “helpful to realize the automatic verification of the placement position of the commodity object” (Deng 3rd page, first paragraph).
Regarding claim 7 Niu as modified teaches:
“determining, by the target device, whether the target device is mounted to the power supply system or whether the target device is removed from the power supply system” (Niu, fig. 7-8, page 8, 3rd paragraph: Niu teaches when the electronic price tag (target device) is moved (up, down, left, or right) the voltage signal changes. When it has been moved up or down, the electronic price tag (target device) will be “removed from the power supply system.” When the electronic price tag (target device) has been moved it will recognize the change in location by detecting the voltage of the resistance wire and the wire and send the change in location to the server (page 8, 3rd paragraph) therefore if there is no voltage detected, “the target device is removed from the power supply system.”)
Regarding Independent claim 9 Niu teaches:
“A position recognition apparatus” (Niu, Abstract.)
“comprising a power supply system, a sampling resistor and a target device, wherein the sampling resistor is connected in series to a power supply path in the power supply system” (Niu teaches “A2. Apply a constant voltage source (power supply system) to the resistive wire (sampling resistor) and wire connected in series; A3. Obtain the voltage A on the resistance wire and the voltage B on the wire corresponding to the location of the electronic price tag (target device) through the electronic price tag,” Additionally, “the base station supplies power to the electronic price tag through a power cord” (2nd and 3rd page, § Summary of Invention) disclosing “target device is mounted in the power supply system.”)
“the target device is mounted in the power supply system, and the target device is configured to collect a changed voltage signal in the power supply system, process the changed voltage signal, and send a processing result to a server” (Niu teaches “the base station supplies power to the electronic price tag through a power cord” (2nd and 3rd page, § Summary of Invention) disclosing “target device is mounted in the power supply system.” Moreover, “A3. Obtain the voltage A on the resistance wire and the voltage B on the wire corresponding to the location of the electronic price tag (target device) through the electronic price tag, and the layer position of the layer of the electronic price tag can be obtained through the voltage B (2nd page, § Summary of Invention) and the “present invention uses the voltage B on the wire to locate the layer position of the electronic price tag (that is, which layer), and obtains the horizontal position of the electronic price tag on the layer (that is, in the layer) by the difference between the voltage A and the voltage B” (5th page, § Detailed Description). Also, “the electronic price tag communicates with the base station” (3rd page § Summary of Invention) and the “base station 3 is in communication connection with the background server 4” (6th page, 9th paragraph) thereby disclosing “collecting, by the target device, a changed voltage signal in the power supply system, processing the changed voltage signal, and sending a processing result to a server”
While Niu teaches an electronic price tag in communication with a server (see fig. 7), Niu does not explicitly teach the target position is determined “according to feedback information from the server.
Deng teaches: “the electronic price tag in this example may include” (among other things) “a controller and a communication module, the controller is used to obtain the voltage value information collected by the positioning contact, and submit the voltage value information to the cloud server through the communication module”(6th page 7th paragraph) where the positioning contact is part of the electronic price tag and is “electrically connected to obtain the voltage value at the partial pressure contact line, which is used to determine the installation position of the electronic price tag” (6th page last paragraph) thereby disclosing “the target device is configured to determine a target position according to feedback information from the server”
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the device and system for determining a position of an electronic price tag as taught by Niu by including information from a server as taught by Deng as a server allows access to information from different location thereby allowing a user to obtain information from the server concerning a wrongly place item in order to correct the placement to conform to the preset display method (Deng, 2nd page, § Background technique, 4th paragraph).
Regarding claim 11 Niu as modified teaches:
“A computing device, comprising: a memory and a processor; wherein the memory is used for storing computer-executable instructions, and the processor is used for executing the computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, implement steps of the position recognition method according to claim 1” (Niu teaches “the back-end server4 can be implemented by a cloud server, or it can be installed in the management center. Computer implementation” (6th page, last paragraph) disclosing a computer implementation of the electronic price tag system. A person of ordinary skill in the art would understand a computer has a memory for storing “computer-executable instructions” and a processor for “executing the computer-executable instructions.”)
Regarding claim 12 Niu as modified teaches:
“A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, which stores computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, implement steps of the position recognition method according to claim 1.” (Niu teaches “the back-end server4 can be implemented by a cloud server, or it can be installed in the management center. Computer implementation” (6th page, last paragraph) disclosing a computer implementation of the electronic price tag system. A person of ordinary skill in the art would understand a computer would have a processor in addition to ROM memory which is “a non-transitory storage memory” for storing “computer-executable instructions.”)
Claims 4 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Niu in view of Deng as applied to claim 3 above, and further in view of Jung et al., hereinafter Jung, U.S. Pub. No 2018/0121778 A1.
Regarding claim 4 Niu as modified does not teach:
“determining, by the target device, whether an operation instruction for a target component is received.”
Jung teaches:
“determining, by the target device, whether an operation instruction for a target component is received” (Jung, fig 1, ¶ 0053-¶ 0054: Jung teaches “The server 130 may transmit, to the ESLs (electronic shelf label) 110-112 (target device), product information to be displayed” (¶ 0054) disclosing an “operation instruction.” Moreover, the “ESLs 110-112 may output the data received from the server 130 in the form of an image through an image update process” (¶ 0054) disclosing the “operation instruction for a target component is received” as the data received is output.
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the device and system for determining a position of an electronic price tag as taught by Niu by including receiving and carrying out operations instructions as taught by Jung in order to provide “an ESL having an improved image output speed” (Jung, ¶ 0112).
Regarding claim 8 Niu as modified does not teach:
“performing, by the target device, filter processing for the voltage signal to obtain a filtered voltage signal sequence, and convert the voltage signal sequence into a two-dimensional array; and sending, by the target device, the two-dimensional array to the server through Bluetooth, and receiving the feedback information determined by the server after performing similarity comparison between the two-dimensional array and a preset array corresponding to the power supply rail, wherein the feedback information is a target power supply rail determined from the power supply rail.”
Jung teaches:
“performing, by the target device, filter processing for the voltage signal to obtain a filtered voltage signal sequence, and convert the voltage signal sequence into a two-dimensional array; and sending, by the target device, the two-dimensional array to the server through Bluetooth, and receiving the feedback information determined by the server after performing similarity comparison between the two-dimensional array and a preset array corresponding to the power supply rail, wherein the feedback information is a target power supply rail determined from the power supply rail” (Jung teaches the “selection voltage generation unit 1220 may generate one or more selection voltages based on the DC voltage VDC provided from the low pass filter and the plurality of reference voltages provided from the voltage division unit 1210” (¶ 0118) where the low pass filter (1012) is part of circuit unit 1010 which is part of the terminal, the ESL (electronic shelf label) terminal (target device) (¶ 0106). The voltage generation unit 1220 includes a “plurality of operation amplifiers OP1 to OP5” (¶ 0118) where “the DC voltage VDC provided from the low pass filter may be applied to the positive terminals, and the references voltages having different levels by the voltage division unit 1210 may be applied to the negative terminals” (¶ 0118) disclosing a 1 X 5 two dimensional DC voltage VDC array compared to a 1 X 5 two dimensional reference voltage array. Moreover, the gateways and ESLs communicate with each other through wireless communication devices using communication technologies including Ultra Wide Band (UWB) (¶ 0056).)
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the device and system for determining a position of an electronic price tag as taught by Niu by including filtering voltage values and comparing to reference voltage values as taught by Jung in order smooth a DC output into a steady, stable output for comparison in order to provide an improved comparison without misleading results.
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Niu in view of Deng and Jung as applied to claim 4 above, and further in view of Cho et al., hereinafter Cho, U.S. Pub. No. 2020/0402429 A1.
Niu as modified does not teach:
“receiving a shutdown instruction for the target component, in a case where the target device determines that the target component is a component with energy consumption greater than or equal to a preset energy consumption threshold; or receiving an instruction to reduce computational resource occupancy for the target component, an instruction to reduce operating main frequency for the target component, or an instruction to reduce power consumption for the target component, in a case where the target device determines that the target component is a processor.”
Cho teaches:
“receiving a shutdown instruction for the target component, in a case where the target device determines that the target component is a component with energy consumption greater than or equal to a preset energy consumption threshold; or receiving an instruction to reduce computational resource occupancy for the target component, an instruction to reduce operating main frequency for the target component, or an instruction to reduce power consumption for the target component, in a case where the target device determines that the target component is a processor” (Cho, fig. 1-4, ¶ 0028, ¶ 0034-0035: Cho teaches an electronic shelf label made up of a wireless communication integrated circuit that includes a controller implemented as a microprocessor (¶ 0034-¶ 0035) which are “operable in two modes, a low power mode and an active mode. In the low power mode, the microprocessor maintain a sleep mode at a low clock frequency.” Moreover, Cho teaches “in order to reduce the power consumption of the electronic shelf label to which power is supplied from a battery, the electronic shelf label maintains a sleep state except to a wakeup period required for information update” (¶ 0028) thereby disclosing receiving “an instruction to reduce operating main frequency for the target component, or an instruction to reduce power consumption for the target component, in a case where the target device determines that the target component is a processor.”)
Both Niu and Cho teach determining location of a product using an electron shelf label therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the device and system for determining a position of an electronic price tag as taught by Niu by including reducing power consumption of an electronic shelf label as disclosed by Cho in order to provide an electronic shelf label that “operates at a low power to ensure long time use of a battery” (Cho, ¶ 0003).
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Niu Liming et al., hereinafter Niu, CN111160498A, in view of Deng Jia et al., hereinafter Deng, WO20211160160A1, in further view of Jung et al., hereinafter Jung, U.S. Pub. No 2018/0121778 A1.
Regarding Independent claim 10 Niu teaches:
“A position recognition system” (Niu, Abstract.)
comprising a shelf power supply rail, an electronic shelf label and a server, wherein the electronic shelf label is mounted on the shelf power supply rail” (Niu, figs. 2-4 and 7-8, 7th page: Niu teaches “base station 3 provides constant voltage source VDDR” (7th page 3rd paragraph) to series connected resistance wire 21 and wires 22. A junction box 26 (power drawing head) (fig 2, fig 7) is provided on the guide rail 2 (fig. 2-fig. 4) through which the base station 3 provides the constant voltage source to the resistance wire 21 and wire 22 which are connected in series to the electronic price tags 1 (electronic shelf label) along the guide rail 2 (power supply rail) disclosing the “electronic shelf label is mounted on the shelf power supply rail” as the constant voltage is provided along the guide rail 2 via the resistance wire 21, the wire 22 and the power line 23. Additionally, an electronic price tag in communication with a server (see fig. 7).
“the electronic shelf label is configured to collect a changed voltage signal of the shelf power supply rail, process the voltage signal, and send a processing result to the server” (Niu teaches “A3. Obtain the voltage A on the resistance wire and the voltage B on the wire corresponding to the location of the electronic price tag (electronic shelf label) through the electronic price tag, and the layer position of the layer of the electronic price tag can be obtained through the voltage B (2nd page, § Summary of Invention) and the “present invention uses the voltage B on the wire to locate the layer position of the electronic price tag (that is, which layer), and obtains the horizontal position of the electronic price tag on the layer (that is, in the layer) by the difference between the voltage A and the voltage B” (5th page, § Detailed Description). Moreover, “the electronic price tag communicates with the base station” (3rd page § Summary of Invention) and the “base station 3 is in communication connection with the background server 4” (6th page, 9th paragraph) thereby disclosing “the electronic shelf label is configured to collect a changed voltage signal of the shelf power supply rail, process the voltage signal, and send a processing result to the server.”
While Niu teaches an electronic price tag (target device) in communication with a server (see fig. 7), Niu does not explicitly teach the target position is determined “according to feedback information from the server.
Deng teaches: “the electronic price tag in this example may include” (among other things) “a controller and a communication module, the controller is used to obtain the voltage value information collected by the positioning contact, and submit the voltage value information to the cloud server through the communication module”(6th page 7th paragraph) where the positioning contact is part of the electronic price tag and is “electrically connected to obtain the voltage value at the partial pressure contact line, which is used to determine the installation position of the electronic price tag” (6th page last paragraph) thereby disclosing “determining, by the target device, a target position according to feedback information from the server”
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the device and system for determining a position of an electronic price tag as taught by Niu by including information from a server as taught by Deng as a server allows access to information from different location thereby allowing a user to obtain information from the server concerning a wrongly place item in order to correct the placement to conform to the preset display method (Deng, 2nd page, § Background technique, 4th paragraph).
Niu does not teach:
“the server is configured to perform similarity comparison between the processing result and a preset array corresponding to the shelf power supply rail to determine feedback information, and send the feedback information to the electronic shelf label, wherein the feedback information is a target power supply rail determined from the power supply rail.”
Jung teaches:
“the server is configured to perform similarity comparison between the processing result and a preset array corresponding to the shelf power supply rail to determine feedback information, and send the feedback information to the electronic shelf label, wherein the feedback information is a target power supply rail determined from the power supply rail” (Jung teaches the “selection voltage generation unit 1220 may generate one or more selection voltages based on the DC voltage VDC provided from the low pass filter and the plurality of reference voltages provided from the voltage division unit 1210” (¶ 0118) where the low pass filter (1012) is part of circuit unit 1010 which is part of the terminal, the ESL (electronic shelf label) terminal (¶ 0106). The voltage generation unit 1220 includes a “plurality of operation amplifiers OP1 to OP5” (¶ 0118) where “the DC voltage VDC provided from the low pass filter may be applied to the positive terminals, and the references voltages having different levels by the voltage division unit 1210 may be applied to the negative terminals” (¶ 0118) disclosing a 1 X 5 two dimensional DC voltage VDC array compared to a 1 X 5 two dimensional reference voltage array. Moreover, the gateways and ESLs communicate with each other through wireless communication devices using communication technologies including Ultra Wide Band (UWB) (¶ 0056).)
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the device and system for determining a position of an electronic price tag as taught by Niu by including filtering voltage values and comparing to reference voltage values as taught by Jung in order smooth a DC output into a steady, stable output for comparison in order to provide an improved comparison without misleading results.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Ji et al., U.S. Pub. No. 2021/0192433 A1, teaches determining commodity exhibition information comprising a layout of the electronic shelves and placement positions of commodities on the electronic shelves.
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/DENISE R KARAVIAS/Examiner, Art Unit 2857
/ARLEEN M VAZQUEZ/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2857
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