DETAILED ACTION
This Office Action is in response to application 18/734047 filed on 06/05/2024. Claims 1-20 are pending.
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim 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 1-14 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 claim 1, the term “pertinent” and phrase “able to be accommodated” are relative which renders the claim indefinite. The term/phrase “pertinent” and “able to be accommodated” are not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention. For example, “pertinent” describes relevance or appropriateness and depends on context: what is “pertinent” for one purpose may be irrelevant for another. That context-sensitivity makes it a relative term rather than a term of fixed degree. “Able to be accommodated” similarly depends on context as there is no objective criteria. For example, “able to be accommodated” according to…bandwidth or resources available.
Claim 2 similarly includes the term “able to be accommodated” and is rejected under the same rationale for claim 1.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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, 9, 14, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Lu et al. (US 2016/0062759).
Regarding claim 1, Lu disclosed:
A device (Figure 2, server 10), comprising:
a processing system including a processor (Figure 2, processor 270); and
a memory that stores executable instructions (Figure 2, storage 260) that, when executed by the processing system, facilitate performance of operations, the operations comprising:
identifying configuration data associated with firmware (Figure 7, step 702, latest firmware) that is to be transferred to a plurality of communication devices (Figure 1, clients A-D) (Figure 7, Paragraphs 28-29, a plurality of clients send a firmware version query to the detecting module of the server 10. The server transmits the current version information to the clients);
obtaining, based on the identifying, information (Figure 7, step 706, calculated total bandwidth) that is pertinent to a transfer of the configuration data (Figure 7, Paragraphs 31-32, once the clients receive the current version of the firmware, they send a request to download the update if needed. The calculating module of the server calculates the total bandwidth of other client devices that are currently downloading the latest firmware version and the clients that have transmitted the firmware download request in order to determine whether the calculated total bandwidth is larger than a total bandwidth of the server);
analyzing, based on the obtaining, the information to determine whether the transfer of the configuration data is able to be accommodated, resulting in a first determination (Figure 7, Paragraph 32, determining whether the total bandwidth is larger than a total bandwidth of the server); and
based on the first determination (Figure 7, step 710, no) indicating that the transfer of the configuration data is able to be accommodated, performing the transfer of the configuration data (Figure 7, Paragraph 34, the allocating module transmits the latest firmware to the clients which transmit the firmware download requests in response to the total bandwidth not being larger than the total downloading bandwidth of the server 10).
Regarding claim 2, the limitations of claim 1 have been addressed. Lu disclosed:
wherein the operations further comprise: based on the first determination indicating that the transfer of the configuration data is not able to be accommodated, determining whether an adjustment (Figure 7, step 708, sequencing) can be made to accommodate the transfer of the configuration data, resulting in a second determination (Figure 7, Paragraph 33, 35, if the total bandwidth is larger than the total bandwidth of the server, the allocating module sequences the clients to wait for downloading the firmware. The sequencing is based on scoring each client which transmits a firmware download request according to attributes of the clients).
Regarding claim 3, the limitations of claim 2 have been addressed. Lu disclosed:
wherein the operations further comprise: based on the second determination indicating that the adjustment can be made, enacting the adjustment (Figure 7, step 712, Paragraph 35, scoring each client based on their attributes); and
performing, based on the enacting, the transfer of the configuration data in accordance with the adjustment (Paragraph 35, the clients wait to download the firmware according to their scores).
Regarding claim 4, the limitations of claim 3 have been addressed. Lu disclosed:
wherein the adjustment comprises: utilizing a modified window for transferring the configuration data, reducing an amount of the configuration data that is to be transferred, reducing an amount or count of devices that are to obtain the configuration data (Figure 6, Paragraph 24, by assigning a score to each client when the total bandwidth is larger than the total bandwidth of the server, the clients download the firmware in sequence, in this case, clients E-D-A-B-C and not all at once), reducing an encryption or security scheme that is used, reducing a complexity of an encoding scheme that is used, transferring one or more communication sessions from a first resource to one or more other resources, or any combination thereof.
Regarding claim 5, the limitations of claim 2 have been addressed. Lu disclosed:
wherein the operations further comprise: based on the second determination indicating that the adjustment cannot be made, generating a warning, a message (Paragraphs 25-26, when the total bandwidth is not enough, replying No to client A and informs client A to wait 32 seconds), an alert, or any combination thereof; and
providing the warning, the message, the alert, or the combination thereof as output (Paragraph 25, replying No to client A).
Regarding claim 7, the limitations of claim 1 have been addressed. Lu disclosed:
wherein the information comprises: an identification of a window for transferring the configuration data, an identification of an amount of data included in the configuration data, an identification of a count of devices included in the plurality of communication devices, an identification of available resources to facilitate the transfer of the configuration data, an identification of a network or system load (Paragraph 32, calculating the total bandwidth to see if it is larger than the total download bandwidth of the server), an identification of a prediction of the network or system load, or any combination thereof.
Regarding claim 9, the limitations of claim 1 have been addressed. Lu disclosed:
wherein the performing of the transfer of the configuration data comprises commanding infrastructure of a network or system to perform the transfer (Paragraph 34, in block 710, the allocating module (i.e., infrastructure of a system) transmits the latest firmware to the clients).
Regarding claim 14, the limitations of claim 1 have been addressed. Lu disclosed:
wherein the analyzing is performed utilizing an algorithm (Paragraph 24, Figure 6, calculating the score for a client including a scoring formula (i.e., algorithm)).
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 6, 10, 12, 18-20, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lu et al. (US 2016/0062759) in view of Patel et al. (US 2020/0301693).
Regarding claim 6, the limitations of claim 1 have been addressed. Lu did not explicitly disclose:
wherein the plurality of communication devices comprises an Internet of Things (IoT) device.
However, in an analogous art, Patel disclosed wherein the plurality of communication devices comprises an Internet of Things (IoT) device (Paragraph 36, IoT administration system generates firmware over the air updates for a set of IoT UE devices by providing the update files).
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine the teachings of Lu with Patel because the references involve sending firmware updates to clients, and as such, are within the same environment.
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 IoT devices of Patel with the teachings of Lu in order to improve and expand available services as well as networks used to deliver such services (Patel, Paragraph 1).
Regarding claim 10, the limitations of claim 1 have been addressed. Lu did not expliclity disclose:
wherein the infrastructure comprises: a router, a gateway, a switch, a base station, or any combination thereof.
However, in an analogous art, Patel disclosed wherein the infrastructure comprises: a router, a gateway, a switch, a base station (Paragraph 31, Figure 1, base stations 130-A – 130-N), or any combination thereof.
For motivation, please refer to claim 6.
Regarding claim 12, the limitations of claim 1 have been addressed. Lu did not explicitly disclose:
wherein the performing of the transfer of the configuration data is based on a performance of a plurality of batch operations, and wherein a first batch operation included in the plurality of batch operations involves a first subset of the plurality of communication devices and a second batch operation included in the plurality of batch operations involves a second subset of the plurality of communication devices, the second subset being different from the first subset.
However, in an analogous art, Patel disclosed wherein the performing of the transfer of the configuration data is based on a performance of a plurality of batch operations, and wherein a first batch operation included in the plurality of batch operations involves a first subset of the plurality of communication devices and a second batch operation included in the plurality of batch operations involves a second subset of the plurality of communication devices, the second subset being different from the first subset (Paragraph 18, a set of UE devices are determined that need a FOTA (firmware over the air) update and the base stations associated with the UEs. The network capacity is determined for the base stations and a FOTA update batch is generated and sent to the one or more base stations. Each generated FOTA update batch identifies a subset of UEs to receive the FOTA update before the next FOTA update batch).
For motivation, please refer to claim 6.
Regarding claim 18, Lu disclosed:
A method comprising: determining, by a processing system including a processor, that communication resources (Paragraph 31, bandwidth) are available in an amount greater than a threshold to accommodate a transfer of data to a plurality of devices (Figure 7, Paragraphs 31-32, the calculating module of the server calculates the total bandwidth of other client devices that are currently downloading the latest firmware version and the clients that have transmitted the firmware download request in order to determine whether the calculated total bandwidth is larger than a total bandwidth of the server);
based on the determining, selecting, by the processing system, first resources of the communication resources for transferring the data to first devices included in the plurality of devices and second resources of the communication resources for transferring the data to second devices included in the plurality of devices, wherein the second devices are different from the first devices and the second resources are different from the first resources (Paragraph 20, when the clients have determined what the latest firmware version is and when the firmware of the clients is an earlier firmware version than the current one, the clients A/B send firmware requests to the server. The server determines a total bandwidth of other devices that are downloading the latest firmware. Figure 5 showing clients A/B using the bandwidth (i.e., first resources) to download the latest firmware. Client C is rejected from downloading and must wait for bandwidth to free up (in this case, 30 seconds later). Client C is then able to download using the freed up bandwidth (i.e., second resources));
enabling, by the processing system and based on the selecting, the transfer of the data to the first devices via the first resources (Figure 5, clients A/B downloading the update files using current bandwidth); and
enabling, by the processing system and based on the selecting, the transfer of the data to the second devices via the second resources (Figure 5, client C downloading the update files using the freed up bandwidth).
Lu did not explicitly disclose the plurality of devices including an Internet of Things (loT) device, a connected vehicle, or a combination thereof.
However, in an analogous art, Patel disclosed the plurality of devices including an Internet of Things (loT) device, a connected vehicle, or a combination thereof (Paragraph 36, IoT administration system generates firmware over the air updates for a set of IoT UE devices by providing the update files).
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine the teachings of Lu with Patel because the references involve sending firmware updates to clients, and as such, are within the same environment.
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 IoT devices of Patel with the teachings of Lu in order to improve and expand available services as well as networks used to deliver such services (Patel, Paragraph 1).
Regarding claim 19, the limitations of claim 18 have been addressed. Lu disclosed:
wherein the transfer of the data to the first devices causes an update to firmware, software, or a combination thereof, of the first devices from a first version to a second version that is different from the first version (Lu, Paragraph 20, determining that the firmware of the clients is a different version than the current firmware and updating the clients to the current firmware).
Regarding claim 20, the limitations of claim 18 have been addressed. Lu disclosed:
wherein the selecting is based on optimizing an efficiency of the communication resources (Lu, Paragraph 26, Figure 5, showing clients A/B using the bandwidth (i.e., first resources) to download the latest firmware. Client C is rejected from downloading and must wait for bandwidth to free up. Client C is then able to download using the freed up bandwidth (i.e., efficiency)).
Claims 8, 15-17, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lu et al. (US 2016/0062759) in view of Fink et al. (US 2023/0216735).
Regarding claim 8, the limitations of claim 1 have been addressed. Lu did not explicitly disclose:
wherein the information comprises an identification of a level of quality of service or quality of experience that is owed to a communication session involving an identified user equipment.
However, in an analogous art, Fink disclosed wherein the information comprises an identification of a level of quality of service or quality of experience that is owed to a communication session involving an identified user equipment (Paragraph 60, the information regarding the operation of the network device includes information regarding performance of the network device such as QoS. The device state information is used to evaluate one or more configuration updates implemented on the network device).
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 QoS of Fink with the teachings of Lu in order to evaluate whether to implement configuration updates (Fink, Paragraph 60). One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine the teachings of Lu with Fink because the references involve sending firmware updates to clients, and as such, are within the same environment.
Regarding claim 15, Lu disclosed:
A non-transitory machine-readable medium, comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processing system including a processor (Figure 2, processor 270), facilitate performance of operations, the operations comprising:
identifying a need to update firmware associated with a plurality of devices (Figure 7, Paragraphs 28-29, a plurality of clients send a firmware version query to the detecting module of the server 10. The server transmits the current version information to the clients and therefore identifying a need to update the firmware if the versions do not match);
obtaining information (Figure 7, step 706, calculated total bandwidth) relevant to a transfer of configuration data to facilitate the update (Figure 7, Paragraphs 31-32, once the clients receive the current version of the firmware, they send a request to download the update if needed. The calculating module of the server calculates the total bandwidth of other client devices that are currently downloading the latest firmware version and the clients that have transmitted the firmware download request in order to determine whether the calculated total bandwidth is larger than a total bandwidth of the server);
analyzing the information to determine that resources are available to accommodate the transfer (Figure 7, Paragraph 32, determining whether the total bandwidth is larger than a total bandwidth of the server); and
enabling, based on the analyzing, the transfer of the configuration data to the plurality of devices (Figure 7, Paragraph 34, the allocating module transmits the latest firmware to the clients which transmit the firmware download requests in response to the total bandwidth not being larger than the total downloading bandwidth of the server 10).
While Lu disclosed determining the bandwidth current clients downloading the firmware have and the bandwidth needed to send the firmware to requesting clients are not over the total bandwidth (see above), Lu did not explicitly disclose analyzing the information in accordance with a quality of service that is owed to a plurality of client devices to determine that resources are available to accommodate the transfer and enabling, based on the analyzing, the transfer of the configuration data to the plurality of devices.
However, in an analogous art, Fink disclosed analyzing the information in accordance with a quality of service that is owed to a plurality of client devices to determine that resources are available to accommodate the transfer (Paragraph 60, the information regarding the operation of the network device includes information regarding performance of the network device such as QoS. The device state information is used to evaluate one or more configuration updates implemented on the network device); and
enabling, based on the analyzing, the transfer of the configuration data to the plurality of devices (Paragraph 70, sending the configuration update identified in step 616 to the network device. The network device uses the configuration update identifiers to obtain and install the configuration updates identified).
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine the teachings of Lu with Fink because the references involve sending firmware updates to clients, and as such, are within the same environment.
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 QoS of Fink with the teachings of Lu in order to evaluate whether to implement configuration updates (Fink, Paragraph 60).
Regarding claim 16, the limitations of claim 15 have been addressed. Lu and Fink disclosed:
wherein the quality of service is specified in terms of: a voice communication session, a video communication session, a gaming communication session, or any combination thereof (Fink, Paragraph 78, voice recognition systems. Paragraph 83, gaming systems).
For motivation, please refer to claim 15.
Regarding claim 17, the limitations of claim 15 have been addressed. Lu and Fink disclosed:
wherein the information includes a specification of a window that is defined by a start time and at least one of an end time or a duration (Lu, Paragraphs 23-24, client attributes include downloading time (i.e., start time) and a work duration).
Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lu et al. (US 2016/0062759) in view of Lee et al. (US 2019/0196805).
Regarding claim 11, the limitations of claim 1 have been addressed. Lu did not explicitly disclose:
wherein the identifying of the configuration data is based on a rollout of an application or a modification to the application.
However, in an analogous art, Lee disclosed wherein the identifying of the configuration data is based on a rollout of an application (Figure 5, Paragraphs 67-70, controlling the rollout for an update to an application installed on client devices. The client sends a request for an update and the server determines if the client is authorized to install the update. The server sorts the client device into either a first or second subset of client devices based on a user identifier and a version identifier. When the device is eligible to receive the update, the server sends a response that includes a version identifier corresponding to the update) or a modification to the application.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine the teachings of Lu with Fink because the references involve sending software updates to clients, and as such, are within the same environment.
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 rollout of Lee with the teachings of Lu in order to allow for a gradual rollout option for an update to be made available (Lee, Paragraph 5).
Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lu et al. (US 2016/0062759) in view of Liao et al. (US 2023/0409311).
Regarding claim 13, the limitations of claim 1 have been addressed. Lu did not explicitly disclose:
wherein the analyzing is performed utilizing machine learning or artificial intelligence.
However, in an analogous art, Liao disclosed wherein the analyzing is performed utilizing machine learning or artificial intelligence (Paragraphs 41-44, 59, Figure 2, generating a trained AI model that determines for one or more computing devices to which an update is to be applied. Applying the trained AI model to generate an update estimate for the devices to which an updated is to be applied. Historical device usage patterns are analyzed to identify preferred time periods of time and specific time frames within said periods of time to apply the update).
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine the teachings of Lu with Liao because the references involve sending software updates to clients, and as such, are within the same environment.
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 AI or ML of Liao with the teachings of Lu in order to improve efficiency in application of an update (Liao, Paragraph 14).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Steven C. Nguyen whose telephone number is (571)270-5663. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7AM - 3PM and alternatively, through e-mail at Steven.Nguyen2@USPTO.gov.
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/S.C.N/Examiner, Art Unit 2451
/Chris Parry/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2451