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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
1. The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 7/03/2024 and is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. According, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the Examiner. Claim Objection
2. Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: Regarding claim 1, line 10, “the length” should be changed to --- a length ---. Lines 11-12, “the number and the type of measurement sensors” should be changed to --- a number and a type of the measurement sensors ---. Line 14, “the size” should be changed to --- a size ---. Lin 16, “the command” should be changed to --- a command ---. Line 18, “the unit.\” should be changed to --- the unit. ---.
Examiner Notes
3. Examiner cites particular paragraphs, columns and line numbers in the references as applied to the claims below for the convenience of the applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings in the art and are applied to the specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply as well. It is respectfully requested that, in preparing responses, the applicant fully consider the references in entirety as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention, as well as the context of the passage as taught by the prior art or disclosed by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
4. 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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
5. Claims 1-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Gundel et al. (US. Pub. 2024/0319250; hereinafter “Gundel”).
Regarding claim 1, Gundel discloses, in Figs. 2A-2B, a monitoring system (such as a high-density electrical-grid monitoring system 200A in Fig. 2A or 200B in Fig. 2B) for online monitoring of an assembly having one or more electric cables (electrical cables 202) which are connected in series in an electrical distribution grid (the system is configured for monitoring an electric power grid, e.g., for evaluating a condition of power cables and other electrical equipment, see [0004]), the system comprising: a central unit (a central unit 214A in Fig. 2A) located on a portion of said assembly being monitored and a plurality of data acquisition units (a plurality of primary monitoring nodes 222 operatively coupled to feed-line cables 202) which are spread along said one or more electric cables in predefined positions (see Fig. 2A), wherein said system further comprises a plurality of subassemblies of measurement sensors (a plurality of secondary sensing nodes 224 in Fig. 2A), the measurement sensors (224) of a given subassembly being associated with one and the same data acquisition unit (the plurality of secondary sensing nodes 224 communicated with the same primary monitoring node 222, see Fig. 2A and at least in [0037, 39]) and spread over at least one portion of the length of said one or more electric cables in the vicinity of said one and the same data acquisition unit (as shown in Fig. 2A, the secondary sensing nodes 224 are spread over a portion of the length of the electrical cable 202 in the vicinity of the same primary monitoring node 222), in that the number and the type of measurement sensors of a given subassembly vary according to the position of the data acquisition unit with which these measurement sensors are associated and the size of said portion of length (the number of secondary sensing nodes 224 and the type [equivalent to the type of sensors for sensing temperature, current and voltage] of secondary sensing node 224 are arranged at locations based the configuration of electrical-grid network, see the configuration of electrical-grid network in Figs. 2A-2B and [0031, 36]), and in that each data acquisition unit is configured to receive and preprocess, during acquisition campaigns carried out under the command of the central unit, measurements originating from the measurement sensors which are associated with it in a given subassembly, and to transmit the received and preprocessed measurements to the central unit (paragraph [0039]: each of primary monitoring nodes 222 communicate data with a central computing unit 220. Each of the secondary nodes 224 transmit measurement data to a proximate primary node 222. The proximate primary node 222 may either transmit the received data directly to the central computing unit 220 or may first perform certain low-level data-processing, e.g., local analytic, prior to transmission to the central computing unit 220. Also see [0053, 61, 80, 93, 102]).\
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Regarding claim 2, Gundel discloses the monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein at least one subassembly of measurement sensors (224) comprises a plurality of measurement sensors of the same type which are spread over said portion of length (see Figs. 2A-B).
Regarding claim 3, Gundel discloses the monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein at least one subassembly of measurement sensors comprises two or more temperature sensors and/or two or more acoustic signal sensors which are spread over said portion of length (primary monitoring devices 222 and secondary monitoring devices 224 may include one or more sensors, one and more communication devices. Examples of such sensors include temperature sensors, partial-discharge (PD) sensors, smoke sensors, gas sensors, and acoustic sensors, among others. See at least in [0037]).
Regarding claim 4, Gundel discloses the monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein at least two subassemblies of measurement sensors comprise an inductive sensor configured to sense pulse events which are caused by partial discharges (two sub-assemblies as shown in Fig. 2A and a plurality of sub-assemblies in Fig. 2B. an inductive sensor configured to sense partial discharge, see [0028, 37, 43]).
Regarding claim 5, Gundel discloses the monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the measurement sensors of a given subassembly transmit their measurements to the data acquisition unit which is associated with them through a wired or wireless communication link (see [0039]).
Regarding claim 6, Gundel discloses the monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein each data acquisition unit (222) is configured to transmit the received and preprocessed measurements to the central unit (220) via said one or more electric cables (see [0039] and also see [0053, 61, 80, 93, 102]).
Regarding claim 7, Gundel discloses the monitoring system according to claim 1, further comprising a remote unit (a computer, laptop, or user interface in Fig. 3A) with which the central unit exchanges data via the Internet, the central unit being configured to transmit data which are based on an aggregation of the received and preprocessed measurements (see at least in [0038]).
Regarding claim 8, Gundel discloses the monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the central unit is located on an end portion of said assembly being monitored (at least in Figs. 2A and 3A shows that the central unit 220 is located on an end portion of said assembly being monitored).
Regarding claim 9, Gundel discloses the monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein two consecutive data acquisition units are separated by a distance of the order of one kilometer, and the size of said portion of length is between 50 and 500 metres (see [0036]).
Prior Art of Record
6. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Gao (U.S Pub. 2013/0249321) discloses a power line monitoring system (see specification for more details). O'Sullivan (U.S Pub. 2011/0031977) discloses a system for locating line fault in a voltage network (see specification for more details).
Rockwell (U.S Pub. 2007/0059986) discloses a system for monitoring a plurality of electrical assets (see specification for more details). O'Sullivan (U.S Pub. 2006/0187074) discloses a monitoring device for a voltage overhead line (see specification for more details).
Conclusion
7. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THANG LE whose telephone number is (571)272-9349. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday thru Friday 7:30AM-5:00PM EST.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Huy Phan can be reached on (571) 272-7924. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/THANG X LE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2858
2/26/2026