CTNF 18/774,684 CTNF 88998 DETAILED ACTION 07-06 AIA 15-10-15 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. Allowable Subject Matter 12-151-08 AIA 07-43 12-51-08 Claim s 13-16 and 19 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 07-07-aia AIA 07-07 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 – 07-08-aia AIA (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. 07-12-aia AIA (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. 07-15 AIA Claim s 1-11 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102( a)(1 ) as being unpatentable by U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2022/0065477 (Warren). Claim 1: The cited prior art describes a thermostat comprising: (Warren: see the thermostat 510 as illustrated in figure 5 and as described in paragraph 0052; “This patent specification relates to systems, methods, and related computer program products for powering controllers for energy-consuming systems or other resource-consuming systems. More particularly, this specification relates to input selection and switch timing for power-stealing circuits in smart-home devices, such as thermostats.” Paragraph 0001) a power stealing circuit configured to steal power from a power wire connector for controlling a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) function of an HVAC system, wherein an output of the power stealing circuit provides power to operational systems of thermostat; (Warren: see the power circuitry as illustrated in figure 6 and as described in paragraph 0069; “Power stolen from the wires selected by block 616 may pass through a slew rate limiter 635 and charge the output capacitor 622. Charge from the output capacitor 622 may be provided to the buck regulator 624, which may in turn provide a rectified voltage output at node 625 to operate the thermostat and/or to charge a battery. The powering circuitry generally serves to provide a main voltage Vcc that is used by the various electrical components of the thermostat 100, and that in one embodiment may be about 3.7V˜3.95V. The general purpose of powering circuitry is to convert the 24 VAC presented between the input nodes 619 and 617 to a steady DC voltage output at the Vcc MAIN node to supply the thermostat electrical power load.” Paragraph 0069) an adjustable test load coupled to the output of the power stealing circuit; (Warren: see the programmable resistive load 1010 as illustrated in figure 10; “The method may also include activating or setting a load at the input of the power-stealing circuit (1104). The load may be an adjustable internal resistive load as described above comprising one or more resistors and a transistor controlled by a signal from a processor. The load may be set using a signal from a processor that changes the conductance of a FET transistor and thereby changes the impedance of the internal resistive load. The value of this impedance may be adjusted up or down, and may be set at one or more threshold levels to observe the response (i.e., voltage change) at the input of a buck converter.” Paragraph 0098) one or more processors configured to perform operations comprising: (Warren: see the processing system 519 as illustrated in figure 5 and as described in paragraph 0061) switching the output of the power stealing circuit from the operational systems of the thermostat to the adjustable test load; (Warren: “FIG. 10 illustrates a circuit for testing and/or characterizing signals provided by the power wire connectors, according to some embodiments. As described above, the electronic switches 709, 710 may be used in conjunction with the diode rectification circuits 705, 706, 707 to isolate and select a single one of the power wire connectors 701, 702, 703. One of the advantages provided by these embodiments is the ability to test and monitor the effect of a power stealing operation on the load in real time as the system operates for any of the selected inputs.” Paragraph 0093) causing the power stealing circuit to steal power from the HVAC system with different loads provided by the adjustable test load; (Warren: “The method may also include activating or setting a load at the input of the power-stealing circuit (1104). The load may be an adjustable internal resistive load as described above comprising one or more resistors and a transistor controlled by a signal from a processor. The load may be set using a signal from a processor that changes the conductance of a FET transistor and thereby changes the impedance of the internal resistive load. The value of this impedance may be adjusted up or down, and may be set at one or more threshold levels to observe the response (i.e., voltage change) at the input of a buck converter.” Paragraph 0098) sampling a voltage provided by the power stealing system at the different loads provided by the adjustable test load; and (Warren: “The method may also include activating or setting a load at the input of the power- stealing circuit (1104). The load may be an adjustable internal resistive load as described above comprising one or more resistors and a transistor controlled by a signal from a processor. The load may be set using a signal from a processor that changes the conductance of a FET transistor and thereby changes the impedance of the internal resistive load. The value of this impedance may be adjusted up or down, and may be set at one or more threshold levels to observe the response (i.e., voltage change) at the input of a buck converter.” Paragraph 0098) calibrating operation of the power stealing circuit based the voltage provided by the power stealing circuit at the different loads provided by the adjustable test load. (Warren: “The method may additionally include determining an amount of power that can be stolen through the wire connector (1106). This step may include characterizing the external load attached to the wire connector by measuring the voltage change as described above. Power stealing thresholds (e.g., a voltage to which the capacitor 622 may be charged, a current that may be received by the regulator, etc.) may be tested to ensure that the selected wire connector can supply the appropriate amount of power. Some embodiments may also measure the stability of the voltage drop across the load to estimate the stability of the load connected to the wire connector. Unstable loads may not be ideal for power stealing.” Paragraph 0099) Claim 2: The cited prior art describes the thermostat of claim 1, wherein the output of the power stealing circuit provides power to the operational systems of thermostat by providing power to a power management integrated circuit (PMIC), and the PMIC switches the operational systems of the thermostat to a rechargeable battery power when switching the output of the power stealing circuit to the adjustable test load. (Warren: see the battery connector 1202 and the power path controller 1203 as illustrated in figure 12 and as described in paragraph 0101; “As described above, the output of the buck regulator 624 may be used to charge a battery and/or to power the smart-home device. During times when the power usage of the smart-home device is less than the amount of power being stolen from the external environmental system, the power stealing circuitry can provide power to charge the battery. In contrast, during times when the power usage of the smart-home device is more than the amount of power being stolen from the external environmental system, the power provided by the power-stealing circuitry may be augmented by power provided by the battery.” Paragraph 0101; “When this threshold is reached, the battery connector 1202 may provide power from the battery to augment the power provided (and limited) by the buck regulator 624. Power may be provided from the battery connector 1202 to a power path controller 1203. The power path controller 1203 may be implemented using discrete components or as part of an integrated circuit, depending on the embodiment. The junction between the battery connector 1202 and the output of the buck regulator 624 may be made after the connection of the resistive load 1010 that is used as a test load resistor switch circuit, such that the system power may be isolated from the output of the buck regulator 624 during the load testing.” Paragraph 0102) Claim 3: The cited prior art describes the thermostat of claim 1, wherein the adjustable test load is configured to simulate different load levels of the operational systems of the thermostat. (Warren: “The method may also include activating or setting a load at the input of the power-stealing circuit (1104). The load may be an adjustable internal resistive load as described above comprising one or more resistors and a transistor controlled by a signal from a processor. The load may be set using a signal from a processor that changes the conductance of a FET transistor and thereby changes the impedance of the internal resistive load. The value of this impedance may be adjusted up or down, and may be set at one or more threshold levels to observe the response (i.e., voltage change) at the input of a buck converter.” Paragraph 0098) Claim 4: The cited prior art describes the thermostat of claim 1, wherein the adjustable test load comprises a resistor in series with a field-effect transistor (FET) switch, and (Warren: “The resistive load may also be implemented by one or more resistors in parallel, series, and/or combination.” Paragraph 0094; “The load may be an adjustable internal resistive load as described above comprising one or more resistors and a transistor controlled by a signal from a processor. The load may be set using a signal from a processor that changes the conductance of a FET transistor and thereby changes the impedance of the internal resistive load.” Paragraph 0098) the one or more processors cause the adjustable test load to provide the different loads by changing a pulse-width modulation (PWM) of a signal driving the FET switch. (Warren: “Some embodiments may provide a programmable resistive load 1010 that can be set by a signal 1014 from a microprocessor. The resistive load 1010 may be used to vary how much of a load the system provides for the external environmental system under control, such as an HVAC system. The resistive load 1010 may be placed between the system power and the system ground at the output of the buck converter. The resistive load 1010 may be varied by a PWM signal provided through signal 1014 from the microprocessor. Varying signal 1014 may change the conductance of the transistor in the resistive load 1010 and thereby change the impedance of the internal load 1010 seen by the HVAC system.” Paragraph 0094) Claim 5: The cited prior art describes the thermostat of claim 1, wherein calibrating the operation of the power stealing circuit comprises selecting a power-stealing method that is phase-aware of a zero-crossing of a current waveform through one or more switching elements for the HVAC function. (Warren: “In addition to the timing circuitry 1506, the switch 1502 may include telemetry circuitry that measures voltage, current, temperature, and/or other electrical/environmental characteristics of the switch 1502 in real time. These measurements may be provided on outputs of the switch 1502, such as through a serial bus interface. In addition to being stored and provided to a cloud server for analysis, these measurements may also be leveraged for real-time use by the thermostat processor for controlling the power-stealing window. For example, a simple comparator 1504 may be used to measure the voltage across one or more of the switching elements 1508. In FIG. 15, one of the series switching elements is modeled as a resistance 1507 for clarity. The output of the comparator 1504 may be phase-aligned with the AC current passing through the switching element 1508 from the HVAC system. The resulting output of the comparator 1504 may generate a square wave that is phase aligned with the AC current, and the rising/falling edges of the square wave may indicate zero-crossing points of the AC current. The output of the comparator 1504 may be provided as a waveform on an output 1510 of the IC package of the switch 1502. In some embodiments, the comparator 1504 may be implemented using a discrete circuit outside of the switching circuit IC that may implement the rest of the switch 1502 . The embodiments described herein may optimize active power-stealing cycles by using the zero-crossing output 1510 provided by the switch 1502 to provide an enable signal to the input 1512 that limits active power stealing to an optimal window.” Paragraph 0113) Claim 6: The cited prior art describes the thermostat of claim 1, wherein calibrating the operation of the power stealing circuit comprises selecting a power-stealing method that is not based on a phase of a current waveform through one or more switching elements for the HVAC function. (Warren: “FIG. 17 illustrates a simplified block diagram that shows how the power efficiencies are gained by stealing power at the peaks of the operating coil current, according to some embodiments. The HVAC system 1701 shows a simplified version of the components described above for an HVAC system with an air conditioner unit. During the active power-stealing window, the instantaneous current passing through the coil of the HVAC system 1701 may appear to be similar to a DC current passing through an inductor. That instantaneous DC current may be passed into the thermostat through the circuit formed by the Y wire connector 702 and the R wire connector 704. When closed, the switch 1502 normally passes this current through the completed circuit to activate the HVAC function (e.g., turn on the air conditioner).” Paragraph 0117) Claim 7: The cited prior art describes the thermostat of claim 1, wherein calibrating the operation of the power stealing circuit comprises selecting a power-stealing method that is active when the HVAC function is not active. (Warren: “As used herein, “inactive power stealing” refers to the power stealing that is performed during periods in which there is no active call in place based on the lead from which power is being stolen.” Paragraph 0072; “During inactive power stealing, power is stolen from between, for example, the “Y” wire that appears at node 619 and the R lead that appears at node 617. There may be a 24 VAC HVAC transformer voltage present across nodes 619/617 when no cooling call is in place (i.e., when a corresponding Y-R FET switch is open). For one embodiment, the maximum current IBP(max) is set to a relatively modest value, such as 20 mA, for the case of inactive power stealing.” Paragraph 0073) Claim 8: The cited prior art describes the thermostat of claim 1, further comprising: a power wire connector for the HVAC function; (Warren: see the wires as illustrated in figure 6 and as described in paragraph 0067) a return wire connector for the HVAC function; and (Warren: see the wires as illustrated in figure 6 and as described in paragraph 0067) one or more switching elements configured to operate in: (Warren: see the block 616 switching between wires as illustrated in figure 6 and as described in paragraph 0068; see the electronic switches 709, 710 as illustrated in figures 7, 8) a first operating state in which the one or more switching elements create a connection between the power wire connector and the return wire connector to activate the HVAC function; and (Warren: “Operation of the powering circuitry for “active power stealing” is now described. During an active heating/cooling call, it may be necessary for current to be flowing through the HVAC call relay coil sufficient to maintain the HVAC call relay in a “tripped” or ON state at all times during the active heating/cooling call. The processor may be configured to turn, for example, a Y-R FET switch (not shown) OFF for small periods of time during the active cooling call, wherein the periods of time are small enough such that the cooling call relay does not “un-trip” into an OFF state, but wherein the periods of time are long enough to allow inrush of current into the bridge rectifier 620 to keep the bridge output capacitor 622 to a reasonably acceptable operating level.” Paragraph 0074) a second operating state in which the one or more switching elements interrupt the connection between the power wire connector and the return wire connector; (Warren: “According to another embodiment, it has been found further advantageous to introduce another delay period, such as 60-90 seconds, following the termination of an active cooling cycle before instantiating the inactive power stealing process. This delay period has likewise been found useful in allowing the various HVAC systems to reach a quiescent state in which accidental tripping back into an active cooling cycle is avoided.” Paragraph 0074) wherein the one or more processors control the one or more switching elements based on a selected power stealing method. (Warren: “For one embodiment, this is achieved in a closed-loop fashion in which the processor monitors the voltage VBR at node 623 and actuates a Y-R FET switch as necessary to keep the bridge output capacitor 622 charged.” Paragraph 0074; “The electronic switches 709, 710 may be controlled by command signals 716, 718 from the processor to control the operation of the electronic switches 709, 710.” Paragraph 0083) Claim 9: Claim 9 is substantially similar to claim 1 and is rejected for the same reasons and rationale. 9. A method of calibrating power stealing for a thermostat, the method comprising: operating a power stealing circuit configured to steal power from a power wire connector for a function of a controlling a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system, wherein an output of the power stealing circuit provides power to operational systems of thermostat; switching the output of the power stealing circuit from the operational systems of the thermostat to an adjustable test load that is coupled to the output of the power stealing circuit; causing the power stealing circuit to steal power from the HVAC system with different loads provided by the adjustable test load; sampling a voltage provided by the power stealing system at the different loads provided by the adjustable test load; and calibrating operation of the power stealing circuit based the voltage provided by the power stealing system at the different loads provided by the adjustable test load. Claim 10: The cited prior art describes the method of claim 9, wherein calibrating the operation of the power stealing circuit comprises setting maximum current limit for a power management integrated circuit. (Warren: “As described above, the internal load may be used to determine an amount of power that may be stolen from the external environmental system. This maximum amount may be used to set a threshold for the buck regulator 624. This threshold may be provided by a microprocessor through the input 1204 depicted in FIG. 12. This threshold may then limit the output current at node 625 provided by the buck regulator 624 to ensure that the power stealing circuitry does not cause the HVAC system to inadvertently trip by stealing too much power. When this threshold is reached, the battery connector 1202 may provide power from the battery to augment the power provided (and limited) by the buck regulator 624.” Paragraph 0102) Claim 11: The cited prior art describes the method of claim 9, wherein calibrating the operation of the power stealing circuit comprises selecting a power wire connector for an HVAC function for power stealing. (Warren: “The method/operations may also include characterizing amounts of power that can be stolen through each of the plurality of wire connectors, selecting the first wire connector for power stealing based on the amounts of power that can be stolen through each of the plurality of wire connectors, and overriding a selection of the one of the plurality of wire connectors for power stealing.” Paragraph 0008) Claim 17: Claim 17 is substantially similar to claim 1 and is rejected for the same reasons and rationale. 17. A method of calibrating power stealing for a smart home device, the method comprising: operating a power stealing circuit configured to steal power from an external system, wherein an output of the power stealing circuit provides power to operational systems of smart home device; switching the output of the power stealing circuit from the operational systems of the smart home device to an adjustable test load that is coupled to the output of the power stealing circuit; causing the power stealing circuit to steal power from the external system with different loads provided by the adjustable test load; sampling a voltage provided by the power stealing system at the different loads provided by the adjustable test load; and calibrating operation of the power stealing circuit based the voltage provided by the power stealing system at the different loads provided by the adjustable test load . Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-20-aia AIA 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. 07-23-aia AIA 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. 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 12 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2022/0065477 (Warren) in view of U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2018/0003744 (Juntunen). Claim 12: Warren does not explicitly describe sampling intervals as described below. However, Juntunen teaches the sampling intervals as described below. The cited prior art describes the method of claim 9, wherein sampling the voltage provided by the power stealing system comprises sampling a plurality of discrete sampling intervals at each of the different loads provided by the adjustable test load. (Juntunen: see reading the baseline voltage 113 for the number of times needed 114 as illustrated in figure 1 and as described in paragraph 0018) (Warren: “The method may also include activating or setting a load at the input of the power-stealing circuit (1104). The load may be an adjustable internal resistive load as described above comprising one or more resistors and a transistor controlled by a signal from a processor. The load may be set using a signal from a processor that changes the conductance of a FET transistor and thereby changes the impedance of the internal resistive load. The value of this impedance may be adjusted up or down, and may be set at one or more threshold levels to observe the response (i.e., voltage change) at the input of a buck converter.” Paragraph 0098) One of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that applying the known technique of Warren, namely, a power stealing smart home device, with the known techniques of Juntunen, namely, testing for a HVAC system, would have yielded predictable results and resulted in an improved system. Accordingly, applying the teachings of Warren to determine how to steal power for a smart home device with the teachings of Juntunen to determine load testing parameters in a HVAC system would have been recognized by those of ordinary skill in the art as resulting in an improved distributed application data center system. In other words, the combination of references provides for testing and determining power stealing parameters for a thermostat based on the teachings of testing and determining power stealing parameters for a smart home device in Warren and the teachings of testing power parameters for a HVAC system in Juntunen). Claim 20: Warren does not explicitly describe sampling intervals as described below. However, Juntunen teaches the sampling intervals as described below. The cited prior art describes the method of claim 17, wherein sampling the voltage provided by the power stealing system comprises sampling at least three discrete sampling intervals at each of the different loads provided by the adjustable test load. (Juntunen: see reading the baseline voltage 113 for the number of times needed 114 as illustrated in figure 1 and as described in paragraph 0018) (Warren: “The method may also include activating or setting a load at the input of the power-stealing circuit (1104). The load may be an adjustable internal resistive load as described above comprising one or more resistors and a transistor controlled by a signal from a processor. The load may be set using a signal from a processor that changes the conductance of a FET transistor and thereby changes the impedance of the internal resistive load. The value of this impedance may be adjusted up or down, and may be set at one or more threshold levels to observe the response (i.e., voltage change) at the input of a buck converter.” Paragraph 0098) Warren and Juntunen are combinable for the same rationale as set forth above with respect to claim 12 . 07-21-aia AIA Claim 18 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2022/0065477 (Warren) in view of U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2024/0183567 (Kim) Claim 18: Warren does not explicitly describe a minimum threshold as described below. However, Kim teaches the minimum threshold as described below. The cited prior art describes the method of claim 17, further comprising detecting when the voltage provided by the power stealing system drops below a minimum threshold. (Kim: “When the power stealing element draws power from the HVAC load, the power stealing element may charge the Vcc capacitor, e.g., Vcc capacitors 510 and 405 described above in relation to FIGS. 5 and 4, respectively. In some examples, when the magnitude of voltage on the Vcc capacitor drops below a predetermined minimum discharge voltage threshold 604, the power stealing element may turn on (612) and increase the voltage on the Vcc capacitor. When the VCC charging voltage reaches the predetermined maximum charging voltage threshold 602, the power stealing element may stop charging the Vcc capacitor. When this charged voltage falls back to the predetermined minimum discharge voltage threshold 604, power stealing element may start charging again, and repeats it while the AC load switch circuitry operates to obtain the required energy from the HVAC load” paragraph 0077) One of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that applying the known technique of Warren, namely, a power stealing smart home device, with the known techniques of Kim, namely, a universal power circuit for a HVAC system, would have yielded predictable results and resulted in an improved system. Accordingly, applying the teachings of Warren to determine how to steal power for a smart home device with the teachings of Kim to control a universal power circuit in a HVAC system would have been recognized by those of ordinary skill in the art as resulting in an improved distributed application data center system. In other words, the combination of references provides for testing and determining power stealing parameters for a thermostat based on the teachings of testing and determining power stealing parameters for a smart home device in Warren and the teachings of determining power parameters for a HVAC system in Kim). Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHRISTOPHER E EVERETT whose telephone number is (571)272-2851. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00 am to 5:00 pm (Pacific). 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, Robert Fennema can be reached at 571-272-2748. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /Christopher E. Everett/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2117 Application/Control Number: 18/774,684 Page 2 Art Unit: 2117 Application/Control Number: 18/774,684 Page 3 Art Unit: 2117 Application/Control Number: 18/774,684 Page 4 Art Unit: 2117 Application/Control Number: 18/774,684 Page 5 Art Unit: 2117 Application/Control Number: 18/774,684 Page 6 Art Unit: 2117 Application/Control Number: 18/774,684 Page 7 Art Unit: 2117 Application/Control Number: 18/774,684 Page 8 Art Unit: 2117 Application/Control Number: 18/774,684 Page 9 Art Unit: 2117 Application/Control Number: 18/774,684 Page 10 Art Unit: 2117 Application/Control Number: 18/774,684 Page 11 Art Unit: 2117 Application/Control Number: 18/774,684 Page 12 Art Unit: 2117 Application/Control Number: 18/774,684 Page 13 Art Unit: 2117 Application/Control Number: 18/774,684 Page 14 Art Unit: 2117 Application/Control Number: 18/774,684 Page 15 Art Unit: 2117 Application/Control Number: 18/774,684 Page 16 Art Unit: 2117 Application/Control Number: 18/774,684 Page 17 Art Unit: 2117 Application/Control Number: 18/774,684 Page 18 Art Unit: 2117 Application/Control Number: 18/774,684 Page 19 Art Unit: 2117
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