This Office action is in response to the amendment filed on 11/19/2025.
DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
2. A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 11/19/2025 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
3. Applicant’s amendments filed 11/19/2025 to the claims are accepted and entered. In this amendment,
Claims 1, 8, and 14 have been amended.
Claim 16 has been canceled.
Claims 22-27 have been added.
Claims 1-15 and 17-27 have been examined.
Response to Argument
4. Applicant’s arguments filed on 11/19/2025 regarding the prior art rejection have been fully considered. However, they are moot in view of new ground of rejection as
necessitated by the RCE.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
5. 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.
6. Claims 1-15 and 17-27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
The recitation in claims 1, 8 and 14, “the historical mode of operation operates at a higher accuracy and a higher latency than the real-time mode of operation” is indefinite. It is unclear what “a higher accuracy and a higher latency” that Applicant refers to? It is noted "a higher accuracy and a higher latency" can exist when compared to a real-time system that has lower accuracy and a lower latency but the specification does not disclose any.
For purpose of examination, it is interpreted as the best understood by the examiner.
Dependent claims are rejected for the same reason as respective parent claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
7. 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.
8. Claims 1-15 and 18-24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being obvious over Lin et al, hereinafter Lin (US 2014/0214729 – of record) in view of US patent 8943217 of Ohashi et al., hereinafter Ohashi.
As per Claim 1, Lin teaches a system, comprising:
an electrical meter ( Fig 1: smart meter 120 installed in houses, [0031]-[0032] ); and at least one server computer ( Fig 1: remote server 110 ); wherein the electrical meter comprises at least one processor and at least one memory ( Fig 2 shows smart meter 120 includes a processing unit 122, smart meter 120 uploads electricity data to server 110, considered smart meter includes a memory because it continuous collects electricity consumption, see [0033], [0003]), and is configured to:
obtain a power monitoring signal by measuring an electrical property of a power line to a building, wherein the power line provides power to devices in the building (Fig 2: power measuring unit 121 measures electrical energy, i.e., Tables 5,8 show current waveforms obtained considered “electrical properties”, see [0036], Fig 3, step S310);
process the power monitoring signal in a first mode of operation during a first time period to determine first information about a first device, of the devices in the building (when loading event occurs at event period “first time period”, i.e., as shown in Tables 5, 8, a first current waveform data “first information” of appliance A “first device”, see [0034]-[0035]);
transmit the first information to the at least one server computer (electrical power characteristic, i.e., current waveform “first information” of electrical appliance A transmits to database 113 of remote server 110, see Fig 2, [0074]-[0075], [0099]);
receive from the at least one server computer an instruction to change to a second mode of operation (when electricity network is turned on considered switched to “second mode operation” from “a first mode operation”, see [0034], i.e., Tables 5, 8 show the user can switch to view different current waveform data of appliances A or B).
process the power monitoring signal in the second mode of operation during a second time period to determine second information about a second device, of the devices in the building (smart meter monitors load conditions [0003], when the first operation mode is changed, i.e., “loading event” for a second information occurs at different event period “second time period” [0034]-[0035], i.e., Tables 5, 8 show the user can switch to view different current waveform data of appliances A or B); and
transmit the second information to the at least one server computer (Table 2 shows different cloud servers for different calculations [0060], i.e., electrical power characteristic “current waveform data” or “second information” of electrical appliance B transmits to database 113 of remote server, [0069], [0078], [0091]); and
wherein the at least one server computer comprises at least one processor and at least one memory (Fig 2), and is configured to: receive the first information from the electrical meter (receive electricity data from smart meter measured from electrical appliances, see [0039], [0071], [0089], i.e., Tables 5, 8 show current waveform data “first information” of appliance A), transmit the instruction to the electrical meter to change to the second mode of operation (switch from current waveform of appliances A to B considered switched from “first mode operation” to “second mode operation”, i.e., change to view current waveform data of appliance B), and receive the second information from the electrical meter (received electrical appliance B data “second information” as shown in Tables 5, 8, see [0086], [0119]).
Lin does not teach wherein the first mode of operation comprises a historical mode of operation; and wherein the second mode of operation comprises a real-time mode of operation, wherein the historical mode of operation operates at a higher accuracy and a higher latency than the real-time mode of operation.
Ohashi teaches the first mode of operation comprises a historical mode of operation (Fig 7 shows “getHistoryList” considered “a historical mode” as “a first mode of operation”, Fig 14A-B); and wherein the second mode of operation comprises a real-time mode of operation (Fig 7 shows “getWebServiceList” considered “a real-time mode of operation“ as “a second mode of operation”), wherein the historical mode of operation operates at a higher accuracy and a higher latency than the real-time mode of operation (Fig 12A-B: getWebServiceList for acquiring the list of Web application provided by appliance 1, see col 12 lines 28-31, where operation 1 received only when the appliance 1 is in the state of registration mode considered “getHistoryList” mode, while operation 2 received at all times and displayed message urging registration considered
“getWebServiceList” or “real-time” mode, see col 11 lines 36-46. Thus, it is considered historical mode operation provides a higher accurate and latency because the list includes registered appliances while webservice list includes appliances have not yet registered).
It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to use the teaching of Lin to include historical list and real-time list as taught by Ohashi that would facilitate specifying the protocol specification that is determined for each action with respect to each service of each appliance, i.e., as registered and/or not registered, which are capable of improving compatibility among a plurality of different appliances (Ohashi, col 4 lines 54-55, col 11 lines 12-15 and 29-31).
As per Claim 2, Lin in view of Ohashi teaches the system of claim 1, Lin further teaches comprising: a user device comprising at least one processor and at least one memory (each user A,B,C of smart meters 120, 130, 130 see Fig 1, [0032]. As stated about, smart meter contains a processing unit and memory), configured to: receive an input from a user to view information about the devices in the building; present the first information to the user, wherein the first information was determined by the electrical meter before the user device received the input from the user; and present the second information to the user, wherein the second information was determined by the electrical meter after the user device received the input from the user (user can fill in or select information, i.e., select to view electrical appliance information and usage, see [0122], identifying the current waveform considered inputting from the user, see [0041] last 4 lines, and display a current waveform on a display computer “LCD” which is one of electronic type electrical appliances, see [0042], [0044], electricity data is determined according to a result of the load identification, see [0009], [0031], i.e. Tables 5, 8 show electrical appliance A having current waveform data “first information” and electrical appliance B having current waveform data “second information”, obtaining accumulated electricity consumption of different electrical appliances in the user’s home, see Claim 20, see [0090], [0050]).
As per Claim 3, Lin in view of Ohashi teaches the system of claim 2, Lin does not explicitly teach wherein the input from the user comprises the user opening an application installed on the user device. Ohashi teaches the input from the user comprises the user opening an application installed on the user device (getWebServiceList this action for acquiring the list of Web application provided by appliance 1 considered opening Web application, col 12 lines 29-40). It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to use the teaching of Lin accessing the web application as taught by Ohashi that would facilitate specifying the protocol specification that is determined for each action with respect to each service of each appliance (Ohashi, col 11 lines 13-15).
As per Claim 4, Lin in view of Ohashi teaches the system of claim 2, Lin further teaches wherein the user device is configured to receive a second input from the user to stop viewing information about the devices in the building (it is noted when the user selects to view/change different electrical appliance information and usage [0122], i.e., to change “stop” viewing data of electrical appliance A “first information” considered the user requests a second input to view other data as shown in Tables 5, 8); and the at least one server computer is configured to cause the electrical meter to change from the second mode of operation to the first mode of operation after the user device receives the second input from the user (switch to second mode operation considered switched from a first operation mode to “a second mode operation”, see [0034], i.e., Tables 5, 8 show the user can switch to see different current waveform data of appliances A or B).
As per Claim 5, Lin in view of Ohashi teaches the system of claim 2, Lin further teaches wherein the at least one server computer further comprises a first server computer and a second server computer (different remote server platforms, Table 2 shows different cloud server platforms provided by different companies [0012], [0060]), and wherein: the first server computer receives the first information from the electrical meter and transmits the first information to the user device (Fig 1 shows power characteristics “load” of one of electrical appliances transmitted to smart meter A of user A, i.e., cloud calculation resources allocated to the users [0069].Table 2 shows G company cloud server platform “first” receives power characteristics from “electrical appliance”, i.e., as shown in tables 5, 8, the power characteristics “first information” of current waveform from electrical appliance A, see [0110]-[0110]); and the second server computer receives the second information from the electrical meter, and transmits the second information to the user device (similarly, power characteristics “second information” of current waveform from electrical appliance B in Table 4)
As per Claim 6, Lin in view of Ohashi teaches the system of claim 5, Lin further teaches wherein a network connection between the electrical meter and the second server computer is a continuous network connection (remote server connected with smart meters via network, see Figs 1-2, [0033]. It is noted monitoring electrical appliances according to different power characteristics by the remote server considered “a continuous network connection”, see [0111], [0003]).
As per Claim 7, Lin in view of Ohashi teaches the system of claim 1, Lin further teaches wherein the first time period and the second time period do not overlap (as stated above, the first time period of power characteristics of electrical appliance A and the second time period of power characteristics of electrical appliance B, i.e., Tables 5, 8 both first and second times do not overlap because they are performed in different times, see [0035], [0060]).
As per Claim 8, Lin teaches a method for providing information about devices in a building, the method implemented by at least one server computer (Fig 1 remote server 110) and comprising:
receiving first information about a first device, of a plurality of devices in the building, from an electrical meter (Fig 1: a plurality of electrical appliances of smart meters installed in houses and remote serve 110 receives electrical data from electrical appliances, see [0032]-[0033], Table 3 shows current waveform data “first information” of electrical appliance A “first device”), wherein the electrical meter determined the first information by operating in a first mode of operation and by measuring an electrical property of a power line to the building (Fig 2: power measuring unit 121 measures electrical energy, i.e., Tables 5, 8 show current waveforms obtained considered “electrical properties”, see [0036], Fig 3, step S310);
storing the first information (store electrical appliance characteristics data [0119], i.e., current waveform data “first information” of “electrical appliance A stored in database 113, i.e., in Table 3, see [0099], Fig 2);
causing the electrical meter to change from the first mode of operation to a second mode of operation (when electricity network is turned on considered switched to “second mode operation” from “a first mode operation”, see [0034], i.e., Tables 5, 8 show the user can switch to view different current waveform data of appliances A or B);
retrieving the stored first information and transmitting the first information to the user device (Tables 3 and 5 show waveform data “first information” of “electrical appliance A is retrieved and allocated to the users [0069]);
receiving second information about a second device, of the plurality of devices in the building, from the electrical meter (Fig 4 shows current waveform data “second information” of electrical appliance B “second device” [0009], [0036]), wherein the electrical meter determined the second information by operating in the second mode of operation and by measuring the electrical property of the power line to the building (current waveform of appliance B “second information” considered “electrical property” of power line measured and calculated, see [0078]-[0081]); and
transmitting the second information to the user device (electrical power characteristic, i.e., current waveform “second information” of electrical appliance B transmits to database 113 of remote server 110, or cloud server [0036], [0074]-[0075], [0099], i.e., cloud calculation resources allocated to the users [0069]).
Lin does not teach receiving a message from a user device wherein the message indicates that a user of the user device is requesting to view information about the plurality of devices in the building; wherein the first mode of operation comprises a historical mode of operation; and wherein the second mode of operation comprises a real-time mode of operation, wherein the historical mode of operation operates at a higher accuracy and a higher latency than the real-time mode of operation.
Ohashi teaches receiving a message from a user device wherein the message indicates that a user of the user device is requesting to view information about the plurality of devices in the building (Fig 7 shows “getText” considered “message” that user requested an action, col 7 lines 44-50, Figs 15A-B); and
the first mode of operation comprises a historical mode of operation (Fig 7 shows “getHistoryList” considered “a historical mode” as “a first mode of operation”, Fig 14A-B); and wherein the second mode of operation comprises a real-time mode of operation (Fig 7 shows “getWebServiceList” considered “a real-time mode of operation“ as “a second mode of operation”), and wherein the historical mode of operation operates at a higher accuracy and a higher latency than the real-time mode of operation (Fig 12A-B: getWebServiceList for acquiring the list of Web application provided by appliance 1, see col 12 lines 28-31, where operation 1 received only when the appliance 1 is in the state of registration mode considered “getHistoryList” mode, while operation 2 received at all times and displayed message urging registration considered “getWebServiceList” or “real-time” mode, see col 11 lines 36-46. Thus, it is considered historical mode operation provides a higher accurate and latency because the list includes registered appliances while webservice list includes appliances have not yet registered).
It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to use the teaching of Lin to include historical list and real-time list as taught by Ohashi that would facilitate specifying the protocol specification that is determined for each action with respect to each service of each appliance, i.e., as registered and/or not registered, which are capable of improving compatibility among a plurality of different appliances (Ohashi, col 4 lines 54-55, col 11 lines 12-15 and 29-31).
As per Claim 9, Lin in view of Ohashi teaches the method of claim 8, Lin further teaches wherein the first information comprises information about a state change of the first device and the second information comprises information about power usage of the second device (Table 9 shows the power characteristics “first information” of oven “first device” is changed considered “state change”, i.e., original power characteristics current waveform data of 0.8 is adjusted to 0.44 “power usage”. Similarly, in Table 10, the power characteristics “second information” of hair dryer “second device” is changed considered “state change”, i.e., original power characteristics current waveform data of 0.9 is adjusted to 0.495 “power usage”).
As per Claim 10, Lin in view of Ohashi teaches the method of claim 8, Lin further teaches wherein the second information is transmitted from the electrical meter to the user device in real time (Table 4 shows current waveform data “second information” of electrical appliance B is transmitted to smart meter 120 of user A as shown in Fig 1, see [0031], i.e., cloud calculation resources allocated to the users [0069]).
As per Claim 11, Lin in view of Ohashi teaches the method of claim 8, Lin further teaches comprising: modifying the first information before transmitting the first information to the user device (Table 9 shows current waveform data “first information” is adjusted from 0.8 to 0.44, see [0103]-[0104]).
As per Claim 12, Lin in view of Ohashi teaches the method of claim 8, Lin further teaches wherein: a first server computer receives the first information from the electrical meter and transmits the first information to the user device (Fig 2 shows first information of smart meter to first server 110, see [0031]-[0033], each user owns a different cloud calculation resource “server”, see Fig 10-S1020, and cloud calculation resources allocated to the users [0069]).
As per Claim 13, Lin in view of Ohashi teaches the method of claim 8, Lin further teaches comprising: receiving an additional message from a user device wherein the additional message indicates that a user of the user device is requesting to stop viewing information about devices in the building (when the user selects to change electrical appliance information and usage [0122], i.e., to change “stop” viewing data of electrical appliance A considered the user requests an additional message to stop viewing the current usage data as shown in Tables 5, 8); and causing the electrical meter to change from the second mode of operation to the first mode of operation (switch to other operation mode considered switch from a previous operation mode to “a second mode operation”, see [0034]).
As per Claim 14, Lin teaches an electrical meter (smart meter 120, Fig 2), comprising: a sensor for measuring an electrical property of an electrical main (Fig 2: power measuring unit considered to include “a sensor”, see [0006], “utility power” considered “electrical main”, power measuring unit 121 measures electrical energy, i.e., measuring “current waveform” or “electrical property”, Fig 3, step S310: see [0036], [0039]), wherein the electrical main provides power to devices in a building (Fig 2: utility power “power line” transmits electricity to electrical appliances of smart meter installed in the houses, see [0032]);
a network interface network interface (LAN, WLAN through communication network, see [0033]); and at least one processor (processing unit 122) configured to:
obtain a power monitoring signal from the sensor (power measuring unit 121 measures electrical energy, Fig 3, step S310, [0036], [0039]);
process the power monitoring signal in a first mode of operation during a first time period to determine first information about a first device, of the devices in the building (switch operation mode considered switching to a “first mode operation” during load event occurs at event period “first time period” [0034]-[0035], i.e., Table 5, 8: switched to view current waveform “first information” of electrical appliance A “first device”);
receive via the network interface an instruction to change to a second mode of operation (switching from first operation mode” considered switching to “a second mode operation”, i.e., when the operation mode is changed when “loading event” occurs, [0033]-[0034]);
process the power monitoring signal in the second mode of operation during a second time period to determine second information about a second device, of the devices in the building (smart meter can monitor load conditions [0003], Table 4 shows switching to current waveform “second information” of electrical appliance B during load event at event period considered “second time period”, see [0078]);
receive via the network interface an instruction to change to the first mode of operation (the electricity network is turned on/off or switching considered changed to a first mode operation [0033]-[0034], i.e., smart meter 107 of Table 8 is switched to smart meter 539 of Table 11); and
process the power monitoring signal in the first mode of operation during a third time period to determine third information about a third device, of the devices in the building (Fig 11- current waveform “third information” of oven “third device” when load event occurs at event period “third time period” [0035], [0032]).
Lin does not teach wherein the first mode of operation comprises a historical mode of operation; and wherein the second mode of operation comprises a real-time mode of operation, wherein the historical mode of operation operates at a higher accuracy and a higher latency than the real-time mode of operation;
Ohashi teaches the first mode of operation comprises a historical mode of operation (Fig 7 shows “getHistoryList” considered “a historical mode” as “a first mode of operation”, Fig 14A-B); and wherein the second mode of operation comprises a real-time mode of operation (Fig 7 shows “getWebServiceList” considered “a real-time mode of operation“ as “a second mode of operation”), wherein the historical mode of operation operates at a higher accuracy and a higher latency than the real-time mode of operation (Fig 12A-B: getWebServiceList for acquiring the list of Web application provided by appliance 1, see col 12 lines 28-31, where operation 1 received only when the appliance 1 is in the state of registration mode considered “getHistoryList” mode, while operation 2 received at all times and displayed message urging registration considered
“getWebServiceList” or “real-time” mode, see col 11 lines 36-46. Thus, it is considered historical mode operation provides a higher accurate and latency because the list includes registered appliances while webservice list includes appliances have not yet registered).
It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to use the teaching of Lin to include historical list and real-time list as taught by Ohashi that would facilitate specifying the protocol specification that is determined for each action with respect to each service of each appliance, i.e., as registered and/or not registered, which are capable of improving compatibility among a plurality of different appliances (Ohashi, col 4 lines 54-55, col 11 lines 12-15 and 29-31).
As per Claim 15, Lin in view of Ohashi teaches the electrical meter of claim 14, Lin further teaches wherein the electrical meter comprises a second sensor for measuring an electrical property of a second electrical main (Fig 2 shows smart meters 120, 130, 140 include a processing unit 122, smart meters 120, 130, 140 upload electricity data “electrical property” to server 110 or server platforms [0012], utility power of smart meter 130 “second electrical main”, see [0033], [0036], [0003], [0118]), wherein the second electrical main provides power to additional devices in the building (i.e., Table 11 shows smart meter 539 having additional devices such as oven and hair dryer).
As per Claim 18, Lin in view of Ohashi teaches the electrical meter of claim 14, Lin further teaches wherein the first information comprises at least one of power consumption of the first device or a state change of the first device (home electricity consumption status, i.e., decrease consumption, see [0111], [0121]-[0122], i.e., Table 9 shows the power characteristics “first information” of oven “first device” is changed considered “state change”, i.e., original power characteristics current waveform data of 0.8 is adjusted to 0.44 “power usage”).
As per Claim 19, Lin in view of Ohashi teaches the electrical meter of claim 14, Lin teaches wherein the at least one processor is configured to: transmit the first information to at least one server computer, and transmit the second information to the at least one server computer (Table 3 shows current waveforms “first information” of electrical appliance A and current waveform “second information” of appliance B transmit to database 113 of remote server 110, see Fig 2, [0074]-[0075], [0099], Table 2 shows different cloud servers for different calculations [0060], and cloud calculation resources allocated to the users [0069]).
As per Claim 20, Lin in view of Ohashi teaches the electrical meter of claim 14, Lin teaches wherein the first mode of operation processes a larger number of features than the second mode of operation, or the first mode of operation adds a larger number of nodes to a search graph than the second mode of operation (different communication modes such as internet, local area network LAN, wireless local area network WLAN, see [0033], each of the modes has technical features that differ from the other for example LAN has wired and wireless communication, whereas WLAN only wireless communication. It is noted if the wireless communication is Wi-fi then the accuracy is less and the latency is higher, than cabled connection. Moreover, the difference between internet which is a global public and wide area network, and the local area network which is a private network that links computers to a single location).
As per Claim 21, Lin in view of Ohashi teaches the electrical meter of claim 14, Lin teaches wherein the electrical meter determines the first information by processing the power monitoring signal with a plurality of mathematical models (different equations can be used to implement different models a=f,(cp) considered “mathematical models”, see [0052]-[0053], the processing unit 122 executes the step S330 to perform data compression on the electricity data obtained during the event period', see [0039], [0062]-[0070]).
As per Claim 22, Lin in view of Ohashi teaches the system of claim 5, Lin teaches wherein the power line is an electrical main for the building (power measuring unit considered having “a sensor”, Fig 2 shows “utility power” considered “electrical main”, see [0006], [0032], power measuring unit 121 measures electrical energy, see Fig 3, step S310, [0036], [0039], i.e., current waveform “electrical property” of oven or hair dryer in Fig 8).
As per Claim 23, Lin in view of Ohashi teaches the system of claim 22, Lin teaches wherein the electrical meter comprises a sensor structured to electrically couple to the electrical main (Fig 2), and the at least one processor measures the electrical property based at least in part on the sensor (power measuring unit 121 having a sensor to measure electrical energy, i.e., current waveforms in Table 8).
As per Claim 24, Lin in view of Ohashi teaches the system of claim 23, Lin teaches wherein the sensor is at least one of: a voltage sensor; or a current sensor (power measuring unit having sensor to measure voltage/current considered power measuring unit having a voltage sensor/current sensor as shown in Figs 6).
9. Claim 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being obvious over Lin in view of Ohashi and further Davis et al, hereinafter Davis (US 2017/0134182 - record).
As per Claim 17, Lin in view of Ohashi teaches the electrical meter of claim 14, the combination does not teach wherein the first mode of operation processes a search graph using a first configuration and the second mode of operation processes the search graph using a second configuration. Davis teaches the first mode of operation processes a search graph using a first configuration and the second mode of operation processes the search graph using a second configuration ("search and display only relevant access administrators and ignore other Wi-Fi devices" considered “search graph”, see [0066]-[0067], i.e., search via graphical elements on smartphone touch screen 12, a mode of communication such as peer to peer communication with an access administrator to be established which reads on "first mode", see [0072]-[0074], [0080]-[0081], [0019] another search and connection, “the connection is established between two smartphones, i.e., with another smartphone" considered "second mode", see Fig 4 smart phone 10 and 22, [0197]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include search graphs as taught by Davis that would provide friendly user/system interaction that easily provides the requested information as requested by the user, providing the communication advantages of smooth access with mobility and portability (Davis, [0013], [0060-0061] and [0137-0139]).
10. Claims 25-27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being obvious over Lin in view of Ohashi and further US 2014/0269950 of Sutterlin, as evidenced by Reference of
US patent 7388533 of Kim et al.
As per Claim 25, Lin in view of Ohashi teaches the system of claim 24, the combination does not teach wherein the electrical meter comprises an analog signal processing component that filters the power monitoring signal, and processing of the power monitoring signal in at least one of the first mode of operation or the second mode of operating is based at least in part on the filtered power monitoring signal. Sutterlin teaches the electrical meter comprises an analog signal processing component that filters the power monitoring signal, and processing of the power monitoring signal in at least one of the first mode of operation or the second mode of operating is based at least in part on the filtered power monitoring signal (electricity meter transmits a full strength signal considered analog signal [0010], i.e., analog signals input to loop filter 410 and quantizer 415 in sigma-delta-modulator and output to digital signal, i.e., switch analog-to-digital considered “first mode”, as shown in Fig 4, [0049]. It is noted a sigma-delta-modulator used analog-to-digital converters “ADCs” and digital-to-analog converters “DACs”, having a switch to control the operation of modulator, see Reference of Kim et al). It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to use the teachings of Lin and Ohashi having a sigma-delta-modulator convert analog-to-digital as taught by Sutterlin that would facilitate improving power line communication device, i.e., the improved PLC device is able to receive a highly attenuated signal when there is another
strong signal present at the receiver in an adjacent frequency band (Sutterlin, [0026], [0040]).
As per Claim 26, Lin in view of Ohashi and Sutterlin teaches the system of claim 25, Sutterlin further teaches wherein the electrical meter comprises a digital signal processing component that samples and quantizes the filtered power monitoring signal, and processing of the power monitoring signal in at least one of the first mode of operation or the second mode of operating is based at least in part on the sampled and quantized filtered power monitoring signal (as stated in claim 25, Figs 4 and 12, [0065]). It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to use the teachings of Lin, Ohashi, and Sutterlin having a digital signal and quantized filtered the power signal as taught by Sutterlin that would facilitate improving power line communication device, i.e., the improved PLC device is able to receive a highly attenuated signal when there is another strong signal present at the receiver in an adjacent frequency band (Sutterlin, [0026], [0040]).
As per Claim 27, Lin in view of Ohashi and Sutterlin teaches the system of claim 26, Sutterlin further teaches wherein the digital signal processing component reduces noise in the sampled and quantized filtered power monitoring signal with respect to the filtered power monitoring signal (i.e., the digital filter removes quantization noise [0046], Figs 11-12). It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to use the teachings of Lin, Ohashi, and Sutterlin having a digital filtered removes quantization as taught by Sutterlin that would facilitate improving power line communication device, i.e., the improved PLC device is able to receive a highly attenuated signal when there is another strong signal present at the receiver in an adjacent frequency band (Sutterlin, [0026], [0040]).
Conclusion
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/LYNDA DINH/Examiner, Art Unit 2857
/LINA CORDERO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2857