DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claims 1-20 have been submitted for examination and are pending further prosecution by the United States Patent & Trademark Office.
Allowable Subject Matter
With respect to independent claim 1, the prior art of record does not teach or suggest, either solely or in combination, the limitations "receive an indication that the client device has disconnected from the IoT network during performance of the FOTA update; receive an indication that the client device has reconnected to the IoT network; in response to receiving the indication that the client device has reconnected to the IoT network, determine a latest successful status of the FOTA update on the client device, wherein the latest successful status of the FOTA update indicates that only a portion of the FOTA update was completed successfully;" when considered in combination with the other limitations of claim 1.
Claims 11-13 and 17-19 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 Objections
Claim 9 is objected to because of an informality. It is suggested Applicants amend the claim as follows:
-- The server system of claim 1, wherein the server system is further caused to initiate execution of the FOTA update at multiple client devices simultaneously, the multiple client devices including the client device. --
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 10, 14 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US 20170286091 A1 - hereinafter "Jepson" - cited in the IDS dated 7/30/24.
With respect to claim 10, Jepson teaches,
A wireless device in communication with an internet of things (IoT) network, the wireless device comprising: - "a smart device 14" [0011]; Fig. 1
at least one hardware processor; and - Fig. 3
at least one non-transitory memory storing instructions, which, when executed by the at least one hardware processor, cause the wireless device to: - Fig. 3
receive, through the IoT network, a firmware over-the-air (FOTA) update package; - [0011] "...Primary communication device 12 is configured to wirelessly communicate with each of smart device 14 and network device 16."; [0011] "In particular embodiments, primary communication device 12 is a communication and/or computing device, such as a smartphone, configured to received a firmware and/or operating system (OS) update from network device 16, send the firmware/OS update to smart device 14,"
perform an FOTA update based on the FOTA update package; - [0021] "If smart device 14 receives an updated firmware/OS image, smart device 14 reboots into a recovery state 44. In recovery state 44, bootloader module 20 of smart device 14 attempts to update firmware/OS memory 22 using the updated firmware/OS image."
disconnect from the IoT network during performance of the FOTA update, wherein disconnecting from the IoT network causes the wireless device to cease performance of the FOTA update when only a portion of the FOTA update has been completed successfully; - [0012] "In other embodiments, bootloader 20 of smart device 14 detects a failure and/or interruption of the update of the firmware and/or OS to complete and instructs smart device 14 to send a message to primary communication device 12 indicating that the update did not complete and requesting the portion of the update image needed to complete the update or the entire update image." [0014] "In one embodiment, if there is a failure of the update such as due to a loss of power of smart device 14, smart device 14 may be unable to send an expected communication to primary communication device 12."
reconnect to the IoT network; in response to reconnecting to the IoT network, receive, through the IoT network, an upgrade to the FOTA update package usable to complete the FOTA update from the portion of the FOTA update that had been completed successfully when the wireless device disconnected from the IoT network; and - [0010] "The primary communication device is further configured to detect that an update to the operating system or firmware of the smart device did not successfully complete, and instruct the smart device to finish the update procedure when conditions required for receiving the update are restored, e.g., when the connection is restored, battery power is restored, etc. In one embodiment, the primary communication device detects that the sending of the update image to the smart device did not complete by determining that the smart device has not communicated with the primary communication device within an expected time period. In another embodiment, a bootloader of the smart device cooperates with the primary communication device or a network device to inform the primary communication device or network device that sending of an update to the smart device did not complete. As a result, the primary communication device or network device can instruct the bootloader of the smart device to finish updating the firmware or operating system. As a result, the smart device enters a recovery mode and recovers the remainder of the update from the primary communication device, thus avoiding failure of the update."
complete performance of the FOTA update from the portion of the FOTA update that had been completed successfully when the wireless device disconnected from the IoT network based on the upgrade to the FOTA update package. - [0010] "As a result, the primary communication device or network device can instruct the bootloader of the smart device to finish updating the firmware or operating system. As a result, the smart device enters a recovery mode and recovers the remainder of the update from the primary communication device, thus avoiding failure of the update." [0024] "In 74, smart device 14 determines that the update image is complete. In 76, smart device 14 sets the image flag to On indicating that the current image stored within firmware/OS memory 22 is valid."
With respect to claim 14, Jepson teaches,
wherein the wireless device is further caused to disconnect from the IoT network in response to a power off of the wireless device or a loss of network coverage. - [0014] "In one embodiment, if there is a failure of the update such as due to a loss of power of smart device 14, smart device 14 may be unable to send an expected communication to primary communication device 12."
With respect to claim 16, Jepson teaches,
A method comprising:
receiving, at a client device and through an internet of things (IoT) network to which the client device is connected, a firmware over-the-air (FOTA) update package; - [0011] "...Primary communication device 12 is configured to wirelessly communicate with each of smart device 14 and network device 16."; [0011] "In particular embodiments, primary communication device 12 is a communication and/or computing device, such as a smartphone, configured to received a firmware and/or operating system (OS) update from network device 16, send the firmware/OS update to smart device 14,"; Fig. 1
performing, at the client device, an FOTA update based on the FOTA update package; - [0021] "If smart device 14 receives an updated firmware/OS image, smart device 14 reboots into a recovery state 44. In recovery state 44, bootloader module 20 of smart device 14 attempts to update firmware/OS memory 22 using the updated firmware/OS image."
disconnecting, at the client device, from the IoT network during performance of the FOTA update; in response to disconnecting from the IoT network, ceasing performance of the FOTA update when only a portion of the FOTA update has been completed successfully; - [0012] "In other embodiments, bootloader 20 of smart device 14 detects a failure and/or interruption of the update of the firmware and/or OS to complete and instructs smart device 14 to send a message to primary communication device 12 indicating that the update did not complete and requesting the portion of the update image needed to complete the update or the entire update image." [0014] "In one embodiment, if there is a failure of the update such as due to a loss of power of smart device 14, smart device 14 may be unable to send an expected communication to primary communication device 12."
reconnecting, at the client device, to the IoT network; in response to reconnecting to the IoT network, receiving, at the client device and through the IoT network, an upgrade to the FOTA update package usable to complete the FOTA update from the portion of the FOTA update that had been completed successfully when the client device disconnected from the IoT network; and - [0010] "The primary communication device is further configured to detect that an update to the operating system or firmware of the smart device did not successfully complete, and instruct the smart device to finish the update procedure when conditions required for receiving the update are restored, e.g., when the connection is restored, battery power is restored, etc. In one embodiment, the primary communication device detects that the sending of the update image to the smart device did not complete by determining that the smart device has not communicated with the primary communication device within an expected time period. In another embodiment, a bootloader of the smart device cooperates with the primary communication device or a network device to inform the primary communication device or network device that sending of an update to the smart device did not complete. As a result, the primary communication device or network device can instruct the bootloader of the smart device to finish updating the firmware or operating system. As a result, the smart device enters a recovery mode and recovers the remainder of the update from the primary communication device, thus avoiding failure of the update."
completing performance, at the client device, of the FOTA update from the portion of the FOTA update that had been completed successfully when the client device disconnected from the IoT network based on the upgrade to the FOTA update package. - [0010] "As a result, the primary communication device or network device can instruct the bootloader of the smart device to finish updating the firmware or operating system. As a result, the smart device enters a recovery mode and recovers the remainder of the update from the primary communication device, thus avoiding failure of the update." [0024] "In 74, smart device 14 determines that the update image is complete. In 76, smart device 14 sets the image flag to On indicating that the current image stored within firmware/OS memory 22 is valid."
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 of this title, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 15 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20170286091 A1 - hereinafter "Jepson" - cited in the IDS dated 7/30/24, in view of WO 2018063260 A1 - hereinafter "Meyer" - cited in the IDS dated 7/30/24.
With respect to claims 15 and 20, Jepson does not explicitly teach,
wherein the FOTA update is a batch update used to update multiple wireless devices simultaneously, the multiple wireless devices including the wireless device.
However, in the analogous field of software updating, Meyer teaches:
[0022] "Some aspects of the subject technology provide a mechanism for doing a firmware/software update over the air via an enhanced mechanism over common channels. In a first operation, a synchronizing of all relevant IoT devices in a cell/network is completed. In a second operation, a common channel is used to push the updates to all the IoT devices simultaneously, while reducing the overall capacity of the cell as little as possible."
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to implement Jepson with Meyer's teachings because doing so would provide Jepson's system with the ability to update IoT devices simultaneously while reducing the overall capacity of a cell as little as possible, as suggested by Meyer [0022].
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The NPL document "Secure Firmware Updates for Constrained IoT Devices using Open Standards: A Reality Check" proposes a tool for enabling IoT firmware updates based on standardized building blocks.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GEOFFREY R ST LEGER whose telephone number is (571)270-7720. The examiner can normally be reached M-F (IFP) ~9:00-5:00 pm.
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/GEOFFREY R ST LEGER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2192
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