DETAILED ACTION
This action is responsive to application filed on August 15th, 2024.
Claims 1~17 are examined.
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
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 08/22/24 and 08/15/24 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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.
Claim 6 recites the limitation "based on the first reply…" which renders the claim vague and indefinite since it appears the claim was written as a conditional statement without a corresponding action when the condition is met.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claim 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter.
The claim(s) does/do not fall within at least one of the four categories of patent eligible subject matter because “a computer-readable storage medium” would not cause the claim to be statutory since variations of the term "medium" are not necessarily considered to limit a media claim to non-transitory embodiments because many disclosures conflate storage media and signals.
Applicants are encouraged to amend the claims to recite “a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium” in order to overcome the rejection.
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, 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 1~11 and 14~17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chin (U.S 2023/0035250) in view of Stanciu et al. hereinafter Stanciu (U.S 2019/0356550).
Regarding Claim 1,
Chin taught a computer-implemented method for configuring a cable network, the method comprising:
(i) connecting a first virtual cabling engine via management connection with a controlling unit of a building [¶75, Fig. 5, BMS 500 include a system manager 502 connected to several zone coordinators 506, 508, 510 and 518 via system bus 554];
(ii) connecting to one or more ports of a second virtual cabling engine one or more cables of one or more devices of a connected site [¶81, Fig. 5, BMS 500 zone controllers 524, 530-532, 536, and 548-550 can communicate with individual BMS devices. Each SA bus can connect a zone controller with various sensors (e.g., temperature, humidity, pressure, light, occupancy sensors, etc.), actuators (e.g., damper, valve, etc.) and/or other types of controllable equipment (e.g., chillers, heaters, fans, pumps, etc.) via sensor/actuator (SA) busses];
(iii) configuring the second virtual cabling engine to communicate over communication network with the first virtual cabling engine [¶81, although only one SA bus 566 is shown in FIG. 5, it should be understood that each zone controller 524, 530-532, 536, and 548-550 can be connected to a different SA bus. Each SA bus can connect a zone controller with various sensors (e.g., temperature, humidity, pressure, light, occupancy sensors, etc.), actuators (e.g., damper, valve, etc.) and/or other types of controllable equipment (e.g., chillers, heaters, fans, pumps, etc.) via sensor/actuator (SA) busses];
(iv) sending from the first virtual cabling engine a first probe message to a first device of the one or more devices in the connected site [¶75, each zone coordinator 506-510 and 518 monitors and commands a separate zoning system and is connected to the zoning system via a separate zone bus; ¶91, networking circuitry 602 of networked controller 600 is configured to broadcast and/or receive a discovery message via on or both communication ports 606, 608];
(v) receiving from the first device, via the second virtual cabling engine a first reply to the first probe message [¶69, FDD layer 416 may receive data inputs from integrated control layer 418, directly from one or more building subsystems or devices]; and
(vi) generating by the first virtual cabling engine based on the first reply a first incident response [¶69, FDD layer 416 may automatically diagnose and respond to detected faults. The responses to detected or diagnosed faults can include providing an alert message to a user].
Anderson, JR. did not specifically teach (iv) sending the first probe message to a first device and (v) receiving from the first device a first reply to the first probe message.
Stanciu taught (iv) sending the first probe message to a first port of the second virtual cabling engine to a first device [¶69, management entity 506 probes the various devices on the device network 502 to accurately reflect the state of the device network 502] and
(v) receiving from the first device a first reply to the first probe message [¶82, management entity 506 may send a message to the device 502-1 attempting to obtain data values from one or more of the connection points 518].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention was made, to combine, Stanciu’s teachings with the teachings of Chin, because the combination would allow the management entity to update information about the device network, and in particular for the probed device, in a data store. This would ensure that the configuration documented in the data store matches the actual configuration of the device to resolve any mismatched configurations [Stanciu: ¶19].
Regarding Claim 2,
Chin-Stanciu taught wherein the method comprises: (vii) analysing the first incident response to find out at least one of: a type, a status, or a configuration of the first device [Stanciu: ¶72, management entity 506 can then make certain assumptions about the device 502-1 and connected sensors 520 based on the values identified by probing connection points connected to sensors 520]. The rationale to combine as discussed in claim 1, applies here as well.
Regarding Claim 3,
Chin-Stanciu taught the method further comprises: (viii) confirming if the first device is of: a first type, has a first status and/or has a first configuration, and if the confirmation is positive, configuring the first virtual cabling engine to route messages between the controlling unit and the first device of the first type or first status or the first configuration via the first port [¶44, paths associated with each node may be automatically computed and saved, which effectively tracks a primary identification for each node of the graph; ¶69~¶72].
Regarding Claim 4,
Chin-Stanciu taught wherein the method comprises: (viii) confirming if the first device is of: a first type, has a first status and/or has a first configuration and if the confirmation is negative, sending the first probe message to another port than previously probed port or ports of the second virtual cabling engine to be forwarded to the first device and repeating method from step (v) forward until the confirmation is positive [¶47, update engine 222 may update the graph with additional nodes, update the graph with less nodes (e.g., deleted nodes), update nodes with new or modified properties, update nodes with new or modified paths; ¶69~¶72]. The rationale to combine as discussed in claim 1, applies here as well.
Regarding Claim 5,
Chin-Stanciu taught wherein the method further comprises: sending from the first virtual cabling engine a second probe message to a second port of the second virtual cabling engine to be forwarded to a second device of the one or more devices in the connected site; receiving from the second device, via the second virtual cabling engine a second reply to the second probe message; generating by the first virtual cabling engine based on the second reply a second incident response; and analysing based on the first incident response and based on the second incident response at least one of: a type, a status, a configuration of the first device and the second device and a compatibility of the first device and the second device with each other [¶73, If the device 502-1 has a temperature sensor, and an assumption is made that the device 502-1 is a temperature controller, an assumption can be made that the device 502-1 further includes a heater in the equipment 524 and a control for the heater in the controls 522. If a heater is activated, the management entity can now safely assume the configuration of the device 502-1]. The rationale to combine as discussed in claim 1, applies here as well.
Regarding Claim 6,
Chin-Stanciu taught wherein based on the first reply if the first reply corresponds to a recognized device signature [¶44, paths associated with each node may be automatically computed and saved, which effectively tracks a primary identification for each node of the graph]. The rationale to combine as discussed in claim 1, applies here as well.
Regarding Claim 7,
Chin-Stanciu taught wherein generating the first incident response comprises remaking routing rules or generating an alert [¶47, update engine 222 may update nodes with new or modified paths]. The rationale to combine as discussed in claim 1, applies here as well.
Regarding Claim 8,
Chin-Stanciu taught wherein sending the first probe message comprises at least one of: sending a heartbeat message, or sending a discovery message [¶91, in response to receiving the discovery message, the networking circuitry 602 can generate a reply packet for transmission via one or both communication ports 606, 608; Stanciu: ¶82, the management entity 506 may send a message to the device 502-1 attempting to obtain data values from one or more of the connection points 518]. The rationale to combine as discussed in claim 1, applies here as well.
Regarding Claim 9,
Chin-Stanciu taught wherein sending the first probe message comprises sending an identification signal, a type detection signal, a configuration signal, or a discovery signal [¶91, in response to receiving the discovery message, the networking circuitry 602 can generate a reply packet for transmission via one or both communication ports 606, 608; Stanciu: ¶82, the management entity 506 may send a message to the device 502-1 attempting to obtain data values from one or more of the connection points 518]. The rationale to combine as discussed in claim 1, applies here as well.
Regarding Claim 10,
Chin-Stanciu taught wherein sending the first probe message comprises sending a device type test message, a device connection test message, or a device functionality test message [¶91, in response to receiving the discovery message, the networking circuitry 602 can generate a reply packet for transmission via one or both communication ports 606, 608; Stanciu: ¶82, the management entity 506 may send a message to the device 502-1 attempting to obtain data values from one or more of the connection points 518]. The rationale to combine as discussed in claim 1, applies here as well.
Regarding Claim 11,
Chin taught wherein the method further comprises measuring an environmental parameter of a first room of the connected site with a measurement device [¶81, to control a variable state or condition (e.g., temperature, humidity, airflow, lighting, etc.) in or around building 10 by zone controllers 524, 530-532, 536, and 548-550].
Regarding Claim 14,
Chin-Stanciu taught wherein the method further comprises forming a database of query-response pairs of probe messages and respective reply messages, and database of incident responses and incident response triggering rules based on the query-response pairs [¶51, data store 271 that is configured to organize, store, and allow access to received sensor data]. The rationale to combine as discussed in claim 1, applies here as well.
Regarding Claims 15~17, the claims are similar in scope to claim 1 and therefore, rejected under the same rationale.
Claims 12 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chin and Stanciu in view of Anderson, JR. et al. hereinafter Anderson, JR. (U.S 2016/0065601).
Regarding Claim 12,
Chin-Stanciu-Anderson, JR. taught wherein the method further comprises sending a query message to at least one device in the first room and comparing a reply to the query message with the measured environmental parameter of the first room and use the comparison to verify if the at least one device is in the first room or not [¶28, devices 116-120 may be associated with one or more objects 116a-n, 118a-n, or 120a-n. Objects 116a-n, 118a-n, or 120a-n may have properties that are based on a data point of a device in the devices 116-120; ¶29, the database 124 includes hierarchy definitions that identify relationships between objects 116a-n, 118a-n, and 120a-n in the system. For example, a hierarchy may include a folder for “floor” in a building with multiple child folders in the form of “rooms”. Each “room” folder, in turn, may have several child objects, such as “ventilation damper”, “smoke detector”, and “temperature sensor”. ““Data point” may be (i) any physical input or output to or from a respective controller, field device, sensor or actuator].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention was made, to combine, Anderson, JR.’s teachings with the teachings of Chin and Stanciu, because the combination would allow systems and devices located throughout one or more buildings to be managed, monitored, and controlled from a single point and in a uniform manner. [Anderson, JR.: ¶26].
Regarding Claim 13,
Chin-Stanciu-Anderson, JR. taught wherein the method further comprises sending a control message to at least one device in the first room and comparing the measured environmental parameter with effect associated to the control message and to verify if the at least one device is in the first room or not [¶28; ¶29]. The rationale to combine as discussed in claim 12, applies here as well.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HEE SOO KIM whose telephone number is (571)270-3229. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9AM-5PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Nicholas Taylor can be reached on (571) 272-3889. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/HEE SOO KIM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2443