DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application is being examined under the pre-AIA first to invent provisions. Claims 1-20 are pending.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
(a) A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a), the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned at the time any inventions covered therein were made absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and invention dates of each claim that was not commonly owned at the time a later invention was made in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(c) and potential pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102(e), (f) or (g) prior art under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a).
Claims 1-2, 5-6, 8, 13-14 are rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Kesselman et al. (US# 2009/0232105 hereinafter referred to as Kesselman) in view of Laroia et al. (US# 2005/0085214 hereinafter referred to as Laroia).
RE Claim 1, Kesselman discloses a method comprising:
receiving, by a first node, a first transmission in a first channel during a first time slot of a first frame in accordance with a wireless communication protocol (See Kesselman FIGs 4&5; [0029]-[0030] – i.e. D->E (E receiving from D in timeslot 418)); and
transmitting, by the first node, a second transmission in the first channel during the first time slot of the first frame (See Kesselman FIGs 4&5; [0029]-[0030] – i.e. E->D (E also transmitting to D in timeslot 418)).
Kesselman does not specifically disclose the first and second transmissions being beacons.
However, Laroia teaches of multiple first and second transmissions in various parts of a superframe being beacons (See Laroia FIG 2; Summary; [0065] – multiple beacons in various portions of the superframe).
It would have been obvious to one or ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to implement the wireless transmission and reception system, as disclosed in Kesselman, to communicate beacons, as taught in Laroia. One is motivated as such in order to more quickly and efficiently search and find carrier frequency/frequencies for communication (See Laroia Background; Summary).
RE Claim 2, Kesselman, modified by Laroia, discloses a method, as set forth in claim 1 above, wherein a number of time slots in the first frame is an integer multiple of a length of a channel hopping list, the method further comprising determining the first channel based on the channel hopping list (See Laroia FIG 2; Background; Summary; [0065] – configuring number of slots/ultraslot; length of ultraslot is variable/configurable and in the example in FIG 2, length of ultraslot is 20; depending on the interpretation of what the channel hopping list is, the ultraslot length is still an integer multiple of the channel hopping list; i.e. if the length of the channel hopping list is the total number of channels available (10 – all available channels for beacon) (20 is multiple of 10), if the length of the channel hopping list is the total number of channels used for beacons (5 – only the channels that are used by beacons) (20 is multiple of 5), if the length of the channel hopping list is the total number of channels used for beacons that hop (4 – only cell ID/sector beacons that hop in this example, although carrier beacon can be implemented as non-fixed as well [0015]) (20 is multiple of 4), if the length of the channel hopping list is the total hops one beacon makes in a slot frame (2 – i.e. sector beacon tone occurs twice in one ultraslot on two different channel slots)(20 is multiple of 2)).
RE Claim 5, Kesselman, modified by Laroia, discloses a method, as set forth in claim 2 above, further comprising defining the channel hopping sequence (See Laroia FIG 2; [0065] – defining channel hopping sequence that is followed by network devices).
RE Claim 6¸ Kesselman, modified by Laroia, discloses a method, as set forth in claim 5 above, wherein defining the channel hopping sequence comprises defining the channel hopping sequence by a second node, and wherein receiving the first beacon comprises receiving, by the first node, the first beacon from the second node (See Laroia FIG 2; Background; Summary; [0065] – BS configuring channel hopping sequence and sending beacon).
RE Claim 8¸ Kesselman, modified by Laroia, discloses a method, as set forth in claim 6 above, wherein the second node transmits multiple beacons per slot (See Kesselman FIGs 4-5; [0029]-[0030] – i.e. timeslot 414).
RE Claim 13, Kesselman discloses a wireless device comprising:
a wireless transceiver (See Kesselman FIG 1); and
a controller (See Kesselman FIG 1) configured to:
receive, via the wireless transceiver, a first transmission in a first channel during a first time slot of a first frame in accordance with a wireless communication protocol (See Kesselman FIGs 4&5; [0029]-[0030] – i.e. D->E (E receiving from D in timeslot 418)); and
transmit, via the wireless transceiver, a second transmission in the first channel during the first time slot of the first frame (See Kesselman FIGs 4&5; [0029]-[0030] – i.e. E->D (E also transmitting to D in timeslot 418)).
Kesselman does not specifically disclose the first and second transmissions being beacons.
However, Laroia teaches of multiple first and second transmissions in various parts of a superframe being beacons (See Laroia FIG 2; Summary; [0065] – multiple beacons in various portions of the superframe).
It would have been obvious to one or ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to implement the wireless transmission and reception system, as disclosed in Kesselman, to communicate beacons, as taught in Laroia. One is motivated as such in order to more quickly and efficiently search and find carrier frequency/frequencies for communication (See Laroia Background; Summary).
RE Claim 14, Kesselman, modified by Laroia, discloses a wireless device, as set forth in claim 13 above, wherein a number of time slots in the first frame is an integer multiple of a length of a channel hopping list, and wherein the controller is configured to determine the first channel based on the channel hopping list (See Laroia FIG 2; Background; Summary; [0065] – configuring number of slots/ultraslot; length of ultraslot is variable/configurable and in the example in FIG 2, length of ultraslot is 20; depending on the interpretation of what the channel hopping list is, the ultraslot length is still an integer multiple of the channel hopping list; i.e. if the length of the channel hopping list is the total number of channels available (10 – all available channels for beacon) (20 is multiple of 10), if the length of the channel hopping list is the total number of channels used for beacons (5 – only the channels that are used by beacons) (20 is multiple of 5), if the length of the channel hopping list is the total number of channels used for beacons that hop (4 – only cell ID/sector beacons that hop in this example, although carrier beacon can be implemented as non-fixed as well [0015]) (20 is multiple of 4), if the length of the channel hopping list is the total hops one beacon makes in a slot frame (2 – i.e. sector beacon tone occurs twice in one ultraslot on two different channel slots)(20 is multiple of 2)).
Claims 3-4, 11-12, 15-16, 19 are rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Kesselman et al. (US# 2009/0232105 hereinafter referred to as Kesselman) in view of Laroia et al. (US# 2005/0085214 hereinafter referred to as Laroia) and Monier (US# 2008/0069118).
RE Claim 3¸ Kesselman, modified by Laroia, discloses a method, as set forth in claim 2 above. Kesselman, modified by Laroia, does not specifically disclose wherein the length of the channel hopping list is greater than a number of channels of the wireless communication protocol.
However, Monier teaches of wherein the length of the channel hopping list is greater than a number of channels of the wireless communication protocol (See Monier FIG 13; [0304], [0307], [0440]-[0445] – hyperframe length is integer multiple of basic hopping sequence length (i.e. M x N)).
It would have been obvious to one or ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to implement the wireless transmission and reception system, as disclosed in Kesselman, modified by Laroia, wherein the length of the channel hopping list is greater than a number of channels of the wireless communication protocol, as taught in Monier. One is motivated as such in order to improve interfacing and communication with various wireless devices (See Monier Background; Summary).
RE Claim 4¸ Kesselman, modified by Laroia and Monier, discloses a method, as set forth in claim 3 above, wherein the number of channels of the wireless communication protocol is equal to 16 (See Monier [0445] – i.e. K = 16).
RE Claim 11¸ Kesselman, modified by Laroia, discloses a method, as set forth in claim 1 above. Kesselman, modified by Laroia, does not specifically disclose wherein transmitting the second beacon comprises transmitting the second beacon in a sub-gigahertz band.
However, Monier teaches of wherein transmitting the second beacon comprises transmitting the second beacon in a sub-gigahertz band (See Monier [0200], [0202] – i.e. 902-928 MHz, 868 MHz, etc…).
It would have been obvious to one or ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to implement the wireless transmission and reception system, as disclosed in Kesselman, modified by Laroia, wherein transmitting the second beacon comprises transmitting the second beacon in a sub-gigahertz band, as taught in Monier. One is motivated as such in order to improve interfacing and communication with various wireless devices (See Monier Background; Summary).
RE Claim 12¸ Kesselman, modified by Laroia, discloses a method, as set forth in claim 1 above. Kesselman, modified by Laroia, does not specifically disclose wherein transmitting the second beacon comprises transmitting the second beacon in a in a 2.4 GHz Industrial Scientific and Medical (ISM) band.
However, Monier teaches of wherein transmitting the second beacon comprises transmitting the second beacon in a in a 2.4 GHz Industrial Scientific and Medical (ISM) band (See Monier [0201] – 2.4 GHz ISM band).
It would have been obvious to one or ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to implement the wireless transmission and reception system, as disclosed in Kesselman, modified by Laroia, wherein transmitting the second beacon comprises transmitting the second beacon in a in a 2.4 GHz Industrial Scientific and Medical (ISM) band, as taught in Monier. One is motivated as such in order to improve interfacing and communication with various wireless devices (See Monier Background; Summary).
RE Claim 15¸ Kesselman, modified by Laroia, discloses a wireless device, as set forth in claim 14 above. Kesselman, modified by Laroia, does not specifically disclose wherein the length of the channel hopping list is greater than a number of channels of the wireless communication protocol.
However, Monier teaches of wherein the length of the channel hopping list is greater than a number of channels of the wireless communication protocol (See Monier FIG 13; [0304], [0307], [0440]-[0445] – hyperframe length is integer multiple of basic hopping sequence length (i.e. M x N)).
It would have been obvious to one or ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to implement the wireless transmission and reception system, as disclosed in Kesselman, modified by Laroia, wherein the length of the channel hopping list is greater than a number of channels of the wireless communication protocol, as taught in Monier. One is motivated as such in order to improve interfacing and communication with various wireless devices (See Monier Background; Summary).
RE Claim 16¸ Kesselman, modified by Laroia, discloses a wireless device, as set forth in claim 13 above. Kesselman, modified by Laroia, does not specifically disclose wherein the number of channels of the wireless communication protocol is equal to 16.
However, Monier teaches of wherein the number of channels of the wireless communication protocol is equal to 16 (See Monier [0445] – i.e. K = 16).
It would have been obvious to one or ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to implement the wireless transmission and reception system, as disclosed in Kesselman, modified by Laroia, wherein the number of channels of the wireless communication protocol is equal to 16, as taught in Monier. One is motivated as such in order to improve interfacing and communication with various wireless devices (See Monier Background; Summary).
RE Claim 19¸ Kesselman, modified by Laroia, discloses a wireless device, as set forth in claim 13 above. Kesselman, modified by Laroia, does not specifically disclose wherein transmitting the second beacon comprises transmitting the second beacon in a sub-gigahertz band or a 2.4 GHz Industrial Scientific and Medical (ISM) band.
However, Monier teaches of wherein transmitting the second beacon comprises transmitting the second beacon in a sub-gigahertz band (See Monier [0200], [0202] – i.e. 902-928 MHz, 868 MHz, etc…) or in a 2.4 GHz Industrial Scientific and Medical (ISM) band (See Monier [0201] – 2.4 GHz ISM band).
It would have been obvious to one or ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to implement the wireless transmission and reception system, as disclosed in Kesselman, modified by Laroia, wherein transmitting the second beacon comprises transmitting the second beacon in a sub-gigahertz band or a 2.4 GHz Industrial Scientific and Medical (ISM) band, as taught in Monier. One is motivated as such in order to improve interfacing and communication with various wireless devices (See Monier Background; Summary).
Claim 7 is rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Kesselman et al. (US# 2009/0232105 hereinafter referred to as Kesselman) in view of Laroia et al. (US# 2005/0085214 hereinafter referred to as Laroia) and Fleming (US# 2006/0140215).
RE Claim 7¸ Kesselman, modified by Laroia, discloses a method, as set forth in claim 6 above, wherein the second node is a network coordinator (See Laroia FIG 2; Summary; [0065] – BS).
Kesselman, modified by Laroia, does not specifically disclose wherein the first node is an intermediate node.
However, Fleming teaches of wherein the first node is an intermediate node (See Fleming FIG 5; [0022] – intermediate node).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to implement the wireless beacon network which sets the number of timeslots
in the slot frame to be an integer multiple of the length of the channel hopping list, as
disclosed in Kesselman, modified by Laroia, further comprising wherein the first node is an intermediate node, as taught in Fleming. One is motivated as such in order to reduce power consumption and overhead by maximizing timeslot usage and reducing unused timeslots as devices in the network increase/decrease (See Fleming [0022]).
Claims 9, 17 are rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Kesselman et al. (US# 2009/0232105 hereinafter referred to as Kesselman) in view of Laroia et al. (US# 2005/0085214 hereinafter referred to as Laroia) and Jeong (US# 2010/0111050).
RE Claim 9¸ Kesselman, modified by Laroia, discloses a method, as set forth in claim 1 above.
Kesselman, modified by Laroia, does not specifically disclose wherein the wireless communication protocol is based on an IEEE 802.15.4 protocol.
However, Jeong teaches of wherein the wireless communication protocol is based on an IEEE 802.15.4 protocol (See Jeong [0007] – using IEEE 802.15.4 protocol).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to implement the wireless beacon network, as disclosed in Kesselman, modified by Laroia, wherein the wireless communication protocol is based on an IEEE 802.15.4 protocol, as taught in Jeong. One is motivated as such in order to help implement a system that reduces channel interference (See Jeong Background; Summary).
RE Claim 17¸ Kesselman, modified by Laroia, discloses a wireless device, as set forth in claim 13 above.
Kesselman, modified by Laroia, does not specifically disclose wherein the wireless communication protocol is based on an IEEE 802.15.4 protocol.
However, Jeong teaches of wherein the wireless communication protocol is based on an IEEE 802.15.4 protocol (See Jeong [0007] – using IEEE 802.15.4 protocol).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to implement the wireless beacon network, as disclosed in Kesselman, modified by Laroia, wherein the wireless communication protocol is based on an IEEE 802.15.4 protocol, as taught in Jeong. One is motivated as such in order to help implement a system that reduces channel interference (See Jeong Background; Summary).
Claim 20 is rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Kesselman et al. (US# 2009/0232105 hereinafter referred to as Kesselman) in view of Laroia et al. (US# 2005/0085214 hereinafter referred to as Laroia) and Kim (US# 2009/0016314).
RE Claim 20¸ Kesselman, modified by Laroia, discloses a wireless device, as set forth in claim 13 above, wherein the controller is configured to receive the first beacon from a network coordinator (See Laroia FIG 2; Summary; [0065] – BS).
Kesselman, modified by Laroia, does not specifically disclose wherein the controller is configured to transmit the second beacon to a sensor.
However, Kim teaches of wherein the controller is configured to transmit the second beacon to a sensor (See Kim [0009], [0013], [0024] – defining slots for beacon transmission/reception in a wireless sensor network).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to implement the wireless beacon network, as disclosed in Kesselman, modified by Laroia, wherein the controller is configured to transmit the second beacon to a sensor, as taught in Kim. One is motivated as such in order to improve network efficiency and reduce network collisions and power consumption (See Kim Background; Summary).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 10 and 18 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Steve R Young whose telephone number is (571)270-7518. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am-5pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Chirag G Shah can be reached at (571) 272-3144. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/STEVE R YOUNG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2477
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