Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
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.
Claim(s) 1-9 and 11-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sagar(US 2014/0365787).
Regarding claim 1, Sagar discloses a power management method, applicable to an electronic device, wherein the electronic device comprises a processor(Paragraph 5, processor), and comprises an operating system installed therein, the operating system is configured with a first working mode and a second working mode(Paragraph 1, an operating system of a computing device may have one or more hardcoded power consumption plans, i.e. first and second working modes, based upon a determination as to whether the computing device is operating on a battery or is plugged into a power outlet), and the power management method comprises: enable a dynamic power adjustment mode, wherein the dynamic power adjustment mode is configured with a plurality of usage scenarios with different power consumption settings(Paragraph 4, scenario evaluation may be performed for the computing environment. The scenario evaluation may comprise evaluating status information provided by one or more activity components of the computing environment to determine whether the status information satisfies a scenario definition for a scenario. For example, one or more scenarios (e.g., a video playback scenario, a full screen video playback scenario, a video batching scenario, a low power consumption connected standby state scenario, a monitor off scenario, etc.) may be defined based upon activation, deactivation, and/or some other (e.g., more granular) state, such as an activate low power state of activity components and/or activity component states); monitoring a state of the processor to generate state data and notifying the operating system to operate in the second working mode(Paragraph 4, scenario evaluation may be performed for the computing environment. The scenario evaluation may comprise evaluating status information provided by one or more activity components of the computing environment to determine whether the status information satisfies a scenario definition for a scenario); and selecting one of the plurality of usage scenarios based on the state data, and managing power consumption of the electronic device based on the power consumption setting corresponding to the selected usage scenario(Paragraph 5, a proposed power policy assigned to the scenario may be identified. The proposed power policy may specify a variety of power settings, such as processor performance settings (e.g., decreased CPU clock speed for power conservation, increased processor throttling for improved performance, etc.), graphics processing unit performance settings, display settings (e.g., a screen brightness), a hardware throttling setting, a network connectivity setting (e.g., disable network adapter for power conservation), and/or a plethora of other settings (e.g., settings that may be implemented by a kernel power manger, an operating system, hardware, software, an application, a driver, etc.). In this way, the proposed power policy may be dynamically applied to the computing environment as a current power policy).
Sagar does not specifically teach power consumption corresponding to the second working mode is less than power consumption corresponding to the first working mode and receiving an enabling instruction that causes the monitoring and notifying, wherein after the step of receiving the enabling instruction, the method further comprises: determining whether the electronic device is in a direct current (DC) mode, and notifying the operating system to operate in the second working mode when the electronic device is in the DC mode. However, Sagar discloses, in Paragraph 1, one or more hardcoded power consumption plans that may adjust screen brightness, place a hard drive into a sleep state, etc. based upon a user selection of a power consumption plan(i.e. enabling instruction to switch working mode) and/or based upon a determination as to whether the computing device is operating on a battery or is plugged into a power outlet. It is well known in the art to conserve power when on battery power since it’s a limited power whereas plugged in can optimize performance).
Thus, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art have power consumption corresponding to the second working mode is less than power consumption corresponding to the first working mode and an enabling instruction that causes the monitoring and notifying, wherein after the step of receiving the enabling instruction, the method further comprises: determining whether the electronic device is in a direct current (DC) mode, and notifying the operating system to operate in the second working mode when the electronic device is in the DC mode. The motivation would be to have modes that optimize performance and power usage depending on power status and/or user selection.
Regarding claim 2, Sagar discloses power management method according to claim 1, wherein the electronic device is a portable electronic device(Paragraph 3, a tablet device, a mobile device, a laptop).
Regarding claim 3, Sagar discloses power management method according to claim 1, wherein the first working mode is an efficiency mode, and the second working mode is a balance mode(Paragraph 1, an operating system of a computing device may have one or more hardcoded power consumption plans based upon a determination as to whether the computing device is operating on a battery(i.e. balance mode) or is plugged into a power outlet(i.e. efficiency mode)).
Regarding claim 4, Sagar discloses power management method according to claim 1, wherein the processor is a central processing unit (CPU)(Paragraph 5, CPU).
Regarding claim 5, Sagar discloses power management method according to claim 4, wherein the state data comprises a frequency, a temperature, and power consumption(Paragraphs 20, 28, a variety of other status information provided by activity components may be evaluated. It may be appreciated that status information provided by an activity component, may specify various states, such as activated, deactivated, activated-low power, a integer value, and/or a variety of other states. It would have been obvious to have frequency, temperature and power consumption statuses, as these components all have an impact on performance/power saving).
Regarding claim 6, Sagar discloses power management method according to claim 1, wherein the processor is a graphics processing unit (GPU)(Paragraph 3, a graphics subsystem, a video renderer).
Regarding claim 7, Sagar discloses power management method according to claim 6, wherein the state data comprises a frequency, a temperature, power consumption, and an enabling state(Paragraphs 20, 28, a variety of other status information provided by activity components may be evaluated. It may be appreciated that status information provided by an activity component, may specify various states, such as activated, deactivated, activated-low power, a integer value, and/or a variety of other states. It would have been obvious to have frequency, temperature and power consumption statuses, as these components all have an impact on as these components all have an impact on performance/power saving).
Regarding claim 8, Sagar discloses power management method according to claim 7, wherein the plurality of usage scenarios comprises a document processing usage scenario, and a power supply setting corresponding to the GPU is set to no power supply in the document processing usage scenario(Paragraph 4, The scenario evaluation may comprise evaluating status information provided by one or more activity components of the computing environment to determine whether the status information satisfies a scenario definition for a scenario. For example, one or more scenarios (e.g., a video playback scenario, a full screen video playback scenario, a video batching scenario, a low power consumption connected standby state scenario, a monitor off scenario, etc.) may be defined based upon activation, deactivation, and/or some other (e.g., more granular) state, such as an activate low power state of activity components and/or activity component states. For example, a scenario definition for an audio playback scenario (e.g., an audio, but not video, playback such as an internet radio) may specify that audio playback is to be activated, video playback is to be deactivated).
Regarding claim 9, Sagar discloses power management method according to claim 8, wherein when the state data indicates that the GPU is not enabled, the document processing usage scenario is selected to manage power consumption of the electronic device(Paragraph 4, The scenario evaluation may comprise evaluating status information provided by one or more activity components of the computing environment to determine whether the status information satisfies a scenario definition for a scenario. For example, one or more scenarios (e.g., a video playback scenario, a full screen video playback scenario, a video batching scenario, a low power consumption connected standby state scenario, a monitor off scenario, etc.) may be defined based upon activation, deactivation, and/or some other (e.g., more granular) state, such as an activate low power state of activity components and/or activity component states. For example, a scenario definition for an audio playback scenario (e.g., an audio, but not video, playback such as an internet radio) may specify that audio playback is to be activated, video playback is to be deactivated).
Regarding claim 11, Sagar discloses power management device, applicable to an electronic device, wherein the electronic device comprises a processor(Paragraph 5, processor), and comprises an operating system installed therein, the operating system is configured with a first working mode and a second working mode(Paragraph 1, an operating system of a computing device may have one or more hardcoded power consumption plans based upon a determination as to whether the computing device is operating on a battery(i.e. second working mode) or is plugged into a power outlet(i.e. first working mode), and the power management device comprises: a setting unit, configured with a plurality of usage scenarios with different power consumption settings(Paragraph 4, scenario evaluation may be performed for the computing environment. The scenario evaluation may comprise evaluating status information provided by one or more activity components of the computing environment to determine whether the status information satisfies a scenario definition for a scenario. For example, one or more scenarios (e.g., a video playback scenario, a full screen video playback scenario, a video batching scenario, a low power consumption connected standby state scenario, a monitor off scenario, etc.) may be defined based upon activation, deactivation, and/or some other (e.g., more granular) state, such as an activate low power state of activity components and/or activity component states); and a control unit, configured to: monitor a state of the processor to generate state data and notify the operating system to operate in the second working mode(Paragraph 4, scenario evaluation may be performed for the computing environment. The scenario evaluation may comprise evaluating status information provided by one or more activity components of the computing environment to determine whether the status information satisfies a scenario definition for a scenario); and select one of the plurality of usage scenarios based on the state data, and manage power consumption of the electronic device based on the power consumption setting corresponding to the selected usage scenario(Paragraph 5, a proposed power policy assigned to the scenario may be identified. The proposed power policy may specify a variety of power settings, such as processor performance settings (e.g., decreased CPU clock speed for power conservation, increased processor throttling for improved performance, etc.), graphics processing unit performance settings, display settings (e.g., a screen brightness), a hardware throttling setting, a network connectivity setting (e.g., disable network adapter for power conservation), and/or a plethora of other settings (e.g., settings that may be implemented by a kernel power manger, an operating system, hardware, software, an application, a driver, etc.). In this way, the proposed power policy may be dynamically applied to the computing environment as a current power policy).
Sagar does not specifically teach power consumption corresponding to the second working mode is less than power consumption corresponding to the first working mode and receiving an enabling instruction that causes the monitoring and notifying. However, Sagar discloses, in Paragraph 1, one or more hardcoded power consumption plans that may adjust screen brightness, place a hard drive into a sleep state, etc. based upon a user selection of a power consumption plan(i.e. enabling instruction to switch working mode) and/or based upon a determination as to whether the computing device is operating on a battery or is plugged into a power outlet(i.e., conserve power when on battery power since it’s a limited power whereas plugged in can optimize performance). Thus, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art have power consumption corresponding to the second working mode is less than power consumption corresponding to the first working mode and an enabling instruction that causes the monitoring and notifying. The motivation would be to have modes that optimize performance and power usage depending on power status and/or user selection.
Regarding claim 12, Sagar discloses power management device according to claim 11, wherein the electronic device comprises a user interface, and the control unit is configured to receive the enabling instruction through the user interface(Paragraph 1, user selection of plan).
Regarding claim 13, Sagar discloses power management device according to claim 11, wherein the setting unit is a basic input/output system (BIOS)(Paragraph 19, a power policy may be defined based upon a policy definition specified by an operating system, discovered at boot time. BIOS is well known in the art used to provide runtime services for operating systems and to perform hardware initialization during the booting process) and would have been obvious to use the BIOS as the setting unit since BIOS are already used in all computers).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's filed arguments have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues that Sagar does not disclose after the step of receiving the enabling instruction, the method further comprises: determining whether the electronic device is in a direct current (DC) mode, and notifying the operating system to operate in the second working mode when the electronic device is in the DC mode. Examiner respectfully disagrees. As is well known in the art, a computer working on battery power, i.e. the claimed DC mode, has limited time. To extend the computer runtime on battery power, it is well known in the art to lower power consumption. Sagar, in paragraph 1, discloses an operating system of a computing device may have one or more hardcoded power consumption plans that may adjust screen brightness, place a hard drive into a sleep state, etc. based upon a user selection of a power consumption plan and/or based upon a determination as to whether the computing device is operating on a battery or is plugged into a power outlet. Sagar establishes power consumption plans, i.e. working modes, and determining whether the computer is operating on battery, i.e. the claimed DC mode and it is known to use lower power consumption when in DC mode. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have after the step of receiving the enabling instruction, the method further comprises: determining whether the electronic device is in a direct current (DC) mode, and notifying the operating system to operate in the second working mode when the electronic device is in the DC mode. The motivation to do so would be to use a lower power consumption to extend runtime when using battery power, i.e. the claimed DC mode.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/NIMESH G PATEL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2187
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