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 .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(5) because they do not include the following reference sign(s) mentioned in the description: 102A-102N, pg. 8, line 2. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li, Wang, Lian (CN 106979169 A, attached as PDF) hereinafter known as Li.
Regarding independent claim 1, Li teaches:
A method for controlling a fan of a data processing system comprising: controlling, using a fan ramp speed controller of the data processing system, the fan to ramp fan speed based on a change in a system temperature of the data processing system. (Li: ¶[0017]-[0020]; Li teaches a fan speed control method and device that operates the fan in a low-noise manner based on temperature measurements of the system.)
Li does not explicitly teach, but another embodiment of Li teaches:
Using an asymmetric fan ramp speed controller of the data processing system, then fan to ramp fan speed asymmetrically. (Li: ¶[0181]-[0184]; Li teaches their noise reduction management utilizing a buffer zone for the internal fan speed increase, preventing the internal fan from directly increasing the rotational speed linearly to full speed. This would result in an asymmetric fan ramp speed curve if plotted out.)
Li is in the same field of endeavor as the present invention, as it is directed to controlling the cooling system of a data processing system. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified Li with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of improving the user experience by controlling fan speeds (Li: ¶[0035).
Regarding claim 2, Li teaches the method of claim 1.
Li further teaches:
Based on the change in the system temperature, the fan is controlled to ramp up at a first ramp speed slower than a second ramp speed at which the fan is controlled to ramp down. (Li: ¶[0020]-[0021]; Li teaches that a first speed lower than a second speed which is lower than the full speed of the fan.)
Regarding claim 3, Li teaches the method of claim 2.
Li further teaches:
obtaining, by the asymmetric fan ramp speed controller, a first instance of the system temperature at a first point in time; using the first instance of the system temperature to determine: a target fan speed, and an original fan ramp rate to get to the target fan speed from a current fan speed; and determining whether the first instance of the system temperature has increased since a last time, prior to the first point in time, the asymmetric fan ramp speed controller has obtained another instance of the system temperature. (Li: ¶[0020]-[0025]; Li teaches a first through sixth fan speed and a first through sixth temperature, which can be used set an original fan speed, current fan speed, and target fan speed based upon the change in temperatures.)
Regarding claim 4, Li teaches the method of claim 3.
Li further teaches:
wherein the controlling further comprises in a first instance at the first point in time where the asymmetric fan ramp speed controller has determined that the first instance of the system temperature has increased: making a first determination, based on determining that the first instance of the system temperature has increased, that the original fan ramp rate should be slowed down; and controlling, based on the first determination, the fan to reach the target fan speed at a slowed down rate of the original fan ramp rate. (Li: ¶[0023]-[0025]; Li teaches that upon the cabinet temperature increasing from a fourth threshold to a fifth threshold not lower than the fourth, that the speed can decrease from a fourth speed to a sixth speed not higher than the fourth speed.)
Regarding claim 5, Li teaches the method of claim 4.
Li does not explicitly teach, but another embodiment of Li teaches:
wherein the controlling further comprises in a second instance at the first point in time where the asymmetric fan ramp speed controller has determined that the first instance of the system temperature has neither increased nor decreased: making a second determination, based on determining that the first instance of the system temperature has neither increased nor decreased, that the original fan ramp rate should remain unchanged; and controlling, based on the second determination, the fan to reach the target fan speed at the original fan ramp rate. (Li: ¶[0167]-[0169]; Li teaches that to achieve a quiet operation a fourth speed and fifth speed can be set to the same, to allow a larger temperature difference between the inside and outside of the cabinet and keep the system noise low.)
Regarding claim 6, Li teaches the method of claim 5.
Li further teaches:
wherein the controlling further comprises in a third instance at the first point in time where the asymmetric fan ramp speed controller has determined that the first instance of the system temperature has decreased: making a third determination, based on determining that the first instance of the system temperature has decreased, that the original fan ramp rate should be sped-up; and controlling, based on the third determination, the fan to reach the target fan speed at a sped-up rate of the original fan ramp rate. (Li: ¶[0177]-[0180]; Li teaches that when the temperature is rising from a first temperature threshold to a second temperature threshold not lower than the first, the first speed will linearly increase from the first speed to the second speed, not lower than the first.)
Regarding claim 7, Li teaches the method of claim 2.
Li further teaches:
controlling the fan to ramp up at the first ramp speed slower than the second ramp speed at which the fan is controlled to ramp down reduces an acoustic discomfort experienced by a user of the data processing system when the data processing system heats up. (Li: ¶[0035]; Li teaches reducing the fan speed of the heat exchange system, the noise generated by the fan rotation is reduced, further improving the user experience.)
Claims 8-14 recite a device (Li: ¶[0237]) capable of performing the methods of claims 1-7; therefore, the same rationale for rejection applies.
Claims 15-20 recite a data processing system (Li: ¶[0238]) capable of performing the methods of claims 1-7; therefore, the same rationale for rejection applies.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Rohena et al. (US Patent Application No. 2020/0033921 A1) teaches a thermal management system for an electronic device to dynamically or actively cool components of the device.
Chen et al. (US Patent Application No. 2014/0054024 A1) teaches a control method for a smart fan utilizing a sensed temperature value and a current speed value of the smart fan. The smart fan is controlled according to a control curve.
Nitta et al. (US Patent Application No. 2013/0131886 A1) teaches a blower control device that controls the blower based on load noise characteristics.
Inoue et al. (US Patent No. 7571617 B2) teaches a fan control apparatus and method that controls a fan based on temperatures detected by a temperature sensor.
Ott et al. (US Patent No. 5926386) teaches a cooling fan speed controller where the cooling fans’ speed are ramped up or down based on sensed temperature when set to AUTO mode.
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/A.M.B./Examiner, Art Unit 2118
/SCOTT T BADERMAN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2118
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