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 .
Amendment filed 7/29/2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 21, 23, 24, 26, 32, 35-38, and 40 have been amended.
Claims 1-20 have been previously cancelled.
Claims 21-40 remain pending.
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 21, 26-32, and 37 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hui et al. (US20210385771A1), hereafter Hui.
Regarding claims 21 and 37,
Hui discloses a device (Fig. 4, parent device; Fig. 7-8) comprising a transceiver (Fig. 8, I/O interfaces 808) and processing circuitry (Fig. 8, processing system 810) coupled to the transceiver, configured to perform a method to cause the transceiver to transmit a wake-up signal (Fig. 4, 410; paragraph 57-58) to an end device (Fig. 4, End Device 304) to the end device to exit a low power state (paragraphs 47, 87, 101), establish a connection with the end device using the transceiver (Fig. 4, 425; paragraph 59-60), and perform coordinated sampled listening with the end device using the transceiver (paragraph 53-60; CSL after synchronized reception is established).
Regarding claim 32,
Hui discloses a non-transitory computer-readable medium (Fig. 8, computer-readable storage memory 812) storing instructions (paragraph 110) that, when executed by processing circuitry (Fig. 8, processing system 810) of an electronic device (Fig. 4, parent device 302), cause the processing circuitry to transmit, using a transceiver (Fig. 8, I/O interfaces 808), a wake-up signal (Fig. 4, 410; paragraph 57-58) to an end device (Fig. 4, End Device 304) to the end device to exit a low power state (paragraphs 47, 87, 101) and to establish, using the transceiver, a connection with the end device (Fig. 4, 425; paragraph 59-60) and perform, using the transceiver, coordinated sampled listening with the end device (paragraph 53-60; CSL performed after synchronized reception is established).
Regarding claims 26-31,
Hui discloses the end device, such as a router (Fig. 1, router-eligible end device 104) of a Thread network (paragraph 90) or sleepy end device (paragraph 3, 41-47; sleeping mesh network devices) is communicatively coupled to the electronic device via an IEEE 802.15.4 wireless mesh network (paragraph 39, 53, 105).
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 22-25, 33-36, and 38-40 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hui in view of Hanley et al. (US20180132182A1), hereafter Hanley.
Regarding claims 22-24, 33 35, 36, and 38-40,
Hui discloses periodically activating a window of time for communications between parent device and end device (paragraph 9, 19, 53-56; Fig. 3a, receive window 322) but does not expressly show transmitting an indication of a first plurality of time slots and a second plurality of time slots to the end device, to enter the low power state during one or more times outside of the first plurality of time slots and the second plurality of time slots, or to exit the low power state to transmit or receive wireless signals during the first plurality of time slots or the second plurality of time slots based on receiving the wake-up signal.
Hanley discloses analogous art (Title: Optimization of Broadcast Messaging for Low-Energy Devices Communicating on a Time-Slotted Channel Hopping Network) including a parent device (paragraph 2, 18; parent devices including routers defined by IEEE 802.15.4) comprising a transceiver (Fig. 2, TSCH device 102c with Transceiver 220) and processing circuitry (Processor 202) operatively coupled to the transceiver (via Bus 206) to transmit an indication of a first plurality of time slots (Fig. 4, time slots 411-415 according to configured hopping pattern) and a second plurality of time slots (Fig. 4, time slots 421-425 according to configured hopping pattern) to an end device (LE Device 104c) to cause at least a portion of the transceiver to enter a low power state during one or more times outside of the first plurality of time slots and the second plurality of time slots (Abstract; Fig. 5-7; paragraphs 3-6, 18-20, 38-51; sleep state during wake/sleep cycle) and cause the transceiver to exit the low power state to transmit or receive wireless signals during the first plurality of time slots or the second plurality of time slots (Abstract; Fig. 5-7; paragraphs 3-6, 18-20, 38-51; wake state during wake/sleep cycle) based on receiving the wake-up signal (Abstract; Fig. 9, step 920; paragraph 64; acknowledgement message to check-in identifying broadcast timeslot).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time of effective filing to modify Hui by transmitting an indication of a first plurality of time slots and a second plurality of time slots to the end device, to enter a low power state during one or more times outside of the first plurality of time slots and the second plurality of time slots, and to exit the low power state to transmit or receive wireless signals during the first plurality of time slots or the second plurality of time slots, as shown by Hanley, thereby optimizing communication between parent devices and low-energy end devices operating on different wake/sleep cycles.
Regarding claim 34,
The combination of Hui and Hanley discloses the first plurality of time slots is associated with receiving, using the transceiver, wireless signals from the end device (Hui: Fig. 3a-b; Hanley: Fig. 4-7; paragraphs 3-6, 18-20, 38-51; wake state during wake/sleep cycle; Fig. 9, step 910; transmitting), and the second plurality of time slots is associated with transmitting, using the transceiver, wireless signals to the end device (Hui: Fig. 3a-b; Hanley: Fig. 4-7; paragraphs 3-6, 18-20, 38-51; wake state during wake/sleep cycle; Fig. 9, step 920-930; receiving/listening). See motivation above.
Regarding claim 25,
The combination of Hui and Hanley discloses the processing circuitry is configured to determine the plurality of time slots based at least in part on network traffic on a wireless network to which the electronic device is communicatively coupled (Hui: paragraph 90; variety of custom or standard protocols; Hanley: paragraph 28; PN-TSCH protocol compared to slower LE-TSCH protocol). See motivation above.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 7/29/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
In the Remarks on pg.1-2 of the Amendment, Applicant contends Hui fails to disclose a wake-up signal to an end device to cause the end device to exit a low power state. Applicant considers Hui silent regarding “cause the transceiver to transmit a wake-up signal to an end device” because the end device sends a request message to the parent device before the parent device responds with the parent request message 410 cited against the “wake-up” message in the claims.
The Examiner respectfully disagrees. As now shown in the rejection, Hui clearly discloses sleeping mesh devices designed for low-power/sleep operations (paragraph 47) and provides a real-life example where a low-power device broadcasts a low-power wake-up signal to all other connected mesh device to initiate a high-power state (paragraph 87) and other examples of low power devices awaking to initialize high power operation (paragraph 101). Fig. 4 and paragraph 57-58 in Hui explains that the signaling exchange between end device 304 and parent device 302, starting with message 405 cited by Applicant, includes “an indication that the end device is configured to operate in a receiver-off-when-idle” mode as “a bit in the value of the TLV to indicate Wake-on-Radio operation”, and then the parent response message 410 including the CSL Accuracy TLV maps to the “wake-up signal” of the claims because this message enables the end device to determine the CSL parameters (step 415) so that it can awake for subsequently awaking and establishing a connection with the parent device for synchronized reception (step 425). Therefore, the rejections based on Hui are properly maintained.
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GREGORY B SEFCHECK whose telephone number is (571)272-3098. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 6AM-4PM.
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/GREGORY B SEFCHECK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2477
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