DETAILED ACTION
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 .
Status of Claims
This Office Action is in response to claims filed on 8/7/2024.
Claims 1-13 remain pending in the application.
Examiner’s Notes
Regarding claim 4; the phrase “if …” makes the limitation conditional. The examiner can interpret the limitation as “may” or “may not” occurring. The examiner recommends replacing “if” with “when”.
Regarding claim 11; although the specification limits the scope of storage media to a non-transitory medium, the examiner suggests to change the claim to a better form:
A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing executable code, when executed by a processor of the controller, cause the processor to carry out the steps of the method of claim 1.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a) because they fail to show details in Fig. 1, Fig. 2 and Fig. 3 as described in the specification. Any structural detail that is essential for a proper understanding of the disclosed invention should be shown in the drawing. MPEP § 608.02(d). 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. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. 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 § 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.
Claims 4-5, 11 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding claim 4; claim 4 recites the limitation "… switched back to the normal transmission rate …" in line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Regarding claim 5; claim 5 recites the limitation “… during the time period …” in line 3 and “… the collector network node …” in line 4. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Regarding claim 11; claim 11 recites the limitation "… executed by a processor of the controller …" in line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Regarding claim 13; claim 13 recites the limitation "controller" in line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
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.
Claims 1-2 and 6-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Krajnc et al. (WO 2021/018564 A1); in view of Wilson et al. (US 2012/0146788 A1); and in further view of Vassilovski et al. (WO 2021/087942 A1).
Regarding claims 1 and 10; Krajnc discloses a method of reconfiguring a radiofrequency-based sensing system (the connected lighting (CL) system 100 is used for RF-based sensing; see paragraph 3 of page 11) comprising a transmitter node arranged for transmitting radiofrequency signals at a first transmission rate and a receiver node arranged for receiving the transmitted radiofrequency signals (luminaries 14 and 16 for transmitting and receiving RF signals 18; see paragraph 1 of page 11 and Fig. 1A), wherein an external, external to the transmitter/receiver node, is arranged for processing the radiofrequency signals for radiofrequency-based sensing device (a Hue bridge 12 and luminaires 14 and 16 transmitting and receiving RF signal 18; a server is connected to the Hue bridge; see paragraph 1 of page 11 and Fig. 1), wherein the method comprises:
collecting the received radiofrequency signals at a collector node (the RF signals 18 are transmitted between the luminaires 14 and the Hue bridge 12; a wireless parameter adjustment device 10 is included in the Hue bridge; see paragraph 1 and paragraph 3 of page 11 and Fig. 1A).
Krajnc discloses a method of RF based sensing (presence detection).
Krajnc does not explicitly disclose receiving a sensing outcome from an external device.
Wilson discloses transmitting, at a second transmission rate, the collected radiofrequency signals to the external device for processing (a computing device may receive data from the nodes 102 and process the data; see paragraph [0023] and Fig. 1);
receiving a sensing outcome based on the processing from the external device, wherein
said sensing outcome is indicative of a presence of a user (the computing device may provide notification that a person has moved or entered the area of interest; see paragraph [0029] and Fig. 1).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Krajnc and Wilson to receive a sensing outcome from an external device to detect motions in a given area of interest (see paragraph [0015] of Wilson)
The combination of Krajnc and Wilson discloses receiving a sensing outcome from an external device.
The combination of Krajnc and Wilson does not explicitly disclose reducing a transmission rate when the presence of the user is detected.
Vassilovski discloses adjusting the second transmission rate based on the received sensing outcome, wherein said adjustment comprises reducing the second transmission rate when the presence of the user is detected (when an object is detected, a number of messages are reduced; see paragraph [0057]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Krajnc, Wilson and Vassilovski to reduce the transmission rate when the presence of the user is detected to reduce congestion and improve sensor sharing capabilities (see paragraph [0057] of Vassilovski).
Specifically for claim 10; Krajnc discloses a system for reconfiguring a radiofrequency-based sensing system (the CL system 100 is sued for RF-based sensing; see paragraph 3 of page 11 and Fig. 1A), wherein the system comprises: a transmitter node (luminaire 14; see paragraph 1 of page 11 and Fig. 1A), a receiver node (luminaire 16; see paragraph 1 of page 11 and Fig. 1A), an external device (server 40; see paragraph 1 of page 11 and Fig. 1A), a collector node (Hue bridge 12 (including the wireless parameter adjustment device); see paragraph 1 of page 11 and Fig. 1A).
Regarding claim 2; the combination of Krajnc and Wilson discloses transmitting radiofrequency signals between nodes at a transmission rate.
The combination of Krajnc and Wilson does not explicitly disclose reducing the transmission rate when the presence of the user is detected.
Vassilovski discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises adjusting the first transmission rate based on the received sensing outcome (a reduced number of messages are transmitted when presence of an object is detected; see paragraph [0057]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Krajnc, Wilson and Vassilovski to reduce the transmission rate when the presence of the user is detected to reduce congestion and improve sensor sharing capabilities (see paragraph [0057] of Vassilovski).
Regarding claim 6; The combination of Krajnc and Wilson discloses receiving a sensing outcome from an external device.
The combination of Krajnc and Wilson does not explicitly disclose reducing a transmission rate based on a type of an environment.
Vassilovski discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the adjustment of the second transmission rate is further based on one or more of type of an environment (a number of messages are reduced when an object is detected in the environment in Fig. 4B; see paragraphs [0052] and [0057]), a number of transmitter/receiver nodes, spatial location of the collector node and/or of transmitter/receiver nodes (no patentable weight is given due to a claim language or).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Krajnc, Wilson and Vassilovski to reduce the transmission rate a transmission rate based on a type of an environment to reduce congestion and improve sensor sharing capabilities (see paragraph [0057] of Vassilovski).
Regarding claim 7; Krajnc discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the radiofrequency-based sensing system comprises a plurality of detection areas and wherein the adjustment of the second transmission rate is further based on an amount of active detection areas (the sensing system includes a first room 200 and a second room 220; wall mounted luminaires can be adjusted in real time based on the detected presence; see paragraph 2 of page 11, paragraph 2 of page 12, paragraph 1 of page 17 and Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 8; The combination of Krajnc and Wilson discloses receiving a sensing outcome from an external device.
The combination of Krajnc and Wilson does not explicitly disclose reducing a transmission rate based on network communication.
Vassilovski discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the adjustment of the second transmission rate is further based on network communication between transmitter node and the receiver node, and/or between transmitter/receiver node and the collector node (sending a reduced number of messages are based on the scenario (environment) of the network communication; see paragraph [0057]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Krajnc, Wilson and Vassilovski to reduce the transmission rate a transmission rate based on network communication to reduce congestion and improve sensor sharing capabilities (see paragraph [0057] of Vassilovski).
Regarding claim 9; Krajnc discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the transmitter and/or the receiver node comprises lighting devices (the CL system includes two wall mounted luminaires for transmitting and receiving RF signals 18; see paragraph 1 of page 11 and Fig. 1A), and wherein the operating status of the lighting devices is changed based on the sensing outcome (the Tx power for a wall mounted luminaire can be adjusted in real time based on the detected presence; see paragraph 1 of page 17).
Regarding claim 11; Krajnc discloses a computer program product comprising instructions which, when the program is executed by a processor of the controller, cause the processor to carry out the steps of the method of claim 1 (the computer readable medium can have the computer program product according to any embodiment of the computer program product stored; see paragraph 3 of page 10).
Regarding claim 12; Krajnc discloses a controller for reconfiguring a radiofrequency-based sensing system comprising a processor which is arranged for controlling the execution of the steps of the method according to claim 1 (the method can be executed on a processor; see paragraph 4 of page 9).
Regarding claim 13; Krajnc discloses the system according to claim 10, wherein the system further comprises the controller (the wireless parameter adjustment device 10 is included in the Hue bridge 12; see paragraph 1 of page 11 and Fig. 1A).
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Krajnc; in view of Wilson; and in view of Vassilovski; and in further view of Tucker et al. (US 2023/0036560 A1).
Regarding claim 3; the combination of Krajnc, Wilson and Vassilovski disclose reducing a transmission rate when detecting a presence of a user.
The combination of Krajnc, Wilson and Vassilovski do not explicitly disclose the determination is based on a deviation in the received RF signals.
Tucker discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises: determining, at the collector node, whether a deviation in the received radiofrequency signals over a time period exceeds a threshold, and wherein the adjustment of the second transmission rate is further based on the determination (the radio imaging device may be configured to determine variations in a signal transverse to the direction of propagation; the variations or changes over time in the spatial power distribution of received signal indicates presence of objects at a location; see paragraph [0019]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Krajnc, Wilson, Vassilovski and Tucker to determine the second transmission rate based on a deviation in the received RF signals to detect the presence of an object (see paragraph [0019] of Tucker).
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Krajnc; in view of Wilson; and in view of Vassilovski; and in further view of Hayashino (US 2016/0119800 A1).
Regarding claim 4; the combination of Krajnc, Wilson and Vassilovski disclose reducing a transmission rate when detecting a presence of a user.
The combination of Krajnc, Wilson and Vassilovski do not explicitly disclose switching back to the normal transmission rate when the presence is no longer detected.
Hayashino discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the second transmission rate is switched back to the normal transmission rate if the presence is no longer detected for a predetermined time period (the disturbance wave has stopped for a time T, the P2 is able to be received at the transmission rate for when normal communication is carried out; see paragraph [0104] and Fig. 4).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Krajnc, Wilson, Vassilovski and Hayashino to switch back to the normal transmission when the presence is no longer detected to carry out more stable wireless communication (see paragraph [0006] of Hayashino).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 5 is 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.
Regarding claim 5; the closest prior art on the record Vassilovski discloses reducing a number of messages when an object is detected (see paragraph [0057]).
However, Vassilovski does not teach wherein during the time period when the second transmission rate has been reduced, the collector network node is arranged for stitching received radiofrequency signals, and further arranged for transmitting the stitched signals based on the adjusted second transmission rate.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NING LI whose telephone number is (571)270-0624. The examiner can normally be reached Monday, Tuesday, Thursday 8:30am - 5:00pm.
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/MANSOUR OVEISSI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2415
/N.L/Examiner, Art Unit 2415
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