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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements filed on 07/21/2025 and 08/20/2024 comply with all application rules and regulations. Therefore, the information referred to therein have been considered.
Specification Objection
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed. The following title is suggested: COMMUNICATION CONTROL SYSTEM FOR OPTIMIZING/MANAGING PACKET GROUPING AND TIMING.
Claim Objections
Claims 4 and 7are objected to because of the following informalities: Appropriate correction is required.
• Claim 4, line 5, “and a total size” should be “a total size” for clarity and consistency .
• Claim 7, line 21, “and a capacity” should be “a capacity” for clarity and consistency.
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 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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Maruyama et al. (WO-2021079599-A1), as field on Aug. 19, 2020 and published on Apr. 29, 2021. Please refer to citation of “U” in the PTO-892 of the clarified PE2E translation of (WO-2021079599-A1), in view of Mizoguchi (US-20170034033-A1).
Regarding claim 1, Maruyama teaches a communication control device comprising (Abstract and Paras. 1-2 Page 2 states “the present invention relates to a control system having a network, a control device constituting the control system, and a control or communication method using these” which provide a description for the communication control system): a calculation unit configured to process control data (Fig. 4 and Paras. 10, 12 state “The calculation unit 134 calculates a control command value required for the input / output control device 123 to control the controlled device 124. …. As the calculation unit 134, a CPU 101 and software executed on the CPU 101 are exemplified.” That confirms the including of the calculation section/unit in the controller system); a communication unit configured to transmit a packet including the control data ( Fig. 4 and Paras. 12 and 14 Page 5, state ”The communication unit 131 synchronizes the time with another device by using the time measured at the time of transmitting or receiving the time synchronization packet. The communication unit 131 is a functional unit for connecting to the control network 122 and communicating according to the communication protocol of the control network 122. It is composed of software running on the CPU 101, one or more of the communication control IC 102 and the PHY 103”); and a data storage unit having an exclusion control function ( Para. 7 Page 6 states “The transfer memory 133 has an exclusive control function for access in order to prevent the information held in the same area from being accessed by a plurality of execution subjects (software, functional unit, device, etc.) from becoming inconsistent” which implies that the data storage/transfer memory may include an exclusion control function), and transmits and receives the partial data to and from the communication unit via the data storage unit (Para. 4 Page 6 states “the contents of the transfer memory 133 are transferred to the communication unit 131 and transmitted to the control network 122 by the time information or the time notification” see also Para. 4 Page 10 that provide the receiving the data from the data storage unit/transfer memory. Paras. 2 and 11 Page 6 that states “The transfer memory synchronous update unit 132 holds the communication content received from the communication unit 131, and transfers the held information to the transfer memory 133 by the time information or time notification, time notification interrupt, etc. notified from the time management unit 136.” That confirm the transmitting/receiving the data from and to the communication unit via the transfer memory).
Maruyama does not teach wherein the calculation unit associates a position occupied by each of two or more pieces of partial data constituting the control data in the control data with an attribute related to the packet communicated by the communication unit.
However, Mizoguchi teaches wherein the calculation unit associates a position occupied by each of two or more pieces of partial data constituting the control data in the control data with an attribute related to the packet communicated by the communication unit, ([0036], [0074] lines 15-21, states “the storage processor 206 is configured to divide the control data into a plurality of divided data when the size of the control data corresponding to the tag information received from the HMI 100 is larger than the size of the area assigned for the controller 200 in the common memory 204.” See also Fig. 4 and claim 2 that describe the control data is divided into smaller segments, where [0102] illustrates the attributes of the control data in the forms of header and footer information. [0037]-[0039] provide how the index number (1 – 10) and the sequence number indicating the position of the data , see also [0083] lines 3-7 which indicates the processor uses the index numbers to place each segment in the correct position in its internal memory, for reconstructing the full control data/packet).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Maruyama to incorporate the teachings of Mizoguchi (in analogous art) by adding wherein the calculation unit associates a position occupied by each of two or more pieces of partial data constituting the control data in the control data with an attribute related to the packet communicated by the communication unit for easily transmit/receive the desired control data by transmitting/receiving a plurality of divided data generated based on the control data. Moreover, it is possible to easily identify each divided data based on the header information by adding the different pieces of header information to each divided data. (Mizoguchi, [0074], lines 15-24).
Regarding claim 2, Maruyama and Mizoguchi teach the communication control device according to claim 1,
Maruyama does not teach wherein the attribute related to the packet is any one or both of a communication timing of the packet and information indicating the position of the partial data stored in the packet.
However, Mizoguchi teaches the attribute related to the packet is any one or both of a communication timing of the packet and information indicating the position of the partial data stored in the packet ([0037]-[0039] and [0075] states “the header information includes the index number indicating a part of one control data to which each of a plurality of divided data to which the header information is added corresponds. According to this, it is possible to easily determine the part of one control data to which each divided data corresponds by confirming the index number.” And [0083] and [0039] that states “The sequence number is information indicating a position in order of a certain divided data copied to the common memory 204 out of all the divided data” that implies indicating the position of the partial data. [0038] provides that the two main attributes: index number which indicates the position of the partial data within the whole control data (which segment it is) and the sequence number :indicates the order in which the partial data/segment was copied to the memory, that related to the timing of communication as the sequence number reflects the order and timing of transmission, see [0039] and [0076]. [0078] also states “the time interval when each of a plurality of divided data is sequentially copied to the common memory 204 is set to be not shorter than three times the cycle of the transmission/reception of the common data by the cyclic transmission” that confirms the attribute related to the communication timing of the packet).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Maruyama to incorporate the teachings of Mizoguchi (in analogous art) by adding wherein the calculation unit associates a position occupied by each of two or more pieces of partial data constituting the control data in the control data with an attribute related to the packet communicated by the communication unit for easily transmit/receive the desired control data by transmitting/receiving a plurality of divided data generated based on the control data. Moreover, it is possible to easily identify each divided data based on the header information by adding the different pieces of header information to each divided data. (Mizoguchi, [0074], lines 15-24).
Regarding claim 3, Maruyama and Mizoguchi teach the communication control device according to claim 1, wherein
Maruyama further teaches the calculation unit determines, for a received first packet, based on any one or more pieces of information on the packet, a communication timing of the packet, and effectiveness determination of a second packet received subsequent to the first packet, whether the first packet is effective (Drawing Description Para. Page 22 provides that “ [12]It is a figure which showed the data allocation in one Embodiment of this invention. [13]It is a figure which showed the time chart in one Embodiment of this invention. [14]It is a figure which showed the timing of the data update in the apparatus in one Embodiment of this invention. [15]It is a figure which showed the time chart in one Embodiment of this invention,” Para. 11 Page 15 states “when a plurality of packets are received, the result of applying statistical processing to the received information may be adopted” and Para. 6 Page 14 states “By observing the command generation timing in this way, it is possible to control how to use the data. For example, if the elapsed time since generation is longer than a predetermined threshold value and it can be determined that the data is old, it is discarded, or the state of the control system is estimated based on the elapsed time, even if it is a redundant packet. For example, it is used to judge first-come-first-served or second-come-first-served basis.” That means the system may determine the validity of the first packet by its own attributes and the timing by comparing it to a second packet received later to choose/neglect the first packet accordingly. See also Para. 10 Page 15 that states “For example, first-come-first-served priority to adopt the first received packet, or second-come-first-served priority to adopt the last packet received before the deadline time (for example, t_mem_in, t_mem_ct_in for receiving sensor information) is exemplified.” as shown in Figs. 13. That indicates the effectiveness/validity of the first packet based on its communication timing and the validity of the second packet), and does not include the partial data included in the first packet in the control data when it is determined that the first packet is ineffective (Fig. 9 and Para. 4 Page 10 states “After the interrupt occurs (Y in S032), the transfer memory synchronous update unit 132 reflects the
contents of the received packet in the transfer memory 133 (S033). This may reflect the received packet itself in the transfer memory 133, or may extract and reflect the control command value included in the received packet.” Para. 3 Page 6 states “At this time, the communication content may be formatted (including parameter removal), modified, or
discarded from the source information, destination information, communication protocol header information, etc. of the communication content,” see also Para. 6 Page 14. That implies the system use the attributes such as the time, by using the generation time or the
calculation time of the received information (Claim5, lines 3-4 Page 23), to determine the status of the received data, if a packet is determined as invalid (e.g., outdated or corrupted or failing validation) then discard it an invalid).
Regarding claim 4, Maruyama and Mizoguchi teach the communication control device according to claim 1, wherein
Maruyama fails to teach the calculation unit activates and processes the partial data as the control data based on any one or more of the number of pieces of the partial data, and a total size and a content of the partial data.
However, Mizoguchi teaches the calculation unit activates and processes the partial data as the control data based on any one or more of the number of pieces of the partial data, and a total size and a content of the partial data ([0072] lines 4-9, [0075] lines 1-5 and [0083] provides that the system divides the large content data of control into multiple partial data segments each with header and footer information that included the index and sequence numbers. [0077] and claim 5 describe the processor in the monitoring control device (HMI) may reconstruct the original control data using partial data segments. [0090] sates “At step S42, the HMI 100a determines whether all the divided data forming the control data corresponding to the tag information are acquired” and [0075] states “ it is possible to easily determine the part of one control data to which each divided data corresponds by confirming the index number.” That implies using the all partial data (number of the partial data) to form the control data that acquired by checking if all expected index numbers are available/present, and [0062] “When it is determined that all the divided data are acquired at step S22, the procedure ends.” [0095] and Fig. 12 provide that dividing the control data based on the size of the area that assigned in the common memory, and the size of each divided data is not larger than the size of the area assigned for the controller 200 in the common memory 204., as stated in [0074]. Hence, the processor may easily acquire the desired control data based on a plurality of divided data acquired from the common memory 104, as stated in [0077]. [0068] and [0075] provide how the content is validated by reconstructing the control data in the correct order based on the index number. That means the system (where the calculation is a part of the system) activates and processes the partial data as the control data based on the number of pieces, a total size and a content of the partial data).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Maruyama to incorporate the teachings of Mizoguchi (in analogous art) by adding wherein the calculation unit associates a position occupied by each of two or more pieces of partial data constituting the control data in the control data with an attribute related to the packet communicated by the communication unit for easily transmit/receive the desired control data by transmitting/receiving a plurality of divided data generated based on the control data. Moreover, it is possible to easily identify each divided data based on the header information by adding the different pieces of header information to each divided data. (Mizoguchi, [0074], lines 15-24).
Regarding claim 5, Maruyama and Mizoguchi teach the communication control device according to claim 4, wherein
Maruyama teaches processes the already activated second control data until the first control data is activated (Para. 11 Page 13 states “The control operation and buffer storage at t_ct in FIG. 13 may be continuously executed from the reflection in the transfer memory 133 at t_mem_ct_in before that, and the transmission at t_send_ct is continuous from the buffer storage at t_ctt. and execute it. “ and Para. 10 Page 15 states “For example, first-come-first-served priority to adopt the first received packet, or second-come-first served priority to adopt the last packet received before the deadline time (for example, t_mem_in,
t_mem_ct_in for receiving sensor information) is exemplified.” See also Para. 3 Page 16. That concludes the calculation unit can perform the task or process the valid data until the new data is ready, which means the unit is not forced to wait idly for new data).
Maruyama fails to teach the calculation unit has an area storing first control data and an area storing second control data,
However, Mizoguchi teaches the calculation unit has an area storing first control data and an area storing second control data ([0029]-[0031], Figs. 1-4 provide that the system storing and managing the multiple sets of control data by assign them to different blocks/areas within the common and internal memories, which are parts of the control device, as shown in Figs. 1-4. See also claims 1, 10 and [0005] that states “the controller comprises a second common memory, a second internal memory, and a storage processor. The second common memory is configured to store therein the common data. The second internal memory is configured to store therein data other than the common data”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Maruyama to incorporate the teachings of Mizoguchi (in analogous art) by adding wherein the calculation unit associates a position occupied by each of two or more pieces of partial data constituting the control data in the control data with an attribute related to the packet communicated by the communication unit for easily transmit/receive the desired control data by transmitting/receiving a plurality of divided data generated based on the control data. Moreover, it is possible to easily identify each divided data based on the header information by adding the different pieces of header information to each divided data. (Mizoguchi, [0074], lines 15-24).
Regarding claim 6, Maruyama and Mizoguchi teach the communication control device according to claim 1, wherein
Maruyama further teaches the calculation unit writes the partial data in the data storage unit in synchronization with communication of the packet in the communication unit (Paras. 9-10 Page 4 and Para. 10 Page 5 that describe the communication control IC 102 has a function for executing a time synchronization protocol using a network. it is a time counting function at the time of sending and receiving a time synchronization packet, setting a correction value to the synchronization packet, and Para. 2 Page 6 states “The transfer memory synchronous update unit 132 holds the communication content received from the communication unit 131, and transfers the held information to the transfer memory 133 by the time information or time notification, time notification interrupt, etc.” that describe the managing of the data with the communication unit. Para. 8 Page 12 states “ in the calculation of the control command values of S054 to S058, the calculation of the control command values to the plurality of input / output control devices 123 is targeted, and S054 to S058 are started as tasks for each of the input / output control devices 123 of the transmission destination. Then, it is exemplified that the control command value is stored in the distributed area on the transfer memory 133 for each input / output control device 123 of the transmission destination” that describe the procedure and the time chart for control procedure, see Steps S059 and S060 Fig. 11, shows after the calculation unit computes the control command value, it stores the result in the buffer and then at the schedule interrupt, t_mem_ct_out, the contents of the buffer are writing to the transfer memory in the synchronization with the communication cycle/period, Para. 4 Page 10 and Para. 6 Page 11).
7. Claims 7-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Maruyama et al. (WO-2021079599-A1), as field on Aug. 19, 2020 and published on Apr. 29, 2021. Please refer to citation of “U” in the PTO-892 of the clarified PE2E translation of (WO-2021079599-A1), in view of Mizoguchi (US-20170034033-A1), and further in view of Büttner et al. (US-20220209985-A1).
Regarding claim 7, Maruyama teaches a control communication system comprising(Abstract and Paras. 1-2 Page 2 states “the present invention relates to a control system having a network, a control device constituting the control system, and a control or communication method using these” which provide a description for the communication control system): a first communication control device; and a second communication control device controlled by the first communication control device (Para. 15 Page 23 states “In a distributed control system that consists of multiple control devices (first and second control systems) and executes control over the controlled device.” See also Paras. 1-3 Page 24 that describe the control system includes a plurality pf control devices. Fig. 1 and Paras 9-10 Page 2 and Para. 6 Page 3 describe the system and how The input / output control device 123 is connected to the controlled device 124, and controls and sets the controlled device 124 in response to a control command received from the control device 120 via the control network 122. That implies the first control device 123 can control the second one 124), wherein each of the first communication control device and the second communication control device includes a calculation unit that processes control data (Fig. 4 and Paras. 10, 12 state “The calculation unit 134 calculates a control command value required for the input / output control device 123 to control the controlled device 124. …. As the calculation unit 134, a CPU 101 and software executed on the CPU 101 are exemplified.” That confirms the including of the calculation section/unit in the controller system); a communication unit that transmits a packet including the control data (Fig. 4 and Paras. 12 and 14 Page 5, state ”The communication unit 131 synchronizes the time with another device by using the time measured at the time of transmitting or receiving the time synchronization packet. ….. The communication unit 131 is a functional unit for connecting to the control network 122 and communicating according to the communication protocol of the control network 122. It is composed of software running on the CPU 101, one or more of the communication control IC 102 and the PHY 103”), and a data storage unit that has an exclusion control function (Para. 7 Page 6 states “The transfer memory 133 has an exclusive control function for access in order to prevent the information held in the same area from being accessed by a plurality of execution subjects (software, functional unit, device, etc.) from becoming inconsistent” which implies that the data storage/transfer memory may include an exclusion control function), and transmits and receives the partial data to and from the communication unit via the data storage unit Para. 4 Page 6 states “the contents of the transfer memory 133 are transferred to the communication unit 131 and transmitted to the control network 122 by the time information or the time notification” see also Para. 4 Page 10 that provide the receiving the data from the data storage unit/transfer memory. Paras. 2 and 11 Page 6 that states “The transfer memory synchronous update unit 132 holds the communication content received from the communication unit 131, and transfers the held information to the transfer memory 133 by the time information or time notification, time notification interrupt, etc. notified from the time management unit 136.” That confirm the transmitting/receiving the data from and to the communication unit via the transfer memory),
and the first communication control device determines, based on a control cycle in the second communication control device, a necessary data capacity per control cycle, and a capacity of the data storage unit (Figs. 7-8, Paras. 4, 6-9 Page 8 and Para. 1 Page 9, describe the setup where the device defined the address division on the transfer memory space, that means each device has data area and the update cycle, control period, for each data area, “First, address division on the transfer memory 133 space is defined (S010). Next, the meaning of data within the data area of each device is defined (S011). Next, the update cycle of each data area of the transfer memory 133 is determined (S012). Then, the determined definition of the address division and the communication cycle are set in each control device 120 and the input / output control device 123 (S013).” The required data size of each device (capacity of the data storage) ay be equal or different, which based on the control cycle/period and data need, “For example, the address division defines the required data size of the control device 120 and the input / output control device 123, and allocates them on the address space of the virtual transfer memory 133. The data size of each device may be equal or different. Each device may be ordered and assigned from the beginning of the address space, see the translated Figs 7-8), a communication timing of the packet (Steps S021-S022 in Fig. 8 and Paras. 9-11 Page 9, “Next, the allocation of time slots in each network relay device 121 and control device 120 is planned (S021). This is determined in consideration of the communication requirements in the control application composed of the control device 120, the input / output control device 123, and the controlled device 124.” The art clearly states the transmission time t_send_in of the input / output control device 123 serving as each sensor device is planned in S021 of FIG. 8, and may be different times, see Paras. 1-3 Page 12),
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an access destination address of the data storage unit of the second communication control device designated in the packet (Paras. 6, 8 Page 8 state” the address division defines the required data size of the control device 120 and the input / output control device 123, and allocates them on the address space of the virtual transfer memory 133. The data size of each device may be equal or different. Each device may be ordered and assigned from the beginning of the address space. Further, the start addresses of each data area may be arranged at regular intervals” that implies each device may ordered and assigned from the beginning the address space, where the address definition can include the first and second communication control devices, see also Para. 3 Page 6 ), and an assignment of the data storage unit of the second communication control device to a virtual area (Paras. 2-3 Page 21 states “Although the present embodiment has described the invention for a transfer memory, the invention is not limited to the transfer memory. For example, an area for each device constituting the control system may be allocated on the virtual address space. As such an example, the logical address space of EtherCAT is shown.” That confirms the assignment of the data storage unit of the second communication control device to a virtual area).
Maruyama does not teach the communication unit associates a position occupied by each of two or more pieces of partial data constituting the control data in the control data with an attribute related to the packet communicated by the communication unit,
However, Mizoguchi teaches the communication unit associates a position occupied by each of two or more pieces of partial data constituting the control data in the control data with an attribute related to the packet communicated by the communication unit ([0036], [0074] lines 15-21, states “the storage processor 206 is configured to divide the control data into a plurality of divided data when the size of the control data corresponding to the tag information received from the HMI 100 is larger than the size of the area assigned for the controller 200 in the common memory 204.” See also Fig. 4 and claim 2 that describe the control data is divided into smaller segments, where [0102] illustrates the attributes of the control data in the forms of header and footer information. [0037]-[0039] provide how the index number (1 – 10) and the sequence number indicating the position of the data , see also [0083] lines 3-7 which indicates the processor uses the index numbers to place each segment in the correct position in its internal memory, for reconstructing the full control data/packet).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Maruyama to incorporate the teachings of Mizoguchi (in analogous art) by adding wherein the calculation unit associates a position occupied by each of two or more pieces of partial data constituting the control data in the control data with an attribute related to the packet communicated by the communication unit for easily transmit/receive the desired control data by transmitting/receiving a plurality of divided data generated based on the control data. Moreover, it is possible to easily identify each divided data based on the header information by adding the different pieces of header information to each divided data. (Mizoguchi, [0074], lines 15-24).
Maruyama and Mizoguchi do not explicitly teach a communication schedule including a datagram configuration constituting the packet .
However, Büttner teaches a communication schedule including a datagram configuration constituting the packet ([0028]-[0029], [0061], and [0071] provide the segment telegram may comprise a data area with datagrams which are assigned to the individual subscribers in the network segment and which each have control data and user data, the control data informing the subscriber on how it should process the user data of the datagram. Each segment is assigned in a priority value, such as a value from 1, highest priority, to 4, lowest priority, [0084]. The segments which are content the data file with sequence information [0026]- [0027], and [0080]. That implies the adjust of the configuration /sequence information at the start of the transmission process, see also [0075], to ensure the high priority segments are processed without delay [0067]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Maruyama in view of Mizoguchi to incorporate the teachings of Büttner (in analogous art) by adding a communication schedule including a datagram configuration constituting the packet to improve the segment telegram and then, improve automation communication network (Büttner, [0012] and [0067]).
Regarding claim 8, Maruyama, Mizoguchi and Büttner teach the control communication system according to claim 7,
Maruyama teaches wherein a plurality of the second communication control devices are provided (Para. 15 Page 23 states “In a distributed control system that consists of multiple control devices (first and second control systems) and executes control over the controlled device.” See also Paras. 1-3 Page 24 that describe the control system includes a plurality pf control devices. Fig. 1 and Paras 9-10 Page 2 and Para. 6 Page 3 describe the system and how The input / output control device 123 is connected to the controlled device 124, and controls and sets the controlled device 124 in response to a control command received from the control device 120 via the network 122. That implies plurality of the second communication control devices are provided), and determines the assignment of the data storage unit of the second communication control unit to the virtual area based on a configuration of the appended datagrams (Paras. 6-8 Page 8 and 11 describe how the data size of each device may be equal or different, where each device may be ordered and assigned from the beginning of the address space. “For example, the address division defines the required data size of the control device 120 and the input / output control device 123, and allocates them on the address space of the virtual transfer
memory 133.” That implies the location of the data storage unit to the virtual area is determined based on the configuration of the data to be communicated, which include appended datagrams, see Para. 5 Page 20 “FIG. 8 illustrates scheduling additional communications. In such a case, for example, when sending a batch of data in a plurality of cycles, the data may be divided and communicated within each cycle.”).
Maruyama does not teach the first communication control device calculates the number of datagrams per control cycle based on the necessary data capacity per control cycle of the second communication control device and the capacity of the data storage unit.
However, Mizoguchi teaches the first communication control device calculates the number of datagrams per control cycle based on the necessary data capacity per control cycle of the second communication control device and the capacity of the data storage unit ([0033], [0035] states “Hereinafter, suppose that the size of the control data is larger than the size of the area assigned for the controller 200 in the common memory 204 when the control data corresponding to the tag information received from the HMI 100 is not stored in the common memory 204” , [0036] states “In the first embodiment, the size of each divided data may be any size as long as this is not larger than the size of the area assigned for the controller 200.” That implies the control device can divide the data in any size (size of divided data or number of datagrams) as long as that is not longer than the size of the assigned area, within the memory constraints. [0095] and Fig. 12, describe the dividing each control data based on the size of a predetermined area (block assigned for the controller 200a) in the common memory 204, thereby generating the divided data at step S51 in each control cycle, see also claim 2), calculates a communication cycle per datagram based on the control cycle ([0099] states “a predetermined time is set to be not shorter than three times the cycle of the transmission/ reception of the common data (data in the common memory 204) by the cyclic transmission.” that means the if the control cycle (cycle transmission period) is T, then the minimum interval between sending each datagram is less than 3*T, see also [0040], [0078] and claim 8. Which confirms the calculation of the communication cycle per datagram based on the control cycle),
sets a maximum value among the communication cycles of the plurality of second communication control devices as a basic communication cycle ([0078] states “the time interval when each of a plurality of divided data is sequentially copied to the common memory 204 is set to be not shorter than three times the cycle of the transmission/reception of the common data by the cyclic transmission as described above. According to this, the divided data of the same content is transmitted/received at least twice or more by the cyclic transmission, so that it is possible to more certainly transmit/receive the divided data.” [0002] describes the using of cyclic transmission to ensure all devices can participant in the cycle transmission without missing data by selecting longest cycle. See also [0026] lines 2-5, [0027], [0040] and claims 1 and 10), and determines appending of datagrams such that an amount of packets in the basic communication cycle is equal to or less than an allowable amount ([0036] states “In the first embodiment, the size of each divided data may be any size as long as this is not larger than the size of the area assigned for the controller 200. “ see also [0074] and claim 2. That implies the amount of packets in the basic communication cycle is equal to or less than an allowable amount (area assigned for the controller device)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Maruyama in view of Büttner to incorporate the teachings of Mizoguchi (in analogous art) by adding wherein the calculation unit associates a position occupied by each of two or more pieces of partial data constituting the control data in the control data with an attribute related to the packet communicated by the communication unit for easily transmit/receive the desired control data by transmitting/receiving a plurality of divided data generated based on the control data. Moreover, it is possible to easily identify each divided data based on the header information by adding the different pieces of header information to each divided data. (Mizoguchi, [0074], lines 15-24).
Regarding claim 9, Maruyama, Mizoguchi and Büttner teach the control communication system according to claim 7,
Maruyama further teaches wherein the first communication control device determines the communication schedule using a search method (Para. 1 Page 10 states “Here, it was explained that the network topology and the time slot are assigned while considering the
requirements in S020 and S021. However, the search for the appropriate value of each parameter in the network setting may be repeated until the plan is made using the search method or the optimization method and the requirement is achieved in S023.” Which means the search method can be applied to find the schedule that meets the system requirement (optimization process)).
Regarding claim 10, Maruyama, Mizoguchi and Büttner teach the control communication system according to claim 8,
Mizoguchi teaches wherein the first communication control device determines, using a maximum value of the number of transmission datagrams per basic communication cycle necessary for each of the plurality of second communication control devices ([0036], [0074] and claim 2 describe how the master /first control device can determine the max allowable number of transmission datagrams for each communication cycle, “divide the control data into a plurality of divided data having a size not larger than a predetermined value when a size of the control data is larger than the predetermined value”), and the number of packets obtained from a sum of the necessary data capacities per basic communication cycle in the plurality of second communication control devices and a maximum allowable size per packet ([0035] lines 9-14, [0036] illustrate the controller can divide the data into smaller segments to follow the requirements. Fig. 4 depicts an example of dividing the control data including 620 words into data including 62 words, thereby generating ten divided data 1 to 10. See also claim 2. This process is repeated for each device using its own assigned area in the memory as described in [0029]-[0034]),
Maruyama further teaches a plan of the communication schedule when the number of packets per basic communication cycle coincides with a larger one of the maximum value of the number of transmission datagrams (Paras. 7-11 Page 9 and Para. 1 Page 10 describe how the master ( first controller) can plane/setup the network topology and allocation time slots for each device with considering the requirement of all controllers, which include communication delay, control cycle, and communication cycle can be satisfied, and reliability requirements based on the redundancy and retransmission of the communication path. as shown in Fig. 8. The system handling the maximum datagram utilization by several techniques: “the monitoring data is transmitted every 10 cycles of the control loop shown in FIG. 13, and a fixed amount of data is transmitted within 50 cycles, although there is no restriction on the minimum communication amount within each cycle, not every cycle”, as described in Para. 4 Page 20 or “Examples of such network resources include communication bandwidth, time width in time-division communication method, setting of priority for a specific communication type, number of communication routes to be used, and the like.” As described in Para. 9 Page 3, by repeated the plan until the optimization method and requirement is achieved as described in Para. 1 Page 10),
Maruyama does not teach and the number of packets obtained from the maximum allowable size per packet.
However, Mizoguchi teaches and the number of packets obtained from the maximum allowable size per packet ([0074] states “the size of each divided data is not larger than the size of the area assigned for the controller 200 in the common memory 204.” And [0036] states “the size of each divided data may be any size as long as this is not larger than the size of the area assigned for the controller 200” that implies the number of packets can be obtained from the maximum allowable size per packet).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Maruyama in view of Büttner to incorporate the teachings of Mizoguchi (in analogous art) by adding wherein the calculation unit associates a position occupied by each of two or more pieces of partial data constituting the control data in the control data with an attribute related to the packet communicated by the communication unit for easily transmit/receive the desired control data by transmitting/receiving a plurality of divided data generated based on the control data. Moreover, it is possible to easily identify each divided data based on the header information by adding the different pieces of header information to each divided data. (Mizoguchi, [0074], lines 15-24).
Regarding claim 11, Maruyama, Mizoguchi and Büttner teach the control communication system according to claim 7, wherein
Maruyama further teaches the first communication control device assigns the data storage unit of the second communication control device to a plurality of areas on the virtual area(Paras. 2-3 Page 21 states “Although the present embodiment has described the invention for a transfer memory, the invention is not limited to the transfer memory. For example, an area for each device constituting the control system may be allocated on the virtual address space. As such an example, the logical address space of EtherCAT is shown.” See also Para. 6 Page 2 “In the transfer memory method, the data assigned by the own controller is periodically broadcast to other controllers for the transfer memory, which is a set of memories allocated by each of the controllers constituting the distributed control system “That confirms the assignment of the data storage unit of the second communication control device to a virtual area).
Regarding claim 12, Maruyama, Mizoguchi and Büttner teach the control communication system according to claim 7,
Maruyama further teaches wherein the first communication control device is time-synchronized with the second communication control device (Claim 9 and Para. 9 Page 4 states “In addition, the communication control IC 102 has a function for executing a time synchronization protocol using a network. That is, it is a time counting function at the time of sending and receiving a time synchronization packet, setting a correction value to the synchronization packet, addition, and the like. “ which confirms the synchronization process between the master control device and any other control device), the first communication control device transmits the packet based on a synchronized time instant (Para. 9 Page 4, para. 2 Page 7 and Para. 3 Page 14 confirms the time management unit 136 provides the time synchronized according to the time synchronization unit 130. The time management unit 136 may include not only the provision of the synchronization time but also the function of interrupt notification or alarm notification at a specified time), and the second communication control device writes the partial data in the data storage unit based on the synchronized time instant (Para. 3 Page 2 describes the TSN function that can be used for synchronization process, see Para. 1 Page 24. Writing data to the data storage unite (transfer memory) is triggered by interrupts / notifications from the time management unit, which operates on synchronized time, as illustrates in Para. 4 Page 10 and Paras. 3-4 Page 7. So, when the interrupt occurs, the control device writes the partial data in the buffer, as temporarily, then, to the transfer memory, as describes in Para. 10 Page 4 and Paras. 2-3 Page 11).
Regarding claim 13, Maruyama, Mizoguchi and Büttner teach the control communication system according to claim 7,
Maruyama further teaches wherein the calculation unit in the second communication control device writes the partial data in the data storage unit after an elapse of a waiting time determined based on a transmission timing of the first communication control device from a time point at which the communication unit receives the packet ( Para. 2-3, 6-7 Page 11 and Para. 4 Page 13 states “The device received at t_2 stores information in a buffer (not explained in S050 and S051 of FIG. 11 and FIGS. 9 and 10). After that, at t_mem_in and t_mem_ct_in, the information stored in the buffer is reflected in the transfer memory 133 in each apparatus. That is, t_mem_in and t_mem_ct_in are set at the same time. The actuator may also be reflected in the transfer memory 133 (142 in FIG. 13)”and Fig. 13 and the procedures (S052-S053) show that after receiving the packet, the device waits for a synchronized time(interrupt) before writing the data to the transfer memory ).
Regarding claim 14, Maruyama, Mizoguchi and Büttner teach the control communication system according to claim 13,
Maruyama further teaches wherein the calculation unit in the second communication control device changes the waiting time based on any one of packet loss, retransmission, and transfer to a redundant path of the packet (Para. 10 Page 20 states “By doing so, even if the network relay device 121 receives the packet from the device in which the synchronization abnormality has occurred at an arbitrary timing, the network relay device 121 waits until the spare time slot and then transfers the packet…. time slot. See also Para. 7 Page 15 that states “Further, it is exemplified that the timing t_req for transmitting the 162 retransmission request is set by the time management unit 136 after the timing for receiving the first sensor information. Further, in order to make the transfer memory 133 the same at t_mem_in, it is exemplified that t_red and t_req are set before t_mem_in. “ that confirms the calculation unit in the control device can change the waiting time based on the abnormality and retransmission situations. See also Paras. 4, 11 Page 15 for input side redundant scenario).
Regarding claim 15, Maruyama, Mizoguchi and Büttner the control communication system according to claim 7,
Maruyama further teaches wherein the control data is assigned to a predetermined data structure (Paras 3-5 Page 9 states “Further, as a data allocation in the individual device, an example in the device A is shown (devices B and C are omitted). From the beginning, they are assigned as sensor a171, sensor b172, actuator area 173, status a174, and status b175. …device A.” That implies the control data is allocated to data structure from the beginning, such as sensor and actuator and status), and an assignment of the data structure is shared between the first communication control device and the second communication control device (Para. 6 Page 2, Para. 6 Page 6 “The transfer memory 133 is a memory space shared between controllers. The data area of each controller is associated with this memory space. For example, each controller executes periodic broadcast communication, and the receiving controller identifies the source controller and updates the corresponding data area.” Which means that the transfer memory is a shared between the control devices and the data of each controller is associated with this storage memory space, where each device can update its corresponding data area).
Regarding claim 16, Maruyama, Mizoguchi and Büttner the control communication system according to claim 7,
Maruyama further teaches wherein the calculation unit in the second communication control device associates the position occupied by the partial data in the control data based on an identifier of the first communication control device (Para. 6 Page 6 states “each controller executes periodic
broadcast communication, and the receiving controller identifies the source controller and updates the corresponding data area. “Para. 8 Page 8 states “Each device may be ordered and assigned from the beginning of the address space. Further, the start addresses of each data area may be arranged at regular intervals,” see also Para. 3 Page 6, that implies the calculation unit in the second controller uses the identifier of the master control device to associate/write partial data to the correct position in the shared memory).
Relevant Prior Art
8. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's
disclosure.
Mori et al. (US-20200374747-A1), Ueda et al. (US-20030039409-A1), Shibata et al. (WO-2013038678-A1), and Kameyama et al. (US-20180146073-A1) teach method involved handling exchange data synchronization across the control communication devices in network systems.
Conclusion
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/SANAA AL SAMAHI/Examiner, Art Unit 2463
/ASAD M NAWAZ/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2463
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