DETAILED ACTION
Summary
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
This is a first Office Action on the merits.
Claims 1-40 are currently pending.
Claim Objections
Claims, 19, 29, 30, and 40 are objected to because of the following informalities:
In claim 19, line 6, please amend “the identified select one or more advertising ESLs” to recite “an identified select one or more advertising ESLs”;
In claim 29, line 4, please amend “the dormant mode” to recite “a dormant mode”;
In claim 30, lines 5-6, please amend “the identified select one or more advertising ESLs” to recite “an identified select one or more advertising ESLs”;
In claim 40, line 4, please amend “the dormant mode” to recite “a dormant mode”;
Appropriate correction is required.
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) 1-3, 8, 10-12, 17, 19-21, 24, 25, 30-32, 35, and 36 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over RÖSSL, US 2022/0240184 in view of WILHELMSSON et al, US 2022/0201610.
Re claim 1:
RÖSSL teaches a method for receiving onboarding information in an electronic shelf label (ESL) (client 2 [Figure 1]), comprising:
Scanning, by a processor of the ESL, for a wakeup packet from an access point remote from the ESL before transmitting an ESL advertisement (i.e., the wireless wake-up receiver (137) monitors the wireless channel continuously and scans the wireless channel with regards to the occurrence of the wake-up signal [0018] [0072]);
Receiving onboarding messages or a low power mode directive from the access point (i.e., in the active mode, the client wireless module runs through a connection set-up and after the connection set-up with the access point is available for wireless communication according to the wireless standard. The content of the wireless communication may include an update of the screen, which the examiner considers to be an “onboarding message” [0051]. The client wireless module can be transferred back into the sleep mode responsive to receipt of a command terminating wireless communication [0051]).
RÖSSL does not explicitly teach transmitting, by a transmitter of the ESL, the ESL advertisement in response to receiving the first wakeup packet that includes information indicating the ESL should transmit the ESL advertisement; however, RÖSSL does teach that the wireless standard for the communication between the AP and the ESL may be Bluetooth, ZigBee, or WLAN [0052].
WILHELMSSON teaches a method of establishing connection between a first node (10) and second node (12) in a wireless network, wherein a first radio node transmits a wake-up signal to a wake-up receiver of a second radio node [0011] [0045] [Figures 2-3]. Responsive to receiving the wake-up signal, the second radio node wakes up and sends a response in the form of an advertising packet to the first radio node [0011] [0043] [0049] [0075] [Figures 2-3].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to further incorporate the teachings of WILHELMSSON in the method of RÖSSL such that the ESL transmits an advertisement in response to receiving the first wakeup packet. It is merely common practice in the art to transmit advertisements in response to receiving a wakeup packet when establishing communication between devices to ensure both devices are ready for data transfer.
Re claim 10:
RÖSSL teaches an electronic shelf label (ESL), comprising:
A transceiver (i.e., client wireless module is a transceiver module [0011]); and
A processor coupled to the transceiver and configured to:
Scan for a wakeup packet from an access point remote from the ESL before transmitting an ESL advertisement (i.e., the wireless wake-up receiver (137) monitors the wireless channel continuously and scans the wireless channel with regards to the occurrence of the wake-up signal [0018] [0072]);
Receive onboarding messages or a low power mode directive from the access point (i.e., in the active mode, the client wireless module runs through a connection set-up and after the connection set-up with the access point is available for wireless communication according to the wireless standard. The content of the wireless communication may include an update of the screen, which the examiner considers to be an “onboarding message” [0051]. The client wireless module can be transferred back into the sleep mode responsive to receipt of a command terminating wireless communication [0051]).
RÖSSL does not explicitly teach transmitting, by a transmitter of the ESL, the ESL advertisement in response to receiving the first wakeup packet that includes information indicating the ESL should transmit the ESL advertisement; however, RÖSSL does teach that the wireless standard for the communication between the AP and the ESL may be Bluetooth, ZigBee, or WLAN [0052].
WILHELMSSON teaches a method of establishing connection between a first node (10) and second node (12) in a wireless network, wherein a first radio node transmits a wake-up signal to a wake-up receiver of a second radio node [0011] [0045] [Figures 2-3]. Responsive to receiving the wake-up signal, the second radio node wakes up and sends a response in the form of an advertising packet to the first radio node [0011] [0043] [0049] [0075] [Figures 2-3].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to further incorporate the teachings of WILHELMSSON in the method of RÖSSL such that the ESL transmits an advertisement in response to receiving the first wakeup packet. It is merely common practice in the art to transmit advertisements in response to receiving a wakeup packet when establishing communication between devices to ensure both devices are ready for data transfer.
Re claims 2 and 11:
RÖSSL, in view of WILHEMSSON, teaches the method of claim 1 and the ESL of claim 10, wherein the information indicating the ESL should transmit the ESL advertisement includes an identification associated with a limited number of ESLs [0040] [0041] [0047].
Re claims 3 and 12:
RÖSSL, in view of WILHEMSSON, teaches the method of claim 1 and the ESL of claim 10, wherein the information indicating the ESL should transmit the ESL advertisement includes a value associated with an address field of the ESL (i.e., address data AD [0040]).
Re claims 8 and 17:
RÖSSL, in view of WILHEMSSON, teaches the method of claim 1 and the ESL of claim 10, further comprising: entering a low power mode in response to receiving the low power mode directive [0051].
Re claim 19:
RÖSSL teaches a method for onboarding an electronic shelf label (ESL) among a plurality of ESLs, comprising:
Broadcasting, by a transmitter of a computing device (6) to an ESL, a wakeup packet (wake-up signal WUS [0069] [0078]);
Receiving, by a processor of the computing device, one or more ESL advertisements from one or more advertising ESLs from among the plurality of ESLs [0075] [0079]; and
Transmitting, by the transmitter of the computing device, at least one of: an onboarding message to the ESL corresponding to a select one or more ESLs among the plurality of ESLs; or a low power more directive to ESLs unrecognized among the plurality of ESLs (i.e., data D to be transmitted to the respective client 2 [0082] [0083]).
ROSSL does not explicitly teach receiving, by a processor of the computing device, one or more ESL advertisements from one or more advertising ESLs from among the plurality of ESLs.
WILHELMSSON teaches a method of establishing connection between a first node (10) and second node (12) in a wireless network, wherein a first radio node transmits a wake-up signal to a wake-up receiver of a second radio node [0011] [0045] [Figures 2-3]. Responsive to receiving the wake-up signal, the second radio node wakes up and sends a response in the form of an advertising packet to the first radio node [0011] [0043] [0049] [0075] [Figures 2-3].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to further incorporate the teachings of WILHELMSSON in the method of RÖSSL such that the ESL transmits an advertisement in response to receiving the first wakeup packet. It is merely common practice in the art to transmit advertisements in response to receiving a wakeup packet when establishing communication between devices to ensure both devices are ready for data transfer.
Re claim 30:
RÖSSL teaches an access point (6) (AP), comprising:
A transceiver (22) [0069] [Figures 2 and 4]; and
A processor coupled to the transceiver (i.e., server 5 connected to WLAN wireless module 22 via Ethernet cables 135) [0067] [Figures 2 and 4] and configured to:
Broadcast, using the transceiver, a wakeup packet (wake-up signal WUS [0069] [0078]); and
Transmit, using the transceiver, at least one of:
an onboarding message to the ESL corresponding to a select one or more ESLs among the plurality of ESLs, or a low power more directive to ESLs unrecognized among the plurality of ESLs (i.e., data D to be transmitted to the respective client 2 [0082] [0083]).
ROSSL does not explicitly teach receiving one or more ESL advertisements from one or more advertising ESLs from among the plurality of ESLs.
WILHELMSSON teaches a method of establishing connection between a first node (10) and second node (12) in a wireless network, wherein a first radio node transmits a wake-up signal to a wake-up receiver of a second radio node [0011] [0045] [Figures 2-3]. Responsive to receiving the wake-up signal, the second radio node wakes up and sends a response in the form of an advertising packet to the first radio node [0011] [0043] [0049] [0075] [Figures 2-3].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to further incorporate the teachings of WILHELMSSON in the method of RÖSSL such that the ESL transmits an advertisement in response to receiving the first wakeup packet. It is merely common practice in the art to transmit advertisements in response to receiving a wakeup packet when establishing communication between devices to ensure both devices are ready for data transfer.
Re claims 20 and 31:
RÖSSL, in view of WILHELMSSON, teaches the method of claim 19 and the AP of claim 30, further comprising:
Restricting further processing, by the processor of the computing device/AP, of received one or more ESL advertisements to one or more received ESL advertisements received from the identified select one or more ESLs (i.e., the AP only processes the wireless connection set-up communication transmitted from specifically addressed ESLs [0075]).
Re claims 21 and 32:
RÖSSL, in view of WILHELMSSON, teaches the method of claim 19 and the AP of claim 30, wherein the broadcasted wakeup packet includes a wakeup field that identifies the select one or more ESLs [0040] [0041] [0047].
Re claims 24 and 35:
RÖSSL, in view of WILHELMSSON, teaches the method of claim 19 and the AP of claim 30, wherein the broadcasted wakeup packet includes a wakeup field that includes at least one shelf identification associated with the select one or more ESLs (i.e., the ESL address or other unique ESL ID, when the ESL is attached to a shelf, is itself a shelf identification [0040] [0042]).
Re claims 25 and 36:
RÖSSL, in view of WILHELMSSON, teaches the method of claim 19 and the AP of claim 30, wherein the broadcasted wakeup packet identifies the select one or more ESLs as a subset of ESLs from the plurality of ESLs (i.e., group based address of the ESL wake-up receivers [0049]).
Claim(s) 4, 13, 23, and 34 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over RÖSSL, US 2022/0240184 WILHELMSSON et al, US 2022/0201610, as applied in claim 1, 10, 19, and 30, and further in view of GOSSÉ, EP 3749024.
Re claims 4, 13, 23, and 34:
RÖSSL, in view of WILHEMSSON, teaches the method of claim 1 and 19, ESL of claim 10, and AP of claim 30, but does not teach the information indicating the ESL should transmit the ESL advertisement includes at least one of: a value less than or equal to a sum of octets in an address field of the ESL; a wildcard pattern parameter; or a matching value associated with a shelf identification associated with the ESL.
GOSSÉ teaches a system and method for detecting incoming data packets to a terminal, wherein a terminal scans for a wakeup packet from an access point remote from the terminal, the wakeup packet indicating whether the terminal should be put in an active state and process a data sequence from the wakeup packet. The indication from the wakeup packet includes a wildcard pattern parameter [0025].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to further incorporate the teachings of GOSSÉ in RÖSSL such that the information indicating the ESL should transmit the ESL advertisement includes a wildcard pattern parameter. Wildcard patterns are commonly used in wireless communication applications for defining an address range of terminal addresses (GOSSÉ [0025]). One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to utilize wildcard patterns in the wakeup packet of RÖSSL to define a particular range of ESL addresses with which the AP is to communicate with.
Claim(s) 5, 6, 14, 15, 26, 27, 37, and 38 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over RÖSSL, US 2022/0240184 in view of WILHELMSSON et al, US 2022/0201610, as applied in claim 1, 10, 19, and 30, and further in view LOPEZ et al, US 2022/0295333.
Re claims 5, 14, 26, and 37:
RÖSSL, in view of WILHEMSSON, discloses the method of claims 1 and 19, ESL of claim 10, and AP of claim 30, but does not teach transmitting the ESL advertisement is timed by the ESL in accordance with an advertising interval included in the received wakeup packet.
LOPEZ teaches wireless-local area network access point configured to send at least one wake-up packet for activating broadcasting devices in a vicinity of the access point, wherein the wake-up packet includes timing information including a transmission time interval which the broadcasting device is allowed to send a response [0071] [0087].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to further incorporate the teachings of LOPEZ in the method and ESL of RÖSSL such the ESL times transmission of the ESL advertisement in accordance with an advertising interval included in the received wakeup packet to reduce or avoid collisions among ELS advertisements (LOPEZ [0030] [0102]).
Re claims 6, 15, 27, and 38:
RÖSSL, in view of WILHEMSSON, teaches the method of claim 1 and 19, the ESL of claim 10, and the AP of claim 30, but does not teach the transmission of the ESL advertisement is delayed to conform with a scan interval indicated in the received first wakeup packet.
LOPEZ teaches wireless-local area network access point configured to send at least one wake-up packet for activating broadcasting devices in a vicinity of the access point, wherein the wake-up packet includes timing information including a contention window (i.e., scan interval) for controlling a backoff (i.e., delay) applied to the broadcasting device before sending the response [0071] [0087].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to further incorporate the teachings of LOPEZ in the method, ESL, and AP of RÖSSL such that transmission of the ESL advertisement is delayed to conform with a scan interval indicated in the received first wakeup packet to reduce or avoid collisions among ELS advertisements (LOPEZ [0030] [0102]).
Claim(s) 7, 16, and 28 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over RÖSSL, US 2022/0240184 in view of WILHELMSSON et al, US 2022/0201610, as applied in claim 1, 10, 19, and 30, and further in view of HANAMITSU, US 2019/0327681.
Re claims 7, 16, and 28:
RÖSSL, in view of WILHEMSSON, teaches the method of claims 1 and 19, ESL of claim 10, and AP of claim 30, but does not teach ceasing transmission of the ESL advertisement in accordance with an advertisement timeout label included in the received wakeup packet.
HANAMITSU teaches a method and system for setting information of a slave wireless device (2) by a master wireless device (1), wherein the master wireless device is configured to transmit a control command for instructing the slave wireless device to set a communication timeout period [0077].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to further incorporate the teachings of HANAMITSU in the method, ESL, and AP of RÖSSL such that transmission of the ESL advertisement is ceased in accordance with an advertisement timeout label included in the received wakeup packet. Including a timeout label in the would be for the purpose of establishing how long the advertisement should be transmitted by the ESL before the ESL transitions back to a low power sleep state in a case in which no data packets are sent to the ESL in response to the advertisement. This is particularly advantageous for further conserving power usage by the ESL.
Claim(s) 22, 33, and 39 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over RÖSSL, US 2022/0240184 in view of WILHELMSSON et al, US 2022/0201610, as applied in claims 19 and 30, and further in view of LI et al, US 2015/0012761.
Re claims 22, 33, and 39:
RÖSSL, in view of WILHEMSSON, teaches the method of claim 19 and AP of claim 30, but does not teach the broadcasted wakeup packet includes more than one distinct wakeup field for identifying the select one or more ESLs; the broadcasted wakeup packet including a wakeup field that includes a value less than or equal to a sum of octets in an address field of the select one or more ESLs.
LI teaches a method and apparatus for performing wakeup control, wherein a broadcasted wakeup packet includes more than one distinct wakeup field for identifying a select device [0032] [0048]. The wakeup packet further includes a value less than or equal to a sum of octets in an address field of the select device [0048].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to further incorporate the teachings of LI in the method and AP of RÖSSL such that the broadcasted wakeup packet includes more than one distinct wakeup field, including a value less than or equal to a sum of octets in an address field of the select one or more ESLs. Such incorporation would be for the purpose of providing additional identifying information for which ESLs are to receive the wakeup packet.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 9, 18, 29, and 40 are 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LAURA A GUDORF whose telephone number is (571)270-7607. If the Examiner cannot be reached by telephone, she can be reached through the following e-mail address: laura.gudorf@uspto.gov. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 6:00-4:00 PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Thomas Pham, can be reached at telephone number (571)272-3689. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/LAURA A GUDORF/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2876
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