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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by ROY et al. 20210091966.
CLAIM 1
ROY et al. discloses a power output device, comprising:
a plurality of output ports (Fig. 8, ports 802,804,805);
a power source (Fig. 8, Battery 803); and
a controller configured to: receive a user input indicating a desired configuration of the plurality of output ports; and
configure the plurality of output ports based on the received user input and a total power budget of the power output device (The switching processor 308 may include, in the total power request, only a portion of the power specified in the downstream device power request.).
[0121] In aspects of the present application, a complex ID may incorporate a battery. FIG. 8 illustrates a battery-inclusive complex ID 800 with connections for receiving power and data from the PSE 22 and providing power downstream to the PD 24. The battery-inclusive complex ID 800 is associated with a dependent powered device 824 component. The battery-inclusive complex ID 800 includes an upstream port 802 for receiving power and data the PSE 22. The battery-inclusive complex ID 800 also includes a battery 803. Furthermore, the battery-inclusive complex ID 800 includes a downstream port 804 for connecting to the PD 24, or for connecting to another ID in a network or daisy chain configuration. Since the battery-inclusive complex ID 800 is associated with the dependent powered device 824, a dedicated device port 805 is included. The battery 803 and each of the three ports 802, 804, 805 are connected through a switching processor 808. Notably, the battery 803 may be implemented as a known lithium ion battery or an ultracapacitor, just to name two possibilities for power storage. The battery 803 may need to be replaced when the charge has diminished or may be rechargeable.
[0122] The battery-inclusive complex ID 800 may employ power from the battery 803 to deal with a spike in power draw at the output port 804. Additionally, with power available from the battery, the battery-inclusive complex ID 800 reduce the amount of power requested. The battery-inclusive complex ID 800 may use 5 W on average but occasionally spikes, temporarily, to 20 W. The battery 803 of the battery-inclusive complex ID 800 may allow the device to merely request, say, 6 W or 7 W instead of 20 W. The excess of 1 W or 2 W may be directed, by the switching processor 808, towards charging the battery 803. Bolstering the power available at the output port 804 with a battery power may be seen to allow the battery-inclusive complex ID 800 to handle spikes in power draw that were not anticipated, based on any monitoring of power flow in which the battery-inclusive complex ID 800 may have engaged.
CLAIM 2
ROY et al. discloses the power output device of claim 1, wherein the received user input specifies a desired output power for each of the plurality of output ports.
The battery 803 of the battery-inclusive complex ID 800 may allow the device to merely request, say, 6 W or 7 W instead of 20 W.
CLAIM 3
ROY et al. discloses the power output device of claim 2, further comprising: a power matrix circuit coupled to the controller, and wherein the controller is further configured to control the power matrix circuit to provide the desired output power to each of the plurality of output ports.
[0122] The battery-inclusive complex ID 800 may employ power from the battery 803 to deal with a spike in power draw at the output port 804. Additionally, with power available from the battery, the battery-inclusive complex ID 800 reduce the amount of power requested. The battery-inclusive complex ID 800 may use 5 W on average but occasionally spikes, temporarily, to 20 W. The battery 803 of the battery-inclusive complex ID 800 may allow the device to merely request, say, 6 W or 7 W instead of 20 W. The excess of 1 W or 2 W may be directed, by the switching processor 808, towards charging the battery 803. Bolstering the power available at the output port 804 with a battery power may be seen to allow the battery-inclusive complex ID 800 to handle spikes in power draw that were not anticipated, based on any monitoring of power flow in which the battery-inclusive complex ID 800 may have engaged.
CLAIM 4
ROY et al. discloses the power output device of claim 1, further comprising: a port manager configured to receive one or more device parameters associated with one or more external devices coupled to the plurality of output ports.
[0109] It is expected that the switching processor 308 of the complex ID 300 is configured to determine a total power request based on power requirements of the switching processor 308, a power request received from the dependent powered device 324 and from a device connected to the downstream port 304 when determining a total power to request.
CLAIM 5
ROY et al. discloses the power output device of claim 4, wherein the controller is further configured to configure the plurality of output ports based on the received one or more device parameters associated with the one or more external devices coupled to the plurality of output ports.
[0100] By controlling the start-up sequence, the PSE 22 may give switching processors 308 time to monitor power consumption. Through such monitoring, a given switching processor 308 may recognize that, on average, a dependent powered device 424 draws less power than has been requested and granted. Responsively, the switching processor 308, perhaps under instructions from the PSE 22, may reduce the power granted to the port to which the dependent powered device 424 is connected. Accordingly, wasted power allocation is avoided and the chances of powering every dependent powered device 424 are increased. This may be implemented as an adaptation of Autoclass under IEEE802.3bt. Monitoring at the switching processor 308 may include monitoring instruction, from the PSE 22, directed to the device connected to the downstream port 304 to, thereby, determine an amount of power allocated to the device connected to the downstream port 304. The switching processor 308 may determine, based on the instruction, that a power amount specified in an earlier-handled power request exceeds the amount of power allocated to the device connected to the downstream port 304.
Responsive to the determining, the switching processor 308 may discontinue providing power to the downstream port 304.
CLAIM 6
ROY et al. discloses the power output device of claim 5, wherein the received user input includes one or more device priority profiles, the one or more device priority profiles configured to identify an output power priority for each of the plurality of output ports based on the one or more device parameters associated with the one or more external devices coupled to the plurality of output ports.
[0056] It may be that it is desirable to assign the fourth complex ID 400D a lower priority than the other complex IDs 400. It may be that it is desirable to assign the PD 24 a higher priority than all of the complex IDs 400. Unfortunately, it can be shown that a network of known intermediary devices fails to allow for deviation from a default prioritization scheme wherein certain devices are prioritized over other devices.
[0057] For one example prioritization scheme, it may be desirable to prioritize devices to power-on in a certain order.
[0058] For another example prioritization scheme, it may be desirable to only power-on certain ones of the dependent powered devices.
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.
Claim(s) 7-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ROY et al. 20210091966 in view of TAN et al. 20230280809.
CLAIMS 7,17
ROY et al. discloses the power output device of claim 1.
ROY et al. does not disclose wherein the plurality of output ports are selected from a group consisting of USB-A ports and USB-C ports.
TAN et al. discloses wherein the plurality of output ports are selected from a group consisting of USB-A ports and USB-C ports.
[0030] The techniques are particularly suitable for desktop computers with USB Type-C (USB-C) ports which are commonly used for charging mobile devices. USB-C is an industry-standard connector for transmitting both data and power on a single cable. Desktop computers commonly follow an ATX (Advanced Technology extended) motherboard and power supply configuration specification. In a particular embodiment, when the desktop system enters a sleep state, the ATX main rails get turned off, forcing the power available from the Type-C ports to reduce to default power levels. The limited power available from the ATX standby rail (when main rails are off) may be insufficient to perform adequate charging on the user's mobile devices, resulting in very slow or no charging at all.
[0041] A newer type of USB, USB Type-C, is expected to replace prior versions such as USB Type-A and USB Type-B. USB Type-C can handle data, power, and video transmissions
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to have selected USB-A ports and USB-C ports to transfer data and power to a connected device.
CLAIMS 8,18
ROY et al. discloses the power output device of claim 1, wherein [0121] The battery 803 may need to be replaced when the charge has diminished or may be rechargeable.
ROY et al. does not disclose wherein the power source is a rechargeable power tool battery pack.
TAN et al. discloses wherein the plurality of output ports are selected from a group consisting of USB-A ports and USB-C ports which are capable of connecting to a power source such as a battery.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to have connected a rechargeable power tool battery to a system port wherein the battery wherein the power tool battery would be a power source for the system.
CLAIMS 9,19
ROY et al. in view of TAN et al. disclose the method for controlling a multi-output universal serial bus ("USB") hub device, comprising:
receiving, at a controller of the USB hub device, a user input indicating a desired configuration of one or more output ports of the USB hub device;
ROY et al. discloses claim 1. An intermediary device (ID) configured to be connected between power sourcing equipment (PSE) and a powered device (PD), the ID comprising: an upstream port adapted to interface with an upstream device over a first connection, the first connection configured to carry data and input electrical power, the upstream direction defined as toward the PSE; a downstream port adapted to interface with a downstream device over a second connection, the second connection configured to carry data and output electrical power, the downstream direction defined as toward the PD; an output port to interface with a dependent device over a third connection, the third connection configured to carry data and electrical power; and a switching processor configured to control a flow of electrical power from the upstream port to the downstream port and the output port.
determining a total power budget of the USB hub device. ROY et al. discloses [0025] It may be shown that the PoE standards have evolved to allow ever-increasing quantities of power to be transmitted over an Ethernet cable. It may be also shown that the so-called “power budgets” that are enabled by these ever-increasing quantities of power will soon be able to accommodate the power needs of a plurality of devices.); and
configuring the one or more output ports of the USB hub device based on the received user input and the determined total power budget,
wherein configuring the one or more output ports includes controlling an available output power for each of the one or more output ports.
TANG et al. discloses [0082] FIG. 4B illustrates example signals consistent with the process of FIG. 2 and the computer implementation of FIG. 3 in accordance with various embodiments, where there is a transition from a full low power state to a modified low power state and back to the full low power state. A plot 450 depicts the system state, which remains at Sx (sleep or low power) in this example. A plot 455 depicts a signal on configuration channel (CC) lines of the USB PD controllers. For the USB Type-C solution, two pins on the connector, CC1 and CC2, are used to establish and manage the Source-to-Sink connection. The configuration channel is used to detect the attachment of USB ports, e.g. a Source to a Sink, resolve cable orientation and twist connections to establish USB data bus routing, establish data roles between two attached ports, discover and configure VBUS: USB Type-C Current modes or USB Power Delivery, configure VCONN and discover and configure optional Alternate and Accessory modes.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to have developed the method for controlling a multi-output universal serial bus ("USB") hub device, as claimed.
CLAIM 10
ROY et al. in view of TAN et al. disclose the method of claim 9.
ROY et al. discloses [0123] FIG. 9 illustrates a display 902 of a graphical user interface (GUI) device 900, which, as mentioned hereinbefore, may allow a user to input a priority sequence for implementation by the PSE 22, e.g., by giving each node a priority number. The display 902 of FIG. 9 illustrates a representation of a network of IDs as a topology of nodes 904A, 904B, 904C, 904D, 904E, 904F, 904G (collectively or individually 904) and connections between the nodes 904. A cursor 906 is illustrated as positioned over one of the nodes 904A. Responsive to the user positioning the cursor 906 over the node 904A, the GUI device 900 may cause a dialog 908 to appear on the display 902. Example information that may be conveyed in the dialog 908 include a priority number and a MAC address. Further information (not shown) in the dialog 908 may relate to control power routing decisions.
TAN et al. discloses [0095] The IX 556 couples the processor 552 to communication circuitry 566 for communications with other devices, such as a remote server (not shown) and the like. The communication circuitry 566 is a hardware element, or collection of hardware elements, used to communicate over one or more networks 563 and/or with other devices. In one example, communication circuitry 566 is, or includes, transceiver circuitry configured to enable wireless communications using any number of frequencies and protocols such as, for example, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 (and/or variants thereof), IEEE 802.23.4, Bluetooth® and/or Bluetooth® low energy (BLE), ZigBee®, LoRaWAN™ (Long Range Wide Area Network), a cellular protocol such as 3GPP LTE and/or Fifth Generation (5G)/New Radio (NR), and/or the like. Additionally or alternatively, communication circuitry 566 is, or includes, one or more network interface controllers (NICs) to enable wired communication using, for example, an Ethernet connection, Controller Area Network (CAN), Local Interconnect Network (LIN), DeviceNet, ControlNet, Data Highway+, or PROFINET, among many others.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to provide a transmitter and a receiver to provide the capability to receive a wirelessly user input from an external device.
CLAIM 11
ROY et al. in view of TAN et al. disclose the method of claim 9.
ROY et al. discloses wherein the received user input specifies a desired output power for each of the plurality of output ports.
ROY et al. does not disclose wherein the user input is received at a user interface of the USB hub device.
TAN et al. discloses [0121] Example 18 includes an apparatus, comprising: a platform controller hub to send a signal to a power supply unit and USB ports.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to have provided the method wherein the user input is received at a user interface of the USB hub device.
CLAIM 12
ROY et al. in view of TAN et al. the method of claim 9.
Roy et al. discloses wherein the controller is further configured to control the power matrix circuit to provide the desired output power to each of the plurality of output ports.
ROY et al. does not disclose the USB hub device.
TAN et al. discloses a platform controller hub to send a signal to a power supply unit and USB ports.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to provide the controlling, using a power matrix circuit of the USB hub device, an amount of available power for each of the one or more output ports based on an instruction from the controller.
CLAIM 13
ROY et al. in view of TAN et al. disclose the method of claim 9.
ROY et al. discloses receiving one or more device parameters from one or more external devices coupled to the one or more output ports.
[0109] It is expected that the switching processor 308 of the complex ID 300 is configured to determine a total power request based on power requirements of the switching processor 308, a power request received from the dependent powered device 324 and from a device connected to the downstream port 304 when determining a total power to request.
CLAIM 14
ROY et al. in view of TAN et al. disclose the method of claim 13.
ROY et al. discloses [0100] By controlling the start-up sequence, the PSE 22 may give switching processors 308 time to monitor power consumption. Through such monitoring, a given switching processor 308 may recognize that, on average, a dependent powered device 424 draws less power than has been requested and granted. Responsively, the switching processor 308, perhaps under instructions from the PSE 22, may reduce the power granted to the port to which the dependent powered device 424 is connected. Accordingly, wasted power allocation is avoided and the chances of powering every dependent powered device 424 are increased. This may be implemented as an adaptation of Autoclass under IEEE802.3bt. Monitoring at the switching processor 308 may include monitoring instruction, from the PSE 22, directed to the device connected to the downstream port 304 to, thereby, determine an amount of power allocated to the device connected to the downstream port 304. The switching processor 308 may determine, based on the instruction, that a power amount specified in an earlier-handled power request exceeds the amount of power allocated to the device connected to the downstream port 304.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to provide the method wherein the one or more device parameters include one or more of a charging voltage of the one or more external devices, an optimal charging power of the one or more external devices, and an identifier of the one or more external device.
CLAIM 15
ROY et al. in view of TAN et al. disclose the method of claim 14.
ROY et al. discloses wherein: the received user input includes a device priority profile; and the device priority profile prioritizes devices connected to the one or more output ports based on the one or more device parameters.
[0056] It may be that it is desirable to assign the fourth complex ID 400D a lower priority than the other complex IDs 400. It may be that it is desirable to assign the PD 24 a higher priority than all of the complex IDs 400. Unfortunately, it can be shown that a network of known intermediary devices fails to allow for deviation from a default prioritization scheme wherein certain devices are prioritized over other devices.
[0057] For one example prioritization scheme, it may be desirable to prioritize devices to power-on in a certain order.
[0058] For another example prioritization scheme, it may be desirable to only power-on certain ones of the dependent powered devices.
CLAIM 16
ROY et al. in view of TAN et al. disclose the method of claim 15.
ROY et al. discloses controlling the one or more output ports based on the determined total power budget, the received user input, and the one or more received device parameters.
[0067] In another example, such power signaling may be provided using custom TLVs. In order to create a custom TLV, the LLDP Ethernet frame structure may be used, with the TLV type set to 127 (Custom TLVs). One particular example of implementation involves use of an Organizationally Unique Identifier (OUI, 24-bits) in the custom TLV. For example, a custom OUI may be used to identify the custom TLV as originating at an ID that other IDs can recognize. Furthermore a sub-type specific to the OUI may allow the originating ID to identify itself as an intermediary device and also indicate that the custom TLV specifically pertains to power routing or a to particular type of power network, such as mesh-PoE power network. The rest of the custom TLV may incorporate an “organizationally defined information string.” Here, an agreed-upon pattern may be used to define the power information. The reader will appreciate that this agreed-upon pattern can be provided in any form desired. For example, a first byte may be reserved to represent a specific identifier for the ID sending the custom TLV. Another byte may be reserved to represent status information, e.g., representative of whether the ID powered on in a full power mode, powered on in a reduced power mode (e.g., a low-power mode), etc. Another byte may indicate how many branches are connected to the ID, e.g., a number of downstream branches. For example, a value of 1 may mean that the node splits into a branch and a value of 0 could mean that the device does not split into any branches, etc. Yet another byte may indicate how many devices are next to, or downstream from the ID in a daisy-chain. For example, a value of 12 may mean that 12 devices are connected downstream from the ID in the daisy chain. Finally, additional bytes, e.g., three bytes, may be reserved to share the amount of power requested/used in each branch. For example, the first byte has a value of 123, thereby indicating that branch A is using 12.3 W in total, the second byte has a value of 14, thereby indicating that only 1.4 W is requested/used in total on branch B, and the third byte has a value of 2, thereby indicating that the ID is only requesting/using 0.2 W for itself). This provides a conduit for representing data described further hereinafter (“I(1 W), A(5 W), B(I(1 W),A(2 W),B(5 W))” in logical format.
[0068] Higher level (network layer, transport layer, right up to application layer) signaling may also be used, e.g., in addition to physical layer protocols and link layer protocols, to negotiate power and establish power routing instructions, information, priorities and topology. For example, complex IDs may run application layer programming that manages or monitors power routing, which generate and transmit, as well as receive and interpret, application layer messages, which are shared over the data network with other IDs or compatible devices. Such messages may include topology information, including information about the number of branches, power requirements, etc., pertaining to themselves and connected devices, as well as available information about the network devices requiring such power in order to declare or establish power priorities, power-routing topology and the like.
CLAIM 20
ROY et al. in view of TAN et al. disclose the method of claim 19.
ROY et al. discloses controlling power to ports.
TAN et al. discloses USB power modules.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to configure a controller to derate the output power of each of the one or more USB power modules based on a total power budget of the modular USB hub being exceeded to prevent an overload condition on the system
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Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ROBERT L DEBERADINIS whose telephone number is (571)272-2049. The examiner can normally be reached 9 am to 6 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Barnie Rexford can be reached at 571 272 2391. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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April 10, 2026
/ROBERT L DEBERADINIS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2836
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