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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This Office Action is in response to Application No. 18/871548 filed on December 4, 2024.
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, 4, 7, and 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kotake (US 2022/0333793) in view of Holland (US 2010/0280636), and further in view of Wang (US 2021/0140669).
Regarding claim 1, Kotake teaches an air conditioning system (¶ [0031]: “FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an overall configuration of an air-conditioning system 1 according to Embodiment 1 of the present disclosure. The air-conditioning system 1 is a multi-air-conditioning system for a building that performs air conditioning of a building, such as an office building.”), comprising: a plurality of devices (¶ [0031]: “The air-conditioning system 1 includes a centralized management device 2 and local systems 3 (3a, 3b,”) that at least include a centralized controller (¶ [0032]: “The centralized management device 2 is an example of a management device according to the present disclosure, and a device for centralized management of each local system 3.”), one or more outdoor units, and one or more indoor units (¶ [0039]: “Each local system 3 includes the outdoor units, one or more indoor units connected to each outdoor unit, and the remote controllers.”),
wherein at startup of the system (¶ [0085]: “For example, the group information transmitter 551 may transmit to the centralized management device 2 the group information read from the storage 54 immediately after setting of the group information by the user, or may transmit to the centralized management device 2 the group information read from the storage 54 upon turning on of the outdoor unit 5.”), each of all devices connected to an integrated transmission line (¶ [0033]: “As illustrated in FIG. 1, the centralized management device 2 is connected to each outdoor unit of each local system 3 in a daisy-chain fashion via the transmission line 4 that is a so-called integrated transmission line.”), and an internal-external transmission line (Kotake ¶ [0046]: “The second communication interface 52 is an example of second communication means according to the present disclosure. The second communication interface 52 is an interface for communication with each indoor unit 6 and the remote controller 7 that are connected to the outdoor unit 5, in a second communication method via the transmission line 8 that is a so-called internal/external transmission line.”).
Kotake, however, does not explicitly teach wherein at startup of the system, the centralized controller assigns an IP address to, among the plurality of devices, … each of the one or more outdoor units assigns the IP address to each of all devices connected to the outdoor unit via an internal-external transmission line.
Holland, in analogous art, teaches wherein at startup of the system, the centralized controller assigns an IP address to (¶ [0036]: “DHCP server 332 provides connected BAS and IT devices with configuration information such as an IP address.”), among the plurality of devices (¶ [0047]: “Process 380 further includes, in response to a determination that the uplink device for providing network addressing and naming services is not active, using the network communications module to provide network address and naming services to the BAS devices connected to the communications interfaces of the BAS controller (step 386).”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine Kotake with Holland to improve the network setup and scalability of Kotake’s air-conditioning system. Kotake teaches a multi-air-conditioning system having a centralized management device, multiple outdoor units, indoor units, an integrated transmission line between the centralized management device and outdoor units, and internal/external transmission lines between outdoor units and indoor-side devices. Kotake also teaches that the integrated transmission line may use Ethernet/IP communication, with the centralized management device and outdoor units having IP addresses. However, Kotake does not expressly describe how those IP addresses are assigned. Holland teaches a building automation controller having a network communications module with DHCP/network-addressing services that automatically provide IP addresses and other network communication parameters to connected BAS/HVAC-related devices. Because both references address networked building-control/HVAC systems and both seek to support scalable device communication and simplified installation, it would have been obvious to incorporate Holland’s DHCP/network-addressing functionality into Kotake’s centralized management device so that devices connected to Kotake’s integrated transmission line could automatically receive IP addresses rather than requiring manual or preconfigured address assignment. Such a modification would predictably reduce commissioning burden, improve plug-and-play installation, and enhance scalability in Kotake’s Ethernet-based integrated transmission network.
Wang, in analogous art, teaches wherein each of the one or more outdoor units assigns the IP address to each of all devices connected to the outdoor unit (¶ [0044]: “Optionally, after assigning the unique identification code for the target indoor unit, the main outdoor unit allocates the target network IP address to the target indoor unit via the wired communication network and/or the PLC network. Each target network IP address is unique and determined.”; and ¶ [0045]: “Optionally, in the embodiments of the present disclosure, when allocating IP addresses, the IP addresses are not only allocated for the indoor units and the outdoor units, but also for other devices, such as wire control devices, debuggers, and centralized controllers. In the present disclosure, the devices during networking can be allocated with the corresponding network IP addresses, so as to realize fast and effective transmission of the communication information.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine Kotake (as modified by Holland) with Wang to provide automatic address allocation on Kotake’s outdoor-unit-to-indoor-unit communication side. Kotake teaches an air-conditioning architecture in which each outdoor unit communicates with connected indoor units and remote controllers over an internal/external transmission line, but Kotake does not expressly teach assigning IP addresses to those indoor-side devices. Wang teaches an air-conditioning system in which a main outdoor unit/outdoor unit identifies indoor units and allocates unique network IP addresses to indoor units and other air-conditioning apparatuses via wired and/or PLC communication networks, thereby facilitating networking, data transmission, and installation. Because Kotake and Wang both concern multi-split or building air-conditioning systems with multiple outdoor and indoor units, and both address communication among air-conditioning devices, a skilled artisan would have found it reasonable to apply Wang’s outdoor-unit-side IP address allocation teachings to Kotake’s outdoor units. Doing so would allow each Kotake outdoor unit to automatically assign IP addresses to the indoor units, remote controllers, or other devices connected through its internal/external transmission line, thereby reducing manual address setting, simplifying installation, and improving communication reliability and scalability. The combination would use Wang’s known IP-address allocation technique for its predictable purpose in Kotake’s known outdoor-unit/local-system architecture.
Regarding claim 4, Kotake/Holland/Wang teach the air conditioning system according to claim 1, wherein the centralized controller acquires attribute information from each of the one or more outdoor units and each of the one or more indoor units (Holland [¶0052], “According to an exemplary embodiment, connection manager 410 provides the IP address for a newly connected BAS device to BAS configuration module 426. BAS configuration module 426 (e.g., a plug-and-play discovery service) may then be configured to query the newly connected BAS device for parameters (e.g., manufacturer, default protocol, default value reporting frequency, etc.).”), generates for each of the one or more outdoor units a domain name corresponding to the IP address of the outdoor unit (Holland ¶0036, “Controller 300 further includes one or more IT addressing or naming servers such as domain name system (DNS) server 330, dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) server 332, Windows internet name service (WINS) server 334, or other services for providing IT addressing or naming servers for a network. DNS server 330 can provide a hierarchical naming system to devices or other resources connected to BAS controller 300.”) based on the acquired attribute information of the outdoor unit (Holland ¶0054, “BAS configuration module 426 may store configuration data and may also provide information received by querying the BAS devices to a quality of service (e.g., QoS) manager 414 of network communications module 408.”), and generates for each of the one or more indoor units a domain name corresponding to the IP address of the indoor unit based on the acquired attribute information of the indoor unit (Holland ¶0036 and ¶0052, “DNS server 330 can provide a hierarchical naming system to devices or other resources connected to BAS controller 300.” / “BAS configuration module 426 … may then be configured to query the newly connected BAS device for parameters (e.g., manufacturer, default protocol, default value reporting frequency, etc.).”).
Regarding claim 7, these claim(s) limitations are significantly similar to those of claim(s) 1; and, thus, are rejected on the same grounds.
Regarding claim 9, these claim(s) limitations are significantly similar to those of claim(s) 4; and, thus, are rejected on the same grounds.
Claim(s) 8, 10, and 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kotake (US 2022/0333793) in view of Holland (US 2010/0280636), and further in view of Wang (US 2021/0140669), and still further in view of Doumae (US 20210006290)
Regarding claim 8, Kotake/Holland/Wand explicitly teach all the claim limitations except for the air conditioning system according to claim 1, wherein communication between at least some of the plurality of devices is performed in a wired communication method using Wavelet OFDM.
Doumae, in analogous art, teaches wherein communication between at least some of the plurality of devices is performed in a wired communication method using Wavelet OFDM (¶0031, 38, and 68: “The outdoor unit 2 is connected to the indoor units 3 by refrigerant pipe 5. In addition, the outdoor unit 2 is connected to the indoor units 3 by an air conditioning communication line 6.”, “The communication circuit 121 includes a communication controller 151, an error correction encoder 152, a tone map creator 153, an inverse wavelet converter 154, a transmitter 155, a receiver 156, a wavelet converter 157, a transmission path estimation equalizer 158, and an error corrector 159.”, and “The communication circuit 21 generates a signal used for communication through, for example, orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM).”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine Kotake with Doumae to improve communication performance and noise immunity in Kotake’s networked air-conditioning system. Kotake teaches a multi-air-conditioning system including a centralized management device, outdoor units, indoor units, an integrated transmission line, and internal/external transmission lines, with different communication methods used between the centralized management side and the indoor/outdoor/remote-controller side. Doumae teaches an air-conditioning system in which an outdoor unit and indoor units communicate over an air-conditioning communication line using high-speed communication, including OFDM communication and wavelet/inverse-wavelet converter circuitry, while reducing inverter-noise effects on the communication signal. Because Kotake’s system relies on communication between outdoor units, indoor units, and controllers over transmission lines, a skilled artisan would have recognized the benefit of applying Doumae’s wired high-speed OFDM/wavelet communication technique to Kotake’s air-conditioning communication lines to improve communication speed, reliability, and resistance to noise generated by compressor or fan inverters. The combination would predictably enhance Kotake’s wired air-conditioning communication while maintaining Kotake’s overall system architecture and group-operation functionality.
Regarding claim 10, these claim(s) limitations are significantly similar to those of claim(s) 8; and, thus, are rejected on the same grounds.
Regarding claim 13, these claim(s) limitations are significantly similar to those of claim(s) 8; and, thus, are rejected on the same grounds.
Claim(s) 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang in vie of Toba (JP 2003209551).
Regarding claim 5, Wang teaches an air conditioning system, comprising: a plurality of devices that at least include one or more outdoor units and one or more indoor units (¶0032, “As shown in FIG. 1, the air conditioning system includes a plurality of outdoor units 11 and a plurality of indoor units 12.”), a representative device that is a device among the one or more outdoor units assigns an IP address to each of the plurality of devices ([0035] “a main outdoor unit 1103 configured to receive communication information from the first indoor units 1201 and/or from the second indoor units 1202, determine a target outdoor unit for communication according to the communication information, and send the communication information to the target outdoor unit for communication.”, and [0044] “Optionally, after assigning the unique identification code for the target indoor unit, the main outdoor unit allocates the target network IP address to the target indoor unit via the wired communication network and/or the PLC network. Each target network IP address is unique and determined.”, and [0045] “Optionally, in the embodiments of the present disclosure, when allocating IP addresses, the IP addresses are not only allocated for the indoor units and the outdoor units, but also for other devices, such as wire control devices, debuggers, and centralized controllers. In the present disclosure, the devices during networking can be allocated with the corresponding network IP addresses, so as to realize fast and effective transmission of the communication information.”).
Wang, however, does not explicitly teach wherein at startup of the system.
Toba, in analogous art teaches, wherein at startup of the system (“The new start-up node (1) transmits an in-subnet broadcast address inquiry command after acquiring the IP address from the DHCP server on the network, and the self-upper address, self-upper individual identification number, and self-media address held by each node…” p.3, last paragraph).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to to combine Wang with Toba to improve automatic network address assignment and reliability in Wang’s networked air-conditioning system. Wang teaches an air-conditioning system having a plurality of outdoor units and indoor units, including a main outdoor unit that receives communication information, identifies indoor units, assigns unique identification codes, and allocates network IP addresses via wired and/or PLC networks. Toba teaches a network address management method in which a newly joining or newly started node temporarily sets a prior or random address, broadcasts the address with a unique media address or individual identification number, detects address duplication, resets and rebroadcasts an address if duplication is reported, and permanently sets the address if no duplication notification is received within a wait time. Because Wang’s system allocates unique IP addresses to multiple air-conditioning apparatus nodes, a skilled artisan would have recognized the benefit of applying Toba’s known duplicate-address detection and autonomous address-management techniques to Wang’s IP allocation process. The combination would predictably ensure uniqueness of assigned addresses, reduce manual setup, support reliable device addition or startup, and improve communication stability in Wang’s wired and PLC air-conditioning networks.
Claim(s) 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang in view of Toba, and further in view of Doumae.
Regarding claim 11, Wang/Toba explicitly teach all the claim limitations except for the air conditioning system according to claim 5, wherein communication between at least some of the plurality of devices is performed in a wired communication method using Wavelet OFDM.
Doumae, in analogous art, teaches wherein communication between at least some of the plurality of devices is performed in a wired communication method using Wavelet OFDM (¶0031, 38, and 68: “The outdoor unit 2 is connected to the indoor units 3 by refrigerant pipe 5. In addition, the outdoor unit 2 is connected to the indoor units 3 by an air conditioning communication line 6.”, “The communication circuit 121 includes a communication controller 151, an error correction encoder 152, a tone map creator 153, an inverse wavelet converter 154, a transmitter 155, a receiver 156, a wavelet converter 157, a transmission path estimation equalizer 158, and an error corrector 159.”, and “The communication circuit 21 generates a signal used for communication through, for example, orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM).”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine Wang with Doumae to improve communication speed and noise robustness in Wang’s multi-split air-conditioning system. Wang teaches an air-conditioning system having multiple indoor units and outdoor units, including wired and PLC communication networks, in which a main outdoor unit receives communication information, determines a target outdoor unit, and forwards the communication information to enable communication among air-conditioning apparatuses. Doumae teaches an air-conditioning system in which an outdoor unit and indoor unit communicate over an air-conditioning communication line using high-speed multi-carrier communication, including OFDM communication and wavelet/inverse-wavelet converter circuitry, while reducing the influence of inverter-generated noise on the communication signal. Because Wang’s system depends on reliable communication among multiple indoor units, outdoor units, wire controllers, centralized controllers, and other apparatuses, a skilled artisan would have recognized the benefit of applying Doumae’s high-speed OFDM/wavelet wired communication technique to Wang’s wired or power-line communication network to increase communication speed, improve signal quality, and reduce communication abnormalities caused by inverter noise. The combination would predictably improve Wang’s network scalability and reliability while preserving Wang’s mixed wired/PLC air-conditioning architecture and device-matching/IP-allocation functions.
Claim(s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang in view of Toba, and further in view of Holland.
Regarding claim 6, Wang teaches the air conditioning system according to claim 5, wherein the representative device acquires attribute information from each of the one or more outdoor units and each of the one or more indoor units (¶0048, “After receiving the first indoor unit information and the second indoor unit information, the central controller is configured to analyze the first indoor unit information and the second indoor unit information to obtain an analysis result, and send the analysis result to a second target outdoor unit.”).
Wang, however, does not explicitly teach generates for each of the one or more outdoor units a domain name corresponding to the IP address of the outdoor unit based on the acquired attribute information of the outdoor unit, and generates for each of the one or more indoor units a domain name corresponding to the IP address of the indoor unit based on the acquired attribute information of the indoor unit.
Holland, in analogous art, teach generates for each of the one or more outdoor units a domain name corresponding to the IP address of the outdoor unit based on the acquired attribute information of the outdoor unit, and generates for each of the one or more indoor units a domain name corresponding to the IP address of the indoor unit based on the acquired attribute information of the indoor unit (¶0036, “DNS server 330 can provide a hierarchical naming system to devices or other resources connected to BAS controller 300.”, and “Controller 300 further includes one or more IT addressing or naming servers such as domain name system (DNS) server 330, dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) server 332, Windows internet name service (WINS) server 334…”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine Wang with Holland to improve network configuration, naming, and management in Wang’s multi-split air-conditioning system. Wang teaches an air-conditioning system including multiple outdoor units and indoor units, including a main outdoor unit that receives communication information from indoor units, determines a target outdoor unit, assigns unique identification codes, and allocates unique network IP addresses to indoor units and other air-conditioning apparatuses over wired and/or PLC networks. Holland teaches a building automation controller having a network communications module that provides conventional IT network services, including DHCP for IP address allocation and DNS/WINS naming services, and that can query connected BAS/HVAC devices for configuration parameters such as manufacturer, protocol, and reporting information. Because Wang’s air-conditioning devices are networked and assigned IP addresses, a skilled artisan would have recognized the benefit of incorporating Holland’s known DHCP/DNS-type network management functions into Wang’s main outdoor unit or central controller so that Wang’s devices could be automatically addressed, named, discovered, and managed using standard network services. The combination would predictably reduce installation and commissioning burden, facilitate plug-and-play addition of indoor units and other devices, improve identification of devices by names corresponding to IP addresses, and enhance scalability and manageability of Wang’s wired and PLC air-conditioning networks.
Claim(s) 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang in view of Toba, and further in view of Holland, and still further in view of Doumae.
Regarding claim 12, Wang/Toba/Holland explicitly teach all the claim limitations except for the air conditioning system according to claim 6, wherein communication between at least some of the plurality of devices is performed in a wired communication method using Wavelet OFDM.
Doumae, in analogous art, teaches wherein communication between at least some of the plurality of devices is performed in a wired communication method using Wavelet OFDM (¶0031, 38, and 68: “The outdoor unit 2 is connected to the indoor units 3 by refrigerant pipe 5. In addition, the outdoor unit 2 is connected to the indoor units 3 by an air conditioning communication line 6.”, “The communication circuit 121 includes a communication controller 151, an error correction encoder 152, a tone map creator 153, an inverse wavelet converter 154, a transmitter 155, a receiver 156, a wavelet converter 157, a transmission path estimation equalizer 158, and an error corrector 159.”, and “The communication circuit 21 generates a signal used for communication through, for example, orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM).”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine Wang with Doumae to improve communication speed and noise robustness in Wang’s multi-split air-conditioning system. Wang teaches an air-conditioning system having multiple indoor units and outdoor units, including wired and PLC communication networks, in which a main outdoor unit receives communication information, determines a target outdoor unit, and forwards the communication information to enable communication among air-conditioning apparatuses. Doumae teaches an air-conditioning system in which an outdoor unit and indoor unit communicate over an air-conditioning communication line using high-speed multi-carrier communication, including OFDM communication and wavelet/inverse-wavelet converter circuitry, while reducing the influence of inverter-generated noise on the communication signal. Because Wang’s system depends on reliable communication among multiple indoor units, outdoor units, wire controllers, centralized controllers, and other apparatuses, a skilled artisan would have recognized the benefit of applying Doumae’s high-speed OFDM/wavelet wired communication technique to Wang’s wired or power-line communication network to increase communication speed, improve signal quality, and reduce communication abnormalities caused by inverter noise. The combination would predictably improve Wang’s network scalability and reliability while preserving Wang’s mixed wired/PLC air-conditioning architecture and device-matching/IP-allocation functions.
Conclusion
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/Ramon A. Mercado/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3658
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