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
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, 2, 4-9 and 13-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wit (US 2012/0271478) in view of Sobue (US 2011/0202221).
Regarding claim 1, Wit teaches a method for managing energy of an electronic device, the method being implemented by the electronic device and comprising (Abstract: “An apparatus has a signal processing system for executing a plurality of pre-determined signal processing tasks, and an energy source for powering the signal processing system in operational use of the apparatus.”):
obtaining at least one action to be performed by said electronic device (¶ 0007: “An embodiment of the invention relates to an apparatus comprising electronic circuitry with a signal processing system for executing a plurality of pre-determined signal processing tasks.”, and ¶ 0035: “For example, a first one of the pre-determined signal processing tasks comprises retrieving the input data from the data source 112 via the interface 116. A second one of the pre-determined signal processing tasks comprises carrying out one or more data processing operations on the retrieved input data at the data processing system 110. A third one of the pre-determined signal processing tasks includes supplying, via the interface 116, the results of the second pre-determined signal processing task as output data to the data destination 114.”); and
scheduling execution of said at least one action (¶ 0011: “The particular pre-determined signal processing task to be executed next is selected from among those pre-determined signal processing tasks, still awaiting execution according to the history log, and whose energy requirements match the amount of energy available.”) while taking into account a current energy level of said electronic device (¶ 0007: “The electronic circuitry is configured for determining the amount of energy available from the energy source; and selecting for execution a specific one of the plurality of pre-determined signal processing tasks in dependence on the amount determined.”).
Wit, however, does not explicitly teach said scheduling taking into account an energy charging capacity of said electronic device taking into account at least one first event external to said electronic device.
Sobue, in analogous art, teaches said scheduling taking into account an energy charging capacity of said electronic device (¶ 0008: “a solar photovoltaic generation electric power amount calculator for calculating a solar photovoltaic generation electric power amount until a next driving time based on the weather information and the sunshine information”, and ¶ 0039: “For example, when the sunrise time is 6 a.m., and the scheduled starting time is 8 a.m., the electricity generation time of the solar photovoltaic generation system is two hours from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m before departure. Thus, the charge amount of electricity is calculated by multiplying two hours with 10 KW/h so that the charge amount of electricity is 20 KW (=10 KW/h.times.2 h).”) taking into account at least one first event external to said electronic device (¶ 0028: “The weather report obtaining element 7 obtains a weather report, which is supplied from an external information center such as a radio broad cast station or a data service center with using a digital radio wave.”, ¶ 0029: “The sunrise and sunset time data obtaining element 8 stores the sunrise time and the sunset time corresponding to the longitude and the latitude.”, and ¶ 0044: “Thus, based on the charge schedule plan, the solar photovoltaic generation system is utilized to charge the battery 4 to the utmost extent, when the charge amount from the solar photovoltaic generation system is not sufficient, the commercial power source supplies the shortage of the charge amount with using night time electricity, and further, when the charge amount from the solar photovoltaic generation system and the charge amount from the commercial power source with using the night time electricity are not sufficient, the battery 4 is charged from the commercial power source with using the normal time electricity (i.e., day time electricity).”).
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 Wit with Sobue by applying Sobue’s predictive charging-capacity scheduling techniques to de Wit’s energy-managed electronic device. Wit teaches an electronic device that determines the amount of energy available from an energy source and selects a predetermined signal-processing task for execution based on that available energy, with task selection primarily responsive to current stored or available energy. Sobue teaches improving an energy schedule by considering expected charging capacity from an energy source, such as solar photovoltaic generation, based on external conditions including weather information and sunrise/sunset or sunshine information, and then preparing a schedule that uses the predicted available charging energy while supplementing shortages from another source. Incorporating Sobue’s forecast-based charging-capacity determination into Wit’s task-selection system would allow Wit’s device to schedule execution of its tasks not only according to its present energy level, but also according to expected future charging opportunities affected by external events. Such a combination would have been a predictable use of known energy-management techniques to improve reliability and efficiency in energy-constrained devices by preventing task execution when energy is insufficient while enabling greater task execution when upcoming charging capacity is expected.
Regarding claim 2, Wit/Sobue teach the method according to claim 1, wherein said scheduling implements: executing said at least one action for a first duration or as long as the current energy level of said electronic device is higher than or equal to a first energy level (Wit ¶ 0017: “The energy control component connects the energy source and the signal processing system, if a first magnitude of the amount of energy, available from the energy source, is higher than a first pre-determined threshold.”, and ¶ 0058: “Whether or not the third pre-determined signal processing task can be completed, once execution has started, may also depend on the apparatus 100 receiving an acknowledgement from the receiver that has received the output data transmitted by the transmitter in the data destination 114.”), and timing the execution of said at least one action for a second duration (¶ 0059: “Accordingly, the signal processing system 108 can temporarily assume a sleep mode while waiting for a time slot, wherein the transmission can start. A maximum waiting time is allotted, which corresponds to the consumption of an amount of energy E3 (wait free).”) or until the current energy level of said electronic device is higher than or equal to a second energy level, higher than said first energy level (¶ 0019: “If, instead, the available amount of energy increases, the available amount of energy will sooner or later exceed the amount needed to execute a specific one of the signal processing tasks. When the electronic circuitry has determined that there is a sufficient amount of energy available from the energy source to execute a pending signal processing task, the signal processing system starts execution of the pending signal processing task.”, and ¶ 0017: “The energy control component connects the energy source and the signal processing system, if a first magnitude of the amount of energy, available from the energy source, is higher than a first pre-determined threshold. The energy control component disconnects the energy source and the signal processing system, if a second magnitude of the amount of energy, available from the energy source, is lower than a second pre-determined threshold. The first pre-determined threshold is higher than the second pre-determined threshold …”).
Regarding claim 4, Wit/Sobue teach the method according to claim 1, wherein said scheduling defines an order of execution of at least two actions while taking into account at least one priority associated with said at least two actions (Wit ¶ 0011: “For example, the plurality of pre-determined signal processing tasks is organized as an ordered list, e.g., as a linear array with a beginning and an end, or as a circular array (wherein the sequence of tasks repeats itself), so that a specific one of the pre-determined signal processing tasks is a selectable candidate for execution only if another pre-determined signal processing task, preceding the specific pre-determined signal processing task in the list, has been executed.”, and Wit ¶ 0012: “In case the amount of energy, available to the signal processing system, is adequate for execution of the first pre-determined signal processing task or the second pre-determined signal processing task, the electronic circuitry selects the first pre-determined signal processing task as a result of its higher priority.”).
Regarding claim 5, Wit/Sobue teach the method according to claim 1, wherein said scheduling defines an order of execution of said at least one action while taking into account at least one energy consumption associated with said at least one action (Wit ¶ 0011: “The particular pre-determined signal processing task to be executed next is selected from among those pre-determined signal processing tasks, still awaiting execution according to the history log, and whose energy requirements match the amount of energy available.”, and Wit ¶ 0038: “The execution and completion of a specific one of the pre-determined signal processing tasks by the signal processing system 108 needs a specific amount of energy. The electronic circuitry 106 has available information, determined in advance, about the individual amount of energy or power, needed for execution and completion of an individual one of the plurality of pre-determined signal processing tasks.”).
Regarding claim 6, Wit/Sobue teach the method according to claim 1, wherein said scheduling times the execution of at least one action (Sobue ¶ 0008: “a charge schedule preparation element for preparing a charge schedule, which represents a first charge time for charging the battery with the solar photovoltaic generation system and a second charge time for charging the battery by the electric power shortage amount with another electric power source”) amongst said at least one action while taking into account at least one second event external to said electronic device (Sobue ¶ 0128: “the information obtained by the information obtaining element includes at least one of hourly weather information, wake-up information of the user, commercial activity information showing commercial activity for gathering people, personal schedule information obtained from a mobile device of the user and event information.”, and ¶ 0127: “The charge schedule preparation element modifies the charge schedule when the charge schedule preparation element determines based on the information obtained by the information obtaining element that a scheduled departure time is changed or the next optimum driving route is crowded.”).
Regarding claim 7, Wit/Sobue teach the method according to claim 1, wherein said method determines at least one time range for recharging said electronic device with energy, while taking into account said at least one first event external to said electronic device (Sobue ¶ 0046: “In FIG. 5, the battery 4 is charged from the commercial power source with using the night time electricity from 1:00 a.m. to 2:30 a.m. The battery 4 is charged from the solar photovoltaic generation system from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. The vehicle travels to the destination from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.”, Sobue ¶ 0038: “The device 5 obtains the date of the following day based on the calendar. Further, the device 5 obtains the sunrise time and the sunset time of the following day based on the sunrise and sunset time table data stored in the device 5.”, and Sobue ¶ 0039: “For example, when the sunrise time is 6 a.m., and the scheduled starting time is 8 a.m., the electricity generation time of the solar photovoltaic generation system is two hours from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m before departure.”).
Regarding claim 8, Wit/Sobue teach the method according to claim 7, wherein said first external event belongs to the group comprising consisting of: a weather condition (Sobue ¶ 0028: “The weather report obtaining element 7 obtains a weather report, which is supplied from an external information center such as a radio broad cast station or a data service center with using a digital radio wave.”), a sunrise and/or sunset time (Sobue ¶ 0029: “The sunrise and sunset time data obtaining element 8 stores the sunrise time and the sunset time corresponding to the longitude and the latitude.”).
Regarding claim 9, Wit/Sobue teach the method according to claim 1, wherein the method comprises configuring at least one behavior profile of said electronic device (Wit ¶ 0012: “The priorities assigned may be made dynamic in the sense that the priorities may vary among the pre-determined signal processing tasks, e.g., depending on the time of the day, the pre-determined signal processing tasks already executed, the output of a particular pre-determined signal processing task executed, etc.”), and in that said scheduling takes into account said behavior profile (Wit ¶ 0012: “It is then one of the housekeeping tasks of the signal processing system to maintain an overview of the most recently assigned priorities, e.g., in a non-volatile memory.”, and Sobue ¶ 0096: “In this case, an estimation of the departure time after the user wakes up, and prepares for outgo for a certain minutes or hours is performed based on statistical information of the past preparation time from the wake-up time, which is obtained from the past behavior patterns of the user.”).
Regarding claims 13 and 14, these claim(s) limitations are significantly similar to those of claim(s) 1 and 7; and, thus, are rejected on the same grounds.
Regarding claims 15, these claim(s) limitations are significantly similar to those of claim(s) 1; and, thus, are rejected on the same grounds.
Claim(s) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wit (US 2012/0271478) in view of Sobue (US 2011/0202221), and further in view of Breen (US 2008/0162968).
Regarding claim 3, Wit/Sobue explicitly teach all the claim limitations except for the method according to claim 2, wherein said execution executes said at least one action with a second frequency, higher than a first frequency, and/or with a higher second rate, higher than a first rate as long as the current energy level of said electronic device is higher than or equal to said first energy level.
Breen, in analogous art, teaches wherein said execution executes said at least one action with a second frequency, higher than a first frequency (¶ 0017: “When the battery is at a relatively high level of charge, the wake interval can be short (i.e., fast). In an illustrative example, wake intervals of fifteen minutes’ sleep time, separating wake durations of seven minutes each, may be an appropriate duty cycle for a relatively high charge level. Conversely, in the same example, wake intervals of twelve hours, separating wake durations of five minutes each, may be a more appropriate duty cycle when the charge level decreases to a relatively low level.”), and/or with a higher second rate, higher than a first rate as long as the current energy level of said electronic device is higher than or equal to said first energy level (¶ 0046: “At block 540, responsively to a decrease in the charge level 75, the controller 58 can increase the wake interval 110.”, and ¶ 0047: “In other embodiments, if the power supply 80 is receiving external power, and if the charge level 75 is high (e.g., about 100%, or higher than a predetermined value), the controller 58 decreases the wake interval 110 to a predetermined minimum value of the wake interval 110.”).
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 further combine Wit as modified by Sobue with Breen to improve energy-aware scheduling by adjusting not only which actions are executed and when they are scheduled, but also how frequently those actions are performed based on the device’s current energy level. de Wit teaches selecting signal-processing tasks for execution based on available energy, and Sobue teaches enhancing energy scheduling by accounting for predicted charging capacity based on external events such as weather, sunshine, sunrise, and sunset. Breen teaches that, in a battery-powered electronic device, the wake interval can be decreased when the charge level is high and increased when the charge level decreases, thereby increasing or decreasing the frequency at which device functions such as locating, polling, and communication are performed. Incorporating Breen’s charge-level-based wake-interval adjustment into the Wit/Sobue system would have predictably allowed the device to execute scheduled actions more frequently when sufficient current or expected energy is available, and less frequently when energy is scarce. This would have been a straightforward application of known power-management techniques to conserve energy while maintaining improved responsiveness and performance when the device’s energy level or charging outlook permits.
Claim(s) 10-12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wit (US 2012/0271478) in view of Sobue (US 2011/0202221), and further in view of Breen (US 2008/0162968).
Regarding claim 10, Wit/Sobue explicitly teach all the claim limitations except for the method according to claim 1, wherein the method comprises triggering an alert if in response to said current energy level is being lower than a third energy level.
Tan, in analogous art, teaches wherein the method comprises triggering an alert (Abstract: “If the state-of-charge of the battery reaches the charge threshold, the system generates the low-battery warning.”) if in response to said current energy level is being lower than a third energy level (¶ 0034: “If the state-of-charge reaches or falls below the charge threshold, a notification apparatus 210 in electronic device 206 and/or electronic devices 202-204 may generate a low-battery warning.”, ¶ 0044: “In particular, notification apparatus 312 may generate low-battery warning 330 if the current value of state-of-charge 314 reaches charge threshold 328. For example, notification apparatus 312 may generate low-battery warning 330 by displaying a pop-up window containing low-battery warning 330 within a display associated with electronic device 302 and/or another electronic device.”, ¶ 0051: “If the battery’s state-of-charge has reached the charge threshold, a low-battery warning is generated (operation 408). For example, the low-battery warning may correspond to a visual and/or audio notification that alerts a user of the need to replace and/or recharge the battery before the battery fully depletes and disrupts use of the electronic device.”, and ¶ 0033: “The charge threshold may represent a state-of-charge of the battery at which a low-battery warning should be generated to provide a certain amount of notice to the user before the battery is fully depleted.”).
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 further combine Wit as modified by Sobue with Tan to improve the energy-managed electronic device by providing adaptive low-energy alerting based on a configurable or calculated charge threshold. Wit teaches an electronic device that determines available energy and selects predetermined signal-processing tasks for execution based on that available energy, while Sobue teaches enhancing energy scheduling by considering predicted charging capacity from external events such as weather, sunshine, sunrise, and sunset. Tan teaches monitoring a battery state-of-charge, calculating a charge threshold associated with a low-battery warning based on monitored charge consumption and a pre-specified trigger period, and generating a low-battery warning when the current state-of-charge reaches or falls below that threshold. Incorporating Tan’s adaptive low-battery warning into the Wit/Sobue energy-management system would have predictably provided a user or system alert when the device’s current energy level becomes insufficient relative to a parameter-driven threshold, allowing corrective action such as recharging, reducing task execution, or rescheduling pending actions. This combination would have been a straightforward application of known battery-management techniques to improve reliability, avoid unexpected power loss, and coordinate task scheduling with both current energy state and expected future charging opportunities.
Regarding claim 12, Wit/Sobue/Tan teach the method according to claim 10, wherein said third energy level is parameterizable (¶ 0058: “In other words, the charge threshold may be calculated using the following equation: T % = n % D window .times. D Trigger ##EQU00001## Within the equation, T % may represent the charge threshold, n % may represent the total charge consumption, window may represent the monitoring window, and D.sub. Trigger may represent the trigger period.”).
Regarding claim 11, Wit/Sobue explicitly teach all the claim limitations except for the method according to claim 2, wherein said first and/or second energy level are parameterizable.
Tan, in analogous art, teach wherein said first and/or second energy level are parameterizable (¶ 0058: “In other words, the charge threshold may be calculated using the following equation: T % = n % D window .times. D Trigger ##EQU00001## Within the equation, T % may represent the charge threshold, n % may represent the total charge consumption, window may represent the monitoring window, and D.sub. Trigger may represent the trigger period.”).
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 further combine Wit as modified by Sobue with Tan to improve energy-aware task scheduling by using adaptive, parameter-driven charge thresholds. Wit teaches an electronic device that determines available energy and executes predetermined signal-processing tasks only when sufficient energy is available, including the use of energy thresholds for connecting or disconnecting the signal-processing system. Sobue enhances such energy scheduling by accounting for predicted charging capacity based on external events such as weather, sunshine, sunrise, and sunset. Tan teaches monitoring a battery state-of-charge, calculating a charge threshold from monitored charge consumption and a pre-specified trigger period, recalculating that threshold as usage changes, and generating a low-battery warning when the state-of-charge reaches the threshold. Incorporating Tan’s adaptive threshold calculation into the Wit/Sobue system would have predictably allowed de Wit’s energy levels used for task execution or timing to be parameterized or adjusted based on operating conditions and desired warning or reserve periods, while also providing low-energy alerts. This would have been a straightforward application of known battery-management techniques to improve reliability, avoid unexpected depletion, and better coordinate task execution with both current energy and expected future charging opportunities.
Conclusion
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/Ramon A. Mercado/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3658
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