DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claims 1-20 are presented for examination.
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 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.
Claims 1 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kiernan et al. (U.S. 11,178,793) and further in view of Pradhan et al. (U.S. 6,977,587).
Pradhan cited on the IDS filed 08 October 2024.
With respect to claim 1, Kiernan teaches a cooling monitoring system (an in-row cooling system 100 with a control panel 101 with a UI to display, access, manipulate and/or manage various control parameters (e.g., fan speed, temperature, control valve position) – see Kiernan, col. 3, lines 7-18), comprising: a sensor system configured to mount to cooling equipment (the housing may support various components for cooling, such as sensors – see Kiernan, col. 3, lines 21-24; and a control system that manages the in-row cooler that includes local sensors that are mounted on-board to monitor – see Kiernan, col. 7, lines 45-50), the sensor system configured to measure a cooling equipment parameter (the sensors may include temperature sensors, airflow sensors, and coolant flow sensors as well as other types of sensors – see Kiernan, col. 6, lines 65-67; to monitor temperature, humidity, and/or pressure differential of the supply air and/or return air – see Kiernan, col. 7, lines 45-50).
Kiernan does not explicitly teach a computing system configured to receive the cooling equipment parameter, the computing system comprising: processing circuitry, and memory circuitry comprising a stored health threshold and computer readable instructions which, when executed, cause the processing circuitry to: determine a health of the cooling equipment based on the cooling equipment parameter, compare the health of the cooling equipment to the stored health threshold, and in response to determining the health of the cooling equipment is below the stored health threshold, perform an action.
However, Pradhan teaches a computing system (cooling system controller 704 – see Pradhan, Fig. 7, element 702; col. 19, lines 53-67) configured to receive the cooling equipment parameter (the cooling system controller 704 receives environmental condition information from one or more of the location aware sensors (LASs) 536a-536o – see Pradhan, Fig. 8, element 810; col. 23, lines 38-40), the computing system (cooling system controller 704 – see Pradhan, Fig. 7, element 702; col. 19, lines 53-67) comprising: processing circuitry (the cooling system controller 704 comprises a microprocessor – see Pradhan, col. 19, lines 55-56), and memory circuitry (the cooling system controller 704 is interfaced with a cooling system memory 712 – see Pradhan, Fig. 7, element 712; col. 20, lines 7-15) comprising a stored health threshold (a look-up table stored in the cooling system memory 712 that is information listing the component and the predetermined ranges – see Pradhan, col. 23, line 38 – col. 24, line 11) and computer readable instructions which, when executed (the cooling system memory 712 may also be configured to provide a storage for containing data/information pertaining to the manner in which the compressor (heat exchanger, chiller) and/or fan, may be manipulated in response to, for example, variations in the temperature of the cooling fluid and/or air flow characteristics in the data center 500 – see Pradhan, col. 20, lines 15-21), cause the processing circuitry (the cooling system controller 704 comprises a microprocessor – see Pradhan, col. 19, lines 55-56) to: determine a health of the cooling equipment based on (detected increases/decreases in environmental conditions within the data center 500 – see Pradhan, col. 20, lines 61-63) the cooling equipment parameter (the cooling system controller 704 receives environmental condition information from one or more of the location aware sensors (LASs) 536a-536o – see Pradhan, Fig. 8, element 810; col. 23, lines 38-40), compare the health of the cooling equipment (detected increases/decreases in environmental conditions within the data center 500 – see Pradhan, col. 20, lines 61-63) to the stored health threshold (the cooling system controller 704 may access the look-up table for the components to determine whether the detected environmental conditions are within their respective predetermined ranges – see Pradhan, col. 24, lines 1-4), and in response to determining the health of the cooling equipment is below (when the temperature in the data center 500 is below a predetermined range, the capacity of the compressor 706 (heat exchanger, chiller, etc.) may be reduced – see Pradhan, col. 20, lines 30-32) the stored health threshold (a look-up table stored in the cooling system memory 712 that is information listing the component and the predetermined ranges – see Pradhan, col. 23, line 38 – col. 24, line 11), perform an action (when the temperature in the data center 500 is below a predetermined range, the capacity of the compressor 706 (heat exchanger, chiller, etc.) is reduced – see Pradhan, col. 20, lines 30-32).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Kiernan in view of Pradhan in order to enable a computing system configured to receive the cooling equipment parameter, the computing system comprising: processing circuitry, and memory circuitry comprising a stored health threshold and computer readable instructions which, when executed, cause the processing circuitry to: determine a health of the cooling equipment based on the cooling equipment parameter, compare the health of the cooling equipment to the stored health threshold, and in response to determining the health of the cooling equipment is below the stored health threshold, perform an action. One result may be that the amount of time in rewiring sensors and categorizing or locating components of the data center may be substantially reduced, thereby reducing the costs associated with operating a data center (Pradhan, col. 3, lines 38-47).
With respect to claim 11, Kiernan teaches a method of monitoring cooling equipment, comprising: measuring a cooling equipment parameter (the sensors may include temperature sensors, airflow sensors, and coolant flow sensors as well as other types of sensors – see Kiernan, col. 6, lines 65-67; to monitor temperature, humidity, and/or pressure differential of the supply air and/or return air – see Kiernan, col. 7, lines 45-50) via a sensor system mounted on a component of the cooling equipment (the housing may support various components for cooling, such as sensors – see Kiernan, col. 3, lines 21-24; and a control system that manages the in-row cooler that includes local sensors that are mounted on-board to monitor – see Kiernan, col. 7, lines 45-50).
Kiernan does not explicitly teach determining, via processing circuitry, a health of the cooling equipment based on the cooling equipment parameter; comparing the health of the cooling equipment to a stored health threshold; and in response to determining the health of the cooling equipment is below the stored health threshold, performing an action.
However, Pradhan teaches determining, via processing circuitry, a health of the cooling equipment (detected increases/decreases in environmental conditions within the data center 500 – see Pradhan, col. 20, lines 61-63) based on the cooling equipment parameter (the cooling system controller 704 receives environmental condition information from one or more of the location aware sensors (LASs) 536a-536o – see Pradhan, Fig. 8, element 810; col. 23, lines 38-40); comparing the health of the cooling equipment (detected increases/decreases in environmental conditions within the data center 500 – see Pradhan, col. 20, lines 61-63) to a stored health threshold (the cooling system controller 704 may access the look-up table for the components to determine whether the detected environmental conditions are within their respective predetermined ranges – see Pradhan, col. 24, lines 1-4); and in response to determining the health of the cooling equipment is below (when the temperature in the data center 500 is below a predetermined range, the capacity of the compressor 706 (heat exchanger, chiller, etc.) may be reduced – see Pradhan, col. 20, lines 30-32) the stored health threshold (a look-up table stored in the cooling system memory 712 that is information listing the component and the predetermined ranges – see Pradhan, col. 23, line 38 – col. 24, line 11), performing an action (when the temperature in the data center 500 is below a predetermined range, the capacity of the compressor 706 (heat exchanger, chiller, etc.) is reduced – see Pradhan, col. 20, lines 30-32).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Kiernan in view of Pradhan in order to enable determining, via processing circuitry, a health of the cooling equipment based on the cooling equipment parameter; comparing the health of the cooling equipment to a stored health threshold; and in response to determining the health of the cooling equipment is below the stored health threshold, performing an action. One result may be that the amount of time in rewiring sensors and categorizing or locating components of the data center may be substantially reduced, thereby reducing the costs associated with operating a data center (Pradhan, col. 3, lines 38-47).
Claims 2-4 and 6-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kiernan in view of Pradhan and further in view of Morgan et al. (U.S. 2009/0138313).
With respect to claim 2, Kiernan teaches the invention described in claim 1, including a cooling monitoring system (an in-row cooling system 100 with a control panel 101 with a UI to display, access, manipulate and/or manage various control parameters (e.g., fan speed, temperature, control valve position) – see Kiernan, col. 3, lines 7-18), comprising: a sensor system configured to mount to cooling equipment (the housing may support various components for cooling, such as sensors – see Kiernan, col. 3, lines 21-24; and a control system that manages the in-row cooler that includes local sensors that are mounted on-board to monitor – see Kiernan, col. 7, lines 45-50), the sensor system configured to measure a cooling equipment parameter (the sensors may include temperature sensors, airflow sensors, and coolant flow sensors as well as other types of sensors – see Kiernan, col. 6, lines 65-67; to monitor temperature, humidity, and/or pressure differential of the supply air and/or return air – see Kiernan, col. 7, lines 45-50).
Kiernan does not explicitly teach a computing system configured to receive the cooling equipment parameter, the computing system comprising: processing circuitry, and memory circuitry comprising a stored health threshold and computer readable instructions which, when executed, cause the processing circuitry to: determine a health of the cooling equipment based on the cooling equipment parameter, compare the health of the cooling equipment to the stored health threshold, and in response to determining the health of the cooling equipment is below the stored health threshold, perform an action.
However, Pradhan teaches a computing system (cooling system controller 704 – see Pradhan, Fig. 7, element 702; col. 19, lines 53-67) configured to receive the cooling equipment parameter (the cooling system controller 704 receives environmental condition information from one or more of the location aware sensors (LASs) 536a-536o – see Pradhan, Fig. 8, element 810; col. 23, lines 38-40), the computing system (cooling system controller 704 – see Pradhan, Fig. 7, element 702; col. 19, lines 53-67) comprising: processing circuitry (the cooling system controller 704 comprises a microprocessor – see Pradhan, col. 19, lines 55-56), and memory circuitry (the cooling system controller 704 is interfaced with a cooling system memory 712 – see Pradhan, Fig. 7, element 712; col. 20, lines 7-15) comprising a stored health threshold (a look-up table stored in the cooling system memory 712 that is information listing the component and the predetermined ranges – see Pradhan, col. 23, line 38 – col. 24, line 11) and computer readable instructions which, when executed (the cooling system memory 712 may also be configured to provide a storage for containing data/information pertaining to the manner in which the compressor (heat exchanger, chiller) and/or fan, may be manipulated in response to, for example, variations in the temperature of the cooling fluid and/or air flow characteristics in the data center 500 – see Pradhan, col. 20, lines 15-21), cause the processing circuitry (the cooling system controller 704 comprises a microprocessor – see Pradhan, col. 19, lines 55-56) to: determine a health of the cooling equipment based on (detected increases/decreases in environmental conditions within the data center 500 – see Pradhan, col. 20, lines 61-63) the cooling equipment parameter (the cooling system controller 704 receives environmental condition information from one or more of the location aware sensors (LASs) 536a-536o – see Pradhan, Fig. 8, element 810; col. 23, lines 38-40), compare the health of the cooling equipment (detected increases/decreases in environmental conditions within the data center 500 – see Pradhan, col. 20, lines 61-63) to the stored health threshold (the cooling system controller 704 may access the look-up table for the components to determine whether the detected environmental conditions are within their respective predetermined ranges – see Pradhan, col. 24, lines 1-4), and in response to determining the health of the cooling equipment is below (when the temperature in the data center 500 is below a predetermined range, the capacity of the compressor 706 (heat exchanger, chiller, etc.) may be reduced – see Pradhan, col. 20, lines 30-32) the stored health threshold (a look-up table stored in the cooling system memory 712 that is information listing the component and the predetermined ranges – see Pradhan, col. 23, line 38 – col. 24, line 11), perform an action (when the temperature in the data center 500 is below a predetermined range, the capacity of the compressor 706 (heat exchanger, chiller, etc.) is reduced – see Pradhan, col. 20, lines 30-32).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Kiernan in view of Pradhan in order to enable a computing system configured to receive the cooling equipment parameter, the computing system comprising: processing circuitry, and memory circuitry comprising a stored health threshold and computer readable instructions which, when executed, cause the processing circuitry to: determine a health of the cooling equipment based on the cooling equipment parameter, compare the health of the cooling equipment to the stored health threshold, and in response to determining the health of the cooling equipment is below the stored health threshold, perform an action. One would be motivated to do so in order to enable that as the configuration of the data center changes, it may be substantially unnecessary to reconfigure sensors that detect environmental conditions. In addition, it may be essentially unnecessary to manually determine and categorize the components of the data center after components are added, moved, or removed. One result may be that the amount of time in rewiring sensors and categorizing or locating components of the data center may be substantially reduced, thereby reducing the costs associated with operating a data center (Pradhan, col. 3, lines 38-47).
The combination of Kiernan and Pradhan does not explicitly teach the system wherein the action comprises generating a notification.
However, Morgan teaches the system wherein the action comprises generating a notification (Fig. 23 illustrates an embodiment that a user, data center manager, may reference. Recommendations that are provided include adding cooling capacity -– see Morgan, Fig. 23; pages 17-18, and paragraphs 143-144).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination of Kiernan and Pradhan in view of Morgan in order to enable the system wherein the action comprises generating a notification. One would be motivated to do so in order to enable monitoring performance of cooling systems in data centers (Morgan, pages 1-2, paragraph 13).
With respect to claim 3, the combination of Kiernan, Pradhan, and Morgan teaches the invention described in claim 1, including the system wherein the action comprises: determining whether there exists a work order corresponding to a planned or contemporaneous maintenance of the cooling equipment (cooling calculations for a data center are performed during the operation of the data center, a determination is made if there is sufficient cooling at the facility level, and if not, a recommendation may be made for additional air conditioning units – see Morgan, page 22, paragraph 186; and changes to the configuration of the data center such as those designed by the retrofit process 600 may be implemented by work order process 1900 – see Morgan, page 22, paragraph 180), and in response to determining the work order does exist, indicating or confirming the work order is still needed (if a work order calls for the installation of a blade server, the system will not mark the work order as complete until the power consumption history of the blade server matches a known power consumption benchmark for the model of blade server called for in the work order. It will not be marked complete after initial activation of the blade server – see Morgan, page 22, paragraph 183).
The combination of references is made under the same rationale as claim 2 above.
With respect to claim 4, the combination of Kiernan, Pradhan, and Morgan teaches the invention described in claim 3, including the system wherein the action further comprises: in response to determining the work order does not exist, generating a notification (Fig. 23 illustrates an embodiment that a user, data center manager, may reference. Recommendations that are provided include adding cooling capacity -– see Morgan, Fig. 23; pages 17-18, and paragraphs 143-144) or a new work order (recommendations that are provided include adding cooling capacity -– see Morgan, Fig. 23; pages 17-18, and paragraph 144; and changes to the configuration of the data center such as those designed by the retrofit process 600 may be implemented by work order process 1900 – see Morgan, page 22, paragraph 180).
The combination of references is made under the same rationale as claim 2 above.
With respect to claim 6, the combination of Kiernan, Pradhan, and Morgan teaches the invention described in claim 1, including the system wherein the memory circuitry further comprises a parameter signature (the calculated value – see Morgan, page 16, paragraph 133), and wherein the health of the cooling equipment is determined based on a comparison of (if the actual measured value and the calculated value differ by more than a predetermined threshold, then an indication or warning may be provided. To correct an out of tolerance condition, the options include upgrading an air conditioning unit – see Morgan, page 16, paragraphs 133-134) the cooling equipment parameter (the sensors may include temperature sensors, airflow sensors, and coolant flow sensors as well as other types of sensors – see Kiernan, col. 6, lines 65-67; to monitor temperature, humidity, and/or pressure differential of the supply air and/or return air – see Kiernan, col. 7, lines 45-50) to the parameter signature (the calculated value – see Morgan, page 16, paragraph 133).
The combination of references is made under the same rationale as claim 2 above.
With respect to claim 7, the combination of Kiernan, Pradhan, and Morgan teaches the invention described in claim 6, including the system wherein the parameter signature (the calculated value – see Morgan, page 16, paragraph 133) is associated with good health (while good (high) capture index values typically imply good cooling performance – see Morgan, page 30, paragraph 250).
The combination of references is made under the same rationale as claim 2 above.
With respect to claim 8, the combination of Kiernan, Pradhan, and Morgan teaches the invention described in claim 6, including the system wherein the health of the cooling equipment is determined based on a degree of difference between (the cooling system controller 704 may operate the compressor 704 (heat exchanger, chiller, etc.) and the fan 708 in a manner to vary the cooling fluid temperature and volume in response to various degrees of detected increases/decreases in environmental conditions within the data center 500 – see Morgan, page 30, paragraph 250) the cooling equipment parameter (the sensors may include temperature sensors, airflow sensors, and coolant flow sensors as well as other types of sensors – see Kiernan, col. 6, lines 65-67; to monitor temperature, humidity, and/or pressure differential of the supply air and/or return air – see Kiernan, col. 7, lines 45-50) and the parameter signature (the calculated value – see Morgan, page 16, paragraph 133).
The combination of references is made under the same rationale as claim 2 above.
With respect to claim 9, the combination of Kiernan, Pradhan, and Morgan teaches the invention described in claim 1, including the system wherein the cooling equipment parameter (the sensors may include temperature sensors, airflow sensors, and coolant flow sensors as well as other types of sensors – see Kiernan, col. 6, lines 65-67; to monitor temperature, humidity, and/or pressure differential of the supply air and/or return air – see Kiernan, col. 7, lines 45-50) comprises a first cooling equipment parameter (the sensors may include temperature sensors, airflow sensors, and coolant flow sensors as well as other types of sensors – see Kiernan, col. 6, lines 65-67; to monitor temperature, humidity, and/or pressure differential of the supply air and/or return air – see Kiernan, col. 7, lines 45-50), the sensor system is configured to measure a second cooling equipment parameter (the calculations conducted in stage 308 may be conducted once again at stage 322 using measured values in place of calculated values to obtain updated parameters – see Morgan, page 16, paragraph 133), and the health of the cooling equipment is determined based on (if the actual measured value and the calculated value differ by more than a predetermined threshold, then an indication or warning may be provided. To correct an out of tolerance condition, the options include upgrading an air conditioning unit – see Morgan, page 16, paragraphs 133-134) the first cooling equipment parameter (the sensors may include temperature sensors, airflow sensors, and coolant flow sensors as well as other types of sensors – see Kiernan, col. 6, lines 65-67; to monitor temperature, humidity, and/or pressure differential of the supply air and/or return air – see Kiernan, col. 7, lines 45-50) and the second cooling equipment parameter (the calculations conducted in stage 308 may be conducted once again at stage 322 using measured values in place of calculated values to obtain updated parameters – see Morgan, page 16, paragraph 133).
The combination of references is made under the same rationale as claim 2 above.
With respect to claim 10, the combination of Kiernan, Pradhan, and Morgan teaches the invention described in claim 1, including the system wherein the cooling equipment parameter comprises a temperature in or around the cooling equipment (the sensors may include temperature sensors, airflow sensors, and coolant flow sensors as well as other types of sensors – see Kiernan, col. 6, lines 65-67; to monitor temperature, humidity, and/or pressure differential of the supply air and/or return air – see Kiernan, col. 7, lines 45-50), a pressure in or around the cooling equipment, a humidity in or around the cooling equipment, a vibration of the cooling equipment, a vibration harmonic of the cooling equipment, or a power characteristic of the cooling equipment.
The combination of references is made under the same rationale as claim 2 above.
Claims 12-14 and 16-20 do not teach or define any new limitations above claims 2-4 and 6-10 and therefore are rejected for similar reasons.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5 and 15 are objected to as being dependent upon rejected base claims, 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 Alicia Baturay whose telephone number is (571) 272-3981. The examiner can normally be reached at 7am – 4pm, Mondays – Thursdays, Eastern Time.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in person, or video conferencing using a USPTO-supplied, web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, Applicants are encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) form at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Kamal Divecha can be reached at (571) 272-5863. The fax number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571) 273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in .docx format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (in USA or Canada) or 571-272-1000.
/Alicia Baturay/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2441
January 14, 2026