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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-4, 6, 7, 10-14, and 16-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by ULRICH et al. (US 2018/0242338 A1, hereinafter “ULRICH”).
Regarding claim 1:
ULRICH discloses a method comprising:
receiving data transmission information during an advertisement period (e.g., [0063], [0110], data transmission window of the wireless device) via at least one advertisement response data packets (e.g. [0074], “a base node … receive information from wireless device comprising information relating to amount of expected data transmission”, also [0116], “the wireless device has nothing to send … informs the base station node … nothing is left to send”);
determining, using one or more processors of a primary wireless device (e.g., Fig. 1b, 4), if any of a plurality of secondary wireless devices (e.g., Fig. 1b, 10.1 and 10.2) has data to transmit during an upcoming data exchange period, the determining being based on the data transmission information (e.g., [0075], “The information from the wireless device in particular indicates … information that no further data are available to be sent for a foreseeable future,”);
updating, using the one or more processors, a network schedule based on a result of the determining, the updating comprising skipping data exchange operations for at least one of the plurality of secondary wireless devices (e.g., [0075], “In response the base node then can switch off the periodicity related transmission”); and
performing, using the one or more processors, data exchange operations using the updated network schedule (e.g., [0075], “In response the base node then can switch off the periodicity related transmission”).
Regarding claim 2:
ULRICH further discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the advertisement period is a periodic advertisement with response assistance (PAwR) period (e.g., [0108], periodic data transmission, [0110], data transmission window).
Regarding claim 3:
ULRICH further discloses the method of claim 2, wherein the data transmission information is received via a modified response within the PAwR period (e.g., [0075], [0116], uplink control information with happy-bit).
Regarding claim 4:
ULRICH further discloses the method of claim 3, wherein the data transmission information comprises: an identifier configured to identify if any of a plurality of secondary devices has data to transmit during an upcoming data exchange period (e.g., [0075], [0116], happy-bit)
Regarding claim 5:
ULRICH further discloses the method of claim 4, wherein the plurality of secondary devices comprises Internet of Things (IoT) devices (e.g., Fig. 1b, 10.1 and 10.2, [0099]).
Regarding claim 6:
ULRICH further discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the updating of the network schedule comprises: identifying at least one anchor point within the network schedule based on the data transmission information; and updating the network schedule to skip the identified at least one anchor point (e.g., [0075], “the base node switches off the periodicity related transmission … once the wireless device is in position to send data again, it then can start again to initiate the periodicity related transmission mode again,” the wireless device corresponds to the “anchor point”).
Regarding claim 7:
ULRICH further discloses the method of claim 1 further comprising: selecting an operational mode based on wireless activity information associated with the plurality of secondary devices (e.g., [0118]-[0122]).
Regarding claims 10-14, and 16-19:
See rejection of similar claim limitations set forth with respect to claims 1-4, 6, and 7.
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 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ULRICH in view of Kumar et al. (US 2021/0409923 A1, hereinafter “Kumar”).
Regarding claim 9:
ULRICH is silent regarding wherein the primary wireless device and the plurality of secondary wireless devices are compatible with a Bluetooth Low Energy protocol.
Kumar teaches a primary wireless device and a plurality of secondary wireless devices being compatible with a Bluetooth Low Energy protocol (e.g., Fig. 1, 110 and 112, [0039], [0086], [0180], [0185]-[0191]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the system of ULRICH based on the teaching from Kumar so that the primary wireless device and the plurality of secondary wireless devices are compatible with a Bluetooth Low Energy protocol, because it would enable low power consumption communications which would extend the life of battery powered network devices.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8, 15, and 20 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Alvin ZHU whose telephone number is (571)270-1086. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 6am-9am and 2pm-7pm.
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/BO HUI A ZHU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2465
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