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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Status of Claims
This Office Action is responsive to communication filed on 11/5/2024.
Claims 1-20 are pending and presented for examination.
Claim Objections
Claims 17 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 17 recites “measuring, by the storage device, the at least two second device temperature values at least two time points, wherein the at least two time points are different from each other”. Amending the claim to recite “…, wherein the at least two second device temperature values correspond to at two least time points, …” will overcome this objection.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 18 recites “determine whether a first device temperature value that is increased based on the power supply voltage exceeds a threshold temperature value”, however this is unclear. The claim requires that the temperature value is increased but does not specify a reference point from which the value has increased. Additionally, is the first device temperature value determined to increase based on the power supply voltage or is the first device temperature value increase determined based on the power supply voltage?
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.
Claims 1-2, 5-11, 14 and 16-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JAIN (US20240231962A1) in view of EGAN (US20220164021A1) in view of YAMAOKA (US20110057803A1) (hereinafter – “JAIN-EGAN-YAMAOKA”).
Regarding claim 1
JAIN teaches a method of operating an electronic device including a storage device and a host device (Fig. 1 & [0019]: electronic device/storage system 100, storage device 106, host device 104), comprising:
determining, by the storage device, whether a first device temperature value of the storage device exceeds a threshold temperature value (Fig. 3 #316, [0037] storage device controller determines whether the current temperature is greater than a critical (third) threshold)
performing, by the storage device, thermal shutdown of the storage device based on determining that the first device temperature value exceeds the threshold temperature value (Fig. 3, #318, [0037] if the current temperature is greater than the critical threshold the storage device (SSD) will enter a thermal shutdown which is initiated by the PMIC; see [0003] SSDs are equipped with PMIC)
reading, by the host device, [0037], [0040]-[0041] Fig. 3 #318 storage device sends asynchronous event notification (AEN) containing second (critical) cool-off wait time to host, Fig. 5 #504 AEN received by host from drive/storage device);
blocking, by the host device, a power supply voltage from the host device to the storage device based on the[0041] Fig. 5 #512-520 at 512 the host determines if the storage device is detectable, if it is not detectable then it is determined that device is in a thermal shutdown (see [0018]), at 514 host starts a timer with cool-off wait time value, at 520 after the time has expired the “host powers ON the drive” implying that the host has blocked a power supply voltage to the storage device); and
supplying, by the host device, the power supply voltage to the storage device Fig. 5 #520 host powers ON the drive implying the host has restarted (supplied) the power supply voltage to the storage device).
In summary, JAIN teaches a method of operating an electronic device including a storage device and a host device, wherein the storage device performs a thermal shutdown in response to identifying that a temperature associated with the storage device has crossed a critical temperature threshold. JAIN also teaches transmitting an AEN from the storage device to the host device, the AEN informing the host device that the storage device has crossed the critical threshold and also providing to the host device a cool-off timer value. JAIN also teaches that the cool-off timer value is used by the host device to start a timer and at the expiration of the timer that the host powers on the storage device, thus implying that the host device blocked the power supply voltage from the storage device after receiving the AEN and continues to keep blocking the power supply voltage until the expiration of the timer.
JAIN is not relied on for calculating estimated time information indicated an estimated time point at which the device is estimated to reach a predetermined temperature value, based on temperature trend information that is collected after the storage device enters a thermal shutdown state.
However, EGAN teaches that storage devices are configured to repeatedly poll a storage device temperature after a thermal shutdown (Fig. 3A, #312-314 at 312 a thermal shutdown of the storage device is performed, at 314 the storage device polls its temperature such that a determination at 316 can be made if it has cooled enough), and YAMAOKA teaches to use a temperature change tendency to predict a time for a temperature of an electronic device to reach a predetermined temperature value ([0080]).
JAIN and EGAN are analogous art to the claimed invention because they are from the same field of storage devices. YAMAOKA is analogous art to the claimed invention because YAMAOKA’s disclosure of computer-implemented methods for predicting temperature of an electronic device is reasonably pertinent to the particular problem which the Applicant is attempting to solve, specifically calculating a temperature trend (i.e., tendency) from a plurality of measured temperature values of a device and using that trend to estimate a future point in time at which the device’s temperature will reach a predetermined temperature value. Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to apply the teachings EGAN and YAMAOKA to the teachings of JAIN such that JAIN’s storage device would be configured to poll a temperature sensor of the storage device post thermal shutdown for the purposes of collecting post thermal shutdown temperature values, as taught by EGAN, such that the collected post thermal shutdown temperature values would be used to calculate temperature trend information from which an estimated time to reach a predetermined temperature value would be calculated, as taught by YAMAOKA, such that the estimated time would be provided to the host device to be used as JAIN’s timer value. JAIN teaches that storage devices are equipped with the necessary hardware to implement such operations and also teaches that it is a known problem in the art that upon thermal shutdown of a storage device, the host is not aware when the storage device can be restarted and thus motivates the combination ([0003]).
Regarding claim 2
JAIN-EGAN-YAMAOKA teaches the elements of claim 1 as outlined above. JAIN also teaches or at least suggests reading, by the host device, the estimated time information from the storage device in real time using out-of-band communication between the host device and the storage device ([0023]: storage device interface 114 includes data bus and control bus for exchanging commands with the host device).
Regarding claim 5
JAIN-EGAN-YAMAOKA teaches the elements of claim 1 as outlined above. JAIN also teaches or at least suggests before the first device temperature value is measured by a temperature sensor of the storage device, supplying, by the host device, the power supply voltage to a power supply circuit included in the storage device; and supplying, by the power supply circuit, an internal power supply voltage to a storage controller of the storage device based on the power supply voltage ([0003] storage devices are equipped with hardware to prevent from getting overheated implies that the storage device is equipped with a temperature sensor [0037] as the PMIC is not included in drawings it is implied the controller comprises power management integrated circuit (PMIC) which manages power of storage device [0023] host device delivers power to storage device).
Regarding claim 6
JAIN-EGAN-YAMAOKA teaches or at least suggests the elements of claim 5 as outlined above. JAIN also teaches or at least suggests obtaining, by the storage controller, the first device temperature value from the temperature sensor of the storage device; determining by the storage controller, whether the first device temperature value exceeds the threshold temperature value; and providing, by the storage controller, a warning message to a monitoring circuit included in the storage device based on determining that the first device temperature value exceeds the threshold temperature value ([0037]).
Regarding claim 7
JAIN-EGAN-YAMAOKA teaches or at least suggests the elements of claim 5 as outlined above. JAIN also teaches or at least suggests blocking the internal power supply voltage from being supplied from the power supply circuit to the storage controller ([0037]).
Regarding claim 8
JAIN-EGAN-YAMAOKA teaches the elements of claim 1 as outlined above. The JAIN-EGAN-YAMAOKA combination teaches or at least suggests measuring, by the storage device, the second device temperature value of the storage device at a first time point after the thermal shutdown is performed; and measuring, by the storage device, a third device temperature value of the storage device at a second time point after the first time point, wherein the temperature trend information is calculated by the storage device based on the second device temperature value and the third device temperature value (EGAN teaches to repeatedly poll a storage device temperature after a thermal shutdown Fig. 3A, #312-314 at 312 a thermal shutdown of the storage device is performed, at 314 the storage device polls its temperature such that a determination at 316 can be made if it has cooled enough; and YAMAOKA [0047] teaches to estimate a temperature trend using subsequently acquired temperature values ).
Regarding claim 9
JAIN-EGAN-YAMAOKA teaches or at least suggests the elements of claim 8 as outlined above. YAMAOKA teaches or at least suggests wherein calculating the temperature trend information comprises obtaining, by the storage device, slope information by dividing a first difference value by a second difference value, wherein the first difference value represents a difference between the third device temperature value and the second device temperature value, and the second difference value represents a difference between the second time point and the first time point; and calculating, by the storage device, a temperature trend function representing a relationship between times and temperatures of the storage device, based on the slope information, wherein the temperature trend information comprises the temperature trend function ([0047] temperature change graph created using linear interpretation of sensed temperature values).
Regarding claim 10
JAIN-EGAN-YAMAOKA teaches or at least suggests the elements of claim 9 as outlined above. YAMAOKA also teaches or at least suggests wherein the estimated time information is calculated by the storage device based on temperature trend function and the predetermined temperature value ([0080]).
Regarding claim 11
JAIN-EGAN-YAMAOKA teaches the elements of claim 1 as outlined above. The JAIN-EGAN-YAMAOKA combination teaches or at least suggest wherein the calculating of the temperature trend information comprises measuring, by the storage device, a plurality of device temperature values corresponding to a plurality of time points after the thermal shutdown is performed, wherein the second device temperature value is included in the plurality of device temperature values, and wherein the temperature trend information is calculated by the storage device based on pairs of the plurality of time points and the plurality of device temperature values (EGAN teaches to repeatedly poll a storage device temperature after a thermal shutdown Fig. 3A, #312-314 at 312 a thermal shutdown of the storage device is performed, at 314 the storage device polls its temperature such that a determination at 316 can be made if it has cooled enough YAMAOKA [0047] teaches to estimate a temperature trend using subsequently acquired temperature values “graph whose horizontal and vertical axes representing time "t" and a temperature rise "T"” implies that acquired temperature data is associated with an acquisition time point).
Regarding claim 14
JAIN-EGAN-YAMAOKA teaches the elements of claim 1 as outlined above. The JAIN-EGAN-YAMAOKA combination teaches or at least suggests measuring, by the storage device, the second device temperature value of the storage device after the thermal shutdown is performed; obtaining, by the storage device, slope information based on the first device temperature value and the second device temperature value; and calculating, by the storage device, a temperature trend function representing a relationship between times and temperatures of the storage device, based on the slope information, wherein the temperature trend information comprises the temperature trend function (EGAN Fig. 3A, #312-314 at 312 a thermal shutdown of the storage device is performed, at 314 the storage device polls its temperature such that a determination at 316 can be made if it has cooled enough; YAMAOKA [0047] teaches to estimate a temperature trend using subsequently acquired temperature values “graph whose horizontal and vertical axes representing time "t" and a temperature rise "T"” implies that acquired temperature data is associated with an acquisition time point, “estimating unit 20b then performs interpolation, such as linear interpolation” implies obtaining slope information).
Regarding claim 16
JAIN teaches a method of operating an electronic device including a storage device and a host device (Fig. 1 & [0019]: electronic device/storage system 100, storage device 106, host device 104), comprising:
determining, by the storage device, whether a first device temperature value of the storage device exceeds a threshold temperature value (Fig. 3 #316, [0037] storage device controller determines whether the current temperature is greater than a critical (third) threshold)
performing, by the storage device, thermal shutdown of the storage device based on determining that the first device temperature value exceeds the threshold temperature value (Fig. 3, #318, [0037] if the current temperature is greater than the critical threshold the storage device (SSD) will enter a thermal shutdown which is initiated by the PMIC; see [0003] SSDs are equipped with PMIC)
reading, by the host device, [0037], [0040]-[0041] Fig. 3 #318 storage device sends asynchronous event notification (AEN) containing second (critical) cool-off wait time to host, Fig. 5 #504 AEN received by host from drive/storage device, [0023] storage device communicates with host via a data bus, for exchanging data, and control bus for exchanging commands implying the use of out-of-band communication for control actions pertaining to AEN);
blocking, by the host device, a power supply voltage from being supplied from the host device to the storage device based on the[0041] Fig. 5 #512-520 at 512 the host determines if the storage device is detectable, if it is not detectable then it is determined that device is in a thermal shutdown (see [0018]), at 514 host starts a timer with cool-off wait time value, at 520 after the time has expired the “host powers ON the drive” implying that the host has blocked a power supply voltage from being supplied to the storage device); and
performing, by the host device, a power-on reset for supplying the power supply voltage to the storage device Fig. 5 #520 host powers ON the drive implying the host has restarted (i.e., power-on reset) the power supply voltage to the storage device).
In summary, JAIN teaches a method of operating an electronic device including a storage device and a host device, wherein the storage device performs a thermal shutdown in response to identifying that a temperature associated with the storage device has crossed a critical temperature threshold. JAIN also teaches transmitting an AEN from the storage device to the host device, the AEN informing the host device that the storage device has crossed the critical threshold and also providing to the host device a cool-off timer value. JAIN also teaches that the cool-off timer value is used by the host device to start a timer and at the expiration of the timer that the host powers on the storage device, thus implying that the host device blocked the power supply voltage from the storage device after receiving the AEN and continues to keep blocking the power supply voltage until the expiration of the timer. JAIN is not relied on for calculating estimated time information indicated an estimated time point at which the device is estimated to reach a predetermined temperature value, based on temperature trend information that is collected after the storage device enters a thermal shutdown state.
However, EGAN teaches that storage devices are configured to repeatedly poll a storage device temperature after a thermal shutdown (Fig. 3A, #312-314 at 312 a thermal shutdown of the storage device is performed, at 314 the storage device polls its temperature such that a determination at 316 can be made if it has cooled enough), and YAMAOKA teaches to use a temperature change tendency to predict a time for a temperature of an electronic device to reach a predetermined temperature value ([0080]).
JAIN and EGAN are analogous art to the claimed invention because they are from the same field of storage devices. YAMAOKA is analogous art to the claimed invention because YAMAOKA’s disclosure of computer-implemented methods for predicting temperature of an electronic device is reasonably pertinent to the particular problem which the Applicant is attempting to solve, specifically calculating a temperature trend (i.e., tendency) from a plurality of measured temperature values of a device and using that trend to estimate a future point in time at which the device’s temperature will reach a predetermined temperature value. Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to apply the teachings EGAN and YAMAOKA to the teachings of JAIN such that JAIN’s storage device would poll a temperature sensor of the storage device post thermal shutdown for the purposes of collecting post thermal shutdown temperature values, as taught by EGAN, such that the collected post thermal shutdown temperature values would be used to calculate temperature trend information from which an estimated time to reach a predetermined temperature value would be calculated, as taught by YAMAOKA, such that the estimated time would be provided to the host device to be used as JAIN’s timer value. JAIN teaches that storage devices are equipped with the necessary hardware to implement such operations and also teaches that it is a known problem in the art that upon thermal shutdown of a storage device, the host is not aware when the storage device can be restarted and thus motivates the combination ([0003]).
Regarding claim 17
JAIN-EGAN-YAMAOKA teaches the elements of claim 16 as outlined above. YAMAOKA teaches or least suggests measuring, by the storage device, the at least two second device temperature values at least two time points, wherein the at least two time points are different from each other; and calculating, by the storage device, a temperature trend function representing a relationship between times and temperatures of the storage device, based on pairs of the at least two time points and the at least two second device temperature values, wherein the temperature trend information comprises the temperature trend function ([0047] temperature change graph created using linear interpretation of sensed temperature values).
Regarding claim 18
JAIN teaches an electronic device comprising:
a storage device (Fig. 1, [0019] storage device 106); and
a host device configured to supply a power supply voltage to the storage device (Fig. 1, [0019], [0023] storage device 106 receives power from host device 104),
wherein the storage device is configured to:
determine whether a first device temperature value that is increased based on the power supply voltage exceeds a threshold temperature value (Fig. 3 #316, [0037] storage device controller determines whether the current temperature is greater than a critical (third) threshold, [0032] read/write operations causes storage device to heat up);
perform thermal shutdown based on determining that the first device temperature value exceeds the threshold temperature value (Fig. 3, #318, [0037] if the current temperature is greater than the critical threshold the storage device (SSD) will enter a thermal shutdown which is initiated by the PMIC; see [0003] SSDs are equipped with PMIC);
wherein the host device is further configured to:
read [0037], [0040]-[0041] Fig. 3 #318 storage device sends asynchronous event notification (AEN) containing second (critical) cool-off wait time to host, Fig. 5 #504 AEN received by host from drive/storage device);
block the power supply voltage based on the [0041] Fig. 5 #512-520 at 512 the host determines if the storage device is detectable, if it is not detectable then it is determined that device is in a thermal shutdown (see [0018]), at 514 host starts a timer with cool-off wait time value, at 520 after the time has expired the “host powers ON the drive” implying that the host has blocked a power supply voltage to the storage device); and
begin supplying the power supply voltage to the storage device again Fig. 5 #520 host powers ON the drive implying the host has restarted (supplied) the power supply voltage to the storage device).
In summary, JAIN teaches an electronic device including a storage device and a host device, wherein the storage device performs a thermal shutdown in response to identifying that a temperature associated with the storage device has crossed a critical temperature threshold. JAIN also teaches transmitting an AEN from the storage device to the host device, the AEN informing the host device that the storage device has crossed the critical threshold and also providing to the host device a cool-off timer value. JAIN also teaches that the cool-off timer value is used by the host device to start a timer and at the expiration of the timer that the host powers on the storage device, thus implying that the host device blocked the power supply voltage from the storage device after receiving the AEN and continues to keep blocking the power supply voltage until the expiration of the timer. JAIN is not relied on for calculating estimated time information indicated an estimated time point at which the device is estimated to reach a predetermined temperature value, based on temperature trend information that is collected after the storage device enters a thermal shutdown state.
However, EGAN teaches that storage devices are configured to repeatedly poll a storage device temperature after a thermal shutdown (Fig. 3A, #312-314 at 312 a thermal shutdown of the storage device is performed, at 314 the storage device polls its temperature such that a determination at 316 can be made if it has cooled enough), and YAMAOKA teaches to use a temperature change tendency to predict a time for a temperature of an electronic device to reach a predetermined temperature value ([0080]).
JAIN and EGAN are analogous art to the claimed invention because they are from the same field of storage devices. YAMAOKA is analogous art to the claimed invention because YAMAOKA’s disclosure of computer-implemented methods for predicting temperature of an electronic device is reasonably pertinent to the particular problem which the Applicant is attempting to solve, specifically calculating a temperature trend (i.e., tendency) from a plurality of measured temperature values of a device and using that trend to estimate a future point in time at which the device’s temperature will reach a predetermined temperature value. Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to apply the teachings EGAN and YAMAOKA to the teachings of JAIN such that JAIN’s storage device would be configured to poll a temperature sensor of the storage device post thermal shutdown for the purposes of collecting post thermal shutdown temperature values, as taught by EGAN, such that the collected post thermal shutdown temperature values would be used to calculate temperature trend information from which an estimated time to reach a predetermined temperature value would be calculated, as taught by YAMAOKA, such that the estimated time would be provided to the host device to be used as JAIN’s timer value. JAIN teaches that storage devices are equipped with the necessary hardware to implement such operations and also teaches that it is a known problem in the art that upon thermal shutdown of a storage device, the host is not aware when the storage device can be restarted and thus motivates the combination ([0003]).
Claims 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JAIN-EGAN-YAMAOKA in view of VERGIS (US20230103368A1).
Regarding claim 3
JAIN-EGAN-YAMAOKA teaches the elements of claim 1 as outlined above. JAIN also teaches or at least suggests wherein a processor of the host device and a storage controller of the storage device are configured to perform peripheral component interconnect express (PCIe)-based in-band communication ([0023] the storage device includes a controller and is configured to communicate with the host device via the data bus to exchange data using PCIe protocol) and;
wherein [0034]-[0037] storage device controller performs management functions of the storage device such as polling temperature and comparing to a threshold and upon doing so thermal shutdown is initiated by power management integrated circuit (PMIC), as the PMIC is not included in drawings it is implied the controller comprises PMIC [0023] controller is configured to communicate via the control bus for exchanging commands with the host).
JAIN-EGAN-YAMAOKA are not relied on to teach that the host device comprises a BMC configured to communicate using SMBus based protocol. However, VERGIS in an analogous art teaches or at least suggests that a management device for a memory module communicates with a BMC using SMBus based protocol ([0043]-[0044]). VERGIS is analogous art to the claimed invention because they are from the same field of endeavor as the claimed invention. Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, one of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to apply the teachings of VERGIS to the teachings of JAIN-EGAN-YAMAOKA such that JAIN’s host device would comprise a BMC configured to communicate with the storage device’s controller/PMIC using SMBus based communication as this merely represents combining the use of a known device performing its known functions (in the manner it is known to function) with JAIN’s electronic device according to known method to yield predictable results.
Claims 12 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JAIN-EGAN-YAMAOKA in view of OSBORN (US20020169924A1).
Regarding claim 12
JAIN-EGAN-YAMAOKA teaches or at least suggests the elements of claim 11 as outlined above. JAIN-EGAN-YAMAOKA are not relied on for wherein the temperature trend information is calculated by the storage device using a linear regression analysis based on the pairs of the plurality of time points and the plurality of device temperature values. However, OSBORN in an analogous art teaches to apply a curve fitting algorithm, such as linear regression, to a temperature curve to estimate a future temperature ([0020]).
OSBORN is analogous art to the claimed invention because they are from the same field of storage devices. YAMAOKA teaches estimate a temperature trend by means of linear interpolation ([0047]). OSBORN teaches to estimate a future temperature using obtained temperature values, thus estimating a temperature trend, by means of linear regression ([0020]). Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to apply the teaching of OSBORN to the teaching of JAIN-EGAN-YAMAOKA such that YAMAOKA’s method of estimating a temperature trend using linear interpolation would have been substituted with OSBORN’s method of estimating a temperature trend using linear regression because one of ordinary skill in the art would have been able to carry out such a substation, and the results would be reasonably predictable.
Regarding claim 13
JAIN-EGAN-YAMAOKA teaches or at least suggests the elements of claim 11 as outlined above. JAIN-EGAN-YAMAOKA are not relied on for wherein the temperature trend information is calculated by the storage device using a non-linear regression analysis based on the pairs of the plurality of time points and the plurality of device temperature values. However, OSBORN in an analogous art teaches to apply a curve fitting algorithm, such as polynomial (i.e., non-linear) regression, to a temperature curve to estimate a future temperature ([0020]).
OSBORN is analogous art to the claimed invention because they are from the same field of storage devices. YAMAOKA teaches estimate a temperature trend by means of polynomial interpolation ([0047]). OSBORN teaches to estimate a future temperature using obtained temperature values, thus estimating a temperature trend, by means of polynomial (i.e., non-linear) regression ([0020]). Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to apply the teaching of OSBORN to the teaching of JAIN-EGAN-YAMAOKA such that YAMAOKA’s method of estimating a temperature trend using non-linear interpolation would have been substituted with OSBORN’s method of estimating a temperature trend using non-linear regression because one of ordinary skill in the art would have been able to carry out such a substation, and the results would be reasonably predictable.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4, 15 and 19-20 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
KANG (US20110194223A1) teaches blocking power until a device in thermal protection mode cools enough, such as to a restarting temperature.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Michael V Farina whose telephone number is (571)272-4982. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Thu 8:00-6:00 EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Kamini Shah can be reached at (571) 272-2279. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/M.V.F./Examiner, Art Unit 2115
/KAMINI S SHAH/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2115
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