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 Objections
Claims 1-7 are objected to because of the following informalities:
“FCT/EOL”, “CAN”, and “LIN” in claim 1 should be spelled out.
“FCT/EOL” and “CAN” in claim 5 should be spelled out.
Claims 2-4 and 6-7 are objected to because they are dependent on the objected claims. Appropriate correction is required.
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 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Paleti (US 2022/0070018) in view of Gubbala (US 2020/0293303).
Regarding claim 1, Paleti teaches an FCT/EOL controller adapted to an automated production line (Fig. 2, Controller system is used for industrial settings; Paragraph 0022, USB Type-C/PD or USB-C/PD systems over standard communication and control interfaces used in automotive, aviation, industrial, or other applications) comprising: a main control chip module used to burn and control programs (Fig. 2, ECU 250 downloads firmware (i.e. burns programs); Paragraph 0055, ECU 250 may update or download the firmware of the USB-C/PD system 201 over the LIN-based network or other types of standardized communication interfaces); a CAN communication module externally connect with a product to perform a CAN communication control and receive and send data (Fig. 14 shows embodiment of Fig. 2, Controller area network module 1219 for receiving and sending data; Paragraph 0079, serial communication blocks (SCBs) 1219 for implementation of serial communication interfaces such as… controller area network (CAN)); a LIN communication module connected with a product (Fig. 2, LIN transceiver 205 is connected to an external device via ports 102 and 104 for communication; Paragraph 0032, dual-port USB-C/PD system 201 may include a USB-C/PD controller 203 and a LIN transceiver 205… Paragraph 0025, electronic devices connected to the ports of the USB-C/PD device may include, without limitation, personal computers) communicating with LIN for a test (Fig. 14, Test module 1247 is used via the LIN; Paragraph 0085, system 1200 may be… with the LIN bus 210 of FIG. 2)… Paragraph 0083, System 1200 may also include a number of system resources 1240, including a power module 1241, a clock module 1243, a reset module 1245, and a test module 1247); a serial communication module (Figs. 2 and 14, USB module 203 in Fig. 2 and USB PD interconnect 1221 in Fig. 14 uses USB which is a serial protocol) connected with a program-controlled power supply (Fig. 14, USB PD interconnect 1221 includes HV regulator coupled to a power supply controlled by a program that sets up PD contract; Paragraph 0080, USB-PD modules 1221 may include an analog-to-digital conversion (ADC) module for converting various analog signals to digital signals; an error amplifier (AMP) regulating the output voltage on VBUS line per a PD contract; a high-voltage (HV) regulator for converting the power source voltage to a precise voltage (such as 3.5-5V) to power system 1200… to discharge the voltage on the VBUS line to the desired voltage level (i.e., the voltage level negotiated in the PD contract)) and a digital multimeter to control voltage changes of the power supply (Fig. 14, LSCSA is a digital multimeter that measures a current; Paragraph 0080, low-side current sense amplifier (LSCSA) for measuring load current accurately), so as to perform an over-under-voltage test and read current value information from a device under test (Fig. 14, OVP and OCP have configurable thresholds that can be used to measure above a threshold (i.e. over voltage) and below a threshold (i.e. under voltage); Paragraph 0080, an over voltage protection (OVP) module and an over-current protection (OCP) module for providing over-current and over-voltage protection on the VBUS line with configurable thresholds and response times); and a power management module used to supply electricity to other modules (Fig. 14, Power management module 1241; Paragraph 0083, power module 1241 may include circuits that allow system 1200 to draw and/or provide power from/to external sources at different voltage and/or current levels and to support controller operation in different power states, such as active, low-power, or sleep).
Paleti does not teach the FCT/EOL controller comprising: the CAN communication module used to burn and communicate with compatible programs.
Gubbala teaches the FCT/EOL controller comprising: the CAN communication module used to burn and communicate with compatible programs (Fig. 1, Controller area network module 104 is used to download firmware (i.e. burn compatible programs); Paragraph 0054, FIG. 1 comprises an interface 108 and a converter 2 110 which are part of the first communication channel (FCC) and are connected with the supervisory controller 112. The supervisory controller 112 identifies the firmware update to be transmitted from the resource… Paragraph 0061, second communication channel comprises various interfaces such as… a Controller Area Network (CAN), or Serial Peripheral interface (SPI) for transmitting the firmware update).
Paleti and Gubbala are analogous arts because they are in the same field of endeavor of providing an industrial controller that is capable of updating firmware.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Paleti’s FCT/EOL controller to incorporate the teachings of Gubbala and allow the Controller Area Network module to burn and communicate with compatible firmware programs externally.
One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to make the modifications in order to implement the capability of on-site firmware upgrades, thus reducing waste of manpower and transportation costs and improving speed of deployment of industrial systems (See Gubbala: Paragraphs 0003 and 0004).
Regarding claim 2, Paleti in view of Gubbala teaches the FCT/EOL controller of claim 1. Paleti teaches the FCT/EOL controller comprising wherein the controller further includes a relay control module, which is used to switch and control other products or devices on the production line (Fig. 2, Switch 203 switches between devices on ports 102 and 104; Paragraph 0032, automotive ECU 250 or BCM may configure, control, and monitor USB-C/PD ports such as port 1 (102) and port 2 (104) exposed by the dual-port USB-C/PD controller 203 to the LIN bus 210… Paragraph 0025, electronic devices connected to the ports of the USB-C/PD device may include… connectivity and charging devices (e.g., hubs).
Regarding claim 3, Paleti in view of Gubbala teaches the FCT/EOL controller of claim 1. Paleti teaches the FCT/EOL controller comprising wherein said CAN communication module includes three CAN communication routes (Fig. 2, Multiple USB-C/PD systems 201 each including CAN routes 102 and 104, wherein 104 is one or more ports; Paragraph 0029, multi-port USB-C/PD system may include one master port 102 and one or more slave ports 104), two CAN communication routes externally connect with a product to perform a CAN communication control and send and receive data (Fig. 2, SCAN 207 includes CAN communication routes coupled to ports 102 and 104 (i.e. two CAN communication routes) that control/send/receive data, see Figure 10 command for reading data and sending data; Paragraph 0032, a serial communication block (SCB) 207 to implement the serial communication interface… Paragraph 0079, serial communication blocks (SCBs) 1219 for implementation of serial communication interfaces such as… controller area network (CAN)).
Gubbala teaches the FCT/EOL controller comprising one communication route is compatible with programming and communicating with programs ((Fig. 1, Controller area network module 104 is a communication route used to download firmware programs; Paragraph 0061, second communication channel comprises various interfaces such as… a Controller Area Network (CAN), or Serial Peripheral interface (SPI) for transmitting the firmware update).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Paleti’s FCT/EOL controller to incorporate the teachings of Gubbala and allow the Controller Area Network module to burn and communicate with compatible firmware programs externally.
One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to make the modifications in order to implement the capability of on-site firmware upgrades, thus reducing waste of manpower and transportation costs and improving speed of deployment of industrial systems (See Gubbala: Paragraphs 0003 and 0004).
Regarding claim 4, Paleti in view of Gubbala teaches the FCT/EOL controller of claim 1. Paleti teaches the FCT/EOL controller comprising wherein said serial communication module includes two serial communication routes (Fig. 14, USB PD interconnect 1223 is coupled to modules 1221 via multiple USB routes; Paragraph 0080, USB-PD modules 1221 may be coupled to the peripheral interconnect 1211 through a USB-PD interconnect 1223), one serial communication route is connected with a program-controlled power supply of the production line (Fig. 14, USB PD interconnect 1221 includes HV regulator coupled to a power supply controlled by a program that sets up PD contract; Paragraph 0080, USB-PD modules 1221 may include an analog-to-digital conversion (ADC) module for converting various analog signals to digital signals; an error amplifier (AMP) regulating the output voltage on VBUS line per a PD contract; a high-voltage (HV) regulator for converting the power source voltage to a precise voltage (such as 3.5-5V) to power system 1200… to discharge the voltage on the VBUS line to the desired voltage level (i.e., the voltage level negotiated in the PD contract)), controls voltage changes of the power supply and perform an over-undervoltage test (Fig. 14, OVP and OCP have configurable thresholds that can be used to measure above a threshold (i.e. over voltage) and below a threshold (i.e. under voltage); Paragraph 0080, an over voltage protection (OVP) module and an over-current protection (OCP) module for providing over-current and over-voltage protection on the VBUS line with configurable thresholds and response times); the other serial communication route is connected with a digital multimeter of the production line, and reads current value information from a device under test (Fig. 14, LSCSA is a digital multimeter that measures a current; Paragraph 0080, low-side current sense amplifier (LSCSA) for measuring load current accurately).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-7 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the Claim Objection, set forth in this Office action.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 5, none of the cited references either alone or in combination teaches a system of an FCT/EOL controller adapted to an automated production line comprising: a digital multimeter current reading module that receives current information sent by a digital multimeter through a serial port by way of connecting with an ID instruction of a CAN communication module, converts serial port information and CAN communication in a circuit, and only receives and extracts a numerical value related to current in software; a program-controlled power control module that sends the control name of current and voltage to a program-controlled power supply through a serial port by means of an ID instruction of the CAN communication module, converts serial port information and CAN communication in a circuit, and uses Stateflow in software to write instructions for an over-undervoltage test through Stateflow to realize the function of automatically cyclically testing over-undervoltage; a host computer command module that receives a control instruction sent by a host computer by means of an ID instruction of the CAN communication module according to a communication protocol, and after receiving a corresponding control instruction, enables a program to start a corresponding function module to control a device under test to perform corresponding action, and then completes corresponding project operation; a test function module that has a corresponding control instruction and test function; and a host computer feedback module that receives the information sent by said test function module, and feeds back ID to the host computer by means of CAN communication according to a communication protocol after pooling and processing.
Claims 6-7 are considered allowable subject matter because they are dependent on claim 5.
US PGPUB 2017/0220404 to Polar Seminario discloses a firmware upgrading field device that also performs power management. No mention of a program-controlled power control module that sends the control name of current and voltage to a program-controlled power supply through a serial port by means of an ID instruction of the CAN communication module, converts serial port information and CAN communication in a circuit, and uses Stateflow in software to write instructions for an over-undervoltage test through Stateflow to realize the function of automatically cyclically testing over-undervoltage is present.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US PGPUB 2019/0087359 to Litichever discloses a USB system for communicating between a host and a peripheral in an industrial system.
US PGPUB 2021/0124563 to Moors discloses a simulated model for an industrial control unit using Stateflow.
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/H.Z.W./Examiner, Art Unit 2184
/HENRY TSAI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2184
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