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
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.
Claim(s) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hall(US 2015/0039877).
Regarding claim 1, Hall discloses an in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) system(Paragraph 17, in-vehicle computing system 109 (e.g., an infotainment system)) of a vehicle, the IVI system comprising a computing device configured to control an operation of the IVI system, wherein the computing device comprises: a random access memory (RAM) configured to store information for an operation of the computing device(Paragraph 30, In-vehicle computing system 200 may further include a volatile memory 216. Volatile memory 216 may be random access memory (RAM)); and suspended-to-random-access-memory (STR) logic configured to control the IVI system in an STR mode in response to ignition or an accessory (ACC) mode of the vehicle being off(Paragraphs 45, 71, the in-vehicle computing system may communicate with the vehicle control system to determine whether ignition state indicates a key-off or key-on position (e.g., via polling or on an interrupt basis; the system enters a suspend mode at time T3, in which the machine state and/or other data for subsequent quick startups is stored in non-volatile memory ), and wherein the computing device is configured to provide a first operating voltage to the RAM and a second operating voltage to the STR logic in the STR mode in accordance with the STR logic(Paragraph 65, the suspend mode of the in-vehicle computing system may be a mode in which the volatile memory is kept in a standby state (e.g., at least some current may be supplied to the volatile memory). It is inherent that STR logic has a voltage to operate during STR mode).
Regarding claim 2, Hall discloses IVI system of claim 1, wherein, in response to ignition on, ACC on, or CAN signal reception of the vehicle occurring while in the STR mode, the IVI system is configured to be switched to an active mode in which the IVI system operates according to a program executed by the computing device(Paragraph 72, At time T4, an event (e.g., a key on event, a door open event, etc.) indicating an imminent start up of the vehicle occurs, triggering a quick boot from suspend in the suspend/selective reboot system).
Regarding claim 3, Hall discloses IVI system of claim 2, wherein in response to the STR mode being switched to the active mode in response to ignition on, ACC on, or CAN signal reception of the vehicle occurring while in the STR mode, the IVI system is configured for quick booting of the IVI system to be performed, and in the quick booting, a booting operation of loading software to the RAM and an initialization operation for initialization of the IVI system are skipped(Paragraphs 71- 72, the machine state and/or other data for subsequent quick startups is stored in non-volatile memory. At time T4, an event (e.g., a key on event, a door open event, etc.) indicating an imminent start up of the vehicle occurs, triggering a quick boot from suspend in the suspend/selective reboot system).
Regarding claim 4, Hall discloses IVI system of claim 1, wherein the computing device further comprises refresh logic configured to refresh-operate the RAM, and wherein, while in the STR mode, according to the STR logic, the computing device is configured to provide a third operating voltage to the refresh logic(Paragraph 15, The suspend mode of the in-vehicle computing system may be a mode in which the processor, audio interfaces, and display of the system are in an off state while at least some volatile memory remains in a last known state, which may decrease the time it takes for the system to achieve an acceptable level of functionality when the vehicle is started. However, as keeping volatile memory active may lead to accumulation of errors over time, the in-vehicle computing system may be configured to refresh the volatile memory by performing a reboot (e.g., "cold boot") of the system, for example when the vehicle system is shut down and at a time when use of the vehicle is not likely imminent. After the volatile memory has been refreshed, the in-vehicle computing system may be placed in the suspend mode and quickly restored to an acceptable level of functionality at the next vehicle start. Therefore, the cold boot of the system may be timed to be performed when the vehicle is not in use, such that volatile memory may be refreshed without inconveniencing the user).
Regarding claim 5, Hall discloses IVI system of claim 1, further comprising: a battery; and a power supply device configured to convert a battery voltage of the battery to supply a converted voltage to the IVI system, and wherein, in the STR mode, the power supply device is configured to generate the respective first and second operating voltages of the RAM and the STR logic(Paragraph 28, the in-vehicle computing system may retrieve from the engine CAN bus the current speed of the vehicle estimated by the wheel sensors, a power state of the vehicle via a battery and/or power distribution system of the vehicle, an ignition state of the vehicle, etc.. It is inherent to convert battery power to the power used by the components).
Regarding claim 6, Hall discloses IVI system of claim 5, wherein, in response to the battery voltage of the battery becoming lower than a reference voltage, or an STR mode time in which the STR mode is maintained being longer than a reference time, the IVI system is configured so that the STR logic switches the IVI system to a sleep mode(Paragraph 45, method 300 includes determining whether vehicle shut down conditions are present. For example, this may include determining whether a vehicle shut down has occurred without a subsequent vehicle start, whether a vehicle shut down is in progress, or whether a vehicle shut down is imminent. In one or more embodiments, a determination of whether vehicle system shut down conditions are present and/or a detection of whether the vehicle is shut down may be performed on an interrupt basis, whereas in other embodiments, the determination/detection may be performed intermittently or via polling. The determination/detection may be based on sensed parameter values such as ignition state, whether a vehicle on/off button has been pressed, engine speed, voltage levels, etc. For example, in non-hybrid vehicle embodiments, the in-vehicle computing system may communicate with the vehicle control system to determine whether ignition state indicates a key-off or key-on position. Critical battery level is considered the threshold voltage as the if the battery dies, the vehicle wouldn’t be able to start).
Regarding claim 7, Hall discloses IVI system of claim 1, wherein the IVI system is configured so that the STR logic counts passage of time from time of start of control of the STR mode to generate an STR period of time, and in response to the STR period of time being longer than a reference period of time, the STR logic turns off the computing device to switch the IVI system to a sleep mode(Paragraph 52, While operating in the suspend mode (e.g., at 402), the method 400 proceeds to 404. At 404, method 400 includes detecting a door event. A door event may include opening of a vehicle door followed by closing of the same vehicle door, for example a driver door of the vehicle, and may include any opening or be limited to sustained openings (e.g., openings of a duration greater than a threshold duration, to reduce "false positives" such as a driver opening the driver door very quickly to release a seat belt strap caught in the door). Opening of a driver door of the vehicle may serve as an indicator that the vehicle is or will soon be unoccupied. Further examples of door events may include actuation of locks of one or more doors of the vehicle. For example, the in-vehicle computing system may communicate with the vehicle controller either via polling or on an interrupt basis to determine whether one or more vehicle doors have been unlocked, then opened (e.g., for a duration greater than a threshold), and then closed (or closed then locked). Accordingly, detection of a door event may include detection of a predetermined sequence of events related to the locking/unlocking/opening/closing of one or more vehicle doors).
Regarding claim 8, Hall discloses IVI system of claim 7, wherein the IVI system is configured so that in response to the IVI system being in a sleep mode and in response to any one of or any combination of ignition on, ACC on, or CAN signal reception of the vehicle occurring, the IVI system performs cold booting(Paragraph 15, performing a reboot (e.g., "cold boot") of the system, for example when the vehicle system is shut down).
Claims 9-20 recite substantially similar limitations as claims 1-8 and the corresponding limitations are taught by Hall as explained above.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NIMESH G PATEL whose telephone number is (571)272-3640. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday, 8:15-4:15.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jaweed Abbaszadeh can be reached on 571-270-1640. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see https://ppair-my.uspto.gov/pair/PrivatePair. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/NIMESH G PATEL/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2185