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
Claim 9 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 9 should be amended to read. The claim says, “…wherein controlling to allocated and connect …”, should be read as, “…wherein controlling to allocat“allocate” and connect
…”,
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 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shi et al.
(US20200077242A1) and further in view of Hoshino (US20230300226A1).
Regarding Claim1, Shi et al. teaches a controlling method of a vehicle performed by a processor, the controlling method comprising: (a terminal device including a processor, and a memory having stored executable procedure codes. The processor is configured to read the executable procedure codes stored in the memory and execute a computer program corresponding to the executable procedure codes, to perform a communication method of an autonomous vehicle comprising: an internal communication module communicating with a plurality of application modules in a service mode, and an external communication module communicating with another autonomous vehicle or a server in a message mode) (Shi et al., para. [0091], Fig.3, clm. 18), determining one of a plurality of communication modules as an external module and the remaining communication modules of the plurality of communication modules as internal modules (The processor is configured to read the executable procedure codes stored in the memory and execute a computer program corresponding to the executable procedure codes, to perform a communication method of an autonomous vehicle comprising: an internal communication module 120 communicating with a plurality of application modules in a service mode, and an external communication module 110 communicating with another autonomous vehicle or a server in a message mode (Shi et al., para. [0091]) [Examiner’s Note: The processor determines which modules operate in service mode (internal) and which modules operate in message mode (external)].
Shi et al. does not teach analyzing, based on a connection between the vehicle and an external device through the external module, a bandwidth of each service of the external device and a service table for each module regarding current status of services in the internal modules; and controlling, based on a result of the analysis, to allocate and connect at least one or more services to each of the external module and the internal modules.
However, Hoshino teaches analyzing, based on a connection between the vehicle and an external device through the external module, a bandwidth of each service of the external device (The Wi-Fi communication unit F 22 is a communication module for connecting to the Internet via the Wi-Fi base station 6 and communicating with the server 4 (Hoshino, para. [0085]) [Examiner’s Note: F22 is a part of F2 unit which is considered as an external module through which the vehicle communicates with the external device/ server. F3 (processor) controls F22]. The path characteristic acquisition unit F 32 is configured to acquire various kinds of information indicating communication characteristics for each communication line. For example, the path characteristic acquisition unit F 32 acquires, from the network-side device, communication setting parameters for each cellular line. Examples of the communication setting parameters for each cellular line include an assignment frequency, a priority order for packet transfer, a target delay time, and a packet loss rate. The path characteristic acquisition unit F 32 may sequentially evaluate a round-trip time (RTT) and throughput for each cellular line (Hoshino, para. [0093] [0095])), and a service table for each module regarding current status of services in the internal modules (the communication control unit F 3 checks the status of each communication line. Here, the status can include a size of the communication bandwidth assigned from the network-side device, a free capacity, an assignment frequency. The status of each communication line can also include throughput, RTT, and the like for each communication line that are sequentially evaluated by the path characteristic acquisition unit F 32 (Hoshino, para. [0135]). The status of each communication line can include attribute information such as a communication carrier that provides the communication line and whether the line is a dedicated line. Step S 102 can be referred to as a communication status checking step for checking a current status of each communication path (Hoshino, Fig. 8, para. [0136]). The communication condition acquisition unit F 33 acquires the communication condition from each application 81 [Examiner’s Note: Application 81 is considered to be as internal module]. As items constituting the communication condition, for example, as illustrated in FIG. 5, an allowable waiting time, an allowable RTT, a minimum bandwidth, an assumed data size, a data holdable time, a charging target, a data loss possibility, privacy, urgency, confidentiality, and control availability can be adopted (Hoshino, Fig. 8, para. [0097]). The path characteristic acquisition unit F 32 evaluates the QoS for each cellular line based on, for example, parameters such as the assignment frequency and the RTT. Therefore, in one aspect, the path characteristic acquisition unit F 32 can be understood as a service quality evaluation unit that evaluates QoS for each wireless communication service (Hoshino, para. [0096])), and controlling, based on a result of the analysis, to allocate and connect at least one or more services to each of the external module and the internal modules (The path setting unit F 34 is configured to set a communication path to be used for data communication of each application 81 based on the communication condition for each application 81 and characteristics for each cellular line. Elements constituting the communication path can include, in addition to a type of communication line, a size (width) of assigned communication bandwidth, an assignment frequency (Hoshino, para. [0109]). In step S 103, the path setting unit F 34 selects an assignment line, which is a communication line to be assigned to the request source application, based on the status of each line acquired in step S 101. The assignment line may be a communication line that satisfies the communication condition notified by the application 81 or a communication line that is expected to satisfy the communication condition (Hoshino, para. [0137]). The path setting unit F 34 may be configured to select, as an assignment line, a line that satisfies the communication condition in view of a status such as an observation value of the throughput (Hoshino, para. [0145]). In step S 106, the path setting unit F 34 exchanges control signals for path setting with the network-side device, the ACP server 5, the server 4, and the like using the assignment line selected in step S 103 , and secures a communication path from the wireless communication device 7 to the server 4 (Hoshino, para. [0146])) [Examiner’s Note: The processor assigns a communication line to application and establishes a resulting communication path from the vehicle’s wireless communication device 7(a part of which is F2 unit considered as external module) to server].
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to combine the controlling method of Shi et al. with analyzing, based on a connection between the vehicle and an external device through the external module, a bandwidth of each service of the external device and a service table for each module regarding current status of services in the internal modules and controlling, based on a result of the analysis, to allocate and connect at least one or more services to each of the external module and the internal modules by Hoshino. Doing so, allows the system to evaluate and improve service quality evaluation (Hoshino, para. [0096]).
Regarding Claim 8, Shi et al. teaches a vehicle (Fig. 1) comprising: a plurality of communication modules (the in-vehicle terminal 100 includes an external communication module 110 configured to communicate with another autonomous vehicle or a server, and an internal communication module 120 configured to communicate with the application module 200 (Shi et al., para. [0022], fig. 1; step 120, 110)); and a communication processor configured to control the plurality of communication modules by executing a computer program stored in a memory (a terminal device, including a processor and a memory having stored executable procedure codes. The processor is configured to read the executable procedure codes stored in the memory and execute a computer program corresponding to the executable procedure codes, to perform a communication method of an autonomous vehicle (Shi et al., para. [0091]) [Examiner’s Note: A terminal device is an in-vehicle terminal/device 100 which is a part of vehicle performing communication method for vehicle]. A communication method of an autonomous vehicle including a communication system including a plurality of application modules, and an in-vehicle terminal comprising an external communication module and an internal communication module, and the communication method includes: the internal communication module communicating with the plurality of application modules in a service mode, and the external communication module communicating with another autonomous vehicle or a server in a message mode (Shi et al., para. [0006])), wherein the communication processor (Hoshino, Fig. 4; F3 Unit) is configured to execute the computer program to perform operations comprising: determining one of a plurality of communication modules as an external module and the remaining communication modules of the plurality of communication modules as internal modules (The processor is configured to read the executable procedure codes stored in the memory and execute a computer program corresponding to the executable procedure codes, to perform a communication method of an autonomous vehicle comprising: an internal communication module 120 communicating with a plurality of application modules in a service mode, and an external communication module 110 communicating with another autonomous vehicle or a server in a message mode (Shi et al., para. [0091]) [Examiner’s Note: The processor determines which modules operate in service mode (internal) and which modules operate in message mode (external)].
Shi et al. does not teach analyzing, based on a connection between the vehicle and an external device through the external module, a bandwidth of each service of the external device and a service table for each module regarding current status of services in the internal modules; and controlling, based on a result of the analysis, to allocate and connect at least one or more services to each of the external module and the internal modules.
However, Hoshino teaches analyzing, based on a connection between the vehicle and an external device through the external module, a bandwidth of each service of the external device (The Wi-Fi communication unit F 22 is a communication module for connecting to the Internet via the Wi-Fi base station 6 and communicating with the server 4 (Hoshino, para. [0085]) [Examiner’s Note: F22 is a part of F2 unit which is considered as an external module through which the vehicle communicates with the external device/ server. F3 (processor) controls F22]. The path characteristic acquisition unit F 32 is configured to acquire various kinds of information indicating communication characteristics for each communication line. For example, the path characteristic acquisition unit F 32 acquires, from the network-side device, communication setting parameters for each cellular line. Examples of the communication setting parameters for each cellular line include an assignment frequency, a priority order for packet transfer, a target delay time, and a packet loss rate. The path characteristic acquisition unit F 32 may sequentially evaluate a round-trip time (RTT) and throughput for each cellular line (Hoshino, para. [0093] [0095])), and a service table for each module regarding current status of services in the internal modules (the communication control unit F 3 checks the status of each communication line. Here, the status can include a size of the communication bandwidth assigned from the network-side device, a free capacity, an assignment frequency. The status of each communication line can also include throughput, RTT, and the like for each communication line that are sequentially evaluated by the path characteristic acquisition unit F 32 (Hoshino, para. [0135]). The status of each communication line can include attribute information such as a communication carrier that provides the communication line and whether the line is a dedicated line. Step S 102 can be referred to as a communication status checking step for checking a current status of each communication path (Hoshino, Fig. 8, para. [0136]). The communication condition acquisition unit F 33 acquires the communication condition from each application 81 [Examiner’s Note: Application 81 is considered to be as internal module]. As items constituting the communication condition, for example, as illustrated in FIG. 5, an allowable waiting time, an allowable RTT, a minimum bandwidth, an assumed data size, a data holdable time, a charging target, a data loss possibility, privacy, urgency, confidentiality, and control availability can be adopted (Hoshino, Fig. 8, para. [0097]). The path characteristic acquisition unit F 32 evaluates the QoS for each cellular line based on, for example, parameters such as the assignment frequency and the RTT. Therefore, in one aspect, the path characteristic acquisition unit F 32 can be understood as a service quality evaluation unit that evaluates QoS for each wireless communication service (Hoshino, para. [0096])), and controlling, based on a result of the analysis, to allocate and connect at least one or more services to each of the external module and the internal modules (The path setting unit F 34 is configured to set a communication path to be used for data communication of each application 81 based on the communication condition for each application 81 and characteristics for each cellular line. Elements constituting the communication path can include, in addition to a type of communication line, a size (width) of assigned communication bandwidth, an assignment frequency (Hoshino, para. [0109]). In step S 103, the path setting unit F 34 selects an assignment line, which is a communication line to be assigned to the request source application, based on the status of each line acquired in step S 101. The assignment line may be a communication line that satisfies the communication condition notified by the application 81 or a communication line that is expected to satisfy the communication condition (Hoshino, para. [0137]). The path setting unit F 34 may be configured to select, as an assignment line, a line that satisfies the communication condition in view of a status such as an observation value of the throughput (Hoshino, para. [0145]). In step S 106, the path setting unit F 34 exchanges control signals for path setting with the network-side device, the ACP server 5, the server 4, and the like using the assignment line selected in step S 103 , and secures a communication path from the wireless communication device 7 to the server 4 (Hoshino, para. [0146])) [Examiner’s Note: The processor assigns a communication line to application and establishes a resulting communication path from the vehicle’s wireless communication device 7(a part of which is F2 unit considered as external module) to server].
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to combine the controlling apparatus of Shi et al. with analyzing, based on a connection between the vehicle and an external device through the external module, a bandwidth of each service of the external device and a service table for each module regarding current status of services in the internal modules and controlling, based on a result of the analysis, to allocate and connect at least one or more services to each of the external module and the internal modules by Hoshino. Doing so, allows the system to evaluate and improve service quality evaluation (Hoshino, para. [0096]).
Claims 2 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shi et al. (US20200077242A1) and Hoshino (US20230300226A1) and further in view of Tokunaga et al. (US20140350911A1).
Regarding Claim 2, Shi et al. and Hoshino teach the method as claimed in claim 1, however, the references do not explicitly teach wherein controlling to allocate and connect the at least one or more services comprises controlling to allocate the at least one or more services not to exceed a maximum load of a corresponding module of the internal modules.
However, Tokunaga et al. teaches wherein controlling to allocate and connect the at least one or more services comprises controlling to allocate the at least one or more services not to exceed a maximum load of a corresponding module of the internal modules (The function allocation section allocates functions, to be executed by the respective ECUs of the vehicle, in a function allocation pattern (Tokunaga et al., para. [0009]). The function allocation achieved by the reallocation algorithm can be such that the processing load on each of the ECUs does not exceed a predetermined upper limit value (Tokunaga et al., para. [0067])).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to combine the controlling method of Shi et al. and Hoshino with wherein controlling to allocate and connect the at least one or more services comprises controlling to allocate the at least one or more services not to exceed a maximum load of a corresponding module of the internal modules taught by Tokunaga et al. Doing so, allows the system to reduce the time and cost requirements of vehicle (Tokunaga et al., para. [0069]).
Regarding Claim 9, Shi et al. and Hoshino teach the vehicle as claimed in claim 8, however the references do not teach, wherein controlling to allocated and connect the at least one or more services comprises controlling to allocate the at least one or more services not to exceed a maximum load of a corresponding module of the internal modules.
However, Tokunaga et al. teaches the vehicle as claimed in claim 8, wherein controlling to allocated and connect the at least one or more services comprises controlling to allocate the at least one or more services not to exceed a maximum load of a corresponding module of the internal modules (The function allocation section allocates functions, to be executed by the respective ECUs of the vehicle, in a function allocation pattern (Tokunaga et al., para. [0009]). The function allocation achieved by the reallocation algorithm can be such that the processing load on each of the ECUs does not exceed a predetermined upper limit value (Tokunaga et al., para. [0067])).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to combine the controlling method of Shi et al. and Hoshino with wherein controlling to allocate and connect the at least one or more services comprises controlling to allocate the at least one or more services not to exceed a maximum load of a corresponding module of the internal modules taught by Tokunaga et al. Doing so, allows the system to reduce the time and cost requirements of vehicle (Tokunaga et al., para. [0069]).
Claims 3, 4, 10 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shi et al.(US20200077242A1), Hoshino (US20230300226A1) and Tokunaga et al. (US20140350911A1), and further in view of Xue et al. (WO2009092322A1).
Regarding Claim 3, Shi et al., Hoshino and Tokunaga et al. teach the method as claimed in claim 2, however, the references do not explicitly teach further comprising: determining one communication module among the plurality of communication modules as an error communication module based on the one communication module being reset from an emergency processing signal, and allocating a service allocated to the error communication module to other communication modules.
However, Xue et al. teaches further comprising: determining one communication module among the plurality of communication modules as an error communication module based on the one communication module being reset from an emergency processing signal (When the system detects a fault in a processor, the main processor performs a fault recovery operation on the system, which may specifically include the following steps; Reset the faulty processor, which can be either a software reset or a hardware reset (Xue et al., para. [0033] [0034])), and allocating a service allocated to the error communication module to other communication modules (the selected host processor isolates the failed hardware unit and redistributes the service allocated to the failed hardware unit to a normal hardware unit having processing capability for the service in the system. The failed hardware unit to perform a reset and allows the repeated reset if the failed reset fails (Xue et al., para. [0024] [0025]). A reset module 3, configured to control the main processor to perform software or hardware reset on the failed hardware unit (Xue et al., para. [0074]). The selected host processor isolates the failed hardware unit and reallocates the traffic assigned to the failed hardware unit to a normal hardware unit in the system that has processing capabilities for the service (Xue et al., para. [0013]). A service allocation module configured to control the main processor to redistribute the service allocated to the failed hardware unit to the system in the system that has the processing capability for the service after knowing that the operation for quarantining the failed hardware unit is successful Normal hardware unit (Xue et al., para. [0016])).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to combine the controlling method of Shi et al., Hoshino and Tokunaga et al. with determining one communication module among the plurality of communication modules as an error communication module based on the one communication module being reset from an emergency processing signal, and allocating a service allocated to the error communication module to other communication modules taught by Xue et al. Doing so, allows to improve efficiency and reduce system implementation costs (Xue et al., para. [0019]).
Regarding claim 4, Shi et al., Hoshino, Tokunaga et al. and Xue et al. teach the method as claimed in claim 3, and further the references teach, further comprising re-allocating the service allocated to the other communication modules to the one communication module based on a restoration of the error communication module (when the isolated hardware unit returns to normal, the system can detect that the hardware unit has returned to normal and send the message that the hardware unit has returned to normal to the current main processor. Alternatively, the hardware unit that has returned to normal can report the message that it has returned to normal to the current main processor, so that when the main processor performs a new fault isolation and recovery operation, it can allocate the software services and data that it can process to the hardware unit (Xue et al., para. [0046])).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to combine the controlling method of Shi et al., Hoshino and Tokunaga et al. with re-allocating the service allocated to the other communication modules to the one communication module based on a restoration of the error communication module taught by Xue et al. Doing so, avoids waste of processor system resources (Xue et al., para. [0012]).
Regarding Claim 10, Shi et al., Hoshino and Tokunaga et al. teach the method as claimed in claim 2, however, the references do not explicitly teach further comprising: determining one communication module among the plurality of communication modules as an error communication module based on the one communication module being reset from an emergency processing signal, and allocate a service allocated in the error communication module to the remaining communication modules.
However, Xue et al. teaches the method as claimed in claim 2, further comprising: determining one communication module among the plurality of communication modules as an error communication module based on the one communication module being reset from an emergency processing signal (When the system detects a fault in a processor, the main processor performs a fault recovery operation on the system, which may specifically include the following steps; Reset the faulty processor, which can be either a software reset or a hardware reset (Xue et al., para. [0033] [0034])), and allocate a service allocated in the error communication module to the remaining communication modules (the selected host processor isolates the failed hardware unit and redistributes the service allocated to the failed hardware unit to a normal hardware unit having processing capability for the service in the system. The failed hardware unit to perform a reset and allows the repeated reset if the failed reset fails (Xue et al., para. [0024] [0025]). A reset module 3, configured to control the main processor to perform software or hardware reset on the failed hardware unit (Xue et al., para. [0074]). The selected host processor isolates the failed hardware unit and reallocates the traffic assigned to the failed hardware unit to a normal hardware unit in the system that has processing capabilities for the service (Xue et al., para. [0013]). A service allocation module configured to control the main processor to redistribute the service allocated to the failed hardware unit to the system in the system that has the processing capability for the service after knowing that the operation for quarantining the failed hardware unit is successful Normal hardware unit (Xue et al., para. [0016])).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to combine the apparatus of Shi et al., Hoshino and Tokunaga et al. with determining one communication module among the plurality of communication modules as an error communication module based on the one communication module being reset from an emergency processing signal, and allocating a service allocated to the error communication module to other communication modules taught by Xue et al. Doing so, allows to improve efficiency and reduce system implementation costs (Xue et al., para. [0019]).
Regarding claim 11, Shi et al., Hoshino, Tokunaga et al. and Xue et al. teach the vehicle as claimed in claim 10, and further the references teach, wherein the operations further comprise re-allocating the service allocated to the other communication modules to the one communication module based on a restoration of the error communication module (when the isolated hardware unit returns to normal, the system can detect that the hardware unit has returned to normal and send the message that the hardware unit has returned to normal to the current main processor. Alternatively, the hardware unit that has returned to normal can report the message that it has returned to normal to the current main processor, so that when the main processor performs a new fault isolation and recovery operation, it can allocate the software services and data that it can process to the hardware unit (Xue et al., para. [0046])).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to combine the controlling method of Shi et al., Hoshino and Tokunaga et al. with re-allocating the service allocated to the other communication modules to the one communication module based on a restoration of the error communication module taught by Xue et al. Doing so, avoids waste of processor system resources (Xue et al., para. [0012]).
Claims 5, 6, 12 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shi et al. (US20200077242A1), Hoshino (US20230300226A1), Tokunaga et al. (US20140350911A1) and Xue et al. (WO2009092322A1), and further in view of
Wang et al. (US20160127257A1).
Regarding Claim 5, Shi et al., Hoshino, Tokunaga et al. and Xue et al. teach the method as claimed in claim 4, however, the references do not explicitly teach, further comprising controlling to, based on allocating the service to the other communication modules being failed, maintain the service allocated to the error communication module at a minimum load.
However, Wang et al. teaches further comprising controlling to, based on allocating the service to the other communication modules being failed, maintain the service allocated to the error communication module at a minimum load (the resource allocator 112 manages resource (e.g., bandwidth) allocation for the router, monitors quality of links for the router and if needed performs resource redistribution (Wang et al., para. [0013]). The resource allocator 112 monitors the link conditions and senses that the link quality no longer supports the existing mission requirements or that there is a link failure. After a link failure or link degradation process 300 is performed. Process 300 performs a resource re-evaluation and determines if a new alternate route be chosen. For example, a process 400 is performed to re-evaluate whether there is adequate bandwidth at the node (Wang et al., para. [0025] [0026]). If a new route should be chosen, process 300 determines if alternate routes are available (306). For each alternative link being considered, both the data on the failed or saturated link and the data on the alternative link are assessed. The total capability should at least satisfy the sum of the minimum bandwidth requirement of all traffic flows which go through this link (Wang et al., para. [0027]). If a new route need not be chosen, process 300 determines if bandwidth should be reduced and, if bandwidth should be reduced, process 300 performs bandwidth reallocation and sends a notification to its predecessor nodes and its successor nodes. To avoid the packet delivery interruption due to the path change and save the path reestablishment time, the preferred choice is to reduce the reserved bandwidth in order to keep the traffic flow on the same link (Wang et al., para. [0032] [0033])).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to combine the controlling method of Shi et al., Hoshino, Tokunaga et al. and Xue et al. with controlling to, based on allocating the service to the other communication modules being failed, maintain the service allocated to the error communication module at a minimum load taught by Wang et al. Doing so, allows the system to improve network utilization (Wang et al., para. [0023]).
Regarding Claim 6, Shi et al., Hoshino, Tokunaga et al., Xue et al. and Wang et al. teach the method as claimed in claim 5, and further the references teach wherein further comprising allocating an external message transmitted through an antenna at each of the plurality of communication modules to the external module or the internal modules (The cellular communication unit F 21 includes an antenna capable of transmitting and receiving radio waves in a frequency band used in the LTE (Hoshino, para. [0083]). The Wi-Fi communication unit F 22 recognizes the presence of the Wi-Fi base station 6 by receiving a beacon transmitted from the Wi-Fi base station 6 (Hoshino, para. [0086]) [Examiner’s Note: Receiving a beacon from base station corresponds to receiving an external message]. The communication control unit F 3 starts the communication connection between the Wi-Fi communication unit F 22 and the Wi-Fi base station 6 based on reception of a beacon by the Wi-Fi communication unit F 22 . That is, the Wi-Fi communication unit F 22 exchanges control signals with the Wi-Fi base station 6 for IP address acquisition and security settings (Hoshino, para. [0089])).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to combine the controlling method of Shi et al., Hoshino, Tokunaga et al., Xue et al. and Wang et al. with allocating an external message transmitted through an antenna at each of the plurality of communication modules to the external module or the internal modules taught by Hoshino. Doing so, allows the system to improve efficiency of data transmission (Hoshino, para. [0019]).
Regarding Claim 12, Shi et al., Hoshino, Tokunaga et al. and Xue et al. teach the vehicle as claimed in claim 11, however the references do not explicitly teach, wherein the operations further comprise controlling to, based on allocating the service to the other communication modules being failed, maintain the service allocated to the error communication module at a minimum load.
However, Wang et al. teaches the vehicle as claimed in claim 11, wherein the operations further comprise controlling to, based on allocating the service to the other communication modules being failed, maintain the service allocated to the error communication module at a minimum load (the resource allocator 112 manages resource (e.g., bandwidth) allocation for the router , monitors quality of links for the router and if needed performs resource redistribution (Wang et al., para. [0013]). The resource allocator 112 monitors the link conditions and senses that the link quality no longer supports the existing mission requirements or that there is a link failure. After a link failure or link degradation process 300 is performed. Process 300 performs a resource re-evaluation and determines if a new alternate route be chosen. For example, a process 400 is performed to re-evaluate whether there is adequate bandwidth at the node (Wang et al., para. [0025] [0026]). If a new route should be chosen, process 300 determines if alternate routes are available (306). For each alternative link being considered, both the data on the failed or saturated link and the data on the alternative link are assessed. The total capability should at least satisfy the sum of the minimum bandwidth requirement of all traffic flows which go through this link (Wang et al., para. [0027]). If a new route need not be chosen, process 300 determines if bandwidth should be reduced and, if bandwidth should be reduced, process 300 performs bandwidth reallocation and sends a notification to its predecessor nodes and its successor nodes. To avoid the packet delivery interruption due to the path change and save the path reestablishment time, the preferred choice is to reduce the reserved bandwidth in order to keep the traffic flow on the same link (Wang et al., para. [0032] [0033])).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to combine the controlling method of Shi et al., Hoshino, Tokunaga et al. and Xue et al. with controlling to, based on allocating the service to the other communication modules being failed, maintain the service allocated to the error communication module at a minimum load taught by Wang et al. Doing so, allows the system to improve network utilization (Wang et al., para. [0023]).
Regarding Claim 13, Shi et al., Hoshino, Tokunaga et al., Xue et al. and Wang et al. teach the vehicle as claimed in claim 12, and further the references teach ,wherein the operations further comprise allocating an external message transmitted through an antenna at each of the plurality of communication modules to the external module or the internal modules (The cellular communication unit F 21 includes an antenna capable of transmitting and receiving radio waves in a frequency band used in the LTE (Hoshino, para. [0083]). The Wi-Fi communication unit F 22 recognizes the presence of the Wi-Fi base station 6 by receiving a beacon transmitted from the Wi-Fi base station 6 (Hoshino, para. [0086]) [Examiner’s Note: Receiving a beacon from base station corresponds to receiving an external message]. The communication control unit F 3 starts the communication connection between the Wi-Fi communication unit F 22 and the Wi-Fi base station 6 based on reception of a beacon by the Wi-Fi communication unit F 22. That is, the Wi-Fi communication unit F 22 exchanges control signals with the Wi-Fi base station 6 for IP address acquisition and security settings (Hoshino, para. [0089])).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to combine the controlling method of Shi et al., Hoshino, Tokunaga et al., Xue et al. and Wang et al. with allocating an external message transmitted through an antenna at each of the plurality of communication modules to the external module or the internal modules taught by Hoshino. Doing so, allows the system to improve efficiency of data transmission (Hoshino, para. [0019]).
Claims 7 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shi et al.(US20200077242A1), Hoshino (US20230300226A1), Tokunaga et al. (US20140350911A1), and Xue et al. (WO2009092322A1) and further in view of Spear (US20130007505 A1).
Regarding Claim 7, Shi et al., Hoshino, Tokunaga et al. and Xue et al. teach the method as claimed in claim 3, and further the reference teach, and transmitting the emergency processing signal that requests a reset of the one communication module based on a failure of transmitting the ping signal and responding to the check message (When the system detects a fault in a processor, the main processor performs a fault recovery operation on the system, which may specifically include the following steps; Reset the faulty processor, which can be either a software reset or a hardware reset (Xue et al., para. [0033])).
However, the references do not explicitly teach, further comprising: detecting a communication status of each of the plurality of communication modules, and identifying a ping signal transmitted and received for communication after the service is activated, determining, based on a result of transmitting a check message to the one communication module in which the ping signal was not detected, that one communication module of the plurality of communication modules is functioning as expected, and transmitting the emergency processing signal that requests a reset of the one communication module based on a failure of transmitting the ping signal and responding to the check message.
Spear teaches further comprising: detecting a communication status of each of the plurality of communication modules (these health check messages are sent to determine status of the servers, each of the services, or destinations, on the servers can transmit back a response message to the load balancer (Spear, para. [0037]), and identifying a ping signal transmitted and received for communication after the service is activated (During normal operation, load balancer 130 may periodically transmit health check messages to the various servers behind it. Health checks can be sent to all servers for each rule set, and more specifically to a port that the load balancer is configured to be directing traffic to for a given service (rule set). In this way, load balancer 130 can determine whether a failure has occurred on a given server, based on a lack of a response to this health check message (Spear, para. [0027]), determining, based on a result of transmitting a check message to the one communication module in which the ping signal was not detected, that one communication module of the plurality of communication modules is functioning as expected (these health check messages are sent to determine status of the servers, each of the services, or destinations, on the servers can transmit back a response message to the load balancer. Accordingly, at diamond 320 it may be determined whether a response has been received for each service (or other destination). If so, that service or other destination is operating properly. If one or more of the receivers of the health status message does not respond with the appropriate message, or at all, then control instead passes to diamond 330. There, it may be determined whether the non-responsive server is a primary server for a given service (Spear, Fig. 3, para. [0037]), and transmitting the emergency processing signal that requests a reset of the one communication module based on a failure of transmitting the ping signal and responding to the check message (at diamond 320 it may be determined whether a response has been received for each service (or other destination). If so, that service or other destination is operating properly. If one or more of the receivers of the health status message does not respond with the appropriate message, or at all, then control instead passes to diamond 330 . There, it may be determined whether the non-responsive server is a primary server for a given service. If it is determined that the non-responsive server is a primary server for a given service, control passes to block 340 where the load balancer can switch the service from the primary server to a secondary server to enable the secondary server to handle the service (Spear, para. [0037] [0038]) [Examiner’s Note: switching the services from non-responsive server to another is considered as being reset].
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to combine the controlling method of Shi et al., Hoshino, Tokunaga et al. and Xue at al. with detecting a communication status of each of the plurality of communication modules, and identifying a ping signal transmitted and received for communication after the service is activated, determining, based on a result of transmitting a check message to the one communication module in which the ping signal was not detected, that one communication module of the plurality of communication modules is functioning as expected, and transmitting the emergency processing signal that requests a reset of the one communication module based on a failure of transmitting the ping signal and responding to the check message taught by Spear. Doing so, makes it desirable to increase availability and reducing downtime (Spear, para. [0024])).
Regarding Claim 14, Shi et al., Hoshino, Tokunaga et al. and Xue et al. teach the vehicle as claimed in claim 10, and further the reference teach, and transmit the emergency processing signal that requests a reset of the one communication module based on a failure of transmitting the ping signal and responding to the check message (When the system detects a fault in a processor, the main processor performs a fault recovery operation on the system, which may specifically include the following steps; Reset the faulty processor, which can be either a software reset or a hardware reset (Xue et al., para. [0033])).
However, the references do not explicitly teach, further comprising: detecting a communication status of each of the plurality of communication modules, and identifying a ping signal transmitted and received for communication after the service is activated, determining, based on a result of transmitting a check message to the one communication module in which the ping signal was not detected, that one communication module of the plurality of communication modules is functioning as expected, and transmitting the emergency processing signal that requests a reset of the one communication module based on a failure of transmitting the ping signal and responding to the check message.
Spear teaches further comprising: detecting a communication status of each of the plurality of communication modules (these health check messages are sent to determine status of the servers, each of the services, or destinations, on the servers can transmit back a response message to the load balancer (Spear, para. [0037]), and identifying a ping signal transmitted and received for communication after the service is activated (During normal operation, load balancer 130 may periodically transmit health check messages to the various servers behind it. Health checks can be sent to all servers for each rule set, and more specifically to a port that the load balancer is configured to be directing traffic to for a given service (rule set). In this way, load balancer 130 can determine whether a failure has occurred on a given server, based on a lack of a response to this health check message (Spear, para. [0027]), determining, based on a result of transmitting a check message to the one communication module in which the ping signal was not detected, that one communication module of the plurality of communication modules is functioning as expected (these health check messages are sent to determine status of the servers, each of the services, or destinations, on the servers can transmit back a response message to the load balancer. Accordingly, at diamond 320 it may be determined whether a response has been received for each service (or other destination). If so, that service or other destination is operating properly. If one or more of the receivers of the health status message does not respond with the appropriate message, or at all, then control instead passes to diamond 330. There, it may be determined whether the non-responsive server is a primary server for a given service (Spear, Fig. 3, para. [0037]), and transmitting the emergency processing signal that requests a reset of the one communication module based on a failure of transmitting the ping signal and responding to the check message (at diamond 320 it may be determined whether a response has been received for each service (or other destination). If so, that service or other destination is operating properly. If one or more of the receivers of the health status message does not respond with the appropriate message, or at all, then control instead passes to diamond 330 . There, it may be determined whether the non-responsive server is a primary server for a given service. If it is determined that the non-responsive server is a primary server for a given service, control passes to block 340 where the load balancer can switch the service from the primary server to a secondary server to enable the secondary server to handle the service (Spear, para. [0037] [0038]) [Examiner’s Note: switching the services from non-responsive server to another is considered as being reset].
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to combine the controlling method of Shi et al., Hoshino, Tokunaga et al. and Xue at al. with detecting a communication status of each of the plurality of communication modules, and identifying a ping signal transmitted and received for communication after the service is activated, determining, based on a result of transmitting a check message to the one communication module in which the ping signal was not detected, that one communication module of the plurality of communication modules is functioning as expected, and transmitting the emergency processing signal that requests a reset of the one communication module based on a failure of transmitting the ping signal and responding to the check message taught by Spear. Doing so, makes it desirable to increase availability and reducing downtime (Spear, para. [0024])).
Conclusion
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/T.S./Examiner, Art Unit 2417
/REBECCA E SONG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2417
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