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 Interpretation
Claim 1 recites the following contingent limitations:
in response to input indicating one or more components of the energy consumption point is to be placed into energy saving mode, switching autonomously with the device the energy consumption point into an associated energy saving mode for additional energy saving gain relative to only if the one or more components are switched into energy saving modes, the switching autonomously based at least on the mapping; or
in response to input indicating the energy consumption point should be placed into an energy saving mode, switching with the device individual ones of the determined one or more components into associated energy saving modes.
These limitations are contingent because they recite steps that are only required to be performed if their conditions are met. Limitation A only needs to be performed upon receipt of input indicating one or more components of the energy consumption point is to be placed into energy saving mode, and limitation B only needs to be performed upon receipt of input indicating the energy consumption point should be placed into an energy saving mode. These conditions are not inherent nor required, and the claim language may be interpreted to cover instances when neither condition is true. Under such an interpretation, only the mapping step would be required (since it is unconditional). For example, when there is no input for an energy saving mode, the claim only requires the mapping step of lines 2-3. Therefore, the broadest reasonable interpretation (BRI) of claim 1 requires only the mapping step of line 2-3, with steps (A) and (B) only being performed when their respective conditions are true.
This interpretation does not apply to product claims (i.e., claims 16 and 31). A product claim reciting structure for a function that is only performed if a condition is true still requires that structure for performing the function whether or not the condition occurs.
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 1-12, 16-27, and 31 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.
The claims are rejected for the following indefinite language.
Claim 1,
lines 7-10, “…for additional energy saving gain relative to only if the one or more components are switched into energy saving modes…”: indefinite because this limitation appears to directed to an intended result without additional language to facilitate the result. If the result is inherent, the recitation is not required and serves no purpose. If it is not inherent, the claim fails to recite details that clearly warrant this result.
line 12, “an energy saving mode”: indefinite because it is unclear whether this energy saving mode is the same as one of the several previously recited energy saving modes.
lines 12-13, “the determined one or more components”: lack of antecedent basis.
Claim 2,
line 2, “the device elements”: lack of antecedent basis.
line 3, “the determined one or more components”: lack of antecedent basis.
line 4, “associated energy savings modes”: indefinite due to original recitation of associated energy savings modes in claim 1, lines 7 and 13.
Line 4, “for additional energy saving gain”: see claim 1 rejection.
line 5, “the one or more components”: unclear which of the previously recited one or more components is in view.
Claim 3, line 4, “the individual component”: lack of antecedent basis.
Claim 5,
line 2-3, “the one or more of the plurality of components”: lack of antecedent basis.
line 3, “the energy consumption point”: unclear because of the previously recited multiple energy consumption points.
Claim 8, lines 2-3, “is to be placed” vs. “should be placed”: unclear how input indicating the ECP is to be placed into ESM differs from input indicating the ECP should be placed into an ESM.
Claim 9, line 2, “the one or more components”: lack of antecedent basis, inconsistent with previously recitation one or more components.
Claim 10: see claim 8, “is to be placed” vs. “should be placed”.
Claim 11,
lines 3 and 6, “the input”: unclear which of the two inputs in claim 1 is referenced.
line 9, “the individual ones of the determined one or more energy consumption points”: lack of antecedent basis.
Claim 12,
line 2, “the input indicating a function”: lack of antecedent basis.
line 6, “associated energy saving modes”: see claim 2 rejection.
line 7, “the determined one or more components”: see claim 1 rejection.
Claims 16-27 and 31 recite limitations similar to those of claims 1-12 and are rejected on the same basis.
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-12, 16-20, 23, 25, 26, and 31 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Park, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2022/0038303.
Regarding claim 1, Park discloses a method comprising:
determining a mapping from one or more of multiple components in a device to an energy consumption point [para. 0012: “The control device may configure an OSEK (Open Systems and their Interfaces for the Electronics in Motor Vehicles) Network management cluster with the plurality of electronic devices and the first communication device, and configure a partial networking cluster with the second communication device.”]; and
performing one or both of the following:
in response to input indicating one or more components of the energy consumption point is to be placed into energy saving mode, switching autonomously with the device the energy consumption point into an associated energy saving mode for additional energy saving gain relative to only if the one or more components are switched into energy saving modes, the switching autonomously based at least on the mapping [para. 0153: “The normal transceiver may be a transceiver that allows the rest of the devices to enter the sleep mode when any one device constituting the OSEK network management cluster enters the sleep mode. For example, when the first electronic device enters the sleep mode, the general transceiver of the first electronic device may transmit a sleep command to the second and third electronic devices constituting the OSEK network management cluster and the general transceiver of the first communication device.”]; or
in response to input indicating the energy consumption point should be placed into an energy saving mode, switching with the device individual ones of the determined one or more components into associated energy saving modes [para. 0180: “The control device transmits a sleep command message (Sleep IND msg) to the first, second, and third electronic devices constituting the first cluster as well as the first communication device 141, and then sends a sleep confirmation message (Sleep Ack msg).”].
Regarding claim 2, Park teaches that the switching autonomously further comprises switching autonomously with the device elements, associated with the determined one or more components but not part of the determined one or more components, into associated energy saving modes for additional energy saving gain relative to only switching the one or more components into corresponding energy saving modes [para. 0180: “…as well as the first communication device…”].
Regarding claim 3, Park teaches that the switching individual ones of the determined one or more components into associated energy saving modes comprises switching the individual component to operate with reduced capability or performance or both reduced capability and performance [sleep mode].
Regarding claim 4, Park teaches the switching autonomously further comprises for at least one of the one or more components, switching autonomously one or more hardware elements corresponding to the at least one component into an energy saving mode for those one or more hardware elements [Fig. 1: first, second, and third electronic devices; para. 0153: sleep mode].
Regarding claim 5, Park teaches there are multiple energy consumption points and wherein the determining the mapping from the one or more of the plurality of components to the energy consumption point is performed for the multiple energy consumption points [para. 0157: “The control device 150 and a plurality of ultra-wideband communication devices may form a second cluster C2. Here, the second cluster may be a partial networking cluster.”].
Regarding claim 8, Park teaches the input indicating the energy consumption point is to be placed into energy saving mode or the input indicating the energy consumption point should be placed into an energy saving mode comes from a user [para. 0177: “When it is determined that communication with at least one ultra-wideband communication device is not desired in response to the reception of the user's departure information, the control device 150, IAU transmits an application message (Appl msg(Off)) to the at least one ultra-wideband communication device so that the at least one ultra-wideband communication device switches to a sleep mode.”] .
Regarding claim 10, Park teaches the input indicating the energy consumption point is to be placed into energy saving mode or the input indicating the energy consumption point should be placed into an energy saving mode comes from an application running on the device, a signal received with the device from an externally exposed interface of any type, or an action initiated with a user [para. 0177].
Regarding claim 11, Park teaches there are multiple components for the energy consumption point, one or more of the multiple components is indicated in the input;
the method further comprises:
mapping the multiple components to the energy consumption point [para. 0012];
performing the switching the components indicated in the input to the energy saving mode and even though not all of the multiple components are indicated in the input, and performing the autonomous switching of the individual ones of the determined one or more energy consumption points, even though not all of the multiple components of individual energy consumption point are indicated in the input [para. 0153].
Regarding claims 6, 9, and 12, the BRI of claim 1 only requires the mapping step (lines 1-3, see “Claim Interpretation”). Any and all steps that depend upon the contingent limitations are also contingent and therefore not required by the BRI. Based on this reasoning, claims 6, 9, and 12 are anticipated by Park because Park discloses the mapping step required by BRI.
Claims 16-20, 23, 25, 26, and 31 are rejected on the same basis as claims 1-5, 8, 10, and 11.
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 7 and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park in view of Aldana et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2020/0120458.
Regarding claim 7, Park discloses the method of claim 1, but does not teach that the mapping is defined with a vendor of the device.
Aldana discloses a system that maps a plurality of devices to a cluster, wherein the mapping is defined with a vendor of the device [para. 0887, 0888, 0891: “Prior to and/or during the creation of cluster 10910, vehicular communication devices 10902-10906 may be configured to verify sources of data within cluster 10910, such as with the other vehicular communication devices in the cluster… A vehicular communication device may be provided with a certificate from a particular trusted authority, such as a vehicle manufacturer or service provider… Accordingly, when forming clusters, vehicular communication devices 10902-10906 may be configured to transmit their certificates to the other vehicular communication devices during cluster creation.”].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine the teachings of Park and Aldana by modifying Park to define a mapping with a vendor of the device, as taught by Aldana. Park and Aldana both disclose vehicular network clusters that are formed of individual devices. Park discloses the forming of clusters without specifically disclose how the clusters are determined [para. 0012]. Aldana teaches that clusters in a vehicular network may be formed based on certificates provided by a manufacturer that enables the devices to establish trust [para. 0888]. It would therefore have been obvious to apply the teachings of Aldana to Park based on Aldana’s suggestion that manufacturer certificates enable the configuration of clusters composed of trusted devices.
Claim 22 recites the same functions of claim 7 and is rejected on the same basis.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 21, 24, and 27 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.
Cooper, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2006/0149977, discloses a system that disables power from a group of devices once all devices in the group are in a state from which power can be disabled [para. 0038].
Davidov et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2022/0365579, discloses a system with a plurality of SoCs, wherein a primary SoC determines whether global conditions in a network allow all the remaining SoCs to place their circuits in a low power mode [para. 0037].
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/JI H BAE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2176 U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
Phone: 571-272-7181
Fax: 571-273-7181
ji.bae@uspto.gov
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