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 Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
Claims 1, 5-6, 10-11, 15-16 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Bao et al. (US Pub 2014/0133840).
As of claims 1, 6 and 11, Bao discloses a computing device (via a configured device/video camera; see paragraph [0022]), comprising:
a sound receiving device (via an audio input function; see paragraph [0022] and [0024]);
a network communication device; a memory; and a processor (even though not explicitly stated but the configured device/video camera will have a memory and a processor to perform the disclosed functions) to:
determine when a trigger sound is received by the sound receiving device, wherein the trigger sound is identifiable as a pre-recorded sound stored in the memory (via receiving a first audio and comparing the first audio with a second audio pre-set in the video camera; see paragraph [0024]);
decode information in a sound transmission received by the sound receiving device in response to the trigger sound (video camera records the configuring audio by means of its own audio input function and then obtains the configuration information by decoding the configuring audio; see paragraph [0022] and [0024]) ;
configure the network communication device according to the decoded information; and connect, via the network communication device, with a remote computing device using the decoded information (video camera records the configuring audio by means of its own audio input function and then obtains the configuration information by decoding the configuring audio and thereafter automatically configures the WIFI module of the video camera to connect to Wi-Fi access point; see paragraphs [0022] and [0024]).
As of claims 5, 10, 15 and 20, Bao discloses that the information in the sound transmission comprises wireless network information sufficient to establish a connection to a wireless network or authentication information (configuration information refers to WIFI access point information, username and password or other data needed to input to the configured device in order to complete the configuration; see paragraph [0011]).
As of claim 16, Bao discloses a method, comprising:
encoding a message into a sound transmission, wherein the message comprises: designated intended recipient information and configuration and connection information (the first audio may be an audio which is encoded according to a specific rule and could only be recognized by the configured video camera; see paragraph [0024]);
pairing the sound transmission with a trigger sound to form a sound transmission package (the video camera records the first audio of the mobile phone automatically and compares the first audio with a second audio pre-set in the video camera, hence first audio acting as a trigger sound for the camera to enter into configuration mode; see paragraph [0024]); an
deploying the sound transmission package to be played at a physical location proximate to a computing device (via playing the sound proximate the video camera; see paragraph [0024]).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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 2, 7 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bao et al. (US Pub 2014/0133840) in view of Jones et al. (US 2020/0037159).
As of claims 2, 7 and 12, Bao discloses all the limitations of the claimed invention as mentioned in claim 1 above, however it does not explicitly disclose that information in a sound transmission is encrypted, the processor to decrypt encrypted information in a sound transmission.
Jones discloses that information in a sound transmission is encrypted (see paragraphs [0034] and [0047]), the processor to decrypt encrypted information in a sound transmission (see paragraph [0048]).
From the teaching of Jones it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify the system of Bao to include the function of encryption as taught by Jones in order to securely transmit the network credentials.
Claims 3-4, 8-9, 13-14 and 18-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bao et al. (US Pub 2014/0133840) in view of Aslund (US Pub 2015/0106887).
As of claims 3-4, 8-9, 13-14 and 18-19, Bao discloses all the limitations of the claimed invention as mentioned in claim 1 above, however it does not explicitly disclose that the processor to decode the information in the sound transmission received by the sound receiving device comprises the processor to compare the sound transmission to predefined frequency thresholds, wherein the predefined frequency thresholds include a high sound frequency and a low sound frequency, wherein portions of the sound transmission having a frequency between the high and low sound frequencies represent noise.
Aslund discloses that the sound emitted by the configuration device is a sequence of tones that include tones of a first frequency (i.e., pitch) and tones of a second frequency, where tones of the first frequency represent a numeric value of 0 and tones of the second frequency represent a numeric value of 1 (see fig. 6; also see paragraphs [0131].
From the teaching of Aslund it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify the system of Bao to include the function of high and low frequency as taught by Aslund in order to transmit bits of network credentials.
Claim 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bao et al. (US Pub 2014/0133840) in view of Al-Mousa et al. (US Pub 2017/0288786).
As of claim 17, Bao discloses all the limitations of the claimed invention as mentioned in claim 16, however it does not explicitly disclose emitting sound waves corresponding to the sound transmission package from a speaker to a plurality of computing devices capable of receiving audio signals.
Al-Mousa discloses emitting sound waves corresponding to the sound transmission package from a speaker to a plurality of computing devices capable of receiving audio signals (see fig. 1; also see paragraph [0016]).
From the teaching of Al-Mousa it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify the system of Bao to include the function of transmitting transmission package to a plurality of devices as taught by Al-Mousa in order to reduce the number of communications and processing time to complete such provisioning and onboarding (see paragraph [0016]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Moore (US Pub 2019/0149987) discloses a computing device 102(2) receiving network credentials and authentication information to connect to a remote system 108 via audio transmission (see fig. 1; also see abstract).
Kwon (US Pub 2017/0041083) discloses a system comprising a mobile communication terminal for outputting a setting information sound wave signal in which access setting information for network access of various IoT devices is synthesized, and an IoT device which receives the setting information sound wave signal outputted from the mobile communication terminal so as to set network access information on the basis of the access setting information (see abstract).
Lee et al. (US Pub 2014/0056172) discloses a mobile device receives sound signals and the mobile device may compare the individual sound elements within the sound signals to threshold values in order to convert the sound signals to normalized or simplified data values. Based on whether individual sound elements are within a certain tolerance of the threshold values, the mobile device may convert sound elements to binary data values, such as 0 or 1 (see paragraph [0093 and [0098]).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NABIL H SYED whose telephone number is (571)270-3028. The examiner can normally be reached 8:00-5:00 M-F.
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, Davetta W Goins can be reached at (571) 272-2957. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/NABIL H SYED/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2689
