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 . This action is made non-final.
Claims 1-7 filed on 01/17/2025 have been reviewed and considered by this office action.
The preliminary amendments to the drawings filed on 02/20/2025 have been entered.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement filed on 01/17/2025 has been reviewed and considered by this office action.
Drawings
The drawings filed on 02/20/2025 have been reviewed and are considered acceptable.
Specification
The specification filed on 01/17/2025 has been reviewed and is objected to because of the following informalities:
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
The following title is suggested: “Method of generating, monitoring, and updating a virtual graph of an electrical grid in real time in accordance with timestamps.”
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefore, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more.
Step 1: Claims 1-7 are directed to a process.
With respect to Claim 1:
2A Prong 1: The claim recites an abstract idea. Specifically:
generating a graphical structure for an electrical distribution system; (Mental process – generating is an observation that can be practically performed in the human mind, or by a human using a pen and paper as a physical aid – see MPEP § 2106.04(a)(2)(III))
c) generating a physical topology showing islands and switch bays of the electrical distribution system and showing topology connections between said islands and the switch bays, the islands comprising a plurality of first components and the switch bays comprising a plurality of second components; (Mental process – generating is an observation that can be practically performed in the human mind, or by a human using a pen and paper as a physical aid – see MPEP § 2106.04(a)(2)(III))
the first and second components each being respectively configured to generate respective events during operation; (Mental process – generating is an observation that can be practically performed in the human mind, or by a human using a pen and paper as a physical aid – see MPEP § 2106.04(a)(2)(III))
2A Prong 2: The additional elements recited in the claim do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application, individually or in combination.
Additional elements:
b) controlling the electrical distribution system based on the generated graphical structure; (Adding the words “apply it” (or an equivalent) with the judicial exception, or mere instructions to implement an abstract idea on a computer, or merely uses a computer as a tool to perform an abstract idea – see MPEP § 2106.05(f))
d) storing the events of the first or second components of the islands and switch bays at least as timestamps; (Insignificant extra-solution activity (mere data gathering) – see MPEP § 2106.05(g))
the events including respective data regarding operation of the respective first or second component and respective timestamps indicating a time of an occurrence of an event; (Insignificant extra-solution activity (mere data gathering) – see MPEP § 2106.05(g))
2B: The claim does not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception.
Additional elements:
b) controlling the electrical distribution system based on the generated graphical structure; (The additional features including controlling the electrical distribution system as recited in the claim are configured to carry out the additional and abstract idea limitations may be tools that are used for the functions recited in the claim, but recited so generically that they represent no more than mere instructions “to apply” the judicial exceptions on or using a generic electronic or computer component – see MPEP § 2106.05(f) Implementing an abstract idea on generic electronic or computer components as tools to perform an abstract idea does not amount to significantly more)
d) storing the events of the first or second components of the islands and switch bays at least as timestamps; (Storing and retrieving information in memory have been deemed well‐understood, routine, and conventional functions – see MPEP § 2106.05(d)(ll))
the events including respective data regarding operation of the respective first or second component and respective timestamps indicating a time of an occurrence of an event; (Electronic recordkeeping has been deemed well‐understood, routine, and conventional functions – see MPEP § 2106.05(d)(ll))
Therefore, Claim 1 is ineligible.
With respect to Claim 2:
2A Prong 1: The claim recites an abstract idea. Specifically:
wherein the events of the first and second components are generated by predefined time intervals, which are defined differently for each of the first and second components during step d); (Mental process – generating is an observation that can be practically performed in the human mind, or by a human using a pen and paper as a physical aid – see MPEP § 2106.04(a)(2)(III))
Therefore, Claim 2 is ineligible.
With respect to Claim 3:
2A Prong 2: The additional elements recited in the claim do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application, individually or in combination.
Additional elements:
wherein arrays are utilized for storing the timestamps during step d); (Adding the words “apply it” (or an equivalent) with the judicial exception, or mere instructions to implement an abstract idea on a computer, or merely uses a computer as a tool to perform an abstract idea – see MPEP § 2106.05(f))
2B: The claim does not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception.
Additional elements:
wherein arrays are utilized for storing the timestamps during step d); (The additional features including utilizing arrays as recited in the claim are configured to carry out the additional and abstract idea limitations may be tools that are used for the functions recited in the claim, but recited so generically that they represent no more than mere instructions “to apply” the judicial exceptions on or using a generic electronic or computer component – see MPEP § 2106.05(f) Implementing an abstract idea on generic electronic or computer components as tools to perform an abstract idea does not amount to significantly more)
Therefore, Claim 3 is ineligible.
With respect to Claim 4:
2A Prong 2: The additional elements recited in the claim do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application, individually or in combination.
Additional elements:
removing a related component from the graph structure when the first component of the island is disconnected from the electrical distribution system to; (Insignificant extra-solution activity (selecting a particular data source or type of data to be manipulated) – see MPEP § 2106.05(g))
update the generated physical topology; (Insignificant extra-solution activity (selecting a particular data source or type of data to be manipulated) – see MPEP § 2106.05(g))
2B: The claim does not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception.
Additional elements:
removing a related component from the graph structure when the first component of the island is disconnected from the electrical distribution system to; (Electronic recordkeeping has been deemed well‐understood, routine, and conventional functions – see MPEP § 2106.05(d)(ll))
update the generated physical topology; (Electronic recordkeeping has been deemed well‐understood, routine, and conventional functions – see MPEP § 2106.05(d)(ll))
Therefore, Claim 4 is ineligible.
With respect to Claim 5:
2A Prong 2: The additional elements recited in the claim do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application, individually or in combination.
Additional elements:
adding a related component to the graph structure when the first component of the island is connected to the electrical distribution system; (Insignificant extra-solution activity (selecting a particular data source or type of data to be manipulated) – see MPEP § 2106.05(g))
update the generated physical topology; (Insignificant extra-solution activity (selecting a particular data source or type of data to be manipulated) – see MPEP § 2106.05(g))
2B: The claim does not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception.
Additional elements:
adding a related component to the graph structure when the first component of the island is connected to the electrical distribution system; (Electronic recordkeeping has been deemed well‐understood, routine, and conventional functions – see MPEP § 2106.05(d)(ll))
update the generated physical topology; (Electronic recordkeeping has been deemed well‐understood, routine, and conventional functions – see MPEP § 2106.05(d)(ll))
Therefore, Claim 5 is ineligible.
With respect to Claim 6:
2A Prong 2: The additional elements recited in the claim do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application, individually or in combination.
Additional elements:
the method is performed by a topology processor; (Adding the words “apply it” (or an equivalent) with the judicial exception, or mere instructions to implement an abstract idea on a computer, or merely uses a computer as a tool to perform an abstract idea – see MPEP § 2106.05(f))
2B: The claim does not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception.
Additional elements:
the method is performed by a topology processor; (The additional features including performed by a topology processor as recited in the claim are configured to carry out the additional and abstract idea limitations may be tools that are used for the functions recited in the claim, but recited so generically that they represent no more than mere instructions “to apply” the judicial exceptions on or using a generic electronic or computer component – see MPEP § 2106.05(f) Implementing an abstract idea on generic electronic or computer components as tools to perform an abstract idea does not amount to significantly more)
Therefore, Claim 6 is ineligible.
With respect to Claim 7:
2A Prong 2: The additional elements recited in the claim do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application, individually or in combination.
Additional elements:
the events include further data of the operation of the respective first or second component with respect to the respective timestamp; (Insignificant extra-solution activity (mere data gathering) – see MPEP § 2106.05(g))
the data are considered during generation of the graphical structure; (Insignificant extra-solution activity (selecting a particular data source or type of data to be manipulated) – see MPEP § 2106.05(g))
2B: The claim does not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception.
Additional elements:
the events include further data of the operation of the respective first or second component with respect to the respective timestamp; (Electronic recordkeeping has been deemed well‐understood, routine, and conventional functions – see MPEP § 2106.05(d)(ll))
the data are considered during generation of the graphical structure; (Determining an estimated outcome and setting a price has been deemed well‐understood, routine, and conventional functions – see MPEP § 2106.05(d)(ll))
Therefore, Claim 7 is ineligible.
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 1-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yubo et al. (US 20230018575 A1, herein Yubo), in view of Paruchuri et al. (US 20190109891 A1, herein Paruchuri).
Regarding claim 1, Yubo teaches a method for operating an electrical distribution systems, the method comprising:
a) generating a graphical structure for an electrical distribution system (see FIG. 2, 4; [0029] The graph generator engine 308 may be configured to generate graph representations of the grid topology based on the measurement signals 305 and grid topological information 310.); and
b) controlling the electrical distribution system based on the generated graphical structure ([0049] The identified network topology may be used to operate a power distribution grid, for example, by executing state estimations and implementing various control actions.);
wherein said generating the graphical structure (see FIG. 2,4) for the electrical distribution system comprises:
c) generating a physical topology ([0029] The graph generator engine 308 may be configured to generate graph representations of the grid topology based on the measurement signals 305 and grid topological information 310.) showing islands ([0030] The graph representation 400 includes, as nodes, the measured nodes B 1-B 13.) and switch bays ([0030] the node B13 has uncertain connections with nodes B4 and B12 that can be realized by the switching devices S3 and S4 respectively.) of the electrical distribution system and showing topology connections (illustrated in FIG. 4, the nodes are connected via lines depicted as e1 and e2 [0030] In FIG. 4, the edges depicted by bold lines.) between said islands and the switch bays,
the islands comprising a plurality of first components ([0022] whereby node B7 is connected to transformer T1)
and the switch bays (FIG. 2 [0022] switching devices S1 and S4 are closed and switching devices S2 and S3 are open; FIG. 2 illustrates the switch bays comprising node B13) comprising a plurality of second components ([0022] node B13 is connected to transformer T2),
Examiner’s Note: Yubo further teaches [0030] Continuing with the example topology shown in FIG. 2, a corresponding graph representation is shown in FIG. 4.
the first and second components each being respectively configured to
generate respective events during operation ([0022] node B13 may be connected to transformer T1 by closing switch S3 and opening switch S4 (to preserve radial constraint); [0030] the node B13 has uncertain connections with nodes B4 and B12 that can be realized by the switching devices S3 and S4 respectively.),
Yubo does not explicitly teach respective timestamps indicating a time of an occurrence of an event; and the events including respective data regarding operation of the respective first or second component; d) storing the events of the first or second components of the islands and switch bays at least as timestamps.
Paruchuri teaches respective timestamps indicating a time of an occurrence of an event ([0052] According to various embodiments, the node monitor 304 continuously monitors the node(s) 330 and identifies static and dynamic parameters of the node(s) 330.);
and the events including respective data regarding operation of the respective first or second component ([0055] The node monitor 304 is also configured to determine event information about individual loads based on the measured/sampled signals, and/or determined measurement values. The event information may include, for example, times when a load is turned on or off );
d) storing the events of the first or second components of the islands and switch bays at least as timestamps ([0071] Continuing with the example of FIG. 3, the policy manager 306 is configured to store energy consumption profiles 324, load balancing criteria 325, and policies 326; [0071] The energy consumption profiles 324 may also include information based on analysis of the collected data. Different analysis techniques may be used, such as event-based, statistical, instrumented, simulation, etc.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to adapt the system of Yubo to incorporate the teachings of Paruchuri so as to include storing and monitoring the individual nodes on the virtual system. Doing so would allow accurate real time representation of the actual system (Paruchuri [0017] The disclosed embodiments address the shortcomings of the conventional solutions by creating VENs, which include a representation of energy producers and energy consumers and enable the effective distribution of energy based on the current energy demands and supply.).
Regarding claim 2, Yubo in view of Paruchuri teaches the method according to claim 1,
Yubo further teaches wherein the events ([0051] On day 60, the node B7 is disconnected from the transformer T1 and connected to the transformer T2. The switching action is realized in this case by changing the position of the switches S1 and S2 shown in FIG. 2. ) of the first and second components ([0050] the axis 502 represents transformers (in this case, transformers T1 and T2) to which nodes are to be mapped)) are generated by predefined time intervals ([0051] As shown in FIG. 5, using a sampling window size of 1 day,; FIG. 5 further illustrates T1 having the time interval of 60 days, while T2 has a time interval of more than 120 days.), which are defined differently for each of the first and second components during step d) ([0050] FIG. 5 illustrates an example visualization 500 of an output of the node-transformer mapping engine 320, based on the network topology introduced in FIG. 2. In the visualization 500, the axis 502 represents transformers (in this case, transformers T1 and T2), and the axis 504 represents time in days.)
Regarding claim 3, Yubo in view of Paruchrui teaches the method according to claim 1,
Yubo further teaches wherein arrays are utilized for storing the timestamps during step d) ([0032] The node features of the node i may comprise a feature vector X.sup.(i) derived from the time series data P.sub.i sampled over a defined time window (e.g., 1 day, 10 days, etc.).)
Regarding claim 4, Yubo in view of Paruchuri teaches the method according to claim 1,
Paruchuri further teaches further comprising:
removing a related component from the graph structure ([0092] At operation 735, the fault detector 309 generates removal instructions) when the first component of the island is disconnected from the electrical distribution system ([0090] where the node monitor 304 monitors the VEN 105/200 for faults in the plurality of virtual nodes that make up the VEN 105/200.) to update the generated physical topology ([0063] At each instance of time (or at a predetermined interval), the VEN engine 305 is configured to re-evaluate the VEN 105/200, generate a new instance of the VEN engine 305; [0063] the VEN engine 305 may generate a VEN 105/200 using an energy consumption profile 324 generated by the node monitor 304.)
Regarding claim 5, Yubo in view of Paruchri teaches the method according to claim 1,
Paruchuri further teaches further comprising:
adding a related component to the graph structure ([0084] operation 425 to generate a virtual node for the new physical node, and adds the new virtual node to the VEN 105/200.) when the first component of the island is connected to the electrical distribution system ([0083] the node monitor 304 and/or the main system controller 302 may perform disaggregation using information about one or more electrical signals provided by an electrical element, such as an electrical panel, transformer, substation, etc.) to update the generated physical topology ([0063] At each instance of time (or at a predetermined interval), the VEN engine 305 is configured to re-evaluate the VEN 105/200, generate a new instance of the VEN engine 305; [0063] the VEN engine 305 may generate a VEN 105/200 using an energy consumption profile 324 generated by the node monitor 304.)
Regarding claim 6, Yubo in view of Paruchuri teaches the method according to claim 1,
Yubo further teaches wherein the method is performed by a topology processor ([0023] The programming for the engines 306, 308 and 320 may take the form of processor-executable instructions stored on non-transitory machine-readable storage mediums and the hardware for the engines may include processors to execute those instructions.; [0023] various engines described herein, including the signal preprocessor engine 306, the graph generator engine 308 and the node-transformer mapping engine 320.)
Examiner’s Note: Yubo teaches ([0023] FIG. 3 illustrates a system 300 for identifying a topology of a power distribution grid according to disclosed embodiments.)
Although not explicitly defined as a topology processor, the processors within system 300 perform the equivalent functions as a "topology processor".
Regarding claim 7, Yubo in view of Paruchuri teaches the method according to claim 1,
Yubo further teaches wherein the events include further data of the operation of the respective first or second component with respect to the respective timestamp ([0026] signal preprocessor engine 306 may thus output preprocessed measurement signals 305 pertaining to the various nodes as respective time series data with a defined sampling frequency.), and the data are considered during generation of the graphical structure ([0029] The graph generator engine 308 may be configured to generate graph representations of the grid topology based on the measurement signals 305 and grid topological information 310.).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 20220320898 A1 – Device and Method for a Power Utility (generating a corresponding GUI for controlling grid asset)
CN 109474023 B – Intelligent Distribution Network Section Real-time Updating method, System, Storage Medium and Terminal (generating a distribution topology matrix ad using the matrix to diagnose faults)
US 20190109891 A1 – Virtual Electrical Networks (generating a virtual graph of the network detecting faults and adding, removing nodes)
US 11025901 B2 – Method for Estimating the Topology of an Electric Power Networking Using Metering Data (generating set of nodes and branches, and monitoring infrastructure based on the metering units)
US 20140012524 A1 – Power Grid Topology Discovery via Time Correlation of Passive Measurement Events (wireless mesh network containing nodes that determine and classify voltage fluctuations in real time with timestamps)
US 20230018575 A1 – Distribution Grid Topology Identification Encoding Known Toplogical Information (Virtual Grid based on status of transformers and switches)
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Jason Choi whose telephone number is (571) 270 0512. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Thurs 8:00-6:00 EST.
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, Robert Fennema can be reached at (571)272-2748. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/J.J.C./Examiner, Art Unit 2117
/DARRIN D DUNN/Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2117
