DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1-15, 19, 21-24 are pending.
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
This Office Action is sent in response to Applicant’s Communication received on 02/10/2025 for application number 19/049,999.
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 § 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.
Claim 10 is 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.
Claim 10 recites the limitation "the hardware driver layer" in line 6. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
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 1-4, 10-13, 15, 19 and 21-24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li et al. (US 2021/0116986 A1) in view of Flowers et al. (US 2015/0277545 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Li teaches switching method, applied to an electronic device, the electronic device at least comprising a first processor and a second processor (Figure 2 and “the electronic device may include a first processor and a second processor.” Par 0176), and the method comprising:
generating, by the first processor, switching indication information in a case where a screen- on switching condition is satisfied (“after the first processor detects the screen-off event, the method further includes: sending, by the first processor, an instruction command to the second processor, where the instruction command includes a start command, and the start command is used to instruct to enable an always on display function;” par 0014 and “ the electronic device detects, in the screen-off state, that a power button is triggered, or detects a preset gesture” par 0155 [screen-on switching condition]), wherein the switching indication information is configured to instruct the first processor to keep displaying a first interface image during the execution of a screen-off process (“The electronic device displays a first GUI on the screen when the electronic device is in a screen-off state, where prompt information is displayed on the first GUI, the prompt information includes a fingerprint identifier,” par 0170 and “after entering the screen-off state, the electronic device may first display the prompt information on the screen by default, or the electronic device may not first display the prompt information, but display the prompt information on the screen only when a second preset condition is met.” Par 0098 and paragraphs 5, 88 and Figure 6);
implementing, by the first processor, the screen-off process under a screen-on state according to the switching indication information (“when the electronic device is in a screen-on state or a screen-obscurity state, if the first processor detects a screen-off event, the electronic device enters the screen-off state;” par 0012 and “the electronic device may detect a screen-off event by using an AP, and after detecting the screen-off event, the electronic device turns off a part of the screen or the entire screen, and enters the screen-off state.” Par 0088) [the AP (first processor) detects screen-off even while in a screen-on state and turns off the screen to transition into the screen-off state];
sending, by the first processor, a screen switching message to the second processor in a case where the screen-off process is completed (“after the first processor detects the screen-off event, the method further includes: sending, by the first processor, an instruction command to the second processor, where the instruction command includes a start command, and the start command is used to instruct to enable an always on display function” par 0014 and “The AP sends a start command to the sensor hub after detecting a screen-off event. After receiving the start command sent by the AP, the sensor hub enables an always on display function.” par 0148 and “After receiving the start command, the sensor hub may enable the always on display function.” Par 0149) [the screen off process is completed when the AP sends the start command to enable the always on display function immediately after detecting the screen off event]; and
wherein the second application is an application corresponding to the second processor (“The sensor hub side of the electronic device may include modules such as a second AOD application” par 0157).
However, Li does not explicitly teach determining, by the second processor, to obtain screen control authority and displaying a second interface image of a second application.
In the analogous art, Flowers teaches determining, by the second processor, to obtain screen control authority and displaying a second interface image of a second application (“The method of operation further includes handing logical control of the touchscreen display from the primary processor to the secondary processor, performing a draw operation on the touchscreen display by the secondary processor … The draw operation relates to displaying information” par 0022 and Figures 2A-2C, 6).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Li and Flowers before him before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified Li to incorporate the teachings of Flowers to obtain the screen control authority to display a second interface image to increase mobile device responsiveness and reduce current consumption by the first processor, which increases battery usage time. (Flowers, paragraph 84)
Regarding claim 2, Li and Flowers teach the method according to claim 1. Li further teaches wherein generating, by the first processor, the switching indication information in a case where the screen-on switching condition is satisfied, comprises:
in a case where an obtained screen state is an always-on display state, and the first application matches a preset application list, determining that the screen-on switching condition is satisfied, and generating, by the first processor, the switching indication information (“the prompt information in this embodiment of this application may further include other information, for example, one or more of time information, date information, power information, an SMS message prompt, or a missed call prompt.” Par 0161 and “when the prompt information further includes the other information, in a period from screen-off to screen-on, when the other information needs to be updated [screen-on switching condition], the AP is woken up, sends the start update command to the sensor hub,” par 0165 and “in the screen-off state, the sensor hub may always display the prompt information such as the time information, and the electronic device may be always in the always on display state.” Par 0162) [the first processor (AP) wakes up to generate a start update command (switching indication information) when it determines that specific notification types (matching the preset list) require an update while the device is in a screen-off state].
Regarding claim 3, Li and Flowers teach the method according to claim 1. Li further teaches wherein generating, by the first processor, the switching indication information in a case where the screen-on switching condition is satisfied, comprises:
in a case where an obtained screen state is a screen-on state, a startup instruction of the first application is received, and the first application matches a preset application list, determining that the screen-on switching condition is satisfied, and generating, by the first processor, the switching indication information in response to the startup instruction (“A start command sent by the AP for the first time after the AP is powered on or after the user turns on an always on display switch (for example, an always on display switch on a settings screen shown in FIG. 12) on the electronic device may be referred to as a start command sent by the AP for the first time.” Par 0148 and “In a possible design, as shown in FIG. 15, the AP side of the electronic device may include modules such as a first AOD application” par 0157) [the AP starts the AOD feature by generating the start command (switching indication info) when the user activates the always on display switch (startup instruction) when the device is in a screen-on state].
Regarding claim 4, Li and Flowers teach the method according to claim 2, wherein the preset application list represents a list of applications that are allowed to run on the second processor (“the prompt information in this embodiment of this application may further include other information, for example, one or more of time information, date information, power information, an SMS message prompt, or a missed call prompt.” Par 0161 and paragraphs 163, 165, 167 and Figure 15) [the second processor (sensor hub) can display these categories of other information when the AP is in a sleep state].
Regarding claim 10, Li and Flowers teach the method according to claim 1. Li further teaches wherein before sending, by the first processor, the screen switching message to the second processor in a case where the screen-off process is completed, the method further comprises:
determining that the screen-off process is completed in a case where feedback indication information is obtained by the first processor (“After receiving the start command, the sensor hub may enable the always on display function…After receiving the start command for the first time, the sensor hub may send feedback information to the AP through the IPC channel, to establish a communication channel between the AP and the sensor hub.” Par 0149 and “When the electronic device has successfully entered the always on display state according to the start command” par 0156), wherein the feedback indication information is obtained through the detection at the hardware driver layer at every preset interval during implementation of the screen-off process, and the feedback indication information is configured to represent that the screen-off process in the hardware driver layer has ended (“The sensor hub side of the electronic device may include modules such as a second AOD application, a second AOD driver, a DSS driver, a sensor management application, a sensor driver, a TP application, and a TP driver.” Par 0157 and “if the sensor hub determines that display duration is greater than or equal to the preset duration (for example, 5 s), it may indicate that the user does not want to use the electronic device, or otherwise, the user has performed fingerprint unlocking within the preset duration. Therefore, the sensor hub may instruct the screen to stop displaying the fingerprint identifier.” Par 0131 and “The sensor management module, the sensor management driver, and the at least one sensor may be configured to: obtain sensor detection data, and report a sensor event to the second AOD application,” par 0159) [the feedback information shows the completion of hardware layer screen off process because the sensor hub (hardware driver layer) send this information to the AP (first processor) once the device successfully enters the always on display].
Regarding claim 11, Li and Flowers teach the method according to claim 1. Li further teaches wherein the method further comprises:
clearing, by the first processor, the switching indication information in a case where the screen control authority is determined to be obtained by the second processor (“In the screen-off state, the sensor hub replaces the AP to manage and control display of the prompt information.” Par 0144 and “After sending the start command (and the initialization command and the display rule command), the AP may enter the sleep state, to reduce power consumption of the electronic device.” Par 0148) [when the sensor hub (second processor) has control authority of the display, the AP clears its involvement by sending the start command and then entering the sleep state].
Regarding claim 12, Li and Flowers teach the method according to claim 1. Li further teaches wherein determining, by the second processor, to obtain the screen control authority and displaying the second interface image of the second application, according to the screen switching message, comprises:
in response to the screen switching message, powering on, by the second processor, the screen, and determining, by the second processor, to obtain the screen control authority, wherein the screen control authority is configured to allow the screen to display the second interface image corresponding to the second processor (“after receiving the start command, triggering, by the second processor, a display subsystem (display subsystem, DSS) to be powered on;” par 0014 and “In the screen-off state, the sensor hub replaces the AP to manage and control display of the prompt information.” Par 0144);
obtaining, by the second processor, the second interface image of the second application (“obtaining, by the DSS, to-be-displayed content of the prompt information according to a display rule;” par 0028); and
directly displaying the second interface image on the screen (“transmitting, by the DSS, the to-be-displayed content to the screen;” par 0028).
Regarding claim 13, Li and Flowers teach the method according to claim 1. Li further teaches wherein the method further comprises: entering, by the first processor, a sleep state (“entering, by the first processor, a sleep state” par 0014 and claim 7).
Regarding claim 15, Li and Flowers teach the method according to claim 1. Li further teaches wherein operating power consumption of the first processor is higher than that of the second processor (“Compared with the AP [first processor], the sensor hub [second processor] is a low-speed and low-power consumption coprocessor” par 0100).
Regarding claim 19, Li teaches an electronic device, comprising: a first processor, a second processor (“the electronic device includes a first processor and a second processor,” par 0012), a memory (Figure 2, memory 230), and a display (Figure 2, display 260) …
the display is configured to perform screen display (“The display 260 may include devices such as a display panel 262, a holographic device 264, and a projector 266. The display panel 262 may be configured to display a graphical user interface (graphical user interface, GUI) on the mobile phone… the display 260 may be an LCD, an OLED, or the like having a touch function.” Par 0078).
The remainder of claim 19 corresponds to claim 1 and is rejected accordingly.
Regarding claim 21, Li and Flowers teach the method according to claim 1. Flowers further teaches wherein determining, by the second processor, to obtain screen control authority and displaying a second interface image of a second application, comprises: determining, by the second processor, to obtain screen control authority and displaying a second interface image of a second application, according to the screen switching message; and/or
the first interface image is a last-frame image of a first application corresponding to the first processor that is being displayed before the screen-off process; and/or
a functionality of the second application is consistent with that of the first application (“The primary processor can hand logical control of the touchscreen display to the secondary processor and enable the secondary processor to access the kernel to perform the draw operation on the touchscreen display.” Par 0024 and “FIG. 4 is block diagram of an example electronic device in which a primary processor is configured to send a rule set to a secondary processor such that the secondary processor may substitute for an application within the user space of the primary processor.” Par 0008 and “From the user's viewpoint, the electronic device will appear to continue to operate as if the user is still interacting with the application corresponding to the rule set 410.” Par 0049 and paragraph 72) [the secondary processor assumes logical control of the display to perform the functions of the primary processor].
Regarding claim 22, Li and Flowers teach the method according to claim 1. Li further teaches wherein the first processor is configured to run a first system, and the second processor is configured to run a second system (“the electronic device includes a first processor and a second processor,” par 0012 and “the first processor is an application processor, and the second processor is a coprocessor.” Par 0021 and “The application processor may be configured to process an operating system,” par 0074);
the second application and the first application are applications installed on the second system and the first system respectively, and the second system and the first system have at least the same functionality (“as shown in FIG. 15, the AP side of the electronic device may include modules such as a first AOD application, an AOD framework (framework), a first AOD driver, and the shared memory. The sensor hub side of the electronic device may include modules such as a second AOD application, a second AOD driver, a DSS driver, a sensor management application, a sensor driver, a TP application, and a TP driver.” Par 0157 and paragraph 159) [the AP and the sensor hub run similar applications (first and second AOD) and provide the same display and notification functionality].
Regarding claim 23, Li and Flowers teach the method according to claim 1. Flowers further teaches wherein displaying the second interface image of the second application, according to the screen switching message, comprises:
in a case where display switching caused by the system switching is performed under the screen-on state, directly linking and displaying, the second interface screen that is continuous or synchronized with a display image of the first interface by appending data without performing a reset way (“the application 608 extracts a view from one of the other applications 602 and utilizes the Draw API 614 to place it in the data buffer 633 and register the data buffer 633 with the kernel 603.” Par 0072 and “A Wake operation performs a resume of only the necessary kernel drivers in order to perform the other operation, such as the Peek operation, executes the operation, and then returns the kernel to suspend mode without ever fully resuming.” Par 0040 and “ the secondary processor 420 will also inform the primary processor 400 of any actions that have been taken by the secondary processor 420 … so that the primary processor 400 can resume control from the correct state.” Par 0056 and paragraphs 57-59) [the peek mechanism is where the secondary processor makes sure the screen does not glitch by extracting the existing application’s state and synchronizing display changes back to the primary processor without a full reset].
Regarding claim 24, Li and Flowers teach the method according to claim 1. Li further teaches wherein after generating, by the first processor, the switching indication information, the method further comprises:
negotiating, by the first processor, with the second processor for switching, and performing, by the first processor, the screen-off process of the first processor, by implementing the screen-off process and a process of switching between the first processor and the second processor through different interfaces (“The AP sends a start command to the sensor hub after detecting a screen-off event.” Par 0148 and “the sensor hub may send feedback information to the AP through the IPC channel, to establish a communication channel between the AP and the sensor hub.” Par 0149 and “The transmission channel may be AP-IPC-sensor hub.” Par 0146 and “Information may be transmitted between the first AOD application and the first AOD driver by using a device node.” Par 0158) [the negotiation/s witching process is done by the IPC transmission channel; distinct device node interfaces are used for communication between applications and drivers within the system].
Claims 5-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li and Flowers in view of Diard (US 8,233,000 B1).
Regarding claim 5, Li and Flowers teach the method according to claim 1. Li further teaches wherein generating, by the first processor, the switching indication information in a case where the screen-on switching condition is satisfied, comprises:
at least generating, by the first processor, first switching indication information, second switching indication information, and third switching indication information in a case where the screen-on switching condition is satisfied (“after the first processor detects the screen-off event, the method further includes: sending, by the first processor, an instruction command to the second processor, where the instruction command includes a start command, and the start command is used to instruct to enable an always on display function” par 0014 and “when the start command is a start command sent by the first processor for the first time, the instruction command further includes a command for setting time and time zone formats,” par 0033 and paragraph 148) [the AP generates a set of commands triggered by state changes to control the sensor hub and how it manages screen-on and screen-off transitions];
the second switching indication information is configured to instruct to prohibit transmitting a black-frame image to a screen during the screen-off process (“the display panel draws a graphical user interface (GUI) based on the to-be-displayed content of the prompt information sent by the DSS for display, to display the prompt information on the screen.” Par 0151) [the second switching information (display rule command) ensures the screen continues to display UI content instead of a black frame]; and
the third switching indication information is configured to instruct to prohibit powering off the screen during the screen-off process (“triggering, by the second processor, a display subsystem (display subsystem, DSS) to be powered on; obtaining, by the DSS, to-be-displayed content of the prompt information according to a display rule; transmitting, by the DSS, the to-be-displayed content to the screen; and entering, by the DSS, a power-off state” par 0014 and paragraph 149) [the third switching information (initialization/DSS command) manages hardware power state of the display subsystem to keep it active and ready to switch to a screen-on state].
However, Li and Flowers do not explicitly teach wherein the first switching indication information is configured to instruct to prohibit turning off a screen backlight during the screen-off process.
In the analogous art, Diard teaches wherein the first switching indication information is configured to instruct to prohibit turning off a screen backlight during the screen-off process (“Since the computing system 110 and the display device 112 may be continually powered-up, the graphics driver 118 uses the push buffer to synchronize the display buffer-flips (transitions from displaying one buffer to another) to avoid glitching and tearing of the images displayed on the display device 112… Using this technique, the display device 112 continually displays the same image during the transition, thereby avoiding glitches.” Col. 6, ll. 10-15, 22-24 and “ in step 514, the graphics driver 118 does not disable the entire IGPU 124. Instead, the graphics driver 118 disables most of the IGPU 124, but keeps the IGPU DAC 136 alive. This technique permits the DGPU 124 to use the IGPU DAC 136 and the display device 112 without being directly connected to the display device 112.” Col. 9, ll. 15-20 and Figures 3-6);
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Li, Flowers and Diard before him before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified Li and Flowers to incorporate the teachings of Diard to not turn off the backlight during the screen-off process of switching between graphics processors to avoid glitches and allow for a smoother user experience. (Diard, column 6)
Regarding claim 6, Li, Flowers and Diard teach the method according to claim 5. Li further teaches wherein generating, by the first processor, the at least first switching indication information, the second switching indication information, and the third switching indication information, comprises:
generating, by the first processor, the first switching indication information, the second switching indication information, the third switching indication information, and fourth switching indication information (“The instruction command may include one or more of a start command, a stop command, a display rule command, an initialization command, or the like.” Par 0145);
wherein the fourth switching indication information is configured to instruct to intercept an interface layer image transmitted by an application layer (“the electronic device includes the shared memory (the shared memory is different from a display memory on the AP side)… the DSS obtains the to-be-displayed content from the shared memory, to refresh the display panel with the to-be-displayed content.” par 0152) [the AP enables the DSS to refresh the screen (interface layer image) by receiving from a shared memory rather than standard application layer display memory].
Regarding claim 7, Li and Flowers teach the method according to claim 1. Li further teaches wherein the switching indication information comprises first switching indication information, second switching indication information, and third switching indication information (“after the first processor detects the screen-off event, the method further includes: sending, by the first processor, an instruction command to the second processor, where the instruction command includes a start command, and the start command is used to instruct to enable an always on display function” par 0014 and “when the start command is a start command sent by the first processor for the first time, the instruction command further includes a command for setting time and time zone formats,” par 0033 and paragraph 148) [the AP generates a set of commands triggered by state changes to control the sensor hub and how it manages screen-on and screen-off transitions];
implementing, by the first processor, the screen-off process under the screen-on state according to the switching indication information, comprises:
instructing, by the first processor, the hardware driver layer to prohibit powering off the screen according to the third switching indication information (“triggering, by the second processor, a display subsystem (display subsystem, DSS) to be powered on; obtaining, by the DSS, to-be-displayed content of the prompt information according to a display rule; transmitting, by the DSS, the to-be-displayed content to the screen; and entering, by the DSS, a power-off state” par 0014 and paragraph 149) [the third switching information (initialization/DSS command) manages hardware power state of the display subsystem to keep it active and ready to switch to a screen-on state], and performing the screen-off process under the screen-on state (“The electronic device detects, in a screen-on state or a screen-obscurity state, that a power button is pressed. Alternatively, the electronic device detects no operation of a user within a preset time period…if the electronic device still detects no input operation of the user, the electronic device enters the screen-off state” par 0088).
However, Li and Flowers do not explicitly teach instructing, by the first processor, a framework layer to prohibit turning off a screen backlight during the screen-off process, according to the first switching indication information.
In the analogous art, Diard teaches instructing, by the first processor, a framework layer to prohibit turning off a screen backlight during the screen-off process, according to the first switching indication information (“Since the computing system 110 and the display device 112 may be continually powered-up, the graphics driver 118 uses the push buffer to synchronize the display buffer-flips (transitions from displaying one buffer to another) to avoid glitching and tearing of the images displayed on the display device 112… Using this technique, the display device 112 continually displays the same image during the transition, thereby avoiding glitches.” Col. 6, ll. 10-15, 22-24 and “ in step 514, the graphics driver 118 does not disable the entire IGPU 124. Instead, the graphics driver 118 disables most of the IGPU 124, but keeps the IGPU DAC 136 alive. This technique permits the DGPU 124 to use the IGPU DAC 136 and the display device 112 without being directly connected to the display device 112.” Col. 9, ll. 15-20 and Figures 3-6)
instructing, by the first processor, a hardware abstraction layer to prohibit transmitting a black-frame image to a screen according to the second switching indication information, or instructing, by the first processor, a hardware driver layer to intercept the hardware abstraction layer from transmitting a black-frame image to the screen (“In step 610, the graphics driver 118 configures itself to trap and hold any received graphics calls that involve updating the display, such as “present” calls, until the transition to the integrated graphics mode is complete.” Col. 10, ll. 9-13 and “if the graphics call is an update to the display device 112, then the graphics driver 118 intercepts the graphics call and executes steps 520 and 522.” Col. 9, ll. 30-32) [the graphics driver intercepts and traps display update commands during a GPU transition to ensure a seamless switch and avoid a blank screen; the hardware abstraction layer corresponds to the layer transmitting the graphics calls from the OS].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Li, Flowers and Diard before him before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified Li and Flowers to incorporate the teachings of Diard to not turn off the backlight during the screen-off process of switching between graphics processors to avoid glitches and allow for a smoother user experience. (Diard, column 6)
Regarding claim 8, Li, Flowers and Diard teach the method according to claim 7. Li further teaches wherein the switching indication information further comprises fourth switching indication information (“The instruction command may include one or more of a start command, a stop command, a display rule command, an initialization command, or the like.” Par 0145);
Flowers further teaches before instructing, by the first processor, the framework layer to prohibit turning off the screen backlight during the screen-off process, according to the first switching indication information, the method further comprises:
instructing, by the first processor, a system framework layer to intercept the interface layer image transmitted by the application layer according to the fourth switching indication information (“with the example embodiment of FIG. 6, a Peek operation involves a user space 601 application's utilization of off-screen buffers rather than pushing frames using the OS graphics framework 610 [system framework layer].” Par 0069 and “the buffer is not processed through the OS graphics framework 610 but instead is generated as an “off screen” buffer to be used at a later time.” Par 0072 and Figures 4, 6) [the always on display application intercepts the standard display process by extracting views from other applications into off-screen buffers; the rule set 410 corresponds to the switching information].
Claims 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li and Flowers in view of Hu et al. (US 2023/0004406 A1).
Regarding claim 9, Li and Flowers teach the method according to claim 1. However, Li and Flowers do not explicitly teach wherein before generating, by the first processor, the switching indication information in a case where the screen-on switching condition is satisfied, the method further comprises: sending, by the first processor, a switching request message to the second processor; and sending, by the second processor, a switching permission message to the first processor in response to the switching request message; wherein generating, by the first processor, the switching indication information, comprises: generating, by the first processor, the switching indication information in response to the switching request message.
In the analogous art, Hu teaches wherein before generating, by the first processor, the switching indication information in a case where the screen-on switching condition is satisfied, the method further comprises:
sending, by the first processor, a switching request message to the second processor (“the application processor 1 releases a connection to the interaction component, controls the data stream control unit to release a connection to the display component, and notifies the application processor 2 to perform graphics processing subsystem switching.” Par 0143); and
sending, by the second processor, a switching permission message to the first processor in response to the switching request message (“The application processor 2 notifies the application processor 1 to perform graphics processing subsystem switching.” Par 0168);
wherein generating, by the first processor, the switching indication information, comprises:
generating, by the first processor, the switching indication information in response to the switching request message (“the specific application processor notifies the application processor 1 of the input operation.” Par 0141 and paragraphs 140-147 and Figures 6, 15) [this shows the bidirectional handshake between different graphics processing subsystems where a switching notification is generated and exchanged across a bus in response to a trigger message from an input component’s processor].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Li, Flowers and Hu before him before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified Li and Flowers to incorporate the teachings of Hu to generate the switching information based on the switching request message to implement an energy efficient display process that balances display processing performance and power consumption of different to be displayed GUIs. (Hu, paragraph 148)
Claims 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li and Flowers in view of Connell et al. (US 2015/0185811 A1).
Regarding claim 14, Li and Flowers teach the method according to claim 10. However, Li and Flowers do not explicitly teach wherein the method further comprises: in a case where the feedback indication information is not obtained by the first processor after a preset time period, determining that the screen-off process has failed, wherein the preset time period comprises a plurality of preset intervals.
In the analogous art, Connell teaches in a case where the feedback indication information is not obtained by the first processor after a preset time period, determining that the screen-off process has failed, wherein the preset time period comprises a plurality of preset intervals (“If the acknowledgment message is not received by the secondary processor 620 prior to a timer timeout, the process 900 proceeds to the cleanup sequence beginning with operation block 923. The timer timeout length in decision block 919 may be on the order of about 5 seconds. The purpose of the timer is so that the primary processor 600 does not get stuck waiting forever in the event secondary processor 620 has a problem.” Par 0103 and Figure 9) [the cleanup sequence is triggered if the expected feedback is not received, which determines that the requested process failed].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Li, Flowers and Connell before him before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified Li and Flowers to incorporate the teachings of Connell to determine the process has failed after not receiving an acknowledgment message within a time period to take appropriate corrective actions through the cleanup sequence and return control to the processor.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure.
Liu et al. (US 2022/0191316 A1) teaches a display method applied to a terminal which instructs an external display to display a first desktop. When a first operation is received, the terminal displays a second screen and the first desktop is not changed based on the first operation. When a second operation is received, the terminal displays a second desktop and the second screen is not changed based on the second operation.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AYMAN FATIMA whose telephone number is (571)270-0830. The examiner can normally be reached M to Fri between 8am and 4pm 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, Jaweed Abbaszadeh can be reached on (571)270-1640. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/AYMAN FATIMA/Examiner, Art Unit 2176
/JAWEED A ABBASZADEH/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2176
Prosecution Insights