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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the previous rejections of the claims under 35 U.S.C. § 112(b) for indefiniteness have been fully considered and are found to be persuasive. The amendments and remarks provided by the Applicant have clarified the scope of the claims. Accordingly, the rejections under 35 U.S.C. § 112(b) have been withdrawn.
This Office action contains new grounds of rejection under 35 U.S.C. § 112(b) and 35 U.S.C. § 103 that were not necessitated by Applicant’s amendment, this action is being made NON-FINAL.
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.
Claims 1, 7, and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention. Specifically, the phrase “a non-transitory [processor/controller]-readable medium or media” is ambiguous. It is unclear if the modifier “non-transitory” applies only to the singular “medium” or to both “medium” and “media.”
Claims 2-6, 8-11, 13-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 112(b) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. § 112, second paragraph, as being indefinite for depending upon claims 1, 7, 12 which is indefinite as discussed above. Because these dependent claims incorporate by reference all the limitations of the base claim, the indefiniteness of the base claim carries over into these dependent claims, rendering the scope of the dependent claims similarly unclear.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 101 which forms the basis for all rejections under this section: 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 therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1, 7, and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter. Specifically, the claims recite “a non-transitory [processor/controller]-readable medium or media.” Under the Broadest Reasonable Interpretation, the term “media” is not modified by “non-transitory.” Therefore, the term “media” encompasses transitory, propagating signals (e.g., carrier waves), which do not fall within any of the four statutory categories of invention (process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter) as set forth in In re Nuijten, 500 F.3d 1346 (Fed. Cir. 2007).
Regarding the dependent claims (2-6, 8-11, and 13-20), these claims depend from independent claims 1, 7, and 12. Under 35 U.S.C. 112(d), a dependent claim incorporates by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers. Because the dependent claims incorporate the non-statutory “media” limitation of their respective base claims, they similarly encompass transitory, propagating signals. The additional limitations recited in the dependent claims do not alter the non-statutory nature of the underlying medium/media.
Examiner’s Note: Applicant may overcome this rejection by amending the independent claims to explicitly apply the “non-transitory” modifier to all memory terms (e.g., “one or more non-transitory processor-readable media”).
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.
Regarding Claim 1, Kline discloses a validation panel system (computing device 110 used by technicians to validate the configuration of component assemblies, ¶[0010]-[0011]) comprising:
one or more wireless communication modules (computing device 110 may communicate wirelessly, ¶[0014]);
one or more controllers that orchestrate communication of the one or more wireless communication modules and with one or more rack information handling systems in a rack system, one or more other validation panel systems, a validation orchestrator system, or a combination thereof (processor 803 executing resource manager application 221 to communicate with components 104 in equipment rack 101, and/or a remote resource management system 240, ¶[0014], [0019], [0037], [0053]);
a reader that is configured to facilitate extraction of identifying data about one or more information handling systems from a set of one or more rack information handling systems in the rack system associated with the validation panel system (the computing device identifies the component assembly/components by scanning a bar code or scanning a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag, ¶[0040]);
a power module that facilitates power to the validation panel system (computing device 110 is a portable laptop, PDA, tablet, or smartphone, which inherently comprises a battery/power module to facilitate power, ¶[0013]); and
a non-transitory controller-readable medium or media comprising one or more sets of instructions which, when executed by at least one of the one or more controllers, cause steps to be performed to facilitate validation of at least one of the one or more rack information handling systems (memory 806 storing the resource manager application 221 that executes to validate the configuration of the components 104, ¶[0019], [0054]).
Kline does not explicitly disclose that the validation is facilitated without using wired networking infrastructure, if any, of the rack system.
However, Raynham discloses a portable diagnostic tool (104) that communicates with servers (106) via wireless transmitters and receivers to perform out-of-band diagnostics and validation (¶[0007]). Raynham explicitly teaches that this wireless communication is utilized so that it “does not rely on the server or network being functional” and to “eliminate the cables and connectors” associated with traditional wired diagnostic systems (¶[0005], [0026], [0036]).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to modify the validation computing device of Kline to communicate directly with the rack information handling systems wirelessly without using wired networking infrastructure, if any, of the rack system, as taught by Raynham. The motivation to combine would be to allow technicians to validate the rack components even when the rack’s wired network is unconfigured or non-functional, and to eliminate the costs, failure problems, and logistical hazards associated with manual cable connections (Raynham, ¶[0005], [0036]).
Regarding Claim 2, Kline discloses one or more network ports that facilitate communication with one or more other validation panel systems, a validation orchestrator system, or a combination thereof (interfaces for network 113 and second network 209 to communicate with remote resource management system 240, ¶[0014]-[0016]).
Regarding Claim 3, Kline discloses at least one network port facilitates connecting with the validation orchestrator system for coordinating one or more validation tests for one or more of the rack information handling systems; and at least a second network port facilitates connecting with another validation panel system (computing device 110 connects to local network 113 and second network 209/Internet to interface with resource management system 240 and other devices, ¶[0014]-[0016]).
Regarding Claim 4, Kline in view of Raynham discloses receiving, via the reader of the validation panel system, data related to one or more rack information handling systems from the set of one or more rack information handling systems (scanning barcode/RFID, Kline ¶[0040]); using at least part of the data obtained using the reader to connect via one or more wireless connections with one or more rack information handling systems from the set of one or more rack information handling systems (using the extracted identifier/MAC address to establish wireless communication, Kline ¶[0030], Raynham ¶[0026]); and facilitating one or more validation tests for at least one of the one or more rack information handling systems from the set of one or more rack information handling systems using at least one of the wireless connections (validating configuration data over the wireless link, Kline ¶[0031], Raynham ¶[0029]).
Regarding Claim 6, Kline discloses the validation panel system comprises a form factor to facilitate easy attaching and removal from the rack system without having to be fully installed within a rack space of the rack system (computing device 110 is a portable handheld device, PDA, tablet, or smartphone, ¶[0013]).
Regarding Claim 7, Kline discloses A method comprising:
receiving, via a code reader of a validation panel, data related to one or more information handling systems from a set of information handling systems (e.g., computing device 110 acting as a validation panel uses a barcode scanner or RFID reader to scan and obtain an identifier for particular components/servers in a rack; Kline, ¶[0040]), in which the validation panel comprises:
one or more controllers that orchestrate communication… (e.g., processor 201; Kline, ¶[0035]);
the code reader (e.g., the barcode or RFID scanner; Kline, ¶[0040]);
a power module that facilitates power to the validation panel (e.g., computing device 110 inherently requires and includes a power source to operate its processor and memory); and
a non-transitory computer processor-readable medium or media comprising one or more sets of instructions which, when executed by at least one of the one or more controllers, cause steps to be performed (e.g., memory 210 storing resource manager application 221; Kline, ¶[0035]);
facilitating one or more validation tests for at least one of the one or more information handling systems from the set of information handling systems (e.g., executing the validation process to verify configuration data of the components; Kline, ¶[0019], [0028]).
Kline fails to explicitly disclose the validation panel comprising one or more wireless communication modules, wherein the controllers orchestrate communication for the one or more wireless communication modules, and using at least part of the data obtained using the code reader to connect via a wireless connection with one or more information handling systems from the set of information handling systems.
However, Raynham discloses a portable diagnostic tool for information handling systems that communicates without cables. Specifically, Raynham discloses:
a device comprising one or more wireless communication modules (e.g., Bluetooth or Infrared transceivers; Raynham, ¶[0021]);
one or more controllers that orchestrate communication for the one or more wireless communication modules (e.g., the diagnostic tool 104 establishes a wireless connection directly with a server management controller 408; Raynham, ¶[0021], [0026]); and
connecting to specific servers wirelessly (e.g., establishing a wireless connection with the information handling systems 106; Raynham, ¶[0026]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to modify the validation panel and method of Kline to include one or more wireless communication modules and to connect via a wireless connection with one or more information handling systems, as taught by Raynham. The motivation to combine would be to eliminate the cables and connectors associated with conventional diagnostic systems (Raynham, ¶[0036]) and to provide an out-of-band connection that does not rely on the server’s main network being functional (Raynham, ¶[0026]).
Furthermore, in such a combined system, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to perform the step of using at least part of the data obtained using the code reader to connect via a wireless connection with one or more information handling systems. Because Kline already teaches using the code reader to obtain identifying data for a specific component (Kline, ¶[0040]), it would be a logical and predictable use of known technology to use that obtained identifying data (e.g., the server’s ID) to select, target, or authenticate the specific wireless connection taught by Raynham to that corresponding server.
Regarding Claim 8, Kline in view of Raynham discloses the set of information handling systems is a set of servers installed within a rack system and the validation panel connects wirelessly to one or more of the servers without utilizing wired networking infrastructure, if any, of the rack system (components 104 are servers in equipment rack 101, Kline ¶[0012]; connecting wirelessly without relying on the network, Raynham ¶[0026]).
Regarding Claim 9, Kline discloses connecting to a validation system that coordinates validation of at least one of the one or more information handling systems from the set of information handling systems (connecting to resource management system 240, ¶[0037]).
Regarding Claim 10, Kline discloses one or more network ports that facilitate communication, via at least one of the one or more network ports and at least one of the one or more controllers, with the validation system (network interfaces connecting to network 209, ¶[0016]).
Regarding Claim 12, Kline discloses a validation panel system (e.g., computing device 110 used for validation; Kline, ¶[0014], [0019]) comprising:
one or more controllers (e.g., processor 201; Kline, ¶[0035]) that orchestrate communication… with one or more information handling systems (e.g., processor orchestrating communication over network 113 with components 104; Kline, ¶[0029]);
a code reader that is configured to facilitate extraction of identifying data about one or more information handling systems from a set of one or more information handling systems in a region (e.g., scanning a bar code or scanning a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag to obtain an identifier for the component assembly or particular components in the rack; Kline, ¶[0040]);
a power module that facilitates power to the validation panel system (e.g., computing device 110 inherently includes a power source/module to operate the processor and memory, which is well known in the art of computing devices); and
a non-transitory controller-readable medium or media (e.g., memory 210; Kline, ¶[0035]) comprising one or more sets of instructions (e.g., resource manager application 221; Kline, ¶[0035]) which, when executed by at least one of the one or more controllers, causes steps to be performed to facilitate validation of at least one of the one or more information handling systems (e.g., executing the validation process to verify configuration data of the components; Kline, ¶[0019], [0028]).
Kline fails to explicitly disclose that the system includes one or more wireless communication modules, wherein the controllers orchestrate communication of the one or more wireless communication modules and with one or more information handling systems, as Kline generally teaches wired network communication (Network 113) with the components.
However, Raynham discloses a portable diagnostic tool for information handling systems that communicates without cables. Specifically, Raynham discloses:
one or more wireless communication modules (e.g., Bluetooth or Infrared transceivers; Raynham, ¶[0021]); and
one or more controllers that orchestrate communication of the one or more wireless communication modules and with one or more information handling systems (e.g., the diagnostic tool 104 establishes a wireless connection directly with a server management controller 408 of the information handling systems 106; Raynham, ¶[0021], [0026]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to modify the validation panel system of Kline to include one or more wireless communication modules and configure the one or more controllers [to] orchestrate communication of the one or more wireless communication modules and with one or more information handling systems, as taught by Raynham.
The motivation to combine would be to eliminate the cables and connectors associated with conventional diagnostic systems (Raynham, ¶[0036]) and to provide an out-of-band connection that does not rely on the server’s main network being functional (Raynham, ¶[0026]).
Regarding Claim 13, Kline discloses one or more network ports that facilitate connection with one or more other validation panel systems, one or more information handling systems, or a combination thereof (interfaces to network 113 and 209 to communicate with remote resource management system 240 and other devices, ¶[0014]-[0016]).
Regarding Claim 14, Kline discloses at least one network port facilitates connecting with an information handling system that is a validation system for coordinating one or more validation tests for one or more of the information handling systems from the set of one or more information handling systems; and at least one network port facilitates connecting with another validation panel system (computing device 110 connects to local network 113 and second network 209/Internet to interface with resource management system 240 and other devices, ¶[0014]-[0016], [0037]-[0038]).
Regarding Claim 15, Kline discloses the power module comprises or supports: one or more batteries; receipt of power from an external power source; receipt of power from an inductive power source; or a combination thereof (computing device 110 is a portable laptop, PDA, tablet, or smartphone, which inherently comprise batteries and support receipt of power from an external power source to charge said batteries, ¶[0013]).
Regarding Claim 16, Kline discloses one or more network ports that facilitate communication via physical connection to one or more other validation panel systems, one or more other information handling systems, or a combination thereof (interfaces for wired networks/LANs, ¶[0016]). Kline does not explicitly disclose wherein the power module supports power-over-Ethernet in which power is received via at least one of the one or more network ports. However, Official Notice is taken that it is known to utilize Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) to supply power to network-connected devices via their physical network ports. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to configure the network ports of Kline’s computing device to support Power-over-Ethernet. The motivation to combine would be to reduce the number of cables required to operate the device by combining data communication and power delivery into a single physical connection, thereby increasing the portability and convenience of the validation panel system.
Regarding Claim 17, Kline in view of Raynham discloses receiving, via the code reader, identifying data about one or more of the information handling systems from the set of information handling systems (scanning a barcode or RFID tag to identify the components, Kline ¶[0040]); using at least some of the identifying data to connect via a wireless connection with at least one of the one or more information handling systems from the set of information handling systems (using the extracted identifier to establish out-of-band wireless communication with the specific server, Kline ¶[0030], Raynham ¶[0026]); and performing one or more validation tests on the at least one of the one or more information handling systems from the set of information handling systems (validating configuration data over the wireless link, Kline ¶[0031], Raynham ¶[0029]).
Regarding Claim 20, Kline discloses the region is a rack (the component assembly is an equipment rack 101 housed in the data center, ¶[0011]-[0012]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5, 11, 18 and 19 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Tim Vo whose telephone number is (571)272-3642. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Thursday 5:30 AM – 4:00 PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, John Cottingham can be reached on (571)272-1400. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-270-2857
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/TIM T VO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2138
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