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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 03/26/2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Response to Amendment
Claims 2-12, 14-18, 20-24, 33-36, 42, and 47-48 have been cancelled. Claims 1, 13, 19, 25-32, 37-41, and 43-46 have been amended. Claims 1, 13, 19, 25-32, 37-41, and 43-46 are currently pending.
Claim Objections
Claims 1, 13, 19, 25-32, and 37-41 objected to because of the following informalities:
“IOD” in claims 1, 13, 25, and 37 should be spelled out.
“transmitted by the UT” in line 5 of claim 19 should read as “transmitted by a User Tag (UT)”.
“configured to cause toe” in line 3 of claim 43 should read as “configured to cause the”
“at least party” in line 2 of claim 38 should read as “at least partly”.
Claims 26-32 and 39-41 are objected to because they are dependent on the objected claims. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1 and 25-32 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
The term “close vicinity” in claims 1 and 25 is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “close vicinity” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention.
One of ordinary skill may believe that a certain small physical distance between devices makes one close in “close vicinity” to another, while another of ordinary skill may have a different threshold for a physical distance between devices that makes one device in “close vicinity” to another. Thus, the metes and bounds of the claims are unclear.
Claims 26-32 are rejected as indefinite because they are dependent on claim 25.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1, 13, 19, 25-26, 30-32, 37-41, and 43-46 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Han (US 2015/0304822) in view of Mycek (US 2017/0280291).
Regarding claim 1, Han teaches a method in a User Tag, UT (Fig. 1, Electronic device), for enabling adaptation of connectivity of the UT (Fig. 1, Electronic device is a user device that outputs Bluetooth/NFC signals via 110 and thus is a user tag; Paragraph 0023, a first electronic device and a second electronic device indicate different user devices… Paragraph 0031, communication unit 110 further includes… BLUETOOTH, Near Field Communication (NFC)) during an ongoing communication session (Fig. 6, Ongoing communication session between first electronic device 101 (i.e. user tag) and second electronic device 102), the method comprising: transmitting, during the ongoing communication session, a preceding beacon signal (Fig. 6, During communication session, transmit first beacon 601), detectable by the at least one IOD (Fig. 6, Second electronic device 102 is an input/output device (IOD)) when the UT is located in close vicinity of the at least one IOD (Fig. 1, Bluetooth/NFC communication unit 110 requires close vicinity to use); modifying the preceding beacon signal (Fig. 6, Modifying the first beacon signal in steps 607 and 609 to generate a third beacon signal (i.e. modified beacon signal); Paragraph 0053, step 607, the first electronic device 101 determines whether the beacon signal transmitted to the second electronic device 102 in step 601 is a beacon suitable for a situation of the second electronic device 102. In step 609, when the beacon is a beacon that is not suitable for the situation information, the first electronic device 101 generates a third changed beacon according to the situation information), wherein the modification comprises including an indication to the beacon signal, indicating a request for the set of at least one IOD (Fig. 6, Modified beacon signal contains new situation information for second electronic device 102; Paragraph 0044, control unit 140 detects and analyzes the situation information… When the control unit 140 receives the beacon including the user information (such as a user preference, activity information and the like) from the second electronic device, checks a currently transmitted beacon… and changes the beacon to include contents suitable for the user of the second electronic device when the change is necessary), and transmitting the modified beacon signal, thereby enabling one or more IODs, located in close vicinity of the UT, to participate in the set of the at least one IOD (Fig. 6, Transmitting the third beacon (i.e. the modified beacon) in step 611 to the second electronic device (i.e. the one or more IODs) located in close vicinity to the first electronic device 101 (i.e. user tag)).
Han does not teach the method comprising modifying the preceding beacon signal, upon determining that an adaptation of the set of at least one IOD is required, indicating a request for an adaptation of the set of at least one IOD, and enabling one or more IODs, located in close vicinity of the UT, to participate in an adaptation of the set of the at least one IOD.
Mycek teaches the method comprising modifying the preceding beacon signal, upon determining that an adaptation of the set of at least one IOD is required, indicating a request for an adaptation of the set of at least one IOD (Fig. 15, Different iterations of broadcasts from the user phone (i.e. user tag) to the beacons (i.e. IOD) are modified beacon signals that cause the beacons to adapt to different beacon parameters; Paragraph 0035, Broadcast parameters (e.g., advertising parameters) function to define how the beacon should broadcast the frames, and can additionally or alternatively determine all or a portion of the beacon frame information… Paragraph 0064 setting values can be determined by… iteratively determining the setting variable value (e.g., picking an advertising frequency for each beacon and adjusting the frequency when an operation parameter, such as SOC, changes beyond a predetermined threshold), and enabling one or more IODs, located in close vicinity of the UT, to participate in an adaptation of the set of the at least one IOD (Fig. 15, User phone transmits determined broadcast parameters (i.e. modified beacon signal) in step S400 and S500 to cause IOD to adapt to new settings; Paragraph 0073, while the user device is connected to each beacon of the plurality, iteratively adjusting the respective broadcast parameters for each beacon of the plurality until a target condition is met).
Han and Mycek are analogous arts because they are in the same field of endeavor of broadcasting beacon signals between user devices and beacon devices.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Han’s method to incorporate the teachings of Mycek and allow the modified beacon signals of Han to cause device adaptations on the IOD of Han.
One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to make the modifications in order to dynamically configure new and existing beacons while improving beacon lifespan (See Mycek: Paragraphs 0022-0025).
Regarding claim 13, Han teaches a method in an Input/Output Device Handler (IODH) (Fig. 3, Electronic device comprising a beacon manager 330 (i.e. IODH)), for enabling adaptation of connectivity of a User Tag, UT (Fig. 1, Electronic device is a user device that outputs Bluetooth/NFC signals via 110 and thus is a user tag; Paragraph 0023, a first electronic device and a second electronic device indicate different user devices… Paragraph 0031, communication unit 110 further includes… BLUETOOTH, Near Field Communication (NFC)), during an ongoing communication session, IOD (Fig. 6, Ongoing communication session between first electronic device 101 (i.e. user tag) and second electronic device 102 (i.e. IOD)), the method comprising: receiving, from a first set of at least one IOD, first information in a respective beacon signal, associated with the ongoing communication session and received by the respective one or more IOD from the UT (Fig. 6, Second beacon 603 sent during the ongoing session that indicates situation information (i.e. first information); Paragraph 0053, first electronic device 101 receives the second beacon from the second electronic device 102. The second beacon includes address information of the second electronic device 102 and situation information of a PDU); determining the first set of at least one IOD, based on second information comprised in one or more modified beacon signals (Fig. 6, Third beacon 611 is a modified beacon containing second information), and instructing one or more of the at least one IOD on how to participate in the first set of at least one IOD (Fig. 6, Transmitting third beacon to the second electronic device 102 (i.e. first set of at least one IOD) to provide participation information; Paragraph 0058, control unit 140 generates a changed beacon according to the preference information. In certain embodiments, the parameter includes contents, a reception period, a receiving object, a transmission power).
Han does not teach the method comprising: determining an adaptation of the first set of at least one IOD, based on second information comprised in one or more modified beacon signals, received from a second set of at least one IOD, and instructing one or more of the at least one IOD on how to participate in the adaptation of the first set of at least one IOD, based on the determined adaptation.
Mycek teaches the method comprising: determining an adaptation of the first set of at least one IOD, based on second information comprised in one or more modified beacon signals, received from a second set of at least one IOD (Fig. 9, User phone receives beacon2 broadcast information that is used to configure beacon1; Paragraph 0050, generating migration data including the broadcast identifier for the old beacon (e.g., at the user device or management system), transmitting the migration data (e.g., to the new beacon and/or management system), and automatically assigning the settings for the old beacon to the new beacon in response to receipt of the migration data (e.g., at the new beacon and/or management system), such that the new beacon functions as the old beacon), and instructing one or more of the at least one IOD on how to participate in the adaptation of the first set of at least one IOD, based on the determined adaptation (Fig. 15, User phone transmits determined broadcast parameters (i.e. modified beacon signal) in step S400 and S500 to cause IOD to adapt to new settings; Paragraph 0073, while the user device is connected to each beacon of the plurality, iteratively adjusting the respective broadcast parameters for each beacon of the plurality until a target condition is met).
Han and Mycek are analogous arts because they are in the same field of endeavor of broadcasting beacon signals between user devices and beacon devices.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Han’s method to incorporate the teachings of Mycek and enable first and second sets of beacon information to be received by the IODH of Han and used to migrate beacon parameters between the first and second beacons.
One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to make the modifications in order to dynamically configure new and existing beacons while improving beacon lifespan (See Mycek: Paragraphs 0022-0025).
Regarding claim 19, Han teaches a method in a first Input/Output Device, IOD (Fig. 6, Second electronic device 102), for contributing when adapting connectivity during an ongoing communication session (Fig. 6, Ongoing communication session between first electronic device 101 (i.e. user tag) and second electronic device 102), the method comprising: receiving, a beacon signal, associated with the ongoing communication session and transmitted by the UT (Fig. 6, Receive first beacon signal 601 transmitted by first electronic device 101 (i.e. UT)); determining, based, at least partly, on content of the received beacon signal indicating whether the received beacon signal is a modified beacon signal or not (Fig. 6, Second electronic device 102 analyzes first beacon 601 to determine if beacon is suitable for the situation information (i.e. if the beacon signal is modified to be suitable); Paragraph 0053, step 601, the first electronic device 101 transmits a first beacon to the second electronic device 102 during an advertising event time. In step 603, the second electronic device 102 analyzes the received first beacon, generates a second beacon… second beacon includes address information of the second electronic device 102 and situation information of a PDU. For example, the situation information includes information such as a preference (such as a state of the electronic device and user information of the electronic device) of the second electronic device 102).
Han does not teach the method comprising determining if the received beacon signal is to be forwarded to an Input/Output Handler, IODH, or refrained from forwarding, and forwarding, to the IODH, at least part of the content of the received beacon signal, thereby enabling the IODH to determine how the first IOD is to act during the adaptation of the set of at least one IOD, in case it is determined that the received beacon signal is a modified beacon signal and that the at least part of the content is to be forwarded.
Mycek teaches the method comprising determining if the received beacon signal is to be forwarded to an Input/Output Handler, IODH, or refrained from forwarding, and forwarding, to the IODH, at least part of the content of the received beacon signal (Fig. 8, Old beacon (i.e. user tag) transmits old beacon signal to new beacon (i.e. IOD) in S100 and new beacon forwards the old beacon signal to user device (i.e. IODH) in step S200; Paragraph 0050, new beacon listens for the packet (e.g., broadcast identifier, broadcast information, etc.), generates the migration data based on the received packet (e.g., packages the broadcast identifier for the old beacon with a dynamic or static identifier for the new beacon)), thereby enabling the IODH to determine how the first IOD is to act during the adaptation of the set of at least one IOD (Fig. 8, New beacon (i.e. first IOD) receives setting information from user device (i.e. IODH); Paragraph 0045, management system functions as the source of truth, and controls all setting reassignment or updates (e.g., the settings stored on the beacon are always received from the management system)), in case it is determined that the received beacon signal is a modified beacon signal and that the at least part of the content is to be forwarded (Fig. 8, New beacon sends old beacon packet packaged with new beacon ID to user device; Paragraph 0050, sends the migration data to the user device (e.g., application) for transmission to the remote computing system).
Han and Mycek are analogous arts because they are in the same field of endeavor of broadcasting beacon signals between user devices and beacon devices.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Han’s method to incorporate the teachings of Mycek and enable the IOD of Han to forward the unmodified beacon signal to the IODH for configuration settings.
One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to make the modifications in order to dynamically configure new and existing beacons while improving beacon lifespan (See Mycek: Paragraphs 0022-0025).
Regarding claim 25, Han teaches a User Tag, UT, for enabling adaptation of connectivity of the UT (Fig. 1, Electronic device is a user device that outputs Bluetooth/NFC signals via 110 and thus is a user tag; Paragraph 0023, a first electronic device and a second electronic device indicate different user devices… Paragraph 0031, communication unit 110 further includes… BLUETOOTH, Near Field Communication (NFC)) during an ongoing communication session (Fig. 6, Ongoing communication session between first electronic device 101 (i.e. user tag) and second electronic device 102), the UT comprising processing circuitry (Fig. 1, Control unit 140) configured to cause the UT to: transmit, during the ongoing communication session, a preceding beacon signal (Fig. 6, During communication session, transmit first beacon 601), detectable by the at least one IOD (Fig. 6, Second electronic device 102 is an input/output device (IOD)) when the UT is located in close vicinity of the at least one IOD (Fig. 1, Bluetooth/NFC communication unit 110 requires close vicinity to use); modify the preceding beacon signal (Fig. 6, Modifying the first beacon signal in steps 607 and 609 to generate a third beacon signal (i.e. modified beacon signal); Paragraph 0053, step 607, the first electronic device 101 determines whether the beacon signal transmitted to the second electronic device 102 in step 601 is a beacon suitable for a situation of the second electronic device 102. In step 609, when the beacon is a beacon that is not suitable for the situation information, the first electronic device 101 generates a third changed beacon according to the situation information), wherein the modification comprises including an indication to the beacon signal, indicating a request for the set of at least one IOD (Fig. 6, Modified beacon signal contains new situation information for second electronic device 102; Paragraph 0044, control unit 140 detects and analyzes the situation information… When the control unit 140 receives the beacon including the user information (such as a user preference, activity information and the like) from the second electronic device, checks a currently transmitted beacon… and changes the beacon to include contents suitable for the user of the second electronic device when the change is necessary), and transmit the modified beacon signal, thereby enabling one or more IODs, located in close vicinity of the UT, to participate in the set of the at least one IOD (Fig. 6, Transmitting the third beacon (i.e. the modified beacon) in step 611 to the second electronic device (i.e. the one or more IODs) located in close vicinity to the first electronic device 101 (i.e. user tag)).
Han does not teach the UT comprising modify the preceding beacon signal, upon determining that an adaptation of the set of at least one IOD is required, indicating a request for an adaptation of the set of at least one IOD, and enabling one or more IODs, located in close vicinity of the UT, to participate in an adaptation of the set of the at least one IOD.
Mycek teaches the UT comprising modify the preceding beacon signal, upon determining that an adaptation of the set of at least one IOD is required, indicating a request for an adaptation of the set of at least one IOD (Fig. 15, Different iterations of broadcasts from the user phone (i.e. user tag) to the beacons (i.e. IOD) are modified beacon signals that cause the beacons to adapt to different beacon parameters; Paragraph 0035, Broadcast parameters (e.g., advertising parameters) function to define how the beacon should broadcast the frames, and can additionally or alternatively determine all or a portion of the beacon frame information… Paragraph 0064 setting values can be determined by… iteratively determining the setting variable value (e.g., picking an advertising frequency for each beacon and adjusting the frequency when an operation parameter, such as SOC, changes beyond a predetermined threshold), and enabling one or more IODs, located in close vicinity of the UT, to participate in an adaptation of the set of the at least one IOD (Fig. 15, User phone transmits determined broadcast parameters (i.e. modified beacon signal) in step S400 and S500 to cause IOD to adapt to new settings; Paragraph 0073, while the user device is connected to each beacon of the plurality, iteratively adjusting the respective broadcast parameters for each beacon of the plurality until a target condition is met).
Han and Mycek are analogous arts because they are in the same field of endeavor of broadcasting beacon signals between user devices and beacon devices.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Han’s UT to incorporate the teachings of Mycek and allow the modified beacon signals of Han to cause device adaptations on the IOD of Han.
One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to make the modifications in order to dynamically configure new and existing beacons while improving beacon lifespan (See Mycek: Paragraphs 0022-0025).
Regarding claim 26, Han in view of Mycek teaches the UT of claim 25. Han teaches the UT further configured to transmit the preceding beacon signal, comprising transmission configuration, comprising one or more of: an indication of the power class applied by the UT when transmitting the preceding beacon signal, and an indication of a maximum allowed transmission power level applied by the UT when transmitting the preceding beacon signal (Fig. 5, Beacon signal includes transmission power 509; Paragraph 0046, the first electronic device advertises a beacon signal including many contents (such as a text, an image, a video and the like) to all electronic devices… Paragraph 0058, parameter includes contents, a reception period, a receiving object, a transmission power and the like).
Regarding claim 30, Han in view of Mycek teaches the UT of claim 25. Han teaches the UT further configured to include the modified beacon signal with at least one capability requirement (Fig. 5, Modified beacon signal has a requirement for one of the capabilities 503 to 509; Paragraph 0050, the contents include a text, an image, an audio, a video and the like and are changed to correspond to the included situation information).
Regarding claim 31, Han in view of Mycek teaches the UT of claim 30. Han teaches the UT further configured to include the modified beacon signal with at least one capability requirement, comprising at least one of: screen, display, speaker, camera, microphone, mouse, keyboard, touchpad, Inertial Measuring Unit (IMU), light source, sensor and actuator (Fig. 5, Modified beacon signal has a requirement for one of the capabilities 503 to 509 including video and audio (i.e. display and speaker); Paragraph 0050, the contents include a text, an image, an audio, a video and the like and are changed to correspond to the included situation information).
Regarding claim 32, Han in view of Mycek teaches the UT of claim 25.
Mycek teaches the UT further configured to modify the beacon signal based on at least one of: detection that a user interaction, detectable by the UT, indicating a request for adaptation of the set of at least one IOD, has been executed; detection that the UT is located in a certain geographical location, requiring an adaptation of the set of at least one IOD; detection that a certain time instance, requiring an adaptation of the set of at least one IOD, has been reached; detection that a certain time interval, requiring an adaptation of the set of at least one IOD, has begun or expired, and detection that a certain event, detectable by the UT, requiring an adaptation of the set of at least one IOD, has occurred (Fig. 13, Broadcast parameters include changing beacons to adapt to a certain time interval (i.e. rate of broadcast every 2 seconds) and also geographical location; Paragraph 0053, the trigger event can be beacon placement within a predetermined geofence or volume (e.g., predefined by a user)).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Han’s UT to incorporate the teachings of Mycek and allow the modified beacon signals of Han to cause device adaptations on the IOD of Han.
One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to make the modifications in order to dynamically configure new and existing beacons while improving beacon lifespan (See Mycek: Paragraphs 0022-0025).
Regarding claim 37, Han teaches an Input/Output Device Handler (IODH) (Fig. 3, Electronic device comprising a beacon manager 330), for enabling adaptation of connectivity of a User Tag, UT (Fig. 1, Electronic device is a user device that outputs Bluetooth/NFC signals via 110 and thus is a user tag; Paragraph 0023, a first electronic device and a second electronic device indicate different user devices… Paragraph 0031, communication unit 110 further includes… BLUETOOTH, Near Field Communication (NFC)), during an ongoing communication session (Fig. 6, Ongoing communication session between first electronic device 101 (i.e. user tag) and second electronic device 102 (i.e. IOD)), the IODH comprising processor circuitry (Fig. 1, Control unit 140) configured to cause the IODH: receive, from a first set of at least one IOD, first information in a respective beacon signal, associated with the ongoing communication session and received by the respective one or more IOD from the UT (Fig. 6, Second beacon 603 sent during the ongoing session that indicates situation information (i.e. first information); Paragraph 0053, first electronic device 101 receives the second beacon from the second electronic device 102. The second beacon includes address information of the second electronic device 102 and situation information of a PDU); determine the first set of at least one IOD, based on second information comprised in one or more modified beacon signals (Fig. 6, Third beacon 611 is a modified beacon containing second information), and instruct one or more of the at least one IOD on how to participate in the first set of at least one IOD (Fig. 6, Transmitting third beacon to the second electronic device 102 (i.e. first set of at least one IOD) to provide participation information; Paragraph 0058, control unit 140 generates a changed beacon according to the preference information. In certain embodiments, the parameter includes contents, a reception period, a receiving object, a transmission power).
Han does not teach the IODH comprising: determine an adaptation of the first set of at least one IOD, based on second information comprised in one or more modified beacon signals, received from a second set of at least one IOD, and instruct one or more of the at least one IOD on how to participate in the adaptation of the first set of at least one IOD, based on the determined adaptation.
Mycek teaches the IODH comprising: determine an adaptation of the first set of at least one IOD, based on second information comprised in one or more modified beacon signals, received from a second set of at least one IOD (Fig. 9, User phone receives beacon2 broadcast information that is used to configure beacon1; Paragraph 0050, generating migration data including the broadcast identifier for the old beacon (e.g., at the user device or management system), transmitting the migration data (e.g., to the new beacon and/or management system), and automatically assigning the settings for the old beacon to the new beacon in response to receipt of the migration data (e.g., at the new beacon and/or management system), such that the new beacon functions as the old beacon), and instruct one or more of the at least one IOD on how to participate in the adaptation of the first set of at least one IOD, based on the determined adaptation (Fig. 15, User phone transmits determined broadcast parameters (i.e. modified beacon signal) in step S400 and S500 to cause IOD to adapt to new settings; Paragraph 0073, while the user device is connected to each beacon of the plurality, iteratively adjusting the respective broadcast parameters for each beacon of the plurality until a target condition is met).
Han and Mycek are analogous arts because they are in the same field of endeavor of broadcasting beacon signals between user devices and beacon devices.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Han’s IODH to incorporate the teachings of Mycek and enable first and second sets of beacon information to be received by the IODH of Han and used to migrate beacon parameters between the first and second beacons.
One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to make the modifications in order to dynamically configure new and existing beacons while improving beacon lifespan (See Mycek: Paragraphs 0022-0025).
Regarding claim 38, Han in view of Mycek teaches the IODH of claim 37. Han teaches the IODH further configured to, at least partly, base the determining on signal strength of one or more beacon signal, and comprised in the received information (Fig. 8, Beacon signal strength is determined; Paragraph 0062, FIG. 8, the situation information is beacon strength information).
Mycek teaches the IODH comprising received by the second set of at least one IOD (Fig. 9, User phone receives beacon2 broadcast information that is used to configure beacon1; Paragraph 0050, generating migration data including the broadcast identifier for the old beacon (e.g., at the user device or management system), transmitting the migration data (e.g., to the new beacon and/or management system), and automatically assigning the settings for the old beacon to the new beacon in response to receipt of the migration data (e.g., at the new beacon and/or management system), such that the new beacon functions as the old beacon).
Han and Mycek are analogous arts because they are in the same field of endeavor of broadcasting beacon signals between user devices and beacon devices.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Han’s IODH to incorporate the teachings of Mycek and enable first and second sets of beacon information to be received by the IODH of Han and used to migrate beacon parameters between the first and second beacons.
One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to make the modifications in order to dynamically configure new and existing beacons while improving beacon lifespan (See Mycek: Paragraphs 0022-0025).
Regarding claim 39, Han in view of Mycek teaches the IODH of claim 37. Han teaches the IODH further configured to determine the adaptation based on at least one of the following, comprised in the second information: a session identity, identifying the ongoing communication session; a beacon identifier, indicating that a received signal is a beacon signal; a freshness parameter, being a parameter which is updated each time a respective beacon signal is transmitted by an IOD, thereby distinguishing one transmitted beacon signal from previously transmitted beacon signals; a cryptographic proof or originator, providing cryptographic protection of at least parts of a beacon signal, and capability requirements for the ongoing communication session (Fig. 2, Access address 220 is a beacon identifier; Paragraph 0038, FIG. 2, the beacon includes a preamble 210, an access address 220, a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) header 230, a PDU payload 240 and a Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) 250. The preamble 210 includes information related to a frequency synchronization, a symbol timing estimation, an automatic gain control, and the like. In addition, the access address 220 includes information related to a physical link access code. According to certain embodiments of the present disclosure, the access address includes an address of a destination to which a beacon signal is transmitted).
Mycek teaches the IODH comprising received by the second set of at least one IOD (Fig. 9, User phone receives beacon2 broadcast information that is used to configure beacon1; Paragraph 0050, generating migration data including the broadcast identifier for the old beacon (e.g., at the user device or management system), transmitting the migration data (e.g., to the new beacon and/or management system), and automatically assigning the settings for the old beacon to the new beacon in response to receipt of the migration data (e.g., at the new beacon and/or management system), such that the new beacon functions as the old beacon).
Han and Mycek are analogous arts because they are in the same field of endeavor of broadcasting beacon signals between user devices and beacon devices.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Han’s IODH to incorporate the teachings of Mycek and enable first and second sets of beacon information to be received by the IODH of Han and used to migrate beacon parameters between the first and second beacons.
One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to make the modifications in order to dynamically configure new and existing beacons while improving beacon lifespan (See Mycek: Paragraphs 0022-0025).
Regarding claim 40, Han in view of Mycek teaches the IODH of claim 37.
Mycek teaches the IODH further configured to: base the adaptation of the first set of at least one IOD, at least partly on a consolidation of said received second information (Fig. 13, Beacons are clustered together in S400 and S500 and thus are consolidated; Paragraph 0079, Operating the beacon according to the settings S500 functions to operate the beacon cluster in coordination. In a first variation, all beacons in the cluster broadcast a common identifier and/or frame information, according to the shared settings).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Han’s IODH to incorporate the teachings of Mycek and enable first and second sets of beacon information to be received by the IODH of Han and used to migrate beacon parameters between the first and second beacons.
One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to make the modifications in order to dynamically configure new and existing beacons while improving beacon lifespan (See Mycek: Paragraphs 0022-0025).
Regarding claim 41, Han in view of Mycek teaches the IODH of claim 37. Han teaches the IODH further configured to further perform the determination, at least partly, based on at least one of the following, comprised in each second information: signal strength of a beacon signal received by a respective IOD; battery capacity of a respective IOD; amount of processing power available in a respective IOD and amount of storage capacity available in a respective IOD (Fig. 8, Beacon signal strength is determined; Paragraph 0062, FIG. 8, the situation information is beacon strength information).
Regarding claim 43, Han teaches a first Input/Output Device, IOD (Fig. 6, Second electronic device 102), capable of contributing when adapting connectivity during an ongoing communication session (Fig. 6, Ongoing communication session between first electronic device 101 (i.e. user tag) and second electronic device 102), the IOD comprising processing circuitry (Fig. 1, Control unit 140 is in both the first electronic device and the second electronic device; Paragraph 0023, a first electronic device and a second electronic device indicate different user devices although both of them are user devices) configured to cause the IOD to: receive, a beacon signal, associated with the ongoing communication session and transmitted by the UT (Fig. 6, Receive first beacon signal 601 transmitted by first electronic device 101 (i.e. UT)); determine, based, at least partly, on content of the received beacon signal indicating whether the received beacon signal is a modified beacon signal or not (Fig. 6, Second electronic device 102 analyzes first beacon 601 to determine if beacon is suitable for the situation information (i.e. if the beacon signal is modified to be suitable); Paragraph 0053, step 601, the first electronic device 101 transmits a first beacon to the second electronic device 102 during an advertising event time. In step 603, the second electronic device 102 analyzes the received first beacon, generates a second beacon… second beacon includes address information of the second electronic device 102 and situation information of a PDU. For example, the situation information includes information such as a preference (such as a state of the electronic device and user information of the electronic device) of the second electronic device 102).
Han does not teach the IOD comprising: determine if the received beacon signal is to be forwarded to an Input/Output Handler, IODH, or refrained from forwarding, and forward, to the IODH, at least part of the content of the received beacon signal, thereby enabling the IODH to determine how the first IOD is to act during the adaptation of the set of at least one IOD, in case it is determined that the received beacon signal is a modified beacon signal and that the at least part of the content is to be forwarded.
Mycek teaches the IOD comprising: determine if the received beacon signal is to be forwarded to an Input/Output Handler, IODH, or refrained from forwarding, and forward, to the IODH, at least part of the content of the received beacon signal (Fig. 8, Old beacon (i.e. user tag) transmits old beacon signal to new beacon (i.e. IOD) in S100 and new beacon forwards the old beacon signal to user device (i.e. IODH) in step S200; Paragraph 0050, new beacon listens for the packet (e.g., broadcast identifier, broadcast information, etc.), generates the migration data based on the received packet (e.g., packages the broadcast identifier for the old beacon with a dynamic or static identifier for the new beacon)), thereby enabling the IODH to determine how the first IOD is to act during the adaptation of the set of at least one IOD (Fig. 8, New beacon (i.e. first IOD) receives setting information from user device (i.e. IODH); Paragraph 0045, management system functions as the source of truth, and controls all setting reassignment or updates (e.g., the settings stored on the beacon are always received from the management system)), in case it is determined that the received beacon signal is a modified beacon signal and that the at least part of the content is to be forwarded (Fig. 8, New beacon sends old beacon packet packaged with new beacon ID to user device; Paragraph 0050, sends the migration data to the user device (e.g., application) for transmission to the remote computing system).
Han and Mycek are analogous arts because they are in the same field of endeavor of broadcasting beacon signals between user devices and beacon devices.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Han’s IOD to incorporate the teachings of Mycek and enable the IOD of Han to forward the unmodified beacon signal to the IODH for configuration settings.
One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to make the modifications in order to dynamically configure new and existing beacons while improving beacon lifespan (See Mycek: Paragraphs 0022-0025).
Regarding claim 44, Han in view of Mycek teaches the IOD of claim 43. Han teaches the IOD further configured to acquire an indication of the signal strength of the beacon signal, when received by the IOD (Fig. 8, Beacon strength is determined at 803; Paragraph 0063, In step 803, when the beacon is received in step 802, the control unit 140 analyzes the strength of the received beacon).
Regarding claim 45, Han in view of Mycek teaches the IOD of claim 43.
Mycek teaches the IOD further configured to forward the received beacon signal only in case a filtering criteria for forwarding the received beacon signal is fulfilled (Fig. 7, Forwarding beacon signal settings can be based on trigger event filters; Paragraph 0052, The trigger event can be detected by the new beacon (e.g., unconfigured beacon, beacon with default settings, a beacon without associated settings), an old beacon (e.g., configured beacon, a beacon with associated settings)).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Han’s IOD to incorporate the teachings of Mycek and enable the IOD of Han to forward the unmodified beacon signal to the IODH for configuration settings.
One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to make the modifications in order to dynamically configure new and existing beacons while improving beacon lifespan (See Mycek: Paragraphs 0022-0025).
Regarding claim 46, Han in view of Mycek teaches the IOD of claim 45.
Mycek teaches the IOD further configured to base the filtering criteria on at least one of: signal strength of a beacon signal received by a respective IOD; battery capacity of a respective IOD; amount of processing power available in a respective IOD and amount of storage capacity available in a respective IOD (Paragraph 0032, Beacon operation parameters can include: beacon SOC (state of charge); battery voltage).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Han’s IOD to incorporate the teachings of Mycek and enable the IOD of Han to forward the unmodified beacon signal to the IODH for configuration settings.
One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to make the modifications in order to dynamically configure new and existing beacons while improving beacon lifespan (See Mycek: Paragraphs 0022-0025).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 27-29 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims, and if the Claim Objections are overcome.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US PGPUB 2021/0345085 to Anselm discloses configuring beacon devices using signals from a user device.
US PGPUB 2021/0344520 to Hannu discloses a User Tag that communicates in a connection session with an IOD.
US PGPUB 2019/0373433 to Gabriele discloses a user device with a beacon monitor that detects a beacon and activated an NFC application on an external device.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HARRY Z WANG whose telephone number is (571)270-1716. The examiner can normally be reached 9 am - 3 pm (Monday-Friday).
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/H.Z.W./Examiner, Art Unit 2184
/HENRY TSAI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2184
