DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claims 1 – 14 are pending.
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.
Claim(s) 1 – 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Patent No. 10,334,521 (hereinafter Sasadai) in view of US Patent No. 9,867,126 (hereinafter Yomo).
As per claim 1, Sasadai teaches a communication apparatus (Sasadai; Figure 1 Item 1) that operates in a plurality of operation modes with different power consumptions (Sasadai; Abstract), the communication apparatus comprising: a main system (Sasadai; Figure 1 Item 10); a subsystem (Sasadai; Figure 1 Item 20); a communication module (Sasadai; Figure 1 Item 30) to communicate with an external apparatus external to the communication apparatus (Sasadai; Col 1 Lines 32 – 34); a first bus (Sasadai; Figure 1 – Connection between main system 10 and wireless LAN module 30) to connect the main system and the communication module to each other to allow the main system to control the communication module (Sasadai; Col 1 Lines 34 – 35); a second bus (Sasadai; Figure 1 – Connection between subsystem 20 and wireless LAN module 30) to connect the subsystem and the communication module to each other to allow the subsystem to control the communication module (Sasadai; Col 1 Lines 35 – 37).
Sasadai does not explicitly teach a bus switch to switch between two states, one of the two states being a state in which the main system and the communication module are communicable connected to each other via the first bus, another one do the two states being a state in which the subsystem and the communication module are communicably connected to each other via the second bus; and a bus switching control circuit configured to control the bus switch to switch between the two states according to an operation mode set in the communication apparatus among the plurality of modes.
However, Yomo teaches a communication apparatus having a main system (Yomo; Figure 2 Item 14) and a subsystem (Yomo; Figure 2 Item 13); and a bus switch (Yomo; Figure 2 Item 12) to switch between two states, one of the two states being a state in which the main system and the communication module are communicable connected to each other via the first bus, another one do the two states being a state in which the subsystem and the communication module are communicably connected to each other via the second bus (Yomo; Figure 2); and a bus switching control circuit (Yomo; Figure 2 Item 143) configured to control the bus switch to switch between the two states according to an operation mode set in the communication apparatus among the plurality of modes (Yomo; Col 4 Lines 55 – 57 and Col 5 Lines 40 – 43).
Therefore, 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 the teachings of Sasadai to include the bus switch because doing so allows for reduced power consumption (Yomo; Col 3 Lines 9 – 12).
As per claims 3 and 10, Yomo also teaches wherein the subsystem includes circuitry configured to: when an authentication method for communication read by the main system includes authentication processing executable by the subsystem, control the subsystem to execute the authentication processing (Yomo; Col 5 Line 63 – Col 6 Line 10); and when a predetermined event relating to connection of the communication is detected after the operation mode shifts to the power-saving mode in response to completion of the authentication processing by the subsystem, control the subsystem to process the predetermined event (Yomo; Col 5 Line 63 – Col 6 Line 10).
As per claims 2 and 9, Sasadai also teaches wherein the plurality of operation modes with different power consumptions includes: a normal mode in which the main system operates (Sasadai; Abstract); and a power-saving mode in which the main system stops and the subsystem operates (Sasadai; Abstract).
As per claims 4 and 11, Yomo also teaches when the operation mode shifts from the normal mode to the power-saving mode, the bus switching control circuit is configured to control the bus switch such that the subsystem and the communication module are communicably connected to each other via the second bus (Yomo; Figure 2, Col 4 Line 55 – Col 5 Line 2).
As per claims 5 and 12, Yomo also teaches when the operation mode shifts from the power-saving mode to the normal mode, the bus switching control circuit is configured to control the bus switch such that the main system and the communication module are communicably connected to each other via the first bus (Yomo; Figure 2, Col 4 Line 55 – Col 5 Line 2).
As per claims 6 and 13, Yomo also teaches wherein the bus switching control circuit is configured to receive, from the subsystem, a signal indicating the operation mode (Yomo; Col 5 Lines 24 – 26) and transmit, to the bus switch, a signal (Yomo; Figure 2 “CTL”) to cause the bus switch to switch between the two states according to the operation mode indicated by the received signal (Yomo; Col 5 Lines 40 – 43).
As per claim 7, Yomo also teaches wherein the communication module (Yomo; Figure 2 Item 11) and the bus switch (Yomo; Figure 2 Item 12) are separate from the main system (Yomo; Figure 2 Item 14) and the subsystem (Yomo; Figure 2 Item 13).
As per claims 8 and 14, Sasadai teaches a communication method executed by a communication apparatus (Sasadai; Figure 1 Item 1) that includes a main system (Sasadai; Figure 1 Item 10) and a subsystem (Sasadai; Figure 1 Item 20) and operates in a plurality of operation modes with different power consumptions (Sasadai; Abstract), the communication method comprising: connecting the main system and a communication module (Sasadai; Figure 1 Item 30) to each other via a first bus (Sasadai; Figure 1 – Connection between main system 10 and wireless LAN module 30) to allow the main system to control the communication module (Sasadai; Col 1 Lines 34 – 35), the communication module being a communication module to communicate with an external apparatus external to the communication apparatus (Sasadai; Col 1 Lines 32 – 34); connecting the subsystem and the communication module to each other via a second bus (Sasadai; Figure 1 – Connection between subsystem 20 and wireless LAN module 30) to allow the subsystem to control the communication module (Sasadai; Col 1 Lines 35 – 37).
Sasadai does not explicitly teach controlling a bus switch to switch between two states according to an operation mode set in the communication apparatus among the plurality of operation modes, one of the two states being a state in which the main system and the communication module are communicably connected to each other via the first bus, another one of the two states being a state in which the subsystem and the communication module are communicably connected to each other via the second bus.
However, Yomo teaches a communication apparatus having a main system (Yomo; Figure 2 Item 14) and a subsystem (Yomo; Figure 2 Item 13); and controlling a bus switch (Yomo; Figure 2 Item 12) to switch between two states according to an operation mode set in the communication apparatus among the plurality of operation modes (Yomo; Col 4 Lines 55 – 57 and Col 5 Lines 40 – 43); one of the two states being a state in which the main system and the communication module are communicably connected to each other via the first bus, another one of the two states being a state in which the subsystem and the communication module are communicably connected to each other via the second bus (Yomo; Figure 2).
Therefore, 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 the teachings of Sasadai to include the bus switch because doing so allows for reduced power consumption (Yomo; Col 3 Lines 9 – 12).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RICHARD B FRANKLIN whose telephone number is (571)272-0669. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30am-5pm.
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/RICHARD B FRANKLIN/Examiner, Art Unit 2181
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