The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Detailed Action
Claim(s) 1-9 has/have been examined.Claim(s) 1-9 have been rejected.
Novel Subject Matter
Claim(s) 4-7 recite(s) novel subject matter while being rejected as indefinite. Within each claim as a whole the examiner deems the novel limitation to be that the entry of operation processing data includes a calibration parameter and a general normalization parameter.
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 2 and 4-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as failing to set forth 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 2 line 1 recites the limitation “the step of obtaining”. This limitation lacks antecedent basis. Claim 4 line 3 recites “corresponds to all of the at least one sensor”. This use of “all” is unclear. This limitation contrasts with “corresponds respectively to the at least one sensor” from line 2 and implies a distinction between “all of” and “respectively to the at least one”, but it is not clear that a distinction is required by the claim language. If the claim requires more than one sensor, all of which have the parameter, then it should recite “two or more”. If the claim only requires one sensor, then there is no clear delineation between “all of at least one” and “respectively to the at least one”.
Claim 7 lines 1 and 2 recite “the step of obtaining” and “the step of performing”. These limitations lack antecedent basis.
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 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.
Claim(s) 1-3, 8 and 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang (US Patent Application Publication 2013/0166894) in view of Wikipedia’s Motherboard (historical version published March 19, 2025).
Regarding claim 1, Wang discloses a method for obtaining a plurality of sensing data pieces respectively of a plurality of sensors that correspond to a plurality of to-be-detected devices (Figure 1 shows a collection of devices of the system; each has its properties sensed, as in paragraphs 17 and 30-32), the controller storing a sensor data record (SDR) file that includes multiple entries of slot identification information related respectively to the plurality of slots and multiple entries of virtual sensor identification information respectively of a plurality of virtual sensors respectively for monitoring the plurality of slots (paragraph 22, a current device table is recorded; the table has entries for device identification and entries for monitoring the devices; these devices are monitored by virtual sensors because they are monitored by BIOS software), the method comprising, for each to-be-detected device of the plurality of to-be-detected devices, steps of:
obtaining an entry of to-be-detected information that corresponds to the to-be-detected device, where the entry of to-be-detected information includes an entry of to-be-detected device identification information of the to-be-detected device (paragraph 38, current device table includes device type, characteristic and a number), and
an entry of to-be-detected slot identification information related to one of the plurality of slots into which the to-be-detected device is plugged (paragraph 22, a current device table is recorded; the table has entries for devices which are uniquely identified and each have unique connection locations; this table information is related to the hardware locations of the devices); and
performing a processing procedure that includes based on the entry of to-be-detected device identification information included in the entry of to-be-detected information (paragraphs 31 and 32, procedures are performed based on the detected hardware configuration), and a lookup table that includes multiple entries of configuration device identification information related respectively to a plurality of configuration devices, and multiple entries of sensor information corresponding respectively to the multiple entries of configuration device identification information (paragraphs 31 and 32, the table includes configuration information entries for different devices that are associated with different sensor information that is specific to the device) obtaining, from the lookup table, one of the entries of sensor information that corresponds to one of the entries of configuration device identification information which conforms with the entry of to-be-detected device identification information (paragraph 17, a POST routine may detect number and type of CPUs, number/capacity of DIMMs, number capacity of hard disks),
wherein each of the entries of sensor information included in the lookup table is related to at least one sensor that is used to monitor a corresponding one of the plurality of configuration devices (paragraph 17, each device has a sensor that detects its properties), and includes at least one entry of sensor identification information that is related respectively to the at least one sensor and an entry of operation processing data for processing a sensing value of the at least one sensor (paragraph 31 the hardware properties are detected and processing is performed on them, for example the capacity of the DIMM is compared to a threshold),
sending a sensor reading request to the to-be-detected device (paragraph 17, properties of the device are determined), and
in response to receiving sensor feedback data from the to-be-detected device, where the sensor feedback data includes at least one to-be-detected sensing value respectively of at least one to-be-detected sensor disposed in the to-be-detected device, obtaining a target to-be-detected sensing value based on the at least one to-be-detected sensing value and the entry of operation processing data included in said one of the entries of sensor information that corresponds to the entry of to-be-detected device identification information of the to-be-detected device (paragraph 31, hardware properties are compared to thresholds that are specific to the type of hardware and are associated with the threshold comparison algorithm), and
using the target to-be-detected sensing value as a sensing data piece of one of the plurality of virtual sensors that corresponds to one of the plurality of slots into which the to-be-detected device is plugged (paragraph 22, a current device table is recorded; the table has entries for device identification and entries for monitoring the devices; these devices are monitored by virtual sensors because they are monitored by BIOS software).
Wang does not expressly disclose the method wherein the to-be-detected devices and the controller are disposed on a motherboard including a plurality of slots, where each of the plurality of to-be-detected devices is plugged into one of the plurality of slots.
Wikipedia’s Motherboard teaches use of computer motherboards, which connects to CPUs, memory slots, and other device connectors (first page).Prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify the computer system monitoring disclosed by Wang such that the monitored memory, CPU and disks, are all connected to slots on a motherboard, as taught by Wikipedia’s Motherboard. This modification would have been obvious because a typical desktop computer has its microprocessor, main memory, and other essential components connected to the motherboard (Wikipedia’s Motherboard, top of page 3).
Regarding claims 2, 3, 8 and 9, Wang in view of Wikipedia’s Motherboard discloses:
2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the step of obtaining an entry of to-be-detected information includes:
discovering the to-be-detected device (Wang paragraph 17);
obtaining test data related to a power-on self-test process that is handled by a basic input/output system (BIOS) for the to-be-detected device (Wang paragraph 17, a POST routine may detect number and type of CPUs, number/capacity of DIMMs, number capacity of hard disks); and
obtaining the entry of to-be-detected information based on the test data (Wang paragraph 17, the POST routine returns detected values).
3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein obtaining a target to-be-detected sensing value includes:
upon receiving the sensor feedback data from the to-be-detected device, based on the entry of operation processing data, performing computation on the at least one to-be-detected sensing value to obtain at least one processed sensing value, respectively (Wang paragraph 32, the detected hardware properties are matched against the current device table; also paragraph 31 describes how a hardware device specific process is performed wherein how the capacity of the DIMM is compared to a threshold to determine whether to continue with the start procedure of the system); and
based on the at least one processed sensing value that corresponds to the to-be-detected device, obtaining the target to-be-detected sensing value (Wang paragraph 31).
8. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising:
determining whether the motherboard includes any abnormal device (Wang paragraphs 21 and 31, an alarm is created); and
in response to determining that the motherboard includes at least one abnormal device, implementing the steps of obtaining an entry of to-be-detected information and performing a processing procedure (Wang paragraph 32, after giving the alarm the BIOS will end the start procedure or continue the start procedure).
9. The method as claimed in claim 8, further comprising:
in response to determining that the motherboard does not include any abnormal device, sending the sensor reading request to each of the plurality of to-be-detected devices (Wang paragraph 35, when BIOS is started, the system reads the hardware devices; paragraph 17, this would be done when the system restarts).
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOSEPH SCHELL whose telephone number is (571) 272-8186. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday through Friday 9AM-5:00PM (Pacific Time).
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ashish Thomas can be reached at (571) 272-0631. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. The fax phone number for the examiner is 571-273-8186. The examiner may be e-mailed at joseph.schell@uspto.gov though communications via e-mail are not permitted without a written authorization form (see MPEP 502.03).
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JS/JOSEPH O SCHELL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2114
