Appeal 2007-0376
Application 10/280,259
BACKGROUND
Appellants’ invention is directed to bi-directional communication
among electrical modules in a motor vehicle. According to Appellants,
different communication buses may be used for different purposes according
to the importance of the communication (Specification 3). An understanding
of the invention can be derived from a reading of exemplary independent
claim 10, which is reproduced as follows:
10. A method of two-way digital communication between a
plurality of nodes arranged at different respective positions in a vehicle,
comprising the steps of:
providing at least first and second serial communication busses
interconnecting said nodes;
separating said nodes into at least first and second groups wherein
communication of nodes belonging to said first group is more critical for the
operation of the vehicle than communication of the nodes in the second
group;
connecting said nodes of said first and second groups of nodes to said
first and second communication busses, respectively;
connecting each of said busses to a gateway node; and
transferring digital information from a node within one bus to a node
in another bus which is intended to receive said information, via the gateway
node.
The Examiner relies on the following reference in rejecting the
claims:
Berstis US 6,823,457 B1 Nov. 23, 2004
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