Appeal 2007-1535
Application 10/626,969
Although the exact extent of this serial data bus is unclear from the
reference, Boreham nevertheless provides some indication of the ability of
the vehicle security control unit to communicate with vehicle devices other
than the siren unit. The vehicle security control unit can generate a warning
signal by causing an LED on the instrument panel to flash (Boreham, col. 7,
ll. 14-23). Moreover, in an alternative embodiment shown in Figure 8, the
vehicle security control unit can monitor the state of the ignition line 28 and
report its status to the siren unit’s CPU via the control packet (Boreham, col.
7, ll. 52-56; Fig. 8).
We recognize that Boreham does not expressly state that the vehicle
security control unit communicates with the vehicle’s instrument panel and
ignition line via the serial data bus. Nevertheless, the collective teachings of
Boreham strongly suggest that this is the case given the stated ability to
address multiple devices using the bus, or, at the very least, a viable
alternative to point-to-point wiring.
In any event, the fact that four data bits are provided in the control
packet for addressing various vehicle devices suggests that 16 different
devices can be addressed.8 In our view, the skilled artisan would have
reasonably inferred that addressing 16 different devices on a vehicle on a
single serial bus would reasonably involve extending the bus throughout the
vehicle to facilitate such communication. Even if we assume that these 16
devices could be within the same general vicinity in the vehicle, the clear
import of Boreham is that such devices could likewise be installed at various
locations throughout the vehicle, particularly in view of Boreham’s specific
8 Since there are four bits in the Address Field, 24 (or 16) unique addresses
can be accommodated in this field.
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