Appeal 2007-1535
Application 10/626,969
complications which may arise during troubleshooting. To this end,
manufacturers have adopted multiplexing schemes to reduce cables to three
or four wires and simplify the exchange of data among various onboard
electronic systems.9
Voss also documents similar efforts. See, e.g., Voss, at 1 (noting that
in-vehicle data bus (IVDB) technology met design goal of 20% wiring
harness reduction); see also id. (“Multiplex technology should decrease the
number of connections and reduce wire harness variants.”); id., at 5
(“Wiring harness reduction and simplification of sub-system installation are
main targets of multiplex- and data bus technology.”).
In fact, since the early 1980s, centralized and distributed networks
have replaced point-to-point wiring. See Leen, at 88; see also id. (“[I]n a
1998 press release, Motorola reported that replacing wiring harnesses with
LANs in the four doors of a BMW reduced the weight by 15 kilograms
while enhancing functionality.”). Moreover, Leen notes that one of the first
and most enduring automotive control networks, the “controller area
network” (CAN), was developed in the mid-1980s. Id.
In view of the clear trend in the industry for replacing wiring
harnesses with data communications buses in vehicles as evidenced above, it
would have been obvious to the skilled artisan at the time of the invention to
replace the wiring harness 30 in Nykerk that extends throughout the vehicle
with a data communications bus carrying data and address information
thereover to, among other things, reduce weight, cost, and complexity by
9 See Specification ¶ 0007 and 0009 (citing an article from 1996 describing
such efforts); see also id. ¶ 0010 (citing other references detailing
multiplexing systems in vehicles); ¶ 0011 (listing standards for vehicle
multiplex networks).
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