Obviousness

The independent claims of US Patent 9207748 describe a method, computer, and computer-readable medium for a wireless device to transition from a power-save mode to a non-power-save mode upon receiving a wake-up packet while in a wake-up detection mode. An analysis under 35 U.S.C. § 103 indicates that these claims would likely have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art (PHOSITA) at the time of the invention (priority date 2004-11-24), given the existing prior art.

Independent Claims (1, 8, and 15) Overview:
The core elements of the independent claims revolve around:

• A wireless device.
• Entering a wake-up detection mode for a predetermined time period.
• Receiving a wake-up packet designed to initiate a switch from a power-save mode to a non-power-save mode.
• Performing a wake-up process in response to the packet.
• Exiting the detection mode if the wake-up occurs or the time period expires.

Relevant Prior Art References and Their Teachings:

1. US 6,049,885 to Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD): This patent, explicitly cited in US9207748 as prior art for wired Wake-on-LAN (WoL), teaches "MAGIC PACKET technology." It describes a LAN controller entering a "MAGIC PACKET mode" (analogous to a wake-up detection mode) when a PC is in a sleep state (power-save mode). The controller monitors incoming network frames for a specific "MAGIC PACKET" (a wake-up packet) which consists of 16 duplications of the node's IP address. Upon detection, the MAGIC PACKET mode is disabled, and full power is restored to the system (transition to non-power-save mode).

2. US 2003/0097398 A1 to Hewlett-Packard Company and Intel Corporation: This patent application describes a "Wireless Connection For Portable Systems And Network adapters Using Wake-Up Requests." It discloses a wireless network device operating in a power-saving mode, which includes a wake-up mechanism that, when activated, enables the device to monitor for a wake-up request from the wireless network and switch to a full power mode upon receiving such a request. This reference clearly addresses the application of wake-up functionality to wireless devices.

3. US 2004/0264396 A1 to Boris Ginzburg: This patent application, titled "Method for power saving in a wireless LAN," describes a method where a wireless network interface device is enabled to perform a network scanning process for detecting a beacon from a wireless access point for a first amount of time. If no beacon is detected, the device is disabled for a second amount of time. This demonstrates the concept of timed, periodic scanning and deactivation in a power-saving wireless context.

4. US 2003/0210658 A1 to Microsoft Corporation: This patent application, titled "Method and system for managing power consumption of a network interface module in a wireless computing device," teaches that a network interface module with a power management unit can operate in a low power state in a wireless computing device. The power management unit maintains the module in a low power state and periodically monitors for activity on the wireless network connection to determine whether to restore the module to a full power state. This further reinforces the idea of periodic monitoring in power-save mode for wireless devices.

Obviousness Analysis and Motivation to Combine:

The fundamental concept of remotely waking a computer from a power-save mode via a network packet was well-established by AMD's wired "MAGIC PACKET technology" as described in US 6,049,885. The background section of US9207748 itself highlights the growing prevalence of wireless devices and wireless LANs (IEEE 802.11x) and identifies the "problem of needing to wake-up computers over the LAN", thereby presenting a clear motivation for extending this capability to wireless environments.

A PHOSITA, seeking to bring the benefits of wired Wake-on-LAN to wireless devices, would have been highly motivated to combine the principles of the '885 patent with known wireless communication and power management techniques.

1. Applying WoL to Wireless Devices: The Hewlett-Packard and Intel '398 patent explicitly teaches the concept of a wireless network device in a power-saving mode monitoring for a wake-up request to switch to a full power mode. This directly bridges the gap between wired WoL and the desired wireless functionality, providing a clear suggestion to adapt existing WoL mechanisms for WLANs.

2. Implementing a Timed Detection Mode in Wireless: Given the power constraints of wireless devices, particularly those running on batteries, a PHOSITA would naturally consider power-efficient monitoring strategies. Ginzburg's '396 patent provides a specific teaching for "a network scanning process for detecting a beacon... for a first amount of time" and then "disabling the wireless network interface device for a second amount of time" if no beacon is detected. Similarly, Microsoft's '658 patent describes a wireless device's power management unit "periodically monitors for activity on the wireless network connection" while in a low power state. These references would have motivated a PHOSITA to incorporate a predetermined time period for scanning (entering a wake-up detection mode for a predetermined time) and subsequent deactivation/re-initiation to conserve power, consistent with the claims.

3. Wake-up Packet Structure: The "wake-up packet" in the claims, particularly its potential to contain "multiple consecutive iterations of the hardware address of the wireless device" (as in dependent claim 6), directly parallels the "MAGIC PACKET" of the '885 patent, which consists of "16 duplications of the IP address of the specific node." Adapting this known and effective packet structure for a wireless context, using a hardware address, would be a straightforward design choice for a PHOSITA.

Therefore, combining the well-known wired Wake-on-LAN mechanism (AMD '885) with the recognized need and general solutions for wireless wake-up (Hewlett-Packard and Intel '398), and incorporating standard power-saving techniques for wireless scanning (Ginzburg '396, Microsoft '658), would have rendered the claimed systems and methods obvious. The resulting invention is an expected combination of known elements to achieve a predictable result—enabling remote wake-up for wireless devices—that was clearly desirable at the time.

Consequently, independent claims 1, 8, and 15 of US9207748 would be rendered obvious by the combination of these prior art references.