Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
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
This Office Action corresponds to application 16/219,623 which was filed on 12/13/2018.
Response to Amendment
In the reply filed 7/9/2025, claims 1, 3, 8, and 16-17 have been amended. No new claims have been added or cancelled. Accordingly claims 1-22 stand pending.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 7/9/2025 have been fully considered but are moot in view of new grounds of rejection.
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 1-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim 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 1 includes the limitation “store, in a second subdirectory on the one or more data stores, a second file comprising additional data, the second file associated with the first time window and a second topic, the second file stored in the first subdirectory based at least in part on the second file being associated with the first time window and within a third subdirectory within the first subdirectory based at least in part on the second topic”. This limitation starts out by stating the second file is stored in a second subdirectory for the time window and second topic but then references a third subdirectory in place of the second subdirectory as being the subdirectory for the second topic, making the scope indefinite. Therefore, the claim 1 and its dependent claims 2-7 are indefinite.
Claim 1 also includes the limitation “receive a message comprising data generated by one or more subsystems of a vehicle, a timestamp, and a topic indicative of one or more of: (i) a subsystem of the vehicle; (ii) an operational decision of the vehicle; or (iii) a data type indicating raw sensor data or derived data” and in this limitation the derived data is optional. However, the claim also includes another limitation that references the derived data “the analytics indicating one or more of the accuracy of the derived data, calibration of the one or more subsystems, or results of one or more simulated changes to the one or more subsystems”. Since the derived data is optional, this creates a situation where the claim could be indefinite. Therefore, the claim 1 and its dependent claims 2-7 are indefinite.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claims 1-2, 4, and 21-22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Totani (US2011/0187861, previously presented in 892) in view of, Thomas et al. (US2019/0132391, previously presented in 892), hereinafter Thomas, and Krishnan (US2019/0156150, previously presented in 892).
Regarding Claim 1:
Totani teaches:
A system, comprising: one or more processors (Totani, [0023], note processor); and memory that stores instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors (Totani, [0022-0023, 0061], note memory and recording medium), cause the system to:
receive a message comprising data generated by one or more subsystems of a vehicle, a timestamp, and a topic indicative of one or more of: (i) a subsystem of the vehicle; (ii) an operational decision of the vehicle; or (iii) a data type indicating raw sensor data or derived data (Totani, figure 4, [0037-0040, 0042, 0052-0055], note recording data from subsystems of a vehicle based on timestamps and topics/impact data is received to store; note smaller time windows within larger time window categories are also interpreted as a topic that is indicative of a subsystem of the vehicle or operational decision of the vehicle since they are sensor values related to the subsystems and operations of the vehicle)
store, in a first directory on one or more data stores, a first file comprising the data, the first file stored in the first directory according to a directory hierarchy (Totani, figure 4, [0037-0040, 0042, 0052-0055], note the data is partitioned into folder directories, e.g. a hierarchy, corresponding to different time windows), the directory hierarchy comprising:
a first hierarchy level indicative of a time window associated with stored data (Totani, figure 4, [0037-0040, 0042, 0052-0055], note the data is partitioned into folder directories, e.g. a hierarchy, corresponding to different time windows); and
a second hierarchy level indicative of the topic, the second hierarchy level lower than the first hierarchy level in the directory hierarchy (Totani, figure 4, [0037-0040, 0042, 0052-0055], note the data is partitioned into folder directories, e.g. a hierarchy, corresponding to different time windows; note topics/impact data is received to store; note smaller time windows within larger time window categories are also interpreted as a topic that is indicative of a subsystem of the vehicle or operational decision of the vehicle),
wherein the first file is stored in a first subdirectory having the first hierarchy level based on the time window and a second subdirectory within the first subdirectory at the second hierarchy level based on the topic (Totani, figure 4, [0037-0040, 0042, 0052-0055], note the data is partitioned into folder directories, e.g. a hierarchy, corresponding to different time windows; note topics/impact data is received to store; note smaller time windows within larger time window categories are also interpreted as a topic that is indicative of a subsystem of the vehicle or operational decision of the vehicle; note storing data/file in the subdirectories);
store, in a second subdirectory on the one or more data stores, a second file comprising additional data, the second file associated with the first time window and a second topic, the second file stored in the first subdirectory based at least in part on the second file being associated with the first time window and within a third subdirectory within the first subdirectory based at least in part on the second topic (Totani, figure 4, [0037-0040, 0042, 0052-0055], note the data is partitioned into folder directories, e.g., a hierarchy, corresponding to different time windows; note this is done for multiple files for multiple subdirectories and multiple topics; note topics/impact data is received to store; note smaller time windows within larger time window categories are also interpreted as a topic that is indicative of a subsystem of the vehicle or operational decision of the vehicle; note storing data/file in the subdirectories);
receive, from a requesting system, a request for at least a portion of data stored on the one or more data stores, the request comprising a requested topic, a start time, or an end time (Totani, figure 4, [0037-0040, 0042-44, 0053-54], note when record data for an impact event is retrieved, record data for several minutes before the impact data may be retrieved as well; the impact event and/or the secondary time window are interpreted as topics and the record data generated several minutes before the impact event with the impact data is interpreted to mean the impact event has a start time and end time; note the impact event data is data stored in the first directory; note that since the record data is automatically classified into the hierarchical main folders, the record data can easily be retrieved later);
retrieve, from the directory and based at least in part on one or more of the start time or the end time being in the first time window, a set of files within the first subdirectory (Totani, figure 4, [0037-0040, 0042-44, 0053-54], note when record data for an impact event is retrieved, record data for several minutes before the impact data may be retrieved as well; the impact event and/or the secondary time window are interpreted as topics and the record data generated several minutes before the impact event with the impact data is interpreted to mean the impact event has a start time and end time; note the impact event data is data stored in the first directory; note that since the record data is automatically classified into the hierarchical main folders, the record data can easily be retrieved later; note this is done for multiple files for multiple subdirectories, multiple time windows, and multiple topics);
retrieve, from the first subdirectory and based at least in part on the requested topic being the second topic, a subset of files within the third subdirectory, the subset of files comprising the second file (Totani, figure 4, [0037-0040, 0042-0044, 0053-0055], note when record data for an impact event is retrieved, record data for several minutes before the impact data may be retrieved as well; the impact event and/or the secondary time window are interpreted as topics and the record data generated several minutes before the impact event with the impact data is interpreted to mean the impact event has a start time and end time; note the impact event data is data stored in the first directory; note that since the record data is automatically classified into the hierarchical main folders, the record data can easily be retrieved later; note this is done for multiple files for multiple subdirectories, multiple time windows, and multiple topics);
transmit the subset of files to the requesting system wherein the subset of files is utilized to perform analytics on operation of the vehicle (Totani, figure 4, [0037-0040, 0052-0055], note the data may be retrieved based on the topic and the time window, e.g. start and end time; note this is for analysis of the operation of the vehicle; note the retrieved data may be from a third directory).
While Totani as modified teaches storing and retrieving sensor data for vehicle operations, Totani as modified doesn’t specifically teach the vehicle is an autonomous vehicle. However, Thomas is in the same field of endeavor, data management and retrieval, and Thomas teaches:
A system, comprising: one or more processors (Thomas, figure 9, note processor); and
memory that stores instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors (Thomas, figure 9, note memory), cause the system to:
receive a message comprising data generated by one or more subsystems of an autonomous vehicle, a timestamp, and a topic indicative of one or more of: (i) a subsystem of the autonomous vehicle; (ii) an operational decision of the autonomous vehicle; or (iii) a data type indicating raw sensor data or derived data (Thomas, figure 3, [0039], note autonomous vehicle data stream, e.g., message, topics, and timestamps; note the topic is indicative of the subsystems, operations, and data types of the sensors for the autonomous vehicle);
store, in a first directory on one or more data stores, a first file comprising the data, the first file stored in the first directory according to a directory hierarchy (Thomas, figure 3, [0034, 0039], note data is stored in directories, note hierarchal structure based on topics or identifiers ordered by time), the directory hierarchy comprising:
a first hierarchy level indicative of a time window associated with stored data (Thomas, figure 3, [0034, 0039], note data is stored in directories, note hierarchal structure based on topics or identifiers ordered by time, e.g., a first directory for the time window and a second for the topic); and
a second hierarchy level indicative of the topic, the second hierarchy level lower than the first hierarchy level in the directory hierarchy (Thomas, figure 3, [0034, 0039], note data is stored in directories, note hierarchal structure based on topics or identifiers ordered by time, e.g., a first directory for the time window and a second for the topic),
wherein the first file is stored in a first subdirectory having the first hierarchy level based on the time window and a second subdirectory within the first subdirectory at the second hierarchy level based on the topic (Thomas, figure 3, [0034, 0039], note data is stored in directories, note hierarchal structure based on topics or identifiers ordered by time, e.g., a first directory for the time window and a second for the topic);
store, in a second subdirectory on the one or more data stores, a second file comprising additional data, the second file associated with the first time window and a second topic, the second file stored in the first subdirectory based at least in part on the second file being associated with the first time window and within a third subdirectory within the first subdirectory based at least in part on the second topic (Thomas, figure 3, [0034, 0039], note data is stored in directories/subdirectories, note hierarchal structure based on topics or identifiers ordered by time, e.g., a first directory for the time window and a second for the topic; note this is for multiple data streams and topics and therefore is interpreted to be multiple directories for multiple files);
receive, from a requesting system, a request for at least a portion of data stored on the one or more data stores, the request comprising a requested topic, a start time, or an end time (Thomas, figures 3-4 and 7-8, [0057], note data request comprising identification of a topic; note the topic includes a metadata file, a data file, an index file);
retrieve, from the directory and based at least in part on one or more of the start time or the end time being in the first time window, a set of files within the first subdirectory (Thomas, figures 3-4 and 7-8, [0034, 0039, 0056-0057], note data request comprising a specific target topic for a timestamp. When combined with the previous references this would be for the time window hierarchy as taught by Totani);
retrieve, from the first subdirectory and based at least in part on the requested topic being the second topic, a subset of files within the third subdirectory, the subset of files comprising the second file (Thomas, figures 3-4 and 7-8, [0034, 0039 0056-0057], note data request comprising identification of a topic; note topics are ordered by time-windows. When combined with the previous references this would be for the time window hierarchy as taught by Totani);
transmit the subset of files to the requesting system wherein the subset of files is utilized to perform analytics on operation of the autonomous vehicle (Thomas, abstract, [0004-0005, 0057], note returning the data to the user based on the request, note the request comprising an identification of a topic, note querying the data; note this is for sensor data utilized to perform analytics on the operation of autonomous vehicles).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of filing to modify the cited references to incorporate the teachings of Thomas because all references are directed to data management and because Thomas would expand upon the teachings of the previously cited references in information retrieval which would improve system performance by efficiently managing the storage and transmittal of data (Thomas, [0005]).
While Totani as modified teaches storing and retrieving sensor data for vehicle operations, Totani as modified doesn’t specifically teach the analytics indicating one or more of the accuracy of the derived data, calibration of the one or more subsystems, or results of one or more simulated changes to the one or more subsystems. However, Krishnan is in the same field of endeavor, data management, and Krishnan teaches:
A system, comprising: one or more processors; and memory that stores instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the system to: receive a message comprising data generated by one or more subsystems of an autonomous vehicle, a timestamp, and a topic indicative of one or more of: (i) a subsystem of the autonomous vehicle; (ii) an operational decision of the autonomous vehicle; or (iii) a data type indicating raw sensor data or derived data (Krishnan, [0139, 0144-0148], note receiving data from subsystems of an autonomous vehicle, timestamps, and topics indicative of the subsystems and operational decisions of the vehicle);
store, in a first directory on one or more data stores, a first file comprising the data, the first file stored in the first directory according to a directory hierarchy (Krishnan, [0139, 0144-0148], note storing events/signatures in data stores according to a hierarchy), the directory hierarchy comprising:
a first hierarchy level indicative of a time window associated with stored data (Krishnan, figure 25, [0139, 0144-0148, 0179], note storing events/signatures in data stores according to a hierarchy; note storing the events/signatures into a plurality of topics comprising raw sensor data and a second topic derived from the raw sensor data, e.g., categories of the signature classification; note signatures typically include identification of when, where, from who, and under what conditions each signature was collected, including timestamps, geolocation, details of subject operating the vehicle. When combined with the previous references this would be for the time window partition as taught by the previous references); and
a second hierarchy level indicative of the topic, the second hierarchy level lower than the first hierarchy level in the directory hierarchy (Krishnan, figure 25, [0139, 0144-0148, 0179], note storing events/signatures in data stores according to a hierarchy; note storing the events/signatures into a plurality of topics comprising raw sensor data and a second topic derived from the raw sensor data, e.g., categories of the signature classification; note signatures typically include identification of when, where, from who, and under what conditions each signature was collected, including timestamps, geolocation, details of subject operating the vehicle. When combined with the previous references this would be for the time window partition as taught by the previous references),
wherein the first file is stored in a first subdirectory having the first hierarchy level based on the time window and a second subdirectory within the first subdirectory at the second hierarchy level based on the topic (Krishnan, figure 25, [0139, 0144-0148, 0179], note storing events/signatures in data stores according to a hierarchy; note storing the events/signatures into a plurality of topics comprising raw sensor data and a second topic derived from the raw sensor data, e.g., categories of the signature classification; note signatures typically include identification of when, where, from who, and under what conditions each signature was collected, including timestamps, geolocation, details of subject operating the vehicle. When combined with the previous references this would be for the time window partition as taught by the previous references);
store, in a second subdirectory on the one or more data stores, a second file comprising additional data, the second file associated with the first time window and a second topic, the second file stored in the first subdirectory based at least in part on the second file being associated with the first time window and within a third subdirectory within the first subdirectory based at least in part on the second topic (Krishnan, figure 25, [0139, 0144-0148, 0179], note storing the events/signatures into a plurality of topics, e.g., categories and sub-categories of the signature classification. note signatures typically include identification of when, where, from who, and under what conditions each signature was collected, including timestamps, geolocation, details of subject operating the vehicle. When combined with the previous references this would be for the time window partition as taught by the previous references);
the analytics indicating one or more of the accuracy of the derived data, calibration of the one or more subsystems, or results of one or more simulated changes to the one or more subsystems (Krishnan, [0097, 0100, 0115, 0264, 0304], note analyzing the sensor data for calibration of the one or more subsystems; note using data from the database for simulations or driving scenarios. When combined with the previously cited references this would be for the sensor data from the first and/or the second file)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of filing to modify the cited references to incorporate the teachings of Krishnan because all references are directed to data management and because Krishnan would expand upon the teachings of the previously cited references in data analysis which would improve system performance, reliability, learning, and safety by using event signatures corresponding to human actions, reactions and responses extracted from sensor values and correlated to events, status and situations acquired using vehicle and outside environment sensors. These event signatures are then used to train vehicles to improve their autonomous capabilities (Krishnan, abstract).
Regarding Claim 2:
Totani as modified shows the system as disclosed above;
Totani as modified further teaches:
wherein providing one or more of the first file or the second file is based, at least in part, on whether the first file or the second file is associated with the requested topic and a profile indicating a directory preference (Totani, figure 4, [0037-0040, 0052-0055], note the data may be retrieved based on the topic and the time window, e.g., start and end time; note this is for analysis of the operation of the vehicle; note the retrieved data may be from a third directory) (Thomas, [0005, 0057], note returning the data to the user based on the request, note the request comprising an identification of a topic, note the server verifies the user account, e.g. profile, has permission to access the desired data, which is interpreted as a profile indicating a directory preference).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of filing to modify the cited references to incorporate the teachings of Thomas because all references are directed to data management and because Thomas would expand upon the teachings of the previously cited references in information retrieval which would improve system performance by efficiently managing the storage and transmittal of data (Thomas, [0005]).
Regarding Claim 4:
Totani as modified shows the system as disclosed above;
Totani as modified further teaches:
wherein the first topic is related to a first subsystem of the autonomous vehicle and the second topic is related to a second subsystem of the autonomous vehicle (Thomas, [0004, 0039], note autonomous vehicle data stream topics are for a plurality of sensors of an autonomous vehicle), and
wherein the request comprises a request for a variant set of data determined based at least in part on data from the first subsystem of the autonomous vehicle and data from the second subsystem of the autonomous vehicle between the start time and the end time (Thomas, [0004-0005, 0057], note the data request includes identification of a topic of a dataset which is from the subsystems of the autonomous vehicle) (Totani, figure 4, [0037-0040, 0052-0055], note the data may be retrieved based on the topic and the time window, e.g. start and end time; note this is for analysis of the operation of the autonomous vehicle. When combined with the previously cited references this would be for the data as taught by Thomas)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of filing to modify the cited references to incorporate the teachings of Thomas because all references are directed to data management and because Thomas would expand upon the teachings of the previously cited references in information retrieval which would improve system performance by efficiently managing the storage and transmittal of data (Thomas, [0005]).
Regarding Claim 21:
Totani as modified shows the system as disclosed above;
Totani as modified further teaches:
wherein the first file comprises the first topic and the second file comprises the second topic (Thomas, figure 3, [0039], note datasets comprise multiple topics from multiple components on the device, e.g., navset and camera) (Totani, figure 4, [0037-0040, 0042, 0052-0055], note the files stored in all locations are based on files comprising sensor data from the device, e.g., different impact data).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of filing to modify the cited references to incorporate the teachings of Thomas because all references are directed to data management and because Thomas would expand upon the teachings of the previously cited references in information retrieval which would improve system performance by efficiently managing the storage and transmittal of data (Thomas, [0005]).
Regarding Claim 22:
Totani as modified shows the method as disclosed above;
Totani as modified further teaches:
wherein the data derived from the raw sensor data comprises the raw sensor data modified by at least one of a mathematical operation, a Boolean operation, or a linguistic operation (Krishnan, [0115], note performing mathematical operations on sensor data).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of filing to modify the cited references to incorporate the teachings of Krishnan because all references are directed to data management and because Krishnan would expand upon the teachings of the previously cited references in data analysis which would improve system performance, reliability, learning, and safety by using event signatures corresponding to human actions, reactions and responses extracted from sensor values and correlated to events, status and situations acquired using vehicle and outside environment sensors. These event signatures are then used to train vehicles to improve their autonomous capabilities (Krishnan, abstract).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Claim 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Totani in view of Thomas, Krishnan, and Navas (US2010/0125574, previously presented in 892).
Regarding Claim 3:
Totani as modified shows the system as disclosed above;
Totani as modified further teaches:
wherein the requesting system does not have access permission for one or more of the second subdirectory or the third subdirectory, and the instructions cause the system to provide the requestion system with access permission for subset of files (Thomas, [0005], note the server verifies the user account of the request, e.g., profile, has permission to access the desired data).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of filing to modify the cited references to incorporate the teachings of Thomas because all references are directed to data management and because Thomas would expand upon the teachings of the previously cited references in information retrieval which would improve system performance by efficiently managing the storage and transmittal of data (Thomas, [0005]).
While Totani as modified teaches access permissions for access data, Totani as modified doesn’t specifically teach wherein the requesting system does not have access permission for one or more of the second subdirectory or the third subdirectory, and the instructions cause the system to provide the requestion system with access permission for subset of files. However, Navas is in the same field of endeavor, data retrieval, and Navas teaches:
wherein the requesting system does not have access permission for one or more of the second subdirectory or the third subdirectory, and the instructions cause the system to provide the requesting system with access permission for subset of files (Navas, claims 2-5, [0069-0070, 0072, 0074, 0076, 0101], note multiple access levels which may be implemented at the data source and retrieving the files based at least in part in security levels, e.g. access levels; note multiple access levels may be provided, e.g., if someone requires another access level they may be put in a different role which would grant them access. When combined with the previously cited references this would be for the files as taught by Thomas and Totani)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of filing to modify the cited references to incorporate the teachings of Navas because all references are directed to data management and because Navas would expand upon the teachings of the previously cited references in information retrieval which would improve security and access to data from multiple sources by using permission levels to access data.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Claims 5-7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Totani in view of Thomas, Krishnan, and Ma et al. (US2011/0179219, previously presented in 892), hereinafter Ma.
Regarding Claim 5:
Totani as modified shows the system as disclosed above;
Totani as modified further teaches:
wherein the first subdirectory comprises a first root directory of a first storage location on the one or more data stores and the second subdirectory comprises a second root directory of a second storage location on the one or more data stores, the first storage location differing from the second storage location (Thomas, figure 2 and 3, [0034, 0039], note data is stored in directories, note hierarchal structure based on topics or identifiers, note this is for multiple data streams and topics and therefore is interpreted to be multiple directories; note multiple storage locations) (Totani, figure 4, note multiple directories and subdirectories).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of filing to modify the cited references to incorporate the teachings of Thomas because all references are directed to data management and because Thomas would expand upon the teachings of the previously cited references in information retrieval which would improve system performance by efficiently managing the storage and transmittal of data (Thomas, [0005]).
While Totani as modified teaches multiple directories and storages locations, Totani as modified doesn’t specifically teach wherein a first root directory indicative of a first storage location and a second root directory indicative of a second storage location. However, Ma is in the same field of endeavor, data retrieval, and Ma teaches:
wherein a first root directory indicative of a first storage location and a second root directory indicative of a second storage location (Ma, abstract, [0053], note the root directory is used to determine its location which means it is indicative of the storage location, note multiple storage locations. When combined with the previously cited reference this would be used with the root directory taught by Thomas).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of filing to modify the cited references to incorporate the teachings of Ma because all references are directed to data management and because Ma would expand upon the teachings of the previously cited references in information retrieval which would improve the speed of accessing the data by utilizing file size thresholds and the root directory to determine the data location (Ma, [0010, 0035, 0072, 0053]).
Regarding Claim 6:
Totani as modified shows the system as disclosed above;
Totani as modified further teaches:
wherein the first storage location is located in a local data store optimized for quick access (Thomas, [0003, 0039], note optimizing storage for fast access) (Ma, abstract, [0014], note storage location optimized for faster storage and access).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of filing to modify the cited references to incorporate the teachings of Thomas because all references are directed to data management and because Thomas would expand upon the teachings of the previously cited references in information retrieval which would improve system performance by efficiently managing the storage and transmittal of data (Thomas, [0005]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of filing to modify the cited references to incorporate the teachings of Ma because all references are directed to data management and because Ma would expand upon the teachings of the previously cited references in information retrieval which would improve the speed of accessing the data by utilizing file size thresholds and the root directory to determine the data location (Ma, [0010, 0035, 0072, 0053]).
Regarding Claim 7:
Totani as modified shows the system as disclosed above;
Totani as modified doesn’t specifically teach wherein the first file and the second file are less than a threshold size. However, Ma is in the same field of endeavor, data retrieval, and Ma teaches:
wherein the first file and the second file are less than a threshold size (Ma, [0035, 0072], note determining if the file size are less than a threshold size. When combined with the previously cited reference this would be used with the root directory taught by Thomas).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of filing to modify the cited references to incorporate the teachings of Ma because all references are directed to data management and because Ma would expand upon the teachings of the previously cited references in information retrieval which would improve the speed of accessing the data by utilizing file size thresholds and the root directory to determine the data location (Ma, [0010, 0035, 0072, 0053]).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Claims 8-9, 13, and 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Totani in view of Karasudani (US2015/0205798, previously presented in 892), Thomas, Krishnan, and Navas.
Regarding Claim 8:
Totani teaches:
A method, comprising: receiving first device data, the first device data comprised of a plurality of files and corresponding to message data generated by one or more components of a device during a time period (Totani, figure 4, [0037-0040, 0042, 0052-0055], note recording data from subsystems of a vehicle based on timestamps and topics/impact data);
storing, on one or more data stores and at a first location, the first plurality of files according to a hierarchical data structure, the hierarchical data structure organizing the first device data into the plurality of files based at least in part on a message time and at least one data identifier of a plurality of data identifiers, the hierarchical data structure further partitioning the first device data into the first plurality of files corresponding to different time windows based on the message time, wherein storing the first plurality of files at the first location is based on the first plurality of files comprising sensor data from the device (Totani, figure 4, [0037-0040, 0042, 0052-0055], note the data is partitioned into folder directories, e.g. a hierarchy, corresponding to different time windows for different events/records (e.g., identifier));
obtaining second device data comprising a second plurality of files, the second device data associated with the time period (Totani, figure 4, [0037-0040, 0042, 0052-0055], note obtaining plurality of files);
storing the second device data at a second location on the one or more data stores according to the hierarchical data structure, wherein storing the second device data at the second location is based on the second plurality of files comprising data generated from the sensor data from the device (Totani, figure 4, [0037-0040, 0042, 0052-0055], note all the data is partitioned into different folders and subfolders, e.g. a hierarchy, corresponding to different time windows; note the files stored in all locations are based on files comprising sensor data from the device); and
While Totani teaches storing and retrieving sensor data for vehicle operations, Totani doesn’t specifically teach where the plurality of files within the hierarchical data structure are further partitioned into one of a plurality of topics within individual windows of the different time windows; comprising data relating to the device not contained in the sensor data; combining and storing at least one of the first plurality of files and at least one of the second plurality of files into a third subdirectory at a third location on the one or more data stores. However, Thomas is in the same field of endeavor, data management and analysis, and to further support these interpretations, Thomas teaches:
A method, comprising: receiving first device data, the first device data comprised of a plurality of files and corresponding to message data generated by one or more components of a device during a time period (Thomas, [0039], note autonomous vehicle data stream, e.g., message, topics, and timestamps);
storing, on one or more data stores and at a first location, the first plurality of files according to a hierarchical data structure, the hierarchical data structure organizing the first device data into the plurality of files based at least in part on at least one data identifier of a plurality of data identifiers, where the plurality of files within the hierarchical data structure are further partitioned into one of a plurality of topics (Thomas, figure 3, [0034, 0039], note data is stored in directories, note hierarchal structure based on topics, data identifiers, and device identifiers), wherein storing the first plurality of files at the first location is based on the first plurality of files comprising sensor data from the device (Thomas, figure 3, [0034, 0039], note the data stored is based on files comprising sensor data from the device);
obtaining second device data comprising a second plurality of files, the second device data associated with the time period (Thomas, figure 3, [0039], note autonomous vehicle data stream, e.g., message, topics, and timestamps; note this is for multiple sensors and autonomous vehicle systems, e.g., devices); and
storing the second device data at a second location on the one or more data stores according to the hierarchical data structure (Thomas, figure 3, [0034, 0039], note data is stored in directories, note hierarchal structure based on topics or identifiers, note this is for multiple data streams and topics and therefore is interpreted to be multiple directories), wherein storing the second device data at the second location is based on the second plurality of files comprising data generated from the sensor data from the device (Thomas, figure 3, [0034, 0039], note the data stored is based on files comprising sensor data from the device for each data stream, files, and devices; note the sensor data is used to perform analytics on operation of the autonomous vehicle); and
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of filing to modify the cited references to incorporate the teachings of Thomas because all references are directed to data management and because Thomas would expand upon the teachings of the previously cited references in information retrieval which would improve system performance by efficiently managing the storage and transmittal of data (Thomas, [0005]).
While Totani as modified teaches storing and retrieving sensor data for vehicle operations, Totani as modified doesn’t specifically teach comprising data relating to the device not contained in the sensor data combine and store at least one of the first file and at least one of the second file into a third subdirectory on the one or more data stores. However, Karasudani is in the same field of endeavor, data management and retrieval, and Karasudani teaches:
combining and storing a first file of the first plurality of files and a second file of the second plurality of files into a third subdirectory at a third location on the one or more data stores based at least in part on the first file and the second file being associated with a same time window and different data identifiers (Karasudani, figure 7, [0056, 0067], note storing the search results into subdirectories; note the combining and storing search results into subdirectories is based on features extracted from the results, such as directory it is in, when combined with the previously cited references, this would mean the feature extracted would be associated with the time window and different data identifies as taught by Totani and Thomas),
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of filing to modify the cited references to incorporate the teachings of Karasudani because all references are directed to data management and because Karasudani would expand upon the teachings of the previously cited references in information retrieval which would improve the efficiency of the system by effectively managing the hierarchically stored data (Karasudani, [0003-0004]).
While Totani as modified teaches storing and retrieving sensor data for vehicle operations, Totani as modified doesn’t specifically teach comprising data relating to the device not contained in the sensor data. However, Krishnan is in the same field of endeavor, data management, and Krishnan teaches:
A method, comprising: receiving first device data, the first device data comprised of a plurality of files and corresponding to message data generated by one or more components of a device during a time period (Krishnan, [0139, 0144-0148], note receiving data from subsystems of an autonomous vehicle, timestamps, and topics);
storing, on one or more data stores and at a first location, the first plurality of files according to a hierarchical data structure, the hierarchical data structure organizing the first device data into the plurality of files based at least in part on a message time and at least one data identifier of a plurality of data identifiers, where the plurality of files within the hierarchical data structure are further partitioned into one of a plurality of topics within individual windows of the different time windows, wherein storing the first plurality of files at the first location is based on the first plurality of files comprising sensor data from the device (Krishnan, figure 25, [0139, 0144-0148, 0179], note storing the events/signatures into a plurality of topics comprising raw sensor data, e.g., categories of the signature classification; note signatures typically include identification of when, where, from who, and under what conditions each signature was collected, including timestamps, geolocation, details of subject operating the vehicle. When combined with the previous references this would be for the time window partition as taught by the previous references),
obtaining second device data comprising a second plurality of files, the second device data associated with the time period, and comprising data relating to the device not contained in the sensor data (Krishnan, figure 22, [0136-0137, 0148], note deriving saccades and fixations, which is information derived from the sensor data but not contained in the raw sensor data since saccade and fixation information is determined by analyzing eye movement from the eye tracking data, e.g., the raw sensor data is eye movement data not saccade or fixation data; note time and geolocation stamps are gathered along with the sensor data and added to the signature which is also data relating to the autonomous vehicle not contained in the raw sensor data; note determining event signature and identifying category and sub-category, e.g., “unexpected objects” category and “maintenance vehicle, stationary” sub-category) wherein the second device data is determined based at least in part on the sensor data and comprises one or more of an instruction for the device to execute (Krishnan, figure 22 and 25, [0136-0148], note deriving saccades and fixations, which is information derived from the sensor data but not contained in the raw sensor data since saccade and fixation information is determined by analyzing eye movement from the eye tracking data, e.g., the raw sensor data is eye movement data not saccade or fixation data; note time and geolocation stamps are gathered along with the sensor data and added to the signature which is also data relating to the autonomous vehicle not contained in the raw sensor data; note determining event signature and identifying category and sub-category, e.g., “unexpected objects” category and “maintenance vehicle, stationary” sub-category; note data derived from the raw sensor data, e.g., categories of the signature classification; note the categories of the signature classification are interpreted as a state of the device or surrounds of the device, such as danger, child, new traffic situation, and environment categories; note the detection of the “ambulance” event result comprises a response, e.g. instructions, for the device to execute or for a detected “unaccompanied child approaching road” event that also comprises instructions for the device to execute);
storing the second device data at a second location on the one or more data stores according to the hierarchical data structure, wherein storing the second device data at the second location is based on the second plurality of files comprising data generated from the sensor data from the device (Krishnan, figure 25, [0139, 0144-0148], note storing the events/signatures into a plurality of topics, e.g., categories and sub-categories of the signature classification. When combined with the previous references this would be for the time window partition as taught by the previous references); and
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of filing to modify the cited references to incorporate the teachings of Krishnan because all references are directed to data management and because Krishnan would expand upon the teachings of the previously cited references in data analysis which would improve system performance, reliability, learning, and safety by using event signatures corresponding to human actions, reactions and responses extracted from sensor values and correlated to events, status and situations acquired using vehicle and outside environment sensors. These event signatures are then used to train vehicles to improve their autonomous capabilities (Krishnan, abstract).
While Totani as modified teaches access permissions for access data, Totani as modified doesn’t specifically teach providing a system requesting data with access to one or more of the first file or the second file in the third location. However, Navas is in the same field of endeavor, data retrieval, and Navas teaches:
providing a system requestion data with access to one or more of the first file or the second file in the third location (Navas, claims 2-5, [0069-0070, 0072, 0074, 0076, 0101], note multiple access levels which may be implemented at the data source and retrieving the files based at least in part in security levels, e.g. access levels; note multiple access levels may be provided, e.g., if someone requires another access level they may be put in a different role which would grant them access. When combined with the previously cited references this would be for the files as taught by Thomas and Totani)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of filing to modify the cited references to incorporate the teachings of Navas because all references are directed to data management and because Navas would expand upon the teachings of the previously cited references in information retrieval which would improve security and access to data from multiple sources by using permission levels to access data.
Regarding Claim 9:
Totani as modified shows the method as disclosed above;
Totani as modified further teaches:
wherein the second data further comprises data generated by a second component of the device (Thomas, figure 3, [0039], note datasets comprise multiple topics from multiple components on the device) (Totani, figure 4, [0037-0040, 0042, 0052-0055], note the files stored in all locations are based on files comprising sensor data from the device).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of filing to modify the cited references to incorporate the teachings of Thomas because all references are directed to data m