DETAILED ACTION
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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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 1-4, 6-9, 69-71 and 73-76 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Khong et al. (US 2017/0030995) in view of Ranki et al. (US 2015/0160329).
Regarding claim 1, Khong discloses, a method of locating a transceiver (Figs. 1-2c), the method comprising:
(a) using a coordinator transceiver (7) to coordinate transmission of a plurality of signals by a plurality of transceivers (Para. 0002, lines 1-8 and see 8, 9, 10, 11) that includes the coordinator transceiver, a first transceiver and a second transceiver;
(b) using the first transceiver (8) to transmit a first signal at a first time scheduled by the coordinator transceiver (Para. 0002); and
(c) using the second transceiver (11) to sense the first signal at a second time to facilitate determination of a location of the first transceiver relative to the second transceiver (Para. 0002 and 0004; note, discloses using TOF signals to determine distance and location of second transceiver 11).
Khong does not disclose the first signal comprises location data of the first transceiver; wherein the location data comprises angles between the first transceiver and two other transceivers.
Ranki teaches, from the same field of endeavor that in a method of locating a transceiver (Fig. 3) that it would have been desirable to make the first signal comprises location data (Para. 0042 and 0052-0053; note, discloses the transceivers send and receive signals to determination their and orientations and locations) of the first transceiver (14A); wherein the location data comprises angles between the first transceiver and two other transceivers (Para. 0051-0052, 0060 and see a1, a2, and a3).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to make the first signal comprises location data of the first transceiver; wherein the location data comprises angles between the first transceiver and two other transceivers as taught by the method of locating a transceiver of Ranki in the method of locating a transceiver of Khong since Ranki teaches it is known to include these features in a method of locating a transceiver for the purpose of providing a method of locating a transceiver that accurately and effectively determines the location of a transceiver.
Regarding claims 2 and 70, Khong in view of Ranki discloses and teaches as set forth above, and Khong further discloses, the plurality of transceivers are stationary and are disposed in a facility, and wherein the plurality of transceivers are configured to locate a transitory transceiver in the facility (Para. 0004, lines 1-9; note, discloses a plurality of transceivers located in a building/warehouse).
Regarding claim 3, Khong in view of Ranki discloses and teaches as set forth above, and Khong further discloses, at least one transceiver of the plurality of transceivers is disposed in a housing (see Figs. 2a-c) comprising (i) sensors or (ii) a sensor and an emitter (Para. 0018; note, discloses “target transceiver 2” receives “TOF initialization transmission 3” with a sensor and emits “TOF response transmission 4”).
Regarding claims 4 and 71, Khong in view of Ranki discloses and teaches as set forth above, and Khong further discloses, the plurality of transceivers are operatively coupled to a network of a facility in which the plurality of transceivers are disposed (Para. 0004, lines 1-9; note, discloses a network of a facility that includes a plurality of transceivers located in a building/warehouse).
Regarding claims 6 and 73, Khong in view of Ranki discloses and teaches as set forth above, and Khong further discloses, the coordinator transceiver coordinates transmission of a second signal by the second transceiver (Para. 0002).
Regarding claims 7 and 74, Khong in view of Ranki discloses and teaches as set forth above, and Khong further discloses, the first signal comprises identification data and/or time data (Para. 0018 and “4” of Fig. 1; note, discloses “TOF response transmission”).
Regarding claims 8 and 75, Khong in view of Ranki discloses and teaches as set forth above, and Khong further discloses, the location data comprises a distance (Para. 0002 and 0004), the distance comprises distances between the first transceiver and the two other transceivers (Para. 0002 and 0004).
Regarding claims 9 and 76, Khong in view of Ranki discloses and teaches as set forth above, and Khong further discloses, the time and/or location data is utilized to find a topology of the plurality of transceivers (Para. 0002 and 0004).
Regarding claim 69, Khong discloses, an apparatus (Figs. 1-2c), comprising:
at least one controller comprising circuitry, the at least one controller being configured to:
(a) operatively couple to a coordinator transceiver (7) and to a plurality of transceivers (Para. 0002, lines 1-8 and see 8, 9, 10, 11);
(b) use, or direct use of, a coordinator transceiver to coordinate transmission of a plurality of signals by a plurality of transceivers (Para. 0002 and 0004; note, discloses using TOF signals to determine distance and location of second transceiver 11) that includes the coordinator transceiver, a first transceiver (8) and a second transceiver (11);
(c) use, or direct use of, the first transceiver (8) to transmit a first signal at a first time scheduled by the coordinator transceiver (Para. 0002); and
(d) use, or direct use of, the second transceiver (11) to sense the first signal at a second time to facilitate determination of a location of the first transceiver relative to the second transceiver (Para. 0002 and 0004; note, discloses using TOF signals to determine distance and location of the first and second transceivers).
Khong does not disclose the first signal comprises location data of the first transceiver; wherein the location data comprises angles between the first transceiver and two other transceivers.
Ranki teaches, from the same field of endeavor that in a method of locating a transceiver (Fig. 3) that it would have been desirable to make the first signal comprises location data (Para. 0042 and 0052-0053; note, discloses the transceivers send and receive signals to determination their and orientations and locations) of the first transceiver (14A); wherein the location data comprises angles between the first transceiver and two other transceivers (Para. 0051-0052, 0060 and see a1, a2, and a3).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to make the first signal comprises location data of the first transceiver; wherein the location data comprises angles between the first transceiver and two other transceivers as taught by the method of locating a transceiver of Ranki in the method of locating a transceiver of Khong since Ranki teaches it is known to include these features in a method of locating a transceiver for the purpose of providing a method of locating a transceiver that accurately and effectively determines the location of a transceiver.
Claims 5 and 72 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Khong et al. (US 2017/0030995) in view of Ranki et al. (US 2015/0160329) as applied to claims 4 and 71 above, and further in view of Gherardi et al. (US 2019/0058977; already of record).
Khong in view of Ranki remains as applied to claims 4 and 72 above.
Khong in view of Ranki does not disclose the network (i) is configured to facilitate power and data communication on a single cable, (ii) is configured to facilitate at least a third generation, fourth generation or fifth generation cellular communication, (iii) comprises at least a portion that is a first network installed in the facility, (iv) comprises at least a portion disposed in an envelope of the facility, (v) is configured to facilitate control of the facility, (vi) is configured to facilitate media communication, data communication, cellular communication, and power communication, (vii) comprises a coaxial cable, an optical cable, and/or a twisted wire and/or (vii) comprises wired and/or wireless communication.
Gherardi teaches, from the same field of endeavor that in a method of locating a transceiver that it would have been desirable to make the network (i) is configured to facilitate power and data communication on a single cable (Para. 0079), (ii) is configured to facilitate at least a third generation, fourth generation or fifth generation cellular communication (Para. 0090), (iii) comprises at least a portion that is a first network installed in the facility (Para. 0221 and 0294), (iv) comprises at least a portion disposed in an envelope of the facility (Para. 0221 and 0294), (v) is configured to facilitate control of the facility (Para. 0221 and 0294), (vi) is configured to facilitate media communication, data communication, cellular communication, and power communication (Para. 0090), (vii) comprises a coaxial cable, an optical cable, and/or a twisted wire (Para. 0079) and/or (vii) comprises wired and/or wireless communication (Para. 0079).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to make the network (i) is configured to facilitate power and data communication on a single cable, (ii) is configured to facilitate at least a third generation, fourth generation or fifth generation cellular communication, (iii) comprises at least a portion that is a first network installed in the facility, (iv) comprises at least a portion disposed in an envelope of the facility, (v) is configured to facilitate control of the facility, (vi) is configured to facilitate media communication, data communication, cellular communication, and power communication, (vii) comprises a coaxial cable, an optical cable, and/or a twisted wire and/or (vii) comprises wired and/or wireless communication as taught by the method of locating a transceiver of Gherardi in the combination of Khong in view of Ranki since Gherardi teaches it is known to include these features in a method of locating a transceiver for the purpose of providing a reliable, accurate and precise method of locating a transceiver.
Claims 77-78 and 80 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Khong et al. (US 2017/0030995) in view of Ranki et al. (US 2015/0160329), and further in view of Jeffries et al. (US 2021/0407217).
Regarding claim 77, Khong discloses, a non-transitory computer readable medium for locating a transceiver (Figs. 1-2c), the non-transitory computer readable medium comprises program instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to execute operations comprising:
(a) using, or directing use of, a coordinator transceiver (7) to coordinate transmission of a plurality of signals (Para. 0002 and 0004; note, discloses using TOF signals to determine distance and location of second transceiver 11) by a plurality of transceivers (Para. 0002, lines 1-8 and see 8, 9, 10, 11) that includes the coordinator transceiver, a first transceiver (8) and a second transceiver (11);
(b) using, or directing use of, the first transceiver (8) to transmit a first signal at a first time scheduled by the coordinator transceiver (Para. 0002); and
(c) using, or directing use of, the second transceiver (11) to sense the first signal at a second time to facilitate determination of a location of the first transceiver relative to the second transceiver (Para. 0002 and 0004; note, discloses using TOF signals to determine distance and location of second transceiver 11).
Khong does not disclose the first signal comprises location data of the first transceiver; wherein the location data comprises angles between the first transceiver and two other transceivers.
Ranki teaches, from the same field of endeavor that in a method of locating a transceiver (Fig. 3) that it would have been desirable to make the first signal comprises location data (Para. 0042 and 0052-0053; note, discloses the transceivers send and receive signals to determination their and orientations and locations) of the first transceiver (14A); wherein the location data comprises angles between the first transceiver and two other transceivers (Para. 0051-0052, 0060 and see a1, a2, and a3).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to make the first signal comprises location data of the first transceiver; wherein the location data comprises angles between the first transceiver and two other transceivers as taught by the method of locating a transceiver of Ranki in the method of locating a transceiver of Khong since Ranki teaches it is known to include these features in a method of locating a transceiver for the purpose of providing a method of locating a transceiver that accurately and effectively determines the location of a transceiver.
Khong in view of Ranki does not disclose the coordinator transceiver is selected by the plurality of transceivers through an autonomous coordinator assignment process.
Jeffries teaches, from the same field of endeavor that in a non-transitory computer readable medium for locating a transceiver that it would have been desirable to make the coordinator transceiver is selected by the plurality of transceivers through an autonomous coordinator assignment process (Abstract and Claim 1.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to make the coordinator transceiver is selected by the plurality of transceivers through an autonomous coordinator assignment process as taught by the non-transitory computer readable medium for locating a transceiver of Jeffries in the combination of Khong in view of Ranki since Jeffries teaches it is known to include this feature in a non-transitory computer readable medium for locating a transceiver for the purpose of providing a non-transitory computer readable medium for locating a transceiver with reduced hardware and installation costs and reduced installation time.
Regarding claim 78, Khong, Ranki and Jeffries discloses and teaches as set forth above, and Khong further discloses, the operations further comprise using, or directing use of, the coordinator transceiver (11) to coordinate transmission of a second signal by the second transceiver to determine of the location of the second transceiver with respect to at least one other transceiver of the plurality of transceivers (Para. 0002 and 0004; note, discloses using TOF signals to determine distance and location of the first and second transceivers).
Regarding claim 80, Khong, Ranki and Jeffries discloses and teaches as set forth above, and Ranki further teaches, from the same field of endeavor that in a non-transitory computer readable medium for locating a transceiver that it would have been desirable to make the coordinator transceiver coordinates transmission of the plurality of signals according to assigned non-overlapping time windows for each transceiver of the plurality of transceivers (Para. 0051-0052, 0060 and see V1, V2, and V3).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to make the first signal comprises location data of the first transceiver; wherein the location data comprises angles between the first transceiver and two other transceivers as taught by the method of locating a transceiver of Ranki in the combination of Khong since Ranki in view of Jeffries teaches it is known to include these features in a method of locating a transceiver for the purpose of providing a method of locating a transceiver that accurately and effectively determines the location of a transceiver.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-9 and 69-78 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Safaripour et al. (US 2019/0204432) discloses a method of locating a transceiver that includes a plurality of transceivers, and a first transceiver to transmit a first signal in which the first signal comprises location data of the first transceiver; wherein the location data comprises angles between the first transceiver and two other transceivers. Hand (US 2020/0366373) discloses a method of locating a transceiver that includes a coordinator transceiver is selected by the plurality of transceivers through an autonomous coordinator assignment process.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DAWAYNE A PINKNEY whose telephone number is (571)270-1305. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5.
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/DAWAYNE PINKNEY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2872 07/14/2026
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