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 .
Response to Amendment
This is in response to an amendment/response filed 3/3/2026.
No claims have been cancelled.
No claims have been added.
Claims 1-3, 5-10, and 13-15 are now pending.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to independent claim(s) (pages 6-8) in a reply filed 3/3/2026 have been considered but are moot because the arguments are based on newly changed limitations in the amendment and new ground of rejections using newly introduced references or a newly introduced portion of an existing reference are applied in the current rejection.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 9, 10, and 13-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhou et al. US 20180324553 (hereinafter “Zhou”) in view of Alipour et al. US 20170150533 (hereinafter “Alipour”) in further view of Mondal et al. US 20150011175 (hereinafter “Mondal”)
As to claim 1, 14, and 15 (claim 1 is the method claim for the electronic device in claim 14 and claim 15 is the non-transitory computer-readable medium of the device in claim 14):
Zhou discloses:
An electronic device (“terminal device”, Zhou [0007]) comprising: a communicator configured to receive a wireless communication signal from an external electronic device and measure a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) of the received wireless communication signal (“The BLE-based positioning method includes: receiving a signal from the target BLE slave device after a target BLE slave device is obtained through scanning; parsing the received signal to obtain a received signal strength indication (RSSI) value”, Zhou [0007]); a memory storing one or more instructions; and at least one processor (“a processor to perform all or some steps in the methods in the embodiments of this application. The storage medium includes any medium that can store program code, such as a USB flash disk, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disc.”, Zhou [0091])
A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium storing a program for performing the method of claim 1, on a computer. (“a processor to perform all or some steps in the methods in the embodiments of this application. The storage medium includes any medium that can store program code, such as a USB flash disk, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disc.”, Zhou [0091])
A method, performed by an electronic device, of determining proximity of an external electronic device, the method comprising:
measuring a first received signal strength indicator (RSSI) of a first wireless communication signal received from the external electronic device while the electronic device is placed at a first position; requesting to change a position of the electronic device from the first position to a second position different from the first position, in response to a first RSSI measurement at the first position being completed: measuring a second RSSI of a second wireless communication signal received from the external electronic device while the electronic device is moved to and placed at the second position;(“A difference between a previous RSSI value and a current RSSI value is calculated.”, Zhou [0043]) (Examiner’s Note: this implies multiple measurements are recorded) (“During actual application, the terminal device displays the moving direction of itself. Specifically, the RSSI value changes when the distance between the terminal device and the target BLE slave device changes. For example, during moving of the terminal device, if the RSSI signal becomes stronger, it indicates that the change rule of the RSSI value is that the RSSI value becomes larger. Therefore, it indicates that the terminal device moves towards the target BLE slave device, and the target BLE slave device is located in the moving direction of the terminal device. A user may be prompted to “move forward”, so as to help the user control the terminal device at a new location to obtain more accurate data. This helps to quickly find the target BLE slave device.”, Zhou [0046]) (Examiner’s Note: this implies a request is sent to the user to move the device to take multiple RSSI measurements)
determining the external electronic device is proximate to the electronic device, when a difference between the first RSSI of the first wireless communication signal and the second RSSI of the second wireless communication signal is greater than or equal to a preset threshold; (“A difference between a previous RSSI value and a current RSSI value is calculated. When the difference is greater than a predetermined value, the change rule of the RSSI value is that the RSSI value becomes larger.”, Zhou [0043]) (“For example, during moving of the terminal device, if the RSSI signal becomes stronger, it indicates that the change rule of the RSSI value is that the RSSI value becomes larger. Therefore, it indicates that the terminal device moves towards the target BLE slave device”, Zhou [0046])
Zhou as described above does not explicitly teach:
when it is determined that the external electronic device is proximate to the electronic device, authenticating the external electronic device and establishing wireless communication connection between the authenticated external electronic device and the electronic device, wherein the external electronic device is not authenticated when the difference between the first RSSI and the second RSSI is less than the preset threshold.
However, Alipour further teaches authenticating a device when the device is in proximity which includes:
when it is determined that the external electronic device is proximate to the electronic device, authenticating the external electronic device and establishing wireless communication connection between the authenticated external electronic device and the electronic device. (“If it is determined the second computing device 452 is not within the expected proximity based on the RSSI of the advertising signal broadcast 460, the connection process is terminated (see operation 410). Otherwise, a connection response 464 is transmitted by the second computing device 452 and is processed by the application 450 to complete the connection process (see operation 418), including any authentication and key agreement (AKA) authentication process utilized by the respective WPAN. In some embodiments, the application 450 may subsequently execute a method similar to the method 400 for one or more other computing devices to be simultaneously communicatively coupled to said devices.”, Alipour [0040])
Zhou and Alipour are analogous because they pertain to determining the relative position of a device using RSSI.
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include authenticating a device when the device is in proximity as described in Alipour into Zhou. By modifying the method to include authenticating a device when the device is in proximity as taught by Alipour, the benefits of improved proximity detection and authentication (Alipour [0040] and Zhou [0046]) are achieved.
The combination of Zhou and Alipour as described above does not explicitly teach:
wherein the external electronic device is not authenticated when the difference between the first RSSI and the second RSSI is less than the preset threshold.
However, Mondal further teaches not authenticating a device when the device’s location has not changed significantly which includes:
wherein the external electronic device is not authenticated when the difference between the first RSSI and the second RSSI is less than the preset threshold. (“Also, wireless signal strengths associated with the connectivity of each of the user devices may be obtained, 407, e.g., from the user device(s).”, Mondal [0038]) (“In further embodiments, data points obtained may be screened or rejected if the values of the wireless signal strengths and/or user device location coordinates are similar to previously obtained values (e.g., by determining whether the difference in value is less than a pre-determined threshold).”, Mondal [0038])
Zhou, Mondal, and Alipour are analogous because they pertain to determining the relative position of a device using RSSI.
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include not authenticating a device when the device’s location has not changed significantly as described in Mondal into Zhou as modified by Alipour. By modifying the method to include not authenticating a device when the device’s location has not changed significantly as taught by Mondal, the benefits of improved proximity detection and authentication (Alipour [0040], Mondal [0038, and Zhou [0046]) are achieved.
As to claim 2:
Zhou discloses:
The method of claim 1, wherein the first position is closer to the external electronic device than the second position. (“Second, if the RSSI signal becomes weaker, it indicates that the change rule of the RSSI value is that the RSSI value becomes smaller. Therefore, it indicates that the terminal device moves away from the target BLE slave device, and the target BLE slave device is located in a direction opposite to the moving direction of the terminal device. A user may be prompted to “move backward”, so as to help the user control the terminal device at a new location to obtain more accurate data. This helps to quickly find the target BLE slave device.”, Zhou [0035])
As to claim 9:
Zhou discloses:
The method of claim 1, wherein measuring the RSSI of the wireless communication signal received from the external electronic device when the electronic device is at the second position comprises, when a difference between the RSSI measured at the first position and the RSSI measured at the second position is equal to or smaller than a threshold, (“A difference between a previous RSSI value and a current RSSI value is calculated. When the difference is greater than a predetermined value, the change rule of the RSSI value is that the RSSI value becomes larger. When the difference is less than the predetermined value, the change rule of the RSSI value is that the RSSI value becomes smaller.”, Zhou [0043]) requesting a user of the electronic device for re-measurement. (FIG. 2 shows a loop that prompts the user to move which in turn requires another round of RSSI measurement, Zhou)
As to claim 10:
Zhou discloses:
The method of claim 1, further comprising: after measuring the RSSI of the wireless communication signal at the first position and the second position, (“A difference between a previous RSSI value and a current RSSI value is calculated. When the difference is greater than a predetermined value, the change rule of the RSSI value is that the RSSI value becomes larger. When the difference is less than the predetermined value, the change rule of the RSSI value is that the RSSI value becomes smaller. It should be mentioned that the predetermined value is usually set to 0. That is, when the difference between the previous RSSI value and the current RSSI value is greater than 0, it indicates that the change rule of the RSSI value is that the RSSI value becomes larger. When the difference between the previous RSSI value and the current RSSI value is less than 0, it indicates that the change rule of the RSSI value is that the RSSI value becomes smaller. However, during actual measurement, the RSSI value is not stable in the measurement process and an error exists. Therefore, during actual application, an absolute value of the predetermined value may be set to a fixed value greater than 0. The fixed value is represented by ε. When the difference between the previous RSSI value and the current RSSI value is greater than c, the change rule of the RSSI value is that the RSSI value becomes larger. When the difference between the previous RSSI value and the current RSSI value is less than −ε, the change rule of the RSSI value is that the RSSI value becomes smaller.”, Zhou [0043]) re-measuring an RSSI of a wireless communication signal received from the external electronic device at least one of the first position or the second position; (FIG. 2 shows a loop that re-measures RSSI, Zhou) and determining whether the external electronic device is proximate, based on the re-measured RSSI. (“For example, during moving of the terminal device, if the RSSI signal becomes stronger, it indicates that the change rule of the RSSI value is that the RSSI value becomes larger. Therefore, it indicates that the terminal device moves towards the target BLE slave device”, Zhou [0046])
As to claim 13:
Zhou discloses:
The method of claim 1, further comprising, when it is determined that the external electronic device is proximate to the electronic device, transmitting, from the electronic device to the external electronic device, a command for controlling the external electronic device.(“It should be mentioned that the terminal device communicates with the target BLE slave device by means of BLE. When a user uses the target BLE slave device, the terminal device needs to turn on Bluetooth communication module. Then, the terminal device performs pairing connection with the target BLE slave device, and the target BLE slave device is used to perform an operation on the terminal device after the connection succeeds.”, Zhou [0027])
Claim(s) 3, 5, and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhou in view of Alipour, as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Tokumoto US 20190191286 (hereinafter “Tokumoto”)
As to claim 3:
The combination of Zhou and Alipour as described above does not explicitly teach:
The method of claim 1, wherein measuring of the RSSI of the wireless communication signal received from the external electronic device when the electronic device is at the first position comprises: receiving, from a user of the electronic device, a first user input of confirming that the electronic device is disposed at the first position; and measuring an RSSI of a wireless communication signal received from the external electronic device, when the first user input is received and wherein measuring of the RSSI of the wireless communication signal received from the external electronic device when the electronic device is at the second position comprises: receiving, from the user, a second user input of confirming that the electronic device is disposed at the second position; and measuring an RSSI of a wireless communication signal received from the external electronic device, when the second user input is received.
However, Tokumoto further teaches the user experience of acquiring signal strength measurement at different positions which includes:
The method of claim 1, wherein the measuring of the RSSI of the wireless communication signal received from the external electronic device when the electronic device is at the first position comprises: receiving, from a user of the electronic device, a first user input of confirming that the electronic device is disposed at the first position; and measuring an RSSI of a wireless communication signal (“The received Bluetooth® radio wave strength is expressed by an RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indication)”, Tokumoto [0045]) received from the external electronic device, when the first user input is received (“urging the user to select (or tap) a next button 502 in a state that the mobile terminal is separated from the MFP 101 by approximately 30 cm/12 in. At the timing when the user selects the next button 502, the application 318 performs the following process. That is, the application 318 acquires the Bluetooth® radio wave strength received from the Bluetooth® controlling part 316, and stores the value of the acquired radio wave strength in the flash memory 213 as the measured value of the radio wave strength at the distance of about 30 cm from the MFP”, Tokumoto [0067]), and the measuring of the RSSI of the wireless communication signal received from the external electronic device when the electronic device is at the second position comprises: (“The process of S806 is an example of the first displaying process of causing the operation unit to display a second screen for acquiring the radio wave strength related to the wireless communication at a second distance from the MFP”, Tokumoto [0079]); receiving, from the user, a second user input of confirming that the electronic device is disposed at the second position; and measuring an RSSI of a wireless communication signal received from the external electronic device, when the second user input is received. (“urging the user to select (or tap) an OK button 512 in a state that the mobile terminal is in contact with the MFP 101. At the timing when the user selects the OK button 512, the application 318 performs the following process. That is, the application 318 acquires the Bluetooth® radio wave strength received from the Bluetooth® controlling part 316, and stores the value of the acquired radio wave strength in the flash memory 213 as the measured value of the radio wave strength at a distance of 0 cm from the MFP 101”, Tokumoto [0068])
Zhou, Tokumoto, and Alipour are analogous because they pertain to determining the relative position of a device using RSSI.
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include the user experience of acquiring signal strength measurement at different positions as described in Tokumoto into Zhou as modified by Alipour. By modifying the method to include the user experience of acquiring signal strength measurement at different positions as taught by Tokumoto, the benefits of improved proximity determination accuracy (Tokumoto [0105]) and improved proximity detection and authentication (Alipour [0040] and Zhou [0046]) are achieved.
As to claim 5:
The combination of Zhou and Alipour as described above does not explicitly teach:
The method of claim 1, further comprising measuring an RSSI of a wireless communication signal received from the external electronic device, during a preset time period.
However, Tokumoto further teaches receiving signal strength measurements during a set time period which includes:
The method of claim 1, further comprising measuring an RSSI of a wireless communication signal received from the external electronic device, during a preset time period. (“it is also possible here to acquire the radio wave strengths of a plurality of advertising packets (for example, 30 times) received after the selection of the next button 502 and derive the radio wave strength from the median value or the average value thereof.”, Tokumoto [0074])
Zhou, Tokumoto, and Alipour are analogous because they pertain to determining the relative position of a device using RSSI.
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include receiving signal strength measurements during a set time period as described in Tokumoto into Zhou as modified by Alipour. By modifying the method to include receiving signal strength measurements during a set time period as taught by Tokumoto, the benefits of improved proximity determination accuracy (Tokumoto [0105]) and improved proximity detection and authentication (Alipour [0040] and Zhou [0046]) are achieved.
As to claim 7:
The combination of Zhou and Alipour as described above does not explicitly teach:
The method of claim 5, wherein an RSSI of the wireless communication signal received from the external electronic device is determined to be an average of the RSSI measured during the preset time period.
However, Tokumoto further teaches determining the average value of signal strength measurements which includes:
The method of claim 5, wherein an RSSI of the wireless communication signal received from the external electronic device is determined to be an average of the RSSI measured (“the application 318 derives the average value of the radio wave strengths acquired a plurality of times, and sets the derived average value as the received Bluetooth® radio wave strength.”, Tokumoto [0094]) during the preset time period. (“for a certain period of time or more”, Tokumoto [0058])
Zhou, Tokumoto, and Alipour are analogous because they pertain to determining the relative position of a device using RSSI.
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include determining the average value of signal strength measurements as described in Tokumoto into Zhou as modified by Alipour. By modifying the method to include determining the average value of signal strength measurements as taught by Tokumoto, the benefits of improved proximity determination accuracy (Tokumoto [0105]) and improved proximity detection and authentication (Alipour [0040] and Zhou [0046]) are achieved.
Claim(s) 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhou in view of Alipour and Tokumoto, as applied to claim 5 above, and further in view of Gutierrez et al. US 20140073262 (hereinafter “Gutierrez”)
As to claim 8:
The combination of Zhou and Alipour as described above does not explicitly teach:
The method of claim 5, wherein measuring the RSSI of the wireless communication signal received from the external electronic device comprises: measuring, during the preset time period, the RSSI of the wireless communication signal received from the external electronic device; calculating a deviation of the RSSI measured during the preset time period; and requesting a user of the electronic device for re-measurement when the calculated deviation is equal to or greater than a threshold.
However, Tokumoto further teaches re-measuring signal strength measurement when a measurement does not satisfy a threshold which includes:
and requesting a user of the electronic device for re-measurement when the calculated deviation is equal to or greater than a threshold. (“when the application 318 determines that the state that the proximity determination condition is not satisfied does not continue for the certain period of time (NO in S905), the process returns to S901 to receive the radio wave again”, Tokumoto [0098]) (“On the other hand, when determining that the radio wave strength is equal to or smaller than the threshold of determination (NO in S904), the process proceeds to S905. The process of S904 is an example of a process of determining whether or not the mobile terminal and the MFP are in close proximity by using the threshold of proximity determination.”, Tokumoto [0097])
Zhou, Tokumoto, and Alipour are analogous because they pertain to determining the relative position of a device using RSSI.
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include re-measuring signal strength measurement when a measurement does not satisfy a threshold as described in Tokumoto into Zhou as modified by Alipour. By modifying the method to include re-measuring signal strength measurement when a measurement does not satisfy a threshold as taught by Tokumoto, the benefits of improved proximity determination accuracy (Tokumoto [0105]) and improved proximity detection and authentication (Alipour [0040] and Zhou [0046]) are achieved.
The combination of Zhou, Tokumoto, and Alipour as described above does not explicitly teach:
The method of claim 5, wherein measuring of the RSSI of the wireless communication signal received from the external electronic device comprises: measuring, during the preset time period, the RSSI of the wireless communication signal received from the external electronic device; calculating a deviation of the RSSI measured during the preset time period
However, Gutierrez further teaches measuring RSSI during preset time period and calculating a deviation of the RSSI measured which includes:
The method of claim 5, wherein measuring of the RSSI of the wireless communication signal received from the external electronic device comprises: measuring, during the preset time period, the RSSI of the wireless communication signal received from the external electronic device; calculating a deviation of the RSSI measured during the preset time period (“Another technical advantage of some embodiments of the present invention is provided by implementing a hold-off period and/or a buffer threshold to limit false alarms. A hold-off period may be implemented to delay the entering of an alarm condition until a predetermined number of signal strength readings from a wireless apparatus are below the alert threshold. Accordingly, if the received signal strength readings are below the alert threshold for a brief or momentary time period which is smaller than the predetermined hold-off period, the alarm condition may not be entered and the user may not be alerted.”, Gutierrez [0171]);
Zhou, Tokumoto, Gutierrez, and Alipour are analogous because they pertain to determining the relative position of a device using RSSI.
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include measuring RSSI during preset time period and calculating a deviation of the RSSI measured as described in Gutierrez into Zhou as modified by Alipour and Tokumoto. By modifying the method to include measuring RSSI during preset time period and calculating a deviation of the RSSI measured as taught by Gutierrez, the benefits of improved proximity determination accuracy (Tokumoto [0105]) and improved proximity detection and authentication (Alipour [0040], Gutierrez [0005], and Zhou [0046]) are achieved.
Claim(s) 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhou in view of Alipour and Tokumoto, as applied to claim 5 above, and further in view of Tse US 6480718 (hereinafter “Tse”)
As to claim 6:
The combination of Zhou, Tokumoto, and Alipour as described above does not explicitly teach:
The method of claim 5, wherein the preset time period is randomly determined for every RSSI measurement.
However, Tse teaches measuring RSSI at random time intervals which includes:
The method of claim 5, wherein the preset time period is randomly determined for every RSSI measurement. (“At step 112, a determination is made if more measurements are to be taken for the current test frequency(ies). More measurements can be taken at random or predetermined time intervals to fill the isolation matrix 110 with isolation datapoints. If so, execution returns to step 104. In the present example, within the next second the mobile unit 20 moves to a location P2 while still being served by the frequency f.sub.1Y. The mobile unit 20 receives and measures the RSSI for the frequencies f.sub.1Y and f.sub.2Z again and at step 106 provides these measurements to the MSC 14. At step 108, more isolation datapoints are added to the isolation matrix. For further examples, if the RSSI for frequencies f.sub.2Z is -86 dBm, the RSSI for frequency f.sub.3Z is -96 dBm and the RSSI for frequencies f.sub.1Y is -77 dBm, then the isolation datapoints:”, Tse [24])
Zhou, Tokumoto, Tse, and Alipour are analogous because they pertain to RSSI measurement.
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include measuring RSSI at random time intervals as described in Tse into Zhou as modified by Alipour and Tokumoto. By modifying the method to include measuring RSSI at random time intervals as taught by Tse, the benefits of improved proximity determination accuracy (Tokumoto [0105]), improved RSSI measurement methods (Tse [24]), and improved proximity detection and authentication (Alipour [0040], Gutierrez [0005], and Zhou [0046]) are achieved.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/A.C.K./
Examiner
Art Unit 2471
/SUJOY K KUNDU/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2471