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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 09/23/22 has been considered by the examiner.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6, 10 and 16 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The dependent claims 6, 10 and 16 are objected as allowable because the closest prior art found fails to disclose, teach or suggest either alone or render obvious in a combined teachings of the prior art, the uniquely distinct features in the specific order, structure and combination of limitations together as a whole of the limitations recited in the dependent claims in combination with all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims in between.
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) 1-3, 5, 11-13, 15 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Boss et al. (US Patent Publication 2016/0028471 herein after referenced as Boss) in view of LIU et al. (US Patent Publication 2018/0157254 herein after referenced as Liu).
Regarding claim 1 and claim 11 and claim 20, Boss discloses:
A computer-implemented method comprising: and A system comprising: a memory having computer readable instructions; and one or more processors for executing the computer readable instructions, the computer readable instructions controlling the one or more processors to perform operations comprising: and A computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, the program instructions executable by a processor to cause the processor to perform operations comprising: (Boss, [0096] discloses computer readable program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions which execute via the processor of the computer create means for implementing the functions/acts specified and these computer readable program instructions may also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can direct a computer to function in a particular manner).
collecting, (Boss, Fig. 1 & [0044]-[0045] discloses a method to detect aggregate weak cell coverage for determining whether to employ a UAV and this method is employed by the central servers for detecting when a large number of collocated people are experiencing suboptimal service for some period of time and such detection may be accomplished either through the switch or mobile device as current switch technologies have a sophisticated ability to capture information about cell signal and the switches are capable of monitoring and reporting the quality and level (i.e. reads on collecting signal strength information) of communication (i.e. reads on for a communication network) passing through them and applications may be deployed on a smart phone to capture and send quality information and in either case, this data is used to determine the most effective place for a UAV to be deployed and discloses sending a signal strength reading (i.e. reads on collecting signal strength information) to an analysis server and the central server analyzes all incoming signal metrics and determines areas (i.e. reads on geographic area) where significant signal degradation is occurring and the server prioritizes areas where UAV coverage would provide the best outcome based on a number of factors).
creating, based at least in part on the signal strength information, a signal strength map for the geographic area; and deploying one or more networking drones into the geographic area, wherein a location of the one or more drones in the geographic area is determined based at least in part on the signal strength map, (Boss, [0004] discloses monitoring end users cell phone strengths (i.e. reads on based at least in part on the signal strength information) to determine weak coverage spots (i.e. reads on creating a signal strength map for the geographic area and reads on is determined based at least in part on the signal strength map), and optimizing when and where a UAV should be dispatched (i.e. reads on deploying one or more networking drones into the geographic area, wherein a location of the one or more drones) to increase the signal strength or bandwidth to a given area (i.e. reads on in the geographic area); Boss, [0038]-[0039] discloses the central server monitors and detects aggregate weak cell coverage and creates maps (i.e. reads on creating a signal strength map) such as “heat” maps of predicted bad or weak coverage areas, where the extensions of coverage may be needed and the links from the drones may be analyzed by means of regular feedback from the drones by the central server used to determine whether there exists an unbalance in the load of the drone or other infrastructure and control links are established via network connections between the one or more central servers and a command and control center which performs creating the flight plans such as where to fly and position of drones and the active dispatching of the drone from the one or more land to air facilities based on the monitored and detected aggregate cell coverage as determined from the data input to the central server and discloses central servers receive data from tiers of VIP Customers requesting extension of coverage needed and the central servers analyze current/predicted network loads and requested coverage areas to generate a map of needed coverage and extension of coverage needed for each area with levels of fail safe mechanism that is implemented by providing one or more layers of back up coverage by means of drones so that under no plausible circumstances a cell network can be dropped and the central servers determine the best locations to position the airborne UAVs that are equipped with cellular repeaters and transceivers to cover for the anticipated weak coverage and the central servers are configured to create a flight plan for the UAV to reach the computed location from the land-to-air facility and the drones are dispatched to fly to their hovering positions and are connected to the existing cellular network).
wherein the one or more networking drones are configured to provide access to the communications network (Boss, [0043] discloses an on demand drone (i.e. reads on wherein the one or more networking drones) will move along with the traffic to provide appropriate cellular coverage (i.e. reads on are configured to provide access to the communications network); Boss, [0003] discloses enabling a mobile cellular carrier network to deploy unmanned aerial vehicles UAVs equipped with telecommunications devices to act as temporary mobile device cellular network towers, so as to augment signal strength provide cellular service and/or augment the capacities and capabilities of cellular network ground base stations; Boss, [0041] discloses central servers to dispatch UAVs based on predicted cell phone usage coverage according to further data inputs such as the social media network feeds and the financial data feeds, that include data that are analyzed to determine a potential time/place in which cell coverage may be extended by a drone; Boss, [0039] discloses levels of fail safe mechanism that is implemented by providing one or more layers of back up coverage by means of drones so that under no plausible circumstances a cell network can be dropped and the central servers determine the best locations to position the airborne UAVs that are equipped with cellular repeaters and transceivers to cover for the anticipated weak coverage).
Boss discloses creating a coverage map based on signal strength information that is received from a mobile device or a network switch but fails to explicitly disclose that said signal strength information is received from a drone and therefore fails to disclose “collecting, from one or more sensing drones, signal strength information for a communications network in a geographic area”.
In a related field of endeavor, Liu discloses:
collecting, from one or more sensing drones, signal strength information for a communications network in a geographic area; (Liu, [0320] discloses placement information is generated from collected data for a group of different locations that are transmitting test signals such as buildings and is indicated in a signal strength bar and a line of sight bar and the data can be collected (i.e. reads on collecting) according to the techniques and utilizing the devices described in system such as measuring received signal strength utilizing the receive unmanned aircraft (i.e. reads on from one or more sensing drones, signal strength information) which moves vertically along path at a particular location of the transmission medium (i.e. reads on for a communications network in a geographic area) and the placement information can be generated based on different vertical positions; Liu, [0314] discloses the vehicle can wirelessly receive the collected data from the receive unmanned aircraft or obtain the data when the receive unmanned aircraft returns from flight and process the data, such as generating receive signal strength maps for various locations along the transmission medium and the vehicle can include a control device that provides control signals to the unmanned aircraft that enable the unmanned aircraft to fly in proximity to the transmission medium and the use of the unmanned aircraft enables obtaining signal parameters for a target location without requiring bucket trucks or other provider equipment that is often required for reaching difficult areas and the unmanned aircraft has the ability to ascend and descend at these difficult-to-reach areas so that the target locations also can vary as to altitude; Liu, [0322] discloses placement information can be generated or otherwise obtained that is indicative of a target location for deploying or placement of a communication device, such as customer premises equipment and the placement information can be based on various information collected from transmitting and/or receiving wireless signals to and/or from various target locations, such as collecting RF parameters associated with the wireless signals; Liu, [0340]-[0341] discloses the processing system can adjust the flight of the unmanned aircraft according to the third control signals to position the unmanned aircraft in proximity to a transmission medium and the unmanned aircraft can include a carrying system that releasably carries a communication device, where a positioning of the communication device in the proximity of the transmission medium enables the communication device to be physically connected on the transmission medium to receive power via an inductive coupling and the RF parameters can be provided to a server that enables the server to generate placement information indicative of a particular position for a communication device to be positioned with respect to the target area, where the placement information is generated based on the RF parameters and the providing of the RF parameters to a server can include transmitting information representative of the RF parameters to the server via the cellular network from the unmanned aircraft; Liu, [0324] discloses an RF receive signal strength map is shown in which placement information is generated from collected data for a group of different locations receiving test signals and the data can be collected according to the techniques and utilizing the devices described in system and the map can include an image or a schematic representation of a premises, building, road, support structure, or other area that is to receive a communication device and the different shading along different parts of the building can represent different signal strengths, average signal strengths or some derivate values associated with signal strengths for test signals being received from a transmitter; Liu, [0319] discloses the coverage map can indicate received signal strength for test signals received at the building and/or received signal strength for test signals transmitted from the building that are received by a receiver such as at the transmission medium or at some other proposed locations for the communication device).
Therefore, at the time before the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the invention of Boss to incorporate the teachings of Liu for the purpose of providing the system with a means to utilize alternative devices to measure and collect the signal strength information that enables obtaining signal parameters for a target location without requiring bucket trucks or other provider equipment that is often required for reaching difficult areas and the unmanned aircraft has the ability to ascend and descend at these difficult-to-reach areas so that the target locations also can vary as to altitude (Liu, [0314]) and for the purpose of making the system more dynamic and adaptable by providing the system with various different alternatives in design and functionality, thereby allowing the system to handle a number of various different combination of specific design structure and scenarios and preventing the system from being limited to a single specific design structure and scenario and furthermore, one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize based on the guidelines to rationales supporting a conclusion of obviousness seen on MPEP 2143, that the modification would involve use of a simple substitution of one known element and base device (i.e. performing a process of creating a coverage map from signal strength information received from various devices wherein the coverage map is utilized for the placement of devices providing coverage as taught by Boss) with another known element and comparable device utilizing a known technique (i.e. performing a process of creating a coverage map from signal strength information received from various devices wherein the coverage map is utilized for the placement of devices providing coverage, wherein the signal strength information is received from a drone or unmanned device as taught by Liu) to improve the similar devices in the same way and to obtain the predictable result of the system performing a process of creating a coverage map from signal strength information received from various devices wherein the coverage map is utilized for the placement of devices providing coverage (i.e. as taught by both Boss & Liu) and is dependent upon the specific intended use, design incentives, needs and requirements (i.e. such as due to teachings of a known standard, current technology, conservation of resources, personal preferences, economic considerations, etc.) of the user and the system as has been established in MPEP 2144.04.
Regarding claim 2 and claim 12, Boss in view of Liu discloses:
The computer-implements method of claim 1, further comprising (see claim 1) and The system of claim 11 (see claim 11).
reconfiguring at least one of the sensing drones to function as one of the one or more networking drones (Boss, [0045] discloses the server sends signals/command to deploy a UAV or drone over highest priority areas; Boss, [0078] discloses in response to the changed configuration, the UAV clusters are reconfigured and redeployed to support the modified need; Boss, [0040] discloses the drones are dispatched to fly to their hovering positions and are connected to the existing cellular network; Boss, [0083] discloses create a common usage demand map and then calculate and reposition drones to an optimal configuration).
Regarding claim 3 and claim 13, Boss in view of Liu discloses:
The computer-implements method of claim 1, further comprising (see claim 1) and The system of claim 11 (see claim 11).
periodically updating the signal strength map by re-collecting the signal strength information by the one or more sensing drones (Boss, [0045] discloses periodically or asynchronously sending a signal strength reading to an analysis server; Liu, [0320] discloses the data can be collected according to the techniques and utilizing the devices described in system such as measuring received signal strength utilizing the receive unmanned aircraft which moves vertically along path at a particular location of the transmission medium; Boss, [0038] discloses the central server monitors and detects aggregate weak cell coverage and creates maps such as “heat” maps of predicted bad or weak coverage areas, where the extensions of coverage may be needed and the links from the drones may be analyzed by means of regular feedback from the drones by the central server used to determine whether there exists an unbalance in the load of the drone or other infrastructure).
Regarding claim 5 and claim 15, Boss in view of Liu discloses:
The computer-implements method of claim 1, further comprising (see claim 1) and The system of claim 11, wherein the operations further (see claim 11).
monitoring, by the one or more sensing drones, changes to the signal strength information and instructing at least one of the one or more networking drones to change location based on the changes to the signal strength information (Boss, [0081] discloses it may be subsequently detected that an initial deployment, based on changed demand from factors determined by methods described herein, results in UAV placement; Boss, [0078] discloses the communication hub in turn reroutes and deploys the UAV network to take care of the changed conditions and in response to the changed configuration, the UAV clusters are reconfigured and redeployed to support the modified need; Liu, [0320] discloses the data can be collected according to the techniques and utilizing the devices described in system such as measuring received signal strength utilizing the receive unmanned aircraft which moves vertically along path at a particular location of the transmission medium).
Claim(s) 4 and 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Boss et al. (US Patent Publication 2016/0028471 herein after referenced as Boss) in view of LIU et al. (US Patent Publication 2018/0157254 herein after referenced as Liu) and further in view of Zerick et al. (US Patent Publication 2017/0257779 herein after referenced as Zerick).
Regarding claim 4 and claim 14, Boss in view of Liu discloses:
The computer-implements method of claim 1, (see claim 1) and The system of claim 11 (see claim 11).
wherein deploying the one or more networking drones into the geographic area includes identifying a (Boss, [0039]-[0040] discloses levels of fail safe mechanism that is implemented by providing one or more layers of back up coverage by means of drones so that under no plausible circumstances a cell network can be dropped and the central servers determine the best locations to position the airborne UAVs that are equipped with cellular repeaters and transceivers to cover for the anticipated weak coverage and discloses the drones are dispatched to fly to their hovering positions and are connected to the existing cellular network).
Boss in view of Liu discloses dispatching drones to positions to provide additional coverage but fails to explicitly disclose that said drones lands on the positions and therefore fails to disclose “identifying a landing spot for at least one of the one or more networking drones.”
In a related field of endeavor, Zerick discloses:
identifying a landing spot for at least one of the one or more networking drones (Zerick, [0020] discloses drone-based techniques disclosed herein for supplementing network coverage provide technical solutions to such network coverage problems by leveraging a fleet of drones equipped to function as portable base stations to rapidly provide temporary or long-term coverage to geographic locations experiencing network coverage holes and the drones can land to patch coverage holes in the network and the drones can fly overhead, blanketing the affected area with potentially lifesaving network coverage; Zerick, [0027] discloses the command center deploys the fleet of drones to a target geographic location associated with the network coverage hole).
Therefore, at the time before the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the invention of Boss in view of Liu to incorporate the teachings of Zerick for the purpose of providing the system with a means to utilize alternative scenarios of either landing or flying overhead for drones when supplementing network coverage (Zerick, [0020]) and for the purpose of making the system more dynamic and adaptable by providing the system with various different alternatives in design and functionality, thereby allowing the system to handle a number of various different combination of specific design structure and scenarios and preventing the system from being limited to a single specific design structure and scenario and furthermore, one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize based on the guidelines to rationales supporting a conclusion of obviousness seen on MPEP 2143, that the modification would involve use of a simple substitution of one known element and base device (i.e. performing a process of dispatching a drone to a location to provide additional coverage wherein the drone flies overhead at the indicated location as taught by Boss) with another known element and comparable device utilizing a known technique (i.e. performing a process of dispatching a drone to a location to provide additional coverage, wherein the drone flies overhead or lands at the indicated location as taught by Zerick) to improve the similar devices in the same way and to obtain the predictable result of the system performing a process of dispatching a drone to a location to provide additional coverage wherein the drone flies overhead at the indicated location (i.e. as taught by both Boss & Zerick) and is dependent upon the specific intended use, design incentives, needs and requirements (i.e. such as due to teachings of a known standard, current technology, conservation of resources, personal preferences, economic considerations, etc.) of the user and the system as has been established in MPEP 2144.04.
Claim(s) 7-9 and 17-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Boss et al. (US Patent Publication 2016/0028471 herein after referenced as Boss) in view of LIU et al. (US Patent Publication 2018/0157254 herein after referenced as Liu) and further in view of ANDERSON et al. (US Patent Publication 2020/0225684 herein after referenced as Anderson).
Regarding claim 7 and claim 17, Boss in view of Liu discloses:
The computer-implements method of claim 1, (see claim 1) and The system of claim 11, (see claim 11).
wherein the one or more networking drones (Boss, [0043] discloses an on demand drone will move along with the traffic to provide appropriate cellular coverage; Boss, [0003] discloses enabling a mobile cellular carrier network to deploy unmanned aerial vehicles UAVs equipped with telecommunications devices to act as temporary mobile device cellular network towers, so as to augment signal strength provide cellular service and/or augment the capacities and capabilities of cellular network ground base stations).
Boss in view of Liu discloses providing access to the communications network but fails to explicitly disclose the use of a directional antenna and therefore fails to disclose “a directional antenna configured to provide access to the communications network”.
In a related field of endeavor, Anderson discloses:
a directional antenna configured to provide access to the communications network (Anderson, [0323] discloses the one or more antennas on an aerial vehicle being used as a cell tower may take a number of forms and the aerial vehicle may be equipped with one or more sectorized antennas and sectorized antennas have a directional radiation pattern and are combined to cover an area and sectorized antennas may require the aerial vehicle to maintain a heading and control altitude, yaw, pitch and roll or risk reduced service area coverage or creation outages and higher gain antennas have radiation patterns that are non-uniform and, depending on the payload design and network design, may require sectors to maintain a fixed location).
Therefore, at the time before the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the invention of Boss in view of Liu to incorporate the teachings of Anderson for the purpose of providing the system with a means to increase quality of service by providing higher gain antennas depending on the payload and network design (Anderson, [0323]) and for the purpose of making the system more dynamic and adaptable by providing the system with various different alternatives in design and functionality, thereby allowing the system to handle a number of various different combination of specific design structure and scenarios and preventing the system from being limited to a single specific design structure and scenario and furthermore, one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize based on the guidelines to rationales supporting a conclusion of obviousness seen on MPEP 2143, that the modification would involve use of a simple substitution of one known element and base device (i.e. performing a process of utilizing a drone to provide additional coverage as taught by Boss) with another known element and comparable device utilizing a known technique (i.e. performing a process of utilizing a drone to provide additional coverage, wherein the drone utilizes directional sectorized antennas that controls yaw, pitch and roll to provide service area coverage as taught by Anderson) to improve the similar devices in the same way and to obtain the predictable result of the system performing a process of utilizing a drone to provide additional coverage (i.e. as taught by both Boss & Anderson) and is dependent upon the specific intended use, design incentives, needs and requirements (i.e. such as due to teachings of a known standard, current technology, conservation of resources, personal preferences, economic considerations, etc.) of the user and the system as has been established in MPEP 2144.04.
Regarding claim 8 and claim 18, Boss in view of Liu and further in view of Anderson discloses:
The computer-implements method of claim 7, further comprising (see claim 7) and The system of claim 17, wherein the operations further (see claim 17).
configuring the directional antenna of the one or more networking drones based on the location of the one or more networking drones in the geographic area and the signal strength map (Anderson, [0323] discloses the one or more antennas on an aerial vehicle being used as a cell tower may take a number of forms and the aerial vehicle may be equipped with one or more sectorized antennas and sectorized antennas have a directional radiation pattern and are combined to cover an area and sectorized antennas may require the aerial vehicle to maintain a heading and control altitude, yaw, pitch and roll or risk reduced service area coverage or creation outages and higher gain antennas have radiation patterns that are non-uniform and, depending on the payload design and network design, may require sectors to maintain a fixed location; Boss, [0004] discloses monitoring end users cell phone strengths to determine weak coverage spots, and optimizing when and where a UAV should be dispatched to increase the signal strength or bandwidth to a given area; Boss, [0038] discloses the central server monitors and detects aggregate weak cell coverage and creates maps such as “heat” maps of predicted bad or weak coverage areas, where the extensions of coverage may be needed and a command and control center which performs creating the flight plans such as where to fly and position of drones and the active dispatching of the drone from the one or more land to air facilities based on the monitored and detected aggregate cell coverage as determined from the data input to the central server).
Regarding claim 9 and claim 19, Boss in view of Liu and further in view of Anderson discloses:
The computer-implements method of claim 8, further comprising (see claim 8) and The system of claim 18, wherein the operations further (see claim 18).
configuring a pitch, a yaw, and a roll of the one or more networking drones based on a configuration of the directional antenna, the location of the one or more networking drones in the geographic area, and the signal strength map (Anderson, [0323] discloses the one or more antennas on an aerial vehicle being used as a cell tower may take a number of forms and the aerial vehicle may be equipped with one or more sectorized antennas and sectorized antennas have a directional radiation pattern and are combined to cover an area and sectorized antennas may require the aerial vehicle to maintain a heading and control altitude, yaw, pitch and roll or risk reduced service area coverage or creation outages and higher gain antennas have radiation patterns that are non-uniform and, depending on the payload design and network design, may require sectors to maintain a fixed location; Boss, [0004] discloses monitoring end users cell phone strengths to determine weak coverage spots, and optimizing when and where a UAV should be dispatched to increase the signal strength or bandwidth to a given area; Boss, [0038] discloses the central server monitors and detects aggregate weak cell coverage and creates maps such as “heat” maps of predicted bad or weak coverage areas, where the extensions of coverage may be needed and a command and control center which performs creating the flight plans such as where to fly and position of drones and the active dispatching of the drone from the one or more land to air facilities based on the monitored and detected aggregate cell coverage as determined from the data input to the central server).
Conclusion
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/MICHAEL Y MAPA/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2645