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
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim 1, 4, 16, 28, 30, 31, 35 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ZHAO et al. (US 20240040538 A1 date filed on Jul 27, 2022) in view of Bogatin (US 20120052884 A1 dated 2010-05-04), hereinafter Zhao-Bogatin
As to claim 1, Zhao et al. discloses A method comprising: receiving first location information indicating an absolute location of an extender wireless access point, the extender wireless access point in wireless communication with a primary wireless access point over a first wireless communication link, the primary wireless access point providing the extender wireless access point connectivity to a remote network (Abstract – “An example method for providing location information associated with a target device in a UWB network includes determining a location of a bridge device, querying the bridge device for location information associated with the target device, receiving location information associated with the target device from the bridge device, and determining a location of the target device based at least in part on the location of the bridge device and the location information associated with the target device.” Paragraph [0025] – “In response to the low quality signal exchange between the devices, the initiating device may be configured to broadcast location requests to nearby UWB devices to obtain location information for the target device. The initiating UWB may transmit a query to the bridge devices to obtain relative location information associated with the target UWB device and other bridge devices.” Here the initiating device provides the bridge device access to a remote network. Similarly, the primary wireless access point provides the extender wireless access point connectivity to a remote network. Here the initiating device is the primary wireless access point and the bridge is the extender wireless access point.)
Zhao et al. does not explicitly recite but in an analogous art, Bogatin (US 20120052884 A1 dated 2010-05-04) discloses A method comprising: receiving first location information indicating an absolute location of an extender wireless access point, the extender wireless access point in wireless communication with a primary wireless access point over a first wireless communication link, the primary wireless access point providing the extender wireless access point connectivity to a remote network (Paragraph [0023] – “In a first embodiment, the absolute location estimate is determined using a form of long range communication. This may be performed, for example using GPS or AGPS or by requesting information from a cellular network. Additionally, because a Wi-Fi access point may also be a fixed location, the device may estimate its absolute location based on a communicating Wi-Fi access point.”);
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the wireless network of Zhao et al to include the means to determination using a form of long range communication as taught by the wireless network of Bogatin et al. in order to find the absolute location of the extender wireless access point.
ZHAO et al. (US 20240040538 A1 date filed on Jul 27, 2022) discloses receiving a vector value indicating a relative location of a primary wireless access point with respect to the extender wireless access point (Paragraph [0067] – “For example, cartesian and/or polar vector addition techniques may be used to determine the bearing and range to the target device based on the relative positions of the bridge devices 906, 908.”); and
ZHAO et al. (US 20240040538 A1 date filed on Jul 27, 2022) discloses producing second location information indicating an absolute location of the primary wireless access point based on the first location information and the vector value (Paragraph [0070] – “The UE 702 may be configured to utilize cartesian or polar coordinate operations based on the distances and angles of the vectors to compute a vector ‘Z’ indicating the location of the asset tag 704.”).
As to claim 4, Zhao et al. does not explicitly recite but in an analogous art, Bogatin (US 20120052884 A1 dated 2010-05-04) discloses The method as in claim 1 further comprising: controlling a wireless power level of transmitting wireless signals from the primary wireless access point to first mobile communication devices based on the absolute location of the primary wireless access point as indicated by the second location information (Paragraph [0079] – “A target device may not only draw the relative position from a source device based on its signal strength time difference of arrival (TDOA) to the source. The device may also receive a signal strength indicator from the source and compare it to measured values. The source may also relay identifying characteristics of its source signal, including the following: information on the power level/RF characteristics of the signal when it left the source, the precise time stamp of the signal as it leaves the source, other stamps (signal strength to target, relative position to other peers, peer and network location record), and characteristics to facilitate synchronizing the source and target to a common reference point for interpreting the signal strength from source to target. The source may also provide information in a signal, including a relative read on environmental conditions (i.e. attenuation), which the target device may use to refine its relative location estimate. This information may be transmitted on a signal beacon used by the target to estimate signal strength, or separately.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the wireless network of Zhao et al to include the means to controlling a wireless power level of transmitting wireless signals from the primary wireless access point as taught by the wireless network of Bogatin et al. in order to provide access to first mobile communication devices.
As to claim 16, Zhao et al. does not explicitly recite but in an analogous art, Bogatin (US 20120052884 A1 dated 2010-05-04) discloses A system comprising: communication management hardware operative to: receive first location information indicating an absolute location of an extender wireless access point. the extender wireless access point in wireless communication with a primary wireless access point over a first wireless communication link, the primary wireless access point providing the extender wireless access point connectivity to a remote network (Paragraph [0023] – “In a first embodiment, the absolute location estimate is determined using a form of long range communication. This may be performed, for example using GPS or AGPS or by requesting information from a cellular network. Additionally, because a Wi-Fi access point may also be a fixed location, the device may estimate its absolute location based on a communicating Wi-Fi access point.”);
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the wireless network of Zhao et al to include the means to determination using a form of long range communication as taught by the wireless network of Bogatin et al. in order to find the absolute location of the extender wireless access point.
ZHAO et al. (US 20240040538 A1 date filed on Jul 27, 2022) discloses receive a vector value indicating a relative location of a primary wireless access point with respect to the extender wireless access point (Paragraph [0067] – “For example, cartesian and/or polar vector addition techniques may be used to determine the bearing and range to the target device based on the relative positions of the bridge devices 906, 908.”); and
ZHAO et al. (US 20240040538 A1 date filed on Jul 27, 2022) discloses produce second location information indicating an absolute location of the primary wireless access point based on the first location information and the vector value (Paragraph [0070] – “The UE 702 may be configured to utilize cartesian or polar coordinate operations based on the distances and angles of the vectors to compute a vector ‘Z’ indicating the location of the asset tag 704.”).
As to claim 28, Zhao et al. does not explicitly recite but in an analogous art, Bogatin (US 20120052884 A1 dated 2010-05-04) discloses The system as in claim 16, wherein the communication management hardware is further operative to: in response to detecting that a certainty associated with determining the absolute location of the primary wireless access point is below a threshold value, providing notification to move the extender wireless access point to a new location (Paragraph [0031] – “The absolute location of each device may be enhanced by plotting the probability distribution with mean and variance for relative position of each device and that of the partnership.” If the probability is low, notification can be provided to move the extender wireless access point to a new location.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the wireless network of Zhao et al to include the means to a certainty associated with determining the absolute location of the primary wireless access point below a threshold value as taught by the wireless network of Bogatin et al. in order to provide notification to move the extender wireless access point to a new location.
As to claim 30, Zhao et al. does not explicitly recite but in an analogous art, Bogatin (US 20120052884 A1 dated 2010-05-04) discloses Computer-readable storage hardware having instructions stored thereon, the instructions, when carried out by computer processor hardware, cause the computer processor hardware to: receive first location information indicating an absolute location of an extender wireless access point. the extender wireless access point in wireless communication with a primary wireless access point over a first wireless communication link, the primary wireless access point providing the extender wireless access point connectivity to a remote network (Paragraph [0023] – “In a first embodiment, the absolute location estimate is determined using a form of long range communication. This may be performed, for example using GPS or AGPS or by requesting information from a cellular network. Additionally, because a Wi-Fi access point may also be a fixed location, the device may estimate its absolute location based on a communicating Wi-Fi access point.”);
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the wireless network of Zhao et al to include the means to determination using a form of long range communication as taught by the wireless network of Bogatin et al. in order to find the absolute location of the extender wireless access point.
ZHAO et al. (US 20240040538 A1 date filed on Jul 27, 2022) discloses receive a vector value indicating a relative location of a primary wireless access point with respect to the extender wireless access point (Paragraph [Paragraph [0070] – “The UE 702 may be configured to utilize cartesian or polar coordinate operations based on the distances and angles of the vectors to compute a vector ‘Z’ indicating the location of the asset tag 704.”); and
ZHAO et al. (US 20240040538 A1 date filed on Jul 27, 2022) discloses produce second location information indicating an absolute location of the primary wireless access point based on the first location information and the vector value (Paragraph [0070] – “The UE 702 may be configured to utilize cartesian or polar coordinate operations based on the distances and angles of the vectors to compute a vector ‘Z’ indicating the location of the asset tag 704.”).
As to claim 35, ZHAO et al. (US 20240040538 A1 date filed on Jul 27, 2022) discloses (New) The method as in claim 1 further comprising: determining the vector value based at least in part: i) on a travel time of a wireless signal transmitted between the primary wireless access point and the extender wireless access point, and ii) an angular orientation of the primary wireless access point with respect to the extender wireless access point (Paragraph [0067] – “For example, cartesian and/or polar vector addition techniques may be used to determine the bearing and range to the target device based on the relative positions of the bridge devices 906, 908.”).
Claim 2, 12, 27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhao-Bogatin as applied in claim 1 and further in view of JOHNSON et al. (WO 2011019525 A2 dated 2011-02-17)
As to claim 2, The method as in claim 1, wherein the first location information includes: i) a first estimated distance value indicating a first distance between a first satellite and the xtender wireless access point, ii) a second estimated distance value indicating a second distance between a second satellite and the xtender wireless access point, iii) a third estimated distance value indicating a third distance between a third satellite and the xtender wireless access point, iv) a fourth estimated distance value indicating a fourth distance between a fourth satellite and the xtender wireless access point, the method further comprising: converting the first location information into a first location value indicating the absolute location of the xtender wireless access point (Bogatin teaches in paragraph [0068] location finding using the distance and direction measuring concepts in terrestrial network. It does not teach location finding using satellite system. Paragraph [0059] of Johnson – “In this example, the badge 220N may communicate with the service provider server 240 via a satellite data connection. Alternatively or in addition, the location of the user N 120N may be tracked based on a satellite positioning system, such as the global positioning system (GPS).” Johnson reference uses satellite for location finding ).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify terrestrial distance and direction measuring for location finding of Zhao-Bogatin et al to include the means to location finding using satellite system of Johnson et al. in order to find the absolute location of a device in case the satellite is not in line of sight.
As to claim 12, Zhao et al. does not explicitly recite but in an analogous art, Bogatin (US 20120052884 A1 dated 2010-05-04) discloses The method as in claim 1 further comprising: producing the second location information indicating the absolute location of the primary wireless access point based on the first location information and the vector value in response to detecting an inability to accurately determine the absolute location of the primary wireless access point above a certainty threshold level based on wireless signals received directly at the primary wireless access point from at least one satellite (Paragraph [0030] of Bogatin – “The geometric mean of the locations determined by each device is evaluated and a vector translation of each of location estimate derived from inertial navigation system are vectorially translated in this geometric mean position, which provides a set of absolute location values that are clustered around the true position of the device by plotting a probability distribution with mean and variance for absolute position of each device.” Paragraph [0031] of Bogatin – “The absolute location of each device may be enhanced by plotting the probability distribution with mean and variance for relative position of each device and that of the partnership.” If the probability is low, notification can be provided to move the extender wireless access point to a new location. Here the probability is used as a threshold as mentioned in the claim. Paragraph [0059] of Johnson – “In this example, the badge 220N may communicate with the service provider server 240 via a satellite data connection. Alternatively or in addition, the location of the user N 120N may be tracked based on a satellite positioning system, such as the global positioning system (GPS).” Johnson reference uses satellite for location finding).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the wireless network of Zhao et al to include the means to vector translation as taught by the wireless network of Bogatin et al. in order to find the absolute location of the primary wireless access point.
As to claim 27, Zhao et al. does not explicitly recite but in an analogous art, Bogatin (US 20120052884 A1 dated 2010-05-04) discloses The system as in claim 16, wherein the communication management hardware is further operative to: produce the second location information indicating the absolute location of the primary wireless access point based on the first location information and the vector value in response to detecting an inability to determine the absolute location of the primary wireless access point based on wireless signals received directly at the primary wireless access point from multiple satellites (Paragraph [0030] of Bogatin – “The geometric mean of the locations determined by each device is evaluated and a vector translation of each of location estimate derived from inertial navigation system are vectorially translated in this geometric mean position, which provides a set of absolute location values that are clustered around the true position of the device by plotting a probability distribution with mean and variance for absolute position of each device.” Paragraph [0059] of Johnson – “In this example, the badge 220N may communicate with the service provider server 240 via a satellite data connection. Alternatively or in addition, the location of the user N 120N may be tracked based on a satellite positioning system, such as the global positioning system (GPS).” Johnson reference uses satellite for location finding).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the wireless network of Zhao et al to include the means to vector translation as taught by the wireless network of Bogatin et al. in order to find the absolute location of the primary wireless access point.
Claim 3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhao-Bogatin as applied in claim 1 and further in view of Perkins et al. (US 20200337162 A1 dated 20190417)
As to claim 3, Zhao-Bogatin et al. does not explicitly recite but in an analogous art, Perkins et al. (US 20200337162 A1 dated 20190417) discloses The method as in claim 1, wherein the vector value is a 3-D position offset vector indicative of: i) a distance between the xtender wireless access point and the primary wireless access point, and ii) an angular orientation of the primary wireless access point with respect to the xtender wireless access point (Paragraph [0170] – “For example, spatial parameters may include parameters such as a distance between objects, a location in a particular geography (e.g., latitude and longitude coordinates), a unit vector pointing from one object to another object, an orientation (also referred to as an angular position or attitude) of an object in three-dimensional space, or the like.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the wireless network of Zhao-Bogatin et al to include the means to the use of distance and angular orientation as a vector value as taught by the wireless network of Perkins et al. in order to find the relative location of the primary wireless access point with respect to the communication device.
Claim 5, 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhao-Bogatin as applied in claim 1, 16 and further in view of Vaidya et al. (US 20220386316 A1 dated 2021-06-01)
As to claim 5, Zhao-Bogatin et al. does not explicitly recite but in an analogous art, Vaidya et al. (US 20220386316 A1 dated 2021-06-01) discloses The method as in claim 1 further comprising: in response to communicating the second location information from the primary wireless access point to an allocation management resource; receiving control input from the allocation management resource; and adjusting a power level of transmitting wireless signals from the primary wireless access point to first mobile communication devices based on the control input received from the allocation management resource, the primary wireless access point operative to provide the first mobile communication devices access to the remote network: and wherein the extender wireless access point is operative to provide second mobile communication devices access to the remote network via communications conveyed over the first wireless communication link and through the primary wireless access point (Paragraph [0111] – “In yet further example embodiments, even though the wireless network service provider #2 operating the wireless base stations 132 or allocation management resource 142 controlling operation of the wireless base stations 132 themselves may not support or desire to implement the channel assignment notification mode 450, the allocation management resource 142 acknowledges the change in primary PAL channel assignment for affected PAL operators (such as wireless network service provider #1 operating wireless base stations 131 and assignment of new channels 9 and 10).”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the wireless network of Zhao-Bogatin et al to include the means to control the base station or access point by allocation resource management as taught by the wireless network of Vaidya et al. in order to provide the wireless access points protected use of the newly assigned wireless channels as taught by [0110] of Vaidya et al.
As to claim 20, Zhao-Bogatin et al. does not explicitly recite but in an analogous art, Vaidya et al. (US 20220386316 A1 dated 2021-06-01) discloses The system as in claim 16, wherein the communication management hardware is further operative to: communicate the second location information from the primary wireless access point to an allocation management resource; receive control input from the allocation management resource; and adjust a power level of transmitting wireless signals from the primary wireless access point to first mobile communication devices based on the control input received from the allocation management, resource, the primary wireless access point operative to provide the first mobile communication devices access to the remote network: and wherein the extender wireless access point is operative to provide second mobile communication devices access to the remote network via communications conveyed over the first wireless communication link and through the primarv wireless access point (Paragraph [0111] – “In yet further example embodiments, even though the wireless network service provider #2 operating the wireless base stations 132 or allocation management resource 142 controlling operation of the wireless base stations 132 themselves may not support or desire to implement the channel assignment notification mode 450, the allocation management resource 142 acknowledges the change in primary PAL channel assignment for affected PAL operators (such as wireless network service provider #1 operating wireless base stations 131 and assignment of new channels 9 and 10).”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the wireless network of Zhao-Bogatin et al to include the means to control the base station or access point by allocation resource management as taught by the wireless network of Vaidya et al. in order to provide the wireless access points protected use of the newly assigned wireless channels as taught by [0110] of Vaidya et al.
Claim 6, 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhao-Bogatin as applied in claim 1, 16 and further in view of MIRBAGHERI et al. (US 20150071092 A1 dated 2014-03-20), herein Zhao-Bogatin-Mirbagheri
As to claim 6, Zhao-Bogatin et al. does not explicitly recite but in an analogous art, MIRBAGHERI et al. (US 20150071092 A1 dated 2014-03-20) discloses The method as in claim 1, wherein the first location information includes attributes of first timing signals received at the xtender wireless access point, the first timing signals received from a first set of satellites, the method further comprising: receiving second timing signals at the primary wireless access point, the second timing signals received from a second set of satellites (Paragraph [0026] – “The position location and timing signals 18a-n transmitted from one or more satellites 20a-n may be received by a first base station, or eNodeB 210 (also known as an access point).”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the wireless network of Zhao-Bogatin et al to include the means to receiving timing signals from satellites as taught by wireless network of MIRBAGHERI et al. in order to find the absolute location of the access point.
As to claim 21, Zhao-Bogatin et al. does not explicitly recite but in an analogous art, MIRBAGHERI et al. (US 20150071092 A1 dated 2014-03-20) discloses The system as in claim 16, wherein the first location information includes attributes of first timing signals received at the extender wireless access point, the first timing signals received from a first set of satellites; and wherein the communication management hardware is further operative to: receive second timing signals at the primary wireless access point, the second timing signals received from a second set of satellites (Paragraph [0026] – “The position location and timing signals 18a-n transmitted from one or more satellites 20a-n may be received by a first base station, or eNodeB 210 (also known as an access point).”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the wireless network of Zhao-Bogatin et al to include the means to receiving timing signals from satellites as taught by wireless network of MIRBAGHERI et al. in order to find the absolute location of the access point.
Claim 7, 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhao-Bogatin-Mirbagheri as applied in claim 1, 6 and further in view of Jia (US 20220200653 A1 dated 2022-03-11), hereinafter Zhao-Bogatin-Mirbagheri-Jia
As to claim 7, The combination of Zhao-Bogatin-Mirbagheri does not explicitly recite but in an analogous art, Jia (US 20220200653 A1 dated 2022-03-11) discloses The method as in claim 6, wherein the second timing signals include insufficient information to determine, above a certainty threshold value, the absolute location of the primary wireless access point (Paragraph [0006] – “If the satellite timing signal has been lost for a relatively long time, there is a relatively large time difference between the time of the internal clock and time of a satellite due to insufficient accuracy of the internal clock”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify modify the wireless network of Zhao-Bogatin-Mirbagheri et al to include the means to insufficient timing signals from satellites as taught by the wireless network by Jia in order to find the situation where absolute location of the access point can not be determined due to insufficient timing signals.
As to claim 22, The combination of Zhao-Bogatin-Mirbagheri does not explicitly recite but in an analogous art, Jia (US 20220200653 A1 dated 2022-03-11) discloses The system as in claim 21, wherein the second timing signals include insufficient information to determine, above a certainty threshold value, the absolute location of the primary wireless access point (Paragraph [0006] – “If the satellite timing signal has been lost for a relatively long time, there is a relatively large time difference between the time of the internal clock and time of a satellite due to insufficient accuracy of the internal clock”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the wireless network of Zhao-Bogatin-Mirbagheri et al to include the means to insufficient timing signals from satellites as taught by the wireless network by Jia in order to find the situation where absolute location of the access point can not be determined due to insufficient timing signals.
Claim 8, 23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhao-Bogatin-Mirbagheri-Jia as applied in claim 1, 6, 7, 16, 21, 22 and further in view of Vaughan et al. (US 20180305042 A1 dated 2017-08-08)
As to claim 8, The combination of Zhao-Bogatin-Mirbagheri-Jia does not explicitly recite but in an analogous art, Vaughan et al. (US 20180305042 A1 dated 2017-08-08) discloses The method as in claim 7, wherein the second set of satellites includes at least one satellite in the first set of satellites (Paragraph [0042] – “Within the constellation of satellites 22 in system 10, each group of satellites 22 that share a common orbit (e.g., a common orbital inclination and altitude for a set of low earth orbiting satellites with circular orbits, a common elliptical orbital type for a set of medium earth orbit satellites, a common sun synchronous orbit, a geocentric orbit, etc.), may include any suitable number N of satellites 22.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the wireless network of Zhao-Bogatin-Mirbagheri-Jia et al to include the means to a common satellite among groups of satellites as taught by the wireless network of Vaughan et al. in order to coordinate between the groups of satellites to find absolute or relative location of the device.
As to claim 23, The combination of Zhao-Bogatin-Mirbagheri-Jia does not explicitly recite but in an analogous art, Vaughan et al. (US 20180305042 A1 dated 2017-08-08) discloses The system as in claim 22, wherein the second set of satellites includes at least one satellite in the first set of satellites (Paragraph [0042] – “Within the constellation of satellites 22 in system 10, each group of satellites 22 that share a common orbit (e.g., a common orbital inclination and altitude for a set of low earth orbiting satellites with circular orbits, a common elliptical orbital type for a set of medium earth orbit satellites, a common sun synchronous orbit, a geocentric orbit, etc.), may include any suitable number N of satellites 22.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the wireless network of Zhao-Bogatin-Mirbagheri-Jia et al to include the means to a common satellite among groups of satellites as taught by the wireless network of Vaughan et al. in order to coordinate between the groups of satellites to find absolute or relative location of the device.
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhao-Bogatin as applied in claim 1 and further in view of Ngo et al. (US 8681741 B1 dated 2011-03-09)
As to claim 9, Zhao-Bogatin et al. does not explicitly recite but in an analogous art, Ngo et al. (US 8681741 B1 dated 2011-03-09) discloses The method as in claim 1 further comprising: receiving first barometric pressure information obtained from a first pressure monitor device disposed at the xtender wireless access point; receiving second barometric pressure information obtained from a second pressure monitor disposed at the primary wireless access point; and utilizing the first barometric pressure information and the second barometric pressure information to determine the absolute location of the primary wireless access point (Col 14 Lines 20-23 – “Barometric pressure and acceleration sensors may also be used to detect absolute or relative location, or to detect movement and re-initiate a self-location sequence.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the wireless network of Zhao-Bogatin et al to include the means to the use of barometric pressure to find an absolute location as taught by the wireless network of Ngo et al. in order to find the absolute location of the primary wireless access point.
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhao-Bogatin as applied in claim 1 and further in view of Lee (US 20100254298 A1 dated 2007-10-18)
As to claim 10, Zhao-Bogatin et al. does not explicitly recite but in an analogous art, Lee (US 20100254298 A1 dated 2007-10-18) discloses The method as in claim 1, wherein operation of the extender wireless access point is controlled by the primary wireless access point (Paragraph [0051] – “These control signals (or "keep-alives") are transmitted continually at set intervals whilst the extender box 50 is being positioned in respect to the primary access point position 30.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the wireless network of Zhao-Bogatin et al to include the means to control of the extender by the primary access point as taught by wireless network of Lee in order to avoid any conflicts between the extender and primary access points.
Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhao-Bogatin as applied in claim 1 and further in view of Cook et al. (US 20220141911 A1 dated 2020-10-29)
As to claim 11, Zhao-Bogatin et al. does not explicitly recite but in an analogous art, Cook et al. (US 20220141911 A1 dated 2020-10-29) discloses The method as in claim 1, wherein the primary wireless access point provides a first set of mobile communication devices wireless access to the remote network; and wherein the xtender wireless access point is operative to provide a second set of mobile communication devices access to the remote network through the primary wireless access point. (Paragraph [0065] – “In the latter instance of implementing multiple backhauls from a respective wireless access point to the remote network, if the primary backhaul 121 happens to fail (such as performance below a threshold value), the first wireless access point 131 provides connectivity to the mobile communication devices via communications over a secondary backhaul connection between the first wireless access point 131 and the remote network 190.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the wireless network of Zhao-Bogatin et al to include the means to wireless access to the remote network as taught by the wireless network of Cook in order to communicate with the rest of the world.
Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhao-Bogatin as applied in claim 1 and further in view of JOHNSON et al. (WO 2011019525 A2 dated 2011-02-17)
As to claim 13, Zhao-Bogatin does not explicitly recite but in an analogous art, JOHNSON et al. (WO 2011019525 A2 dated 2011-02-17) discloses The method as in claim 1 further comprising: in response to detecting that a certainty associated with determining the absolute location of the primary wireless access point is below a threshold value, providing notification to move the extender wireless access point to a new location and subsequent to the movement of the extender wireless access point to the new location. determining the absolute location of the primary wireless access point based on the new location of the extender wireless access point and the vector value indicating the relative location of the primary wireless access point with respect to the extender wireless access point at the new location, the new location of the extender wireless access point determined based on the extender wireless access point receiving wireless signals from multiple satellites. (Paragraph [0134] – “At step 985, the service provider server 240 may reposition the access point and return to step 980 to re-test the location accuracy of the access point.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the wireless network of Zhao-Bogatin et al to include the means to moving the access point to a better location as taught by the wireless network of JOHNSON et al. in order to find the accurate absolute location of the extender access point.
Claim 14, 29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhao-Bogatin as applied in claim 1, 16 and further in view of Omer (US 20210099836 A1 dated 2020-05-05)
As to claim 14, Zhao-Bogatin et al. does not explicitly recite but in an analogous art, Omer (US 20210099836 A1 dated 2020-05-05) discloses The method as in claim 1 further comprising: determining the vector value based at least in part on a travel time of wireless signals between the primary wireless access point and the xtender wireless access point (Abstract – “The method also includes obtaining a motion vector based on wireless signals transmitted between access point nodes in the wireless mesh network during a second, subsequent time frame.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the wireless network of Zhao-Bogatin et al to include the means to a vector based on wireless signals transmitted between access points as taught by the wireless network of Omer in order to find relative location to each other.
As to claim 29, Zhao-Bogatin et al. does not explicitly recite but in an analogous art, Omer (US 20210099836 A1 dated 2020-05-05) discloses The system as in claim 16, wherein the communication management hardware is further operative to: determine the vector value based at least in part on a travel time of wireless signals conveyed between the primary wireless access point and the extender wireless access point (Abstract – “The method also includes obtaining a motion vector based on wireless signals transmitted between access point nodes in the wireless mesh network during a second, subsequent time frame.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the wireless network of Zhao-Bogatin et al to include the means to a vector based on wireless signals transmitted between access points as taught by the wireless network of Omer in order to find relative location to each other.
Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhao-Bogatin as applied in claim 1 and further in view of Khalid (US 20230300922 A1 dated 2022-01-27)
As to claim 15, Zhao-Bogatin et al. does not explicitly recite but in an analogous art, Khalid (US 20230300922 A1 dated 2022-01-27) discloses The method as in claim 1 further comprising: communicating the second location information indicating the absolute location of the primary wireless access point from the primary wireless access point to an allocation management resource; and from the allocation management resource, receiving notification of a channel allocated for use by the primary wireless access point (Paragraph [0090] – “Further example embodiments herein include, via the wireless access point 121, receiving allocation of one or more wireless channels from the allocation management resource 140 or other suitable entity.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the wireless network of Zhao-Bogatin et al to include the means to receiving channel allocation by allocation management resource as taught by the wireless network of Khalid in order to avoid interference among the communication devices.
Claim 31 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhao-Bogatin as applied in claim 1 and further in view of JOHNSON et al. (WO 2011019525 A2 dated 2011-02-17)
As to claim 31, Zhao-Bogatin does not explicitly recite but in an analogous art, JOHNSON et al. (WO 2011019525 A2 dated 2011-02-17) discloses (New) The method as in claim 1, wherein the absolute location of the primary wireless access point as indicated by the second information is a first estimated absolute location of the primary wireless access point; and in response to detecting a certainty of accuracy associated with the first estimated absolute location of the primary wireless access point being less than a threshold level, generating a notification indicating to move the extender wireless access point in a position to better receive wireless timing signals transmitted by satellites (Paragraph [0134] – “At step 985, the service provider server 240 may reposition the access point and return to step 980 to re-test the location accuracy of the access point.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the wireless network of Zhao-Bogatin et al to include the means to moving the access point to a better location as taught by the wireless network of JOHNSON et al. in order to find the accurate absolute location of the extender access point.
Claim 32 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhao-Bogatin as applied in claim 31 and further in view of JOHNSON et al. (WO 2011019525 A2 dated 2011-02-17)
As to claim 32, Zhao-Bogatin et al. does not explicitly recite but in an analogous art, JOHNSON et al. (WO 2011019525 A2 dated 2011-02-17) discloses (New) The method as in claim 31 further comprising: subsequent to moving of the extender wireless access point in the position to better receive the wireless timing signals, determining the absolute location of the extender wireless access point based on the received wireless timing signals transmitted by the satellites (Paragraph [0134] – “At step 985, the service provider server 240 may reposition the access point and return to step 980 to re-test the location accuracy of the access point.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the wireless network of Zhao-Bogatin et al to include the means to moving the access point to a better location as taught by the wireless network of JOHNSON et al. in order to find the accurate absolute location of the extender access point.
Claim 36 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhao-Bogatin as applied in claim 1 and further in view of JOHNSON et al. (WO 2011019525 A2 dated 2011-02-17)
As to claim 36, Zhao-Bogatin does not explicitly recite but in an analogous art, JOHNSON et al. (WO 2011019525 A2 dated 2011-02-17) discloses (Previously Presented) The method as in claim 1 further comprising: repeatedly communicating notifications to move the extender wireless access point to better receive wireless timing signals transmitted by satellites in order to determine the absolute location of the primary wireless access point above a certainty threshold level (Paragraph [0134] – “At step 985, the service provider server 240 may reposition the access point and return to step 980 to re-test the location accuracy of the access point.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the wireless network of Zhao-Bogatin et al to include the means to moving the access point to a better location as taught by the wireless network of JOHNSON et al. in order to find the accurate absolute location of the extender access point.
Claim 37 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhao-Bogatin as applied in claim 4 and further in view of Cook et al. (US 20220141911 A1 dated 2020-10-29)
As to claim 37, Zhao-Bogatin et al. does not explicitly recite but in an analogous art, Cook et al. (US 20220141911 A1 dated 2020-10-29) discloses (Currently Amended) The method as in claim 4, wherein the extender wireless access point is operative to provide second mobile communication devices access to the remote network through the primary wireless access point; and wherein the primary wireless access point provides the first mobile communication devices access to the remote network (Paragraph [0065] – “In the latter instance of implementing multiple backhauls from a respective wireless access point to the remote network, if the primary backhaul 121 happens to fail (such as performance below a threshold value), the first wireless access point 131 provides connectivity to the mobile communication devices via communications over a secondary backhaul connection between the first wireless access point 131 and the remote network 190.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the wireless network of Zhao-Bogatin et al to include the means to wireless access to the remote network as taught by the wireless network of Cook in order to communicate with the rest of the world.
Claim 38 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhao-Bogatin as applied in claim 1 and further in view of Duan et al. (US 20240114480 A1 date filed on May 25, 2021), hereinafter Zhao-Bogatin-Duan
As to claim 38, Zhao-Bogatin et al. does not explicitly recite but in an analogous art, Duan et al. (US 20240114480 A1 date filed on May 25, 2021) discloses (New) The method as in claim 1, wherein the primary wireless access point is operative to provide a first set of mobile communication devices wireless access to the remote network; wherein the extender wireless access point is operative to provide a second set of mobile communication devices access to the remote network through the primary wireless access point; wherein the vector value is a 3-D position offset vector indicative of: i) a distance between the extender wireless access point and the primary wireless access point, the distance determined based at least in part on a time to convey a wireless communication between the extender wireless access point and the primary wireless access point, and ii) an angular orientation of the primary wireless access point with respect to the extender wireless access point; wherein the first location information includes attributes of first timing signals received at the extender wireless access point, the first timing signals received from a first set of satellites, utilizing the first timing signals to produce a first location value indicating the absolute location of the extender wireless access point; receiving second timing signals at the primary wireless access point, the second timing signals received from a second set of satellites, wherein the second timing signals include insufficient information to determine, above a certainty threshold value, the absolute location of the primary wireless access point; and wherein the second location information is generated to indicate the absolute location of the primary wireless access point based on the first location information and the vector value in response to detecting an inability to determine the absolute location of the primary wireless access point based on wireless signals received directly at the primary wireless access point from the second set of satellites (Paragraph [0035] – “The estimated location of the mobile device 1200 can be estimated geometrically (e.g., using multiangulation and/or multilateration), based on the distance and/or angle measurements, along with known position of the one or more components.” Here a component is the extender wireless access point whose location information is known. Even though satellite is not used in the prior art, a person having ordinary skill in the art could use the distance and direction measuring concepts in terrestrial networks instead of satellite network).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the wireless network of Zhao-Bogatin et al to include the means to receiving the distance and/or angle measurements, along with known position of the one or more components as taught by the wireless network of Duan et al. in order to find the absolute location of the primary access point in case satellites are not in line of sight.
Claim 39 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhao-Bogatin-Duan as applied in claim 38 and further in view of JOHNSON et al. (WO 2011019525 A2 dated 2011-02-17)
As to claim 39, Zhao-Bogatin-Duan does not explicitly recite but in an analogous art, JOHNSON et al. (WO 2011019525 A2 dated 2011-02-17) discloses (Previously Presented) The method as in claim 38 further comprising: in response to detecting that an accuracy associated with a first determined instance of the absolute location of the primary wireless access point is below a threshold value, providing notification to move the extender wireless access point to a new location (Paragraph [0134] – “At step 985, the service provider server 240 may reposition the access point and return to step 980 to re-test the location accuracy of the access point.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the wireless network of Zhao-Bogatin-Duan et al to include the means to moving the access point to a better location as taught by the wireless network of JOHNSON et al. in order to find the accurate absolute location of the extender access point.
Remarks/Arguments
All the arguments and remarks posted on 12/24/2025 have been reviewed.
In response to Applicant’s arguments regarding claim 1, 16 and 30 on page 16, Zhao does not teach that the extender wireless access point is in wireless communication with a primary wireless access point over a first wireless communication link, the Examiner disagrees because paragraph [0025] of Zhao says, “The initiating UWB may transmit a query to the bridge devices to obtain relative location information associated with the target UWB device and other bridge devices.”. Here the initiating device acts as a primary wireless access point.
In response to Applicant’s arguments, Zhao does not teach that the primary wireless access point provides the extended wireless access point connectivity to a remote network, the Examiner disagrees because paragraph [0025] of Zhao says, “The initiating UWB may transmit a query to the bridge devices to obtain relative location information associated with the target UWB device and other bridge devices.”. Here the initiating device acts as a master and the bridge acts as a slave. It means that the bridge is getting connectivity to a remote network via the initiating device.
In response to the Applicant’s arguments regarding claim 2 on page 19, “Satellite signals in the claimed invention are not reply wireless signals as in Weissman”, the Examiner respectfully disagrees. Even though satellite is not used in the prior art, a person having ordinary skill in the art could use the distance and direction measuring concepts from terrestrial networks in a satellite network. Additionally, Johnson reference is used above which teaches location finding and movement of access points in a satellite network.
In response to the Applicant’s arguments regarding claim 2 on page 19, “Applicants respectfully submit that Weissman indicates to derive location information 940 based upon receipt of reply wireless signals.”, the Examiner respectfully disagrees. The applicant has quoted this from different part of the reference. The citation for claim 2 says in Paragraph [0068], “The location information may be an absolute location (e.g., coordinates of the location relative to a reference origin such as the origin of the Earth) determined using the distance and direction from the reader device to the transponder and a known location of the reader device (e.g., determined by using a satellite positioning system)”.
In response to the Applicant’s arguments regarding claim 3 on page 21, “Perkins indicates to implement a localization function by a tag sending wireless signals to other devices, where the other devices analyze the wireless signals to determine a location and orientation of the tag.”, the Examiner respectfully disagrees. The applicant has quoted it from a different part of the reference. The citation from Perkins et al. says in Paragraph [0170], “For example, spatial parameters may include parameters such as a distance between objects, a location in a particular geography (e.g., latitude and longitude coordinates), a unit vector pointing from one object to another object, an orientation (also referred to as an angular position or attitude) of an object in three-dimensional space, or the like.” It talks about distance between two objects, unit vector and an angular orientation (Fig 10 of Zhao) as mentioned in the claim.
In response to the Applicant’s arguments regarding claim 4 on page 23, “Bogatin indicates that a respective device may receive a signal strength indicator from a source and compare it to measured values.”, the Examiner respectfully disagrees. Here the source as the primary wireless access point is transmitting the signal strength indicator that is received by the respective device, it is being compared to the measured values for the purpose of the primary wireless access point’s control on wireless power level of transmitting wireless signals from itself.
In response to the Applicant’s arguments regarding claim 5 on page 25, “Vaidya indicates to implement swapping of wireless channels to provide more efficient use of wireless resources.”, the Examiner respectfully disagrees. Vaidya cites the allocation management resource to control operation of the wireless base station or access point in order to provide the wireless access points protected use of the newly assigned wireless channels.
In response to the Applicant’s arguments regarding claim 6 on page 27, “Mirbagheri indicates that a single wireless access point may receive satellite signals to determine its location.” The citation did not mention ‘single’, rather mentioned “The position location and timing signals 18a-n transmitted from one or more satellites 20a-n may be received by a first base station, or eNodeB 210 (also known as an access point)”, it means that there can be two different access points or more.
In response to the Applicant’s arguments regarding claim 7 on page 28, “Jia indicates an inability of a respective GNSS module to obtain a satellite timing signal. In such an instance, there may be a large difference between the time of the internal clock of the GNSS module in the satellite.”, the Examiner explains. This inability of a respective GNSS module to obtain a satellite timing signal is an example of a cause for insufficient information, insufficient information is mentioned in the claim. Thereby the Examiner respectfully disagrees.
In response to the Applicant’s arguments regarding claim 8 on page 30, “Mere mention that a group of satellites including any number of satellites has nothing to do with a primary wireless access point receiving a first set of satellite signals from a first group of satellites and an extender wireless access point receiving a second set of satellite signals from a second group of satellites in a manner as recited by the claimed invention, especially not in which the primary wireless access point and an extender wireless access point both receiving a common satellite signal.”, the Examiner respectfully disagrees. The claim itself mentioned at least one satellite commonality between two sets of satellites. The citation talks about such commonality among the satellites.
In response to the Applicant’s arguments regarding claim 10 on page 32, “There is no indication that operation of the extender box 50 is controlled the communications over a first wireless communication link with a primary access point.”, the Examiner disagrees. Paragraph [0053] says that the primary access point is controlling the extender. It says, “the next step is to use this channel for the primary access point to pass information to the extender. The first information provided is to configure the extender to work on the common channel 500.” We are equating this configuring to the claimed controlling.
In response to the Applicant’s arguments regarding claim 12 on page 33, “Accordingly, Bogatin is not relevant to the claimed invention”, the Examiner respectfully disagrees. Bogatin shows a vector translation to find an absolute location of a device that is the primary wireless access point as mentioned in the claim. Paragraph [0030] of Bogatin says, “The geometric mean of the locations determined by each device is evaluated and a vector translation of each of location estimate derived from inertial navigation system are vectorially translated in this geometric mean position, which provides a set of absolute location values that are clustered around the true position of the device by plotting a probability distribution with mean and variance for absolute position of each device.” Here Bogatin is using vector translation to find the absolute location of a device as mentioned in the claim that the absolute location of the primary wireless access point is determined using the vector translation.
In response to applicant’s arguments regarding claim 13 on page 24, “There is no indication in the prior art of moving any wireless access point, especially not in response to detecting uncertainty of the location of the wireless access point being below threshold level.”, the Examiner agrees. The rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further search and consideration, JOHNSON et al. (WO 2011019525 A2 dated 2011-02-17) has rejected this claim, the details are given under the claim above.
In response to applicant’s arguments regarding claim 31 on page 26, “There is no indication in the prior art of providing notification to move any wireless access point, especially not in response to detecting uncertainty of the estimated absolute location of the wireless access point is below threshold level.”, the Examiner agrees. The rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further search and consideration, JOHNSON et al. (WO 2011019525 A2 dated 2011-02-17) has rejected this claim, the details are given under the claim above.
In response to applicant’s arguments regarding claim 32 on page 28, “There is no indication of moving in extender wireless access point in a position to better receive wireless timing signals in a manner as recited by the claimed invention.”, the Examiner agrees. The rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further search and consideration, JOHNSON et al. (WO 2011019525 A2 dated 2011-02-17) has rejected this claim, the details are given under the claim above.
In response to applicant’s arguments regarding claim 35 on page 33, “Applicants respectfully submit that there is no indication in the cited prior art of any vector value between an extender wireless access point and a primary wireless access point, especially not in which the vector value is based on travel time of a wireless signal between the primary wireless access point in the extender wireless access point and an angular orientation of the primary wireless access point respect to the extender wireless access point.”, the Examiner respectfully disagrees. Fig. 10 of Zhao shows that the vector value is based on travel time of a wireless signal, the figure shows the time stamps along with the distance and angular direction.
In response to applicant’s arguments regarding claim 38 on page 35, “Duan indicates to measure the location of a mobile communication device in a network environment.”, the Examiner respectfully disagrees. Even though satellite is not used in the prior art, a person having ordinary skill in the art could use the distance and direction measuring concepts in terrestrial networks instead of satellite network. Additionally, Johnson reference is disclosed above teaching a satellite network.
Based on the Applicant’s remarks and arguments and further search, the claims 33, 34 are allowable. Claims 33, 34 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.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 33, 34 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 reasons why the claims 33, 34 could be allowed are given below.
First timing signals and second timing signals from a first set of satellites and a second set of satellites respectively could not be found in any prior art.
Conclusion
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/ABDULLAH AL MAMUN/Examiner, Art Unit 2646
/MATTHEW D. ANDERSON/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2646