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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 12/22/2025 has been entered.
Response to Amendments
The amendment filed 12/22/2025 is entered.
Claims 1 and 9 are amended.
Claim 17 is new.
Claims 1, 3-9, and 11-17 are pending.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 10-11, with respect to Claim Rejections under 35 USC 102 have been considered but are moot because the arguments do not apply to the specific combination of references being used in the current rejection.
Claim Interpretation
Regarding Claims 1, 3, 5-8, and 17, the claims recite contingent limitations (e.g., “wherein when it is determined that the reference value is not satisfied…” in Claim 1). The broadest reasonable interpretation of a method (or process) claim having contingent limitations requires only those steps that must be performed and does not include steps that are not required to be performed because the condition(s) precedent are not met. See MPEP 2111.04 II.
Claim Objections
Claims 1 and 9 are objected to because of the following informalities:
In Claim 1, line 28, change the period to a comma.
In Claim 1, line 29, add the word “wherein” so that the limitation reads “wherein the positioning of the moving object…”
In Claim 1, line 30, add the word “wherein” so that the limitation reads “wherein the second positioning data is calculated…”
In Claim 9, line 25, change the period to a comma.
In Claim 9, line 27, add the words “wherein” so that the limitation reads “wherein the second positioning data is calculated…”
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims
particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the
inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out
and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his
invention.
Claims 1, 9, and 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ),
second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the
subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA
35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding Claim 1, the claim recites the limitation “a second distance information.” It is unclear if there is a first distance information, or if “a second distance information” refers to the second positioning data or to something else. This rejection also applies to the corresponding limitation in Claim 9.
Regarding Claim 17, the claim recites the limitation “when a radian change per second is a first change amount.” It is unclear if this is meant to be a conditional limitation (i.e., when the first, second, and third change amount are the values claimed, then each value is calculated is calculated by the claimed equations), or if “when” should be “wherein.” For examination purposes, the limitation is interpreted as being conditional.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C.
102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the
statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a
new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection,
would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness
rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the
claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the
differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the
claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing
date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which
the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in
which the invention was made.
Claims 1, 3-9, and 11-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jeong (KR 102018517 B1) in view of Wikipedia (Wikipedia, “Section formula,” 30 October 2020).
Regarding Claim 1, Jeong discloses:
A method for indoor positioning ([0006]), the method comprising:
setting node data depending upon preset rules on a movement path where a moving object is movable with respect to an indoor space, the node data including information regarding a location of a positioning sensor ([0006]: “movement path”; “installation locations of beacon transmitters”; [0089]: “the installation location of the beacon signal transmitter may vary depending on the desired indoor positioning accuracy”);
obtaining first positioning data capable of determining a first section in which the moving object is currently located, by using at least one of the node data, first sensing data obtained through a sensor unit provided in the moving object, and second sensing data obtained through the positioning sensor provided in the indoor space ([0006]: “indoor positioning of the vehicle”; [0036]: “The indoor positioning unit (152) performs positioning of the client (100) within the parking lot by using at least one of the values sensed through the sensor unit (140) and the data included in the signal transmitted from the outside through the communication unit (120)”; [0086]: “indoor positioning of the vehicle may be performed using only sensing data from the sensor unit”);
determining whether the first positioning data satisfies a preset reference value for a boundary node defining the first section ([0006]: “located in the space between two adjacent beacon transmitters”; “within a preset range”); and
determining subsequent positioning data of the first positioning data on a basis of at least one of the node data, information indicating whether the reference value is satisfied, and information indicating whether the moving object at the boundary node rotates ([0006]: “whether it is located in correspondence with a specific beacon transmitter, whether it is located in the space between two adjacent beacon transmitters, and whether the vehicle changes direction”; [0036]),
wherein when it is determined that the reference value is not satisfied in the determining of whether the reference value is satisfied, the determining of the subsequent positioning data includes calculating boundary coordinate values of boundary node data among the node data and a size of the second sensing data so as to obtain second positioning data regarding a location between the boundary nodes, in which the size of the second sensing data corresponds to a signal strength of the positioning sensor ([0006]: “whether it is located in the space between two adjacent beacon transmitters”; “the distance between each beacon transmitter and the vehicle is measured based on the RSSI”; [0092]: “coordinate information”),
wherein the second positioning data is obtained by calculating a point of internal division between the boundary coordinate value of the boundary node data and the size of the second sensing data ([0006]: “the location of the vehicle is determined between the two adjacent beacon transmitters using the ratio between the two calculated distances”; [0103]: “For example, if the ratio of the calculated distance to beacon transmitter 1 and the calculated distance to beacon transmitter 2 is 2:3, the vehicle can be determined to be located at the 2:3 point between beacon transmitters 1 and 2.”);
wherein the boundary node data represents the location coordinates (X₁, Y1) and (X2, Y₂) of the first and second nodes N1 and N2 ([0092]: “coordinate information corresponding to the installation location of the beacon transmitter”; [0103]: “two adjacent beacon transmitters”), and the second positioning data represents the subsequent location coordinates (X, Y) of the moving object ([0103]: “location of the vehicle”),
wherein a second distance information includes a first distance d1 between the moving object and the first node N1 and a second distance d2 between the moving object and the second node N2 ([0103]: “calculated distance 1, calculated distance 2”).
the positioning of the moving object between the first and second nodes N1 and N2 on a straight path is the second positioning data … ([0102]: “when the vehicle moves between two adjacent beacon transmitters on a straight path”; [0103]).
Jeong does not explicitly teach – but Wikipedia teaches:
the second positioning data is calculated by Equation 1 and Equation 2 (Wikipedia [pg. 1]: “Internal Divisions”; Examiner note: the equation for P is equivalent to the claimed Equation 1 and Equation 2).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to use the internal division section formula, as taught by Wikipedia, to determine the second positioning data. Wikipedia provides a well-known formula for calculating a point of internal division, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that this formula is a straightforward implementation of the calculation taught by Jeong.
Regarding Claim 9, Jeong discloses:
An apparatus for indoor positioning ([0006]; [0011]), the apparatus comprising:
a control unit and a sensor unit ([0011]; [0030]), wherein the control unit is configured to set node data depending upon preset rules on a movement path of a moving object with respect to an indoor space, the node data including information regarding a location of a positioning sensor ([0006]: “movement path”; “installation locations of beacon transmitters”; [0089]: “the installation location of the beacon signal transmitter may vary depending on the desired indoor positioning accuracy”);
obtain first positioning data capable of determining a first section in which the moving object is currently located, by using at least one of the node data, first sensing data obtained through a sensor unit, and second sensing data obtained through the positioning sensor provided in the indoor space ([0006]: “indoor positioning of the vehicle”; [0036]: “The indoor positioning unit (152) performs positioning of the client (100) within the parking lot by using at least one of the values sensed through the sensor unit (140) and the data included in the signal transmitted from the outside through the communication unit (120)”; [0086]: “indoor positioning of the vehicle may be performed using only sensing data from the sensor unit”);
determine whether the first positioning data satisfies a preset reference value for a boundary node defining the first section; ([0006]: “located in the space between two adjacent beacon transmitters”; “within a preset range”); and
determine subsequent positioning data of the first positioning data on a basis of at least one of the node data, information indicating whether the reference value is satisfied, and information indicating whether the moving object at the boundary node rotates ([0006]: “whether it is located in correspondence with a specific beacon transmitter, whether it is located in the space between two adjacent beacon transmitters, and whether the vehicle changes direction”; [0036]),
wherein when it is determined that the reference value is not satisfied when determining whether the reference value is satisfied, the control unit is configured to calculate boundary coordinate values of boundary node data among the node data and a size of the second sensing data so as to obtain second positioning data regarding a location between the boundary nodes, in which the size of the second sensing data corresponds to a signal strength of the positioning sensor ([0006]: “whether it is located in the space between two adjacent beacon transmitters”; “the distance between each beacon transmitter and the vehicle is measured based on the RSSI”; [0092]: “coordinate information”),
wherein the second positioning data is obtained by calculating a point of internal division between the boundary coordinate value of the boundary node data and the size of the second sensing data ([0006]: “the location of the vehicle is determined between the two adjacent beacon transmitters using the ratio between the two calculated distances”; [0103]: “For example, if the ratio of the calculated distance to beacon transmitter 1 and the calculated distance to beacon transmitter 2 is 2:3, the vehicle can be determined to be located at the 2:3 point between beacon transmitters 1 and 2.”);
wherein the boundary node data represents the location coordinates (X₁, Y1) and (X2, Y₂) of the first and second nodes N1 and N2 ([0092]: “coordinate information corresponding to the installation location of the beacon transmitter”; [0103]: “two adjacent beacon transmitters”), and the second positioning data represents the subsequent location coordinates (X, Y) of the moving object ([0103]: “location of the vehicle”),
wherein a second distance information includes a first distance d1 between the moving object and the first node N1 and a second distance d2 between the moving object and the second node N2 ([0103]: “calculated distance 1, calculated distance 2”).
wherein the positioning of the moving object between the first and second nodes N1 and N2 on a straight path is the second positioning data … ([0102]: “when the vehicle moves between two adjacent beacon transmitters on a straight path”; [0103]).
Jeong does not explicitly teach – but Wikipedia teaches:
the second positioning data is calculated by Equation 1 and Equation 2 (Wikipedia [pg. 1]: “Internal Divisions”; Examiner note: the equation for P is equivalent to the claimed Equation 1 and Equation 2).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to use the internal division section formula, as taught by Wikipedia, to determine the second positioning data. Wikipedia provides a well-known formula for calculating a point of internal division, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that this formula is a straightforward implementation of the calculation taught by Jeong.
Regarding Claims 3 and 11, Jeong discloses: wherein when it is determined that the reference value is satisfied in the determining of whether the reference value is satisfied, or when it is determined that the boundary node is a rotation node at which the moving object rotates on the basis of the node data, the determining of the subsequent positioning data includes determining rotation information indicating whether the moving object at a corresponding boundary node rotates and including a rotational direction on the basis of at least one of the node data and direction data calculated on the basis of the first sensing data; and calculating the subsequent positioning data for a subsequent section of the first section on the moving path of the moving object depending upon the determination result ([0006]: “whether it is located in the space between two adjacent beacon transmitters, and whether the vehicle changes direction”; [0106]: “detect that the vehicle has changed direction when the vehicle's direction changes at the corner where the No. 1 beacon transmitter is located, and can perform vehicle positioning between the No. 1 beacon transmitter and the No. 6 beacon transmitter.”).
Regarding Claims 4 and 12, Jeong discloses: wherein the determining of the rotation information indicating whether the moving object at a corresponding boundary node rotates includes: calculating first direction data regarding an amount of rotation of the moving object by using the first sensing data; and determining second direction data regarding the rotation direction by associating the first direction data with the node data, in which the first direction data is calculated by performing a fusion operation on two sets of a first coordinate value of the first sensing data and a second coordinate value of the second sensing data ([0006]; [0031]; [0032]: “The control unit (150) uses the sensing values of the acceleration sensor (142) and the gyro sensor (144) to determine the direction in which the client (100) is facing”; [0083-0084]).
Regarding Claims 5 and 13, Jeong discloses: wherein when it is determined that the reference value is satisfied in the determining of whether the reference value is satisfied, and when it is determined that the boundary node is not a rotation node at which the moving object rotates, the method includes: updating the first positioning data to data of any one boundary node data among the boundary nodes; and obtaining third positioning data for a second section on an extension line in an existing traveling direction of the moving object, in which the second section is a section adjacent to the first section ([0006]; [0099]: “the client (100) can determine that the vehicle is moving from beacon transmitter number 5 to beacon transmitter number 10 if the vehicle's direction (Compass) does not change and the distance from beacon transmitter number 5 becomes greater than a preset value. At this time, the value of the Pre-pos variable becomes 10 and the value of the Line variable becomes 6.”).
Regarding Claims 6 and 14, Jeong discloses: wherein when it is determined that the boundary node of the first section does not satisfy the reference value in the determining of whether the reference value is satisfied, when it is determined that the node satisfying the reference value is a different node other than the boundary node of the first section, and when it is determined that the different node is not a rotation node at which the moving object rotates, the method includes: updating the first positioning data to data of the different node; and obtaining third positioning data for a third section on an extension line in an existing traveling direction of the moving object, in which the different node is a boundary node of the third section ([0006]; [0103]: “determines the location of the vehicle between the two adjacent beacon transmitters using the ratio between the two calculated distances”; [0104]: “if the distance between the vehicle and beacon transmitter No. 4 is less than a preset value, the current location of the vehicle is updated by replacing it with the location of beacon transmitter No. 4.”).
Regarding Claims 7 and 15, Jeong discloses: wherein when it is determined that a the moving object at a boundary node rotates in the determining of the rotation information indicating whether the moving object at a corresponding boundary node rotates, the method includes: determining a position of a proximity positioning sensor using the second sensing data; and obtaining fourth positioning data corresponding to a section that is in a direction different from the existing traveling direction of the moving object depending upon a location of the proximity positioning sensor ([0110-0111]; [0112]: “the control unit (150) of the client (100) can determine whether the vehicle turns left and moves toward beacon transmitter number 1 or turns right and moves toward beacon transmitter number 11, depending on the value to which the vehicle's direction (Compass) changes.”).
Regarding Claims 8 and 16, Jeong discloses: wherein when the proximity positioning sensor is located in the existing traveling direction, the fourth positioning sensor includes: fifth positioning data obtained in a section changed depending upon the second direction data; sixth positioning data obtained between a node of the proximity positioning sensor and a node adjacent thereto when the proximity positioning sensor is located in the changed section; and seventh positioning data obtained in a section changed to a closest node’s section in the existing traveling direction when the proximity positioning sensor is not located anywhere in the existing traveling direction and the changed section ([0006]; “the location of the vehicle is determined between the two adjacent beacon transmitters using the ratio between the two calculated distances”; “the location of the vehicle is determined based on the installation location of the specific beacon transmitter”; [0031]: “acceleration sensor”; “gyro sensor”; [0100]: “the client (100) can determine that the vehicle has changed direction and is moving toward the 4th beacon transmitter when the vehicle's compass has changed.”; [0106-0112]).
Claim 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jeong (KR 102018517 B1) in view of Manos (Manos et al., “Gravity-Based Methods for Heading Computation in Pedestrian Dead Reckoning,” 2019).
Regarding Claim 17, Jeong teaches:
A method for indoor positioning, the method comprising:
setting node data depending upon preset rules on a movement path where a moving object is movable with respect to an indoor space, the node data including information regarding a location of a positioning sensor ([0006]: “movement path”; “installation locations of beacon transmitters”; [0089]: “the installation location of the beacon signal transmitter may vary depending on the desired indoor positioning accuracy”);
obtaining first positioning data capable of determining a first section in which the moving object is currently located, by using at least one of the node data, first sensing data obtained through a sensor unit provided in the moving object, and second sensing data obtained through the positioning sensor provided in the indoor space ([0006]: “indoor positioning of the vehicle”; [0036]: “The indoor positioning unit (152) performs positioning of the client (100) within the parking lot by using at least one of the values sensed through the sensor unit (140) and the data included in the signal transmitted from the outside through the communication unit (120)”; [0086]: “indoor positioning of the vehicle may be performed using only sensing data from the sensor unit”);
determining whether the first positioning data satisfies a preset reference value for a boundary node defining the first section ([0006]: “located in the space between two adjacent beacon transmitters”; “within a preset range”); and
determining subsequent positioning data of the first positioning data on a basis of at least one of the node data, information indicating whether the reference value is satisfied, and information indicating whether the moving object at the boundary node rotates ([0006]: “whether it is located in correspondence with a specific beacon transmitter, whether it is located in the space between two adjacent beacon transmitters, and whether the vehicle changes direction”; [0036]),
wherein when it is determined that the reference value is not satisfied in the determining of whether the reference value is satisfied, the determining of the subsequent positioning data includes calculating boundary coordinate values of boundary node data among the node data and a size of the second sensing data so as to obtain second positioning data regarding a location between the boundary nodes, in which the size of the second sensing data corresponds to a signal strength of the positioning sensor ([0006]: “whether it is located in the space between two adjacent beacon transmitters”; “the distance between each beacon transmitter and the vehicle is measured based on the RSSI”; [0092]: “coordinate information”),
wherein the second positioning data is obtained by calculating a point of internal division between the boundary coordinate value of the boundary node data and the size of the second sensing data ([0006]: “the location of the vehicle is determined between the two adjacent beacon transmitters using the ratio between the two calculated distances”; [0103]: “For example, if the ratio of the calculated distance to beacon transmitter 1 and the calculated distance to beacon transmitter 2 is 2:3, the vehicle can be determined to be located at the 2:3 point between beacon transmitters 1 and 2.”),
wherein when it is determined that the reference value is satisfied in the determining of whether the reference value is satisfied, or when it is determined that the boundary node is a rotation node at which the moving object rotates on the basis of the node data, the determining of the subsequent positioning data includes determining rotation information indicating whether the moving object at a corresponding boundary node rotates and including a rotational direction on the basis of at least one of the node data and direction data calculated on the basis of the first sensing data; and calculating the subsequent positioning data for a subsequent section of the first section on the moving path of the moving object depending upon the determination result ([0006]: “whether it is located in the space between two adjacent beacon transmitters, and whether the vehicle changes direction”; [0034]: “determining the direction and rotation of the vehicle”; [0106]: “detect that the vehicle has changed direction when the vehicle's direction changes at the corner where the No. 1 beacon transmitter is located, and can perform vehicle positioning between the No. 1 beacon transmitter and the No. 6 beacon transmitter.”),
wherein the determining of the rotation information indicating whether the moving object at a corresponding boundary node rotates includes: calculating first direction data regarding an amount of rotation of the moving object by using the first sensing data; and determining second direction data regarding the rotation direction by associating the first direction data with the node data, in which the first direction data is calculated by performing a fusion operation on two sets of a first coordinate value of the first sensing data and a second coordinate value of the second sensing data ([0006]; [0031]; [0032]: “The control unit (150) uses the sensing values of the acceleration sensor (142) and the gyro sensor (144) to determine the direction in which the client (100) is facing”; [0034]: “determining the direction and rotation of the vehicle” [0083-0084]),
wherein the first coordinate value and the second coordinate value are (acc(x), acc(y), acc(z)), (gyr(x), gyr(y), gyr(z)), respectively ([0031]: “The acceleration sensor (142) is for sensing the acceleration of the client (100) and may be a three-axis sensor of the X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis. The gyro sensor (144) is for sensing the angular velocity of the client (100) and may be a three-axis sensor of Rx, Ry, and Rz.”), the first direction data includes … change amount ([0084]: “angle change”) …
Jeong does not explicitly teach – but Manos teaches:
the first direction data includes first change amount, second change amount, and third change amount, when a radian change per second is a first change amount (Δs1), a degree change per second is a second change amount (Δs2), and an actual degree change is a third change amount (Δs3), each value thereof is calculated by Equation 3, Equation 4 and Equation 5 (Manos [pgs. 4 and 9]: Equations (7), (33), and (34); Examiner note: Claimed Equation 3 is equivalent to Manos’s Equations (7) and (33) for calculating angular rate. Claimed Equation 4 is merely a unit change from rad/s to deg/s, which is well-known. Claimed Equation 5 is merely the discretized form of Manos’s Equation (34) and a conversion from seconds to milliseconds.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Jeong and calculate the first direction data using the equations taught by Manos. Both Jeong and Manos are directed to indoor positioning using IMU sensors, and Manos’s technique for determining turning rate would improve the estimation accuracy of Jeong’s method.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NOAH Y. ZHU whose telephone number is (571)270-0170. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 8AM-4PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, William J. Kelleher can be reached on (571) 272-7753. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/NOAH YI MIN ZHU/Examiner, Art Unit 3648
/William Kelleher/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3648