DETAILED ACTION
This communication is responsive to Application No. #18/150216 filed on January 5, 2023. Claims 1-20 are subject to examination.
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 § 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.
Claims 9-20 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 pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Regarding claims 9 and 17, the claims recite the limitation, "… a quality of a connection to the communications network while the unmanned vehicle is traveling along a path …” (emphasis added). There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. For purposes of examination, the Examiner has interpreted the limitation to read: "… a quality of a connection to a communications network while the unmanned vehicle is traveling along a path …” (emphasis added).
Regarding claims 10-16 and 18-20, claims 10-16 each depend on independent claim 9, and claims 18-20 each depend on independent claim 17 and therefore, inherit the 35 U.S.C. 112(b) issues of the independent claims.
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 for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1-4, 8-12, and 16-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Qureshi et.al. (US Patent Number 11895508, hereinafter, “Qureshi”) in view of Azizi et.al. (US Patent Application Publication, 20190364492, hereinafter, “Azizi”).
Regarding claim 1, Qureshi teaches:
A method for dynamic extension of a communications network, the method comprising (Qureshi: Moving on to FIG. 1B, shown is an example scenario 150 involving a UV 111 [unmanned vehicles] providing network connectivity and/or edge computing capacity along a travel path 153 in accordance with one or more embodiments ... [Column 8, lines 63-66] Fig. 1B):
monitoring, by a processor of an UV fleet management service, a quality of a connection to the communications network while the unmanned vehicle is traveling along a path (Qureshi: The travel paths 448 describe the projected routes of one or more UVs 111 in a fleet of UVs 111 that provide edge computing capacity and/or network connectivity. Individual travel paths 448 may indicate a starting location, an ending location, and optionally one or more intermediate locations … Beginning with box 503, the UV fleet management service 426 determines to add coverage to an RBN 103 (FIG. 1A). In some cases, the RBN 103 [radio-based network] may include a plurality of radio units 163 (FIG. 1C) previously placed by UVs 111 (FIG. 1A) … the RBN management service 424 (FIG. 4) may automatically determine that there is a coverage gap [interpreted as poor/no connection quality] in an area for the RBN 103 such that additional coverage is necessary and then make a request via the UV resource request API 428 ... [Column 29, lines 12-16, Column 30, lines 61-67, Column 31, lines 1-5] Figs. 4, 5A);
deploying, by the unmanned vehicle while traveling along the path, an edge communications device each time the quality of the connection is below a threshold value (Qureshi: ... In some cases, the RBN management service 424 may automatically monitor various RBN metrics 443 (FIG. 4), and determine that additional coverage is needed in an area based upon failure to of the RBN metric 443 to meet one or more QoS parameters 453 (FIG. 4) [i.e., interpreted as not meeting a threshold of quality] … In box 506, the UV fleet management service 426 identifies a particular UV 111 from the fleet of UVs 111 based at least in part on a proximity of the UV 111 to the area where coverage is needed ... Thus, in some cases, the UV fleet management service 426 may deploy the nearest UV 111 to the area ... In some cases, the UV fleet management service 426 identifies a set of a plurality of UVs 111 to work in concert in order to provide the needed coverage ... [Column 31, lines 4-8, lines 16-35] Fig. 5A);
measuring, by the unmanned vehicle, environmental data along the path (Qureshi: … In some cases, the UV fleet management service 426 may identify an RBN 103 as having a coverage gap along the travel path 448, which may be determined observationally by signal strength measurements by UVs 111 or by other approaches ... [Column 37, lines 10-14] Fig. 7); and
collecting, by the unmanned vehicle, the edge communications devices as the unmanned vehicle retraces the path (Qureshi: Beginning with box 518, the UV fleet management service 426 determines to remove a radio unit 163 (FIG. 1C) from an RBN 103 (FIG. 1A). For example … the demand associated with the coverage provided by the radio unit 163 may have diminished. [Column 32, lines 64-66, Column 33, lines 1-5] Fig. 5B).
Although Qureshi teaches the travel paths of one or more UVs 111 in a fleet of UVs 111 that provide edge computing capacity and/or network connectivity, Qureshi does not explicitly teach:
monitoring, by … an unmanned vehicle ...
However, in the same field of endeavor, Azizi teaches:
monitoring, by a processor of an unmanned vehicle … (Azizi: [1999] Accordingly, some aspects may provide a method of managing a floating cell of drones, e.g., floating cell 22905, using one or more anchor drones, e.g., anchor aerial device 22903 … [2002] In some aspects, anchor aerial device 22903 can serve as a hub for other members of floating cell 22905, e.g., secondary aerial devices 22904a-22904c. Anchor aerial device 22903 may provide secondary aerial devices 22904a-22904c with control information. Anchor aerial device 22903 can receive this control information from network access node 22901 and/or generate the control information locally. Anchor aerial device 22903 may then provide the control information to secondary aerial devices 22904a-22904c … [2007] ... In some aspects, anchor aerial device 22903 can utilize a combination of geolocation and intelligent 3D network quality measurements to cause the area of floating cell 22905 to be covered by directional antenna beam 22906 with guaranteed minimal data path bandwidth ... Fig. 229).
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 invention of Qureshi to include the features as taught by Azizi above in order to limit the ground-to-drone-communication to communication between a network access node and a single anchor drone within the drone cluster. (Azizi, ¶ [1999]).
Regarding claim 9, Qureshi teaches:
A system comprising (Qureshi: Moving on to FIG. 1B, shown is an example scenario 150 involving a UV 111 [unmanned vehicles] providing network connectivity and/or edge computing capacity along a travel path 153 in accordance with one or more embodiments ... [Column 8, lines 63-66] Fig. 1B):
a memory having computer readable instructions; and
one or more processors for executing the computer readable instructions, the computer readable instructions controlling the one or more processors to perform operations comprising (Qureshi: A number of software components are stored in the memory 806 and are executable by the processor 803. In this respect, the term “executable” means a program file that is in a form that can ultimately be run by the processor 803. Examples of executable programs may be, for example, a compiled program that can be translated into machine code … that may be interpreted by another executable program to generate instructions in a random access portion of the memory 806 to be executed by the processor 803 ... [Column 38, lines 23-37] Fig. 8):
monitoring, by an UV fleet management service, a quality of a connection to the communications network while the unmanned vehicle is traveling along a path (Qureshi: The travel paths 448 describe the projected routes of one or more UVs 111 in a fleet of UVs 111 that provide edge computing capacity and/or network connectivity. Individual travel paths 448 may indicate a starting location, an ending location, and optionally one or more intermediate locations … Beginning with box 503, the UV fleet management service 426 determines to add coverage to an RBN 103 (FIG. 1A). In some cases, the RBN 103 [radio-based network] may include a plurality of radio units 163 (FIG. 1C) previously placed by UVs 111 (FIG. 1A) … the RBN management service 424 (FIG. 4) may automatically determine that there is a coverage gap [interpreted as poor/no connection quality] in an area for the RBN 103 such that additional coverage is necessary and then make a request via the UV resource request API 428 ... [Column 29, lines 12-16, Column 30, lines 61-67, Column 31, lines 1-5] Figs. 4, 5A);
deploying, by the unmanned vehicle while traveling along the path, an edge communications device each time the quality of the connection is below a threshold value (Qureshi: ... In some cases, the RBN management service 424 may automatically monitor various RBN metrics 443 (FIG. 4), and determine that additional coverage is needed in an area based upon failure to of the RBN metric 443 to meet one or more QoS parameters 453 (FIG. 4) [i.e., interpreted as not meeting a threshold of quality] … In box 506, the UV fleet management service 426 identifies a particular UV 111 from the fleet of UVs 111 based at least in part on a proximity of the UV 111 to the area where coverage is needed ... Thus, in some cases, the UV fleet management service 426 may deploy the nearest UV 111 to the area ... In some cases, the UV fleet management service 426 identifies a set of a plurality of UVs 111 to work in concert in order to provide the needed coverage ... [Column 31, lines 4-8, lines 16-35] Fig. 5A);
measuring, by the unmanned vehicle, environmental data along the path (Qureshi: … In some cases, the UV fleet management service 426 may identify an RBN 103 as having a coverage gap along the travel path 448, which may be determined observationally by signal strength measurements by UVs 111 or by other approaches ... [Column 37, lines 10-14] Fig. 7); and
collecting, by the unmanned vehicle, the edge communications devices as the unmanned vehicle retraces the path (Qureshi: Beginning with box 518, the UV fleet management service 426 determines to remove a radio unit 163 (FIG. 1C) from an RBN 103 (FIG. 1A). For example … the demand associated with the coverage provided by the radio unit 163 may have diminished. [Column 32, lines 64-66, Column 33, lines 1-5] Fig. 5B).
Although Qureshi teaches the travel paths of one or more UVs 111 in a fleet of UVs 111 that provide edge computing capacity and/or network connectivity, Qureshi does not explicitly teach:
monitoring, by … an unmanned vehicle ...
However, in the same field of endeavor, Azizi teaches:
monitoring, by an unmanned vehicle … (Azizi: [1999] Accordingly, some aspects may provide a method of managing a floating cell of drones, e.g., floating cell 22905, using one or more anchor drones, e.g., anchor aerial device 22903 … [2002] In some aspects, anchor aerial device 22903 can serve as a hub for other members of floating cell 22905, e.g., secondary aerial devices 22904a-22904c. Anchor aerial device 22903 may provide secondary aerial devices 22904a-22904c with control information. Anchor aerial device 22903 can receive this control information from network access node 22901 and/or generate the control information locally. Anchor aerial device 22903 may then provide the control information to secondary aerial devices 22904a-22904c … [2007] ... In some aspects, anchor aerial device 22903 can utilize a combination of geolocation and intelligent 3D network quality measurements to cause the area of floating cell 22905 to be covered by directional antenna beam 22906 with guaranteed minimal data path bandwidth ... Fig. 229).
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 invention of Qureshi to include the features as taught by Azizi above in order to limit the ground-to-drone-communication to communication between a network access node and a single anchor drone within the drone cluster. (Azizi, ¶ [1999]).
Regarding claim 17, Qureshi teaches:
A computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, the program instructions executable by a processor to cause the processor to perform operations comprising (Qureshi: A number of software components are stored in the memory 806 and are executable by the processor 803. In this respect, the term “executable” means a program file that is in a form that can ultimately be run by the processor 803. Examples of executable programs may be, for example, a compiled program that can be translated into machine code … that may be interpreted by another executable program to generate instructions in a random access portion of the memory 806 to be executed by the processor 803 ... [Column 38, lines 23-37] Fig. 8):
monitoring, by an UV fleet management service, a quality of a connection to the communications network while the unmanned vehicle is traveling along a path (Qureshi: The travel paths 448 describe the projected routes of one or more UVs 111 in a fleet of UVs 111 that provide edge computing capacity and/or network connectivity. Individual travel paths 448 may indicate a starting location, an ending location, and optionally one or more intermediate locations … Beginning with box 503, the UV fleet management service 426 determines to add coverage to an RBN 103 (FIG. 1A). In some cases, the RBN 103 [radio-based network] may include a plurality of radio units 163 (FIG. 1C) previously placed by UVs 111 (FIG. 1A) … the RBN management service 424 (FIG. 4) may automatically determine that there is a coverage gap [interpreted as poor/no connection quality] in an area for the RBN 103 such that additional coverage is necessary and then make a request via the UV resource request API 428 ... [Column 29, lines 12-16, Column 30, lines 61-67, Column 31, lines 1-5] Figs. 4, 5A);
deploying, by the unmanned vehicle while traveling along the path, an edge communications device each time the quality of the connection is below a threshold value (Qureshi: ... In some cases, the RBN management service 424 may automatically monitor various RBN metrics 443 (FIG. 4), and determine that additional coverage is needed in an area based upon failure to of the RBN metric 443 to meet one or more QoS parameters 453 (FIG. 4) [i.e., interpreted as not meeting a threshold of quality] … In box 506, the UV fleet management service 426 identifies a particular UV 111 from the fleet of UVs 111 based at least in part on a proximity of the UV 111 to the area where coverage is needed ... Thus, in some cases, the UV fleet management service 426 may deploy the nearest UV 111 to the area ... In some cases, the UV fleet management service 426 identifies a set of a plurality of UVs 111 to work in concert in order to provide the needed coverage ... [Column 31, lines 4-8, lines 16-35] Fig. 5A);
measuring, by the unmanned vehicle, environmental data along the path (Qureshi: … In some cases, the UV fleet management service 426 may identify an RBN 103 as having a coverage gap along the travel path 448, which may be determined observationally by signal strength measurements by UVs 111 or by other approaches ... [Column 37, lines 10-14] Fig. 7); and
collecting, by the unmanned vehicle, the edge communications devices as the unmanned vehicle retraces the path (Qureshi: Beginning with box 518, the UV fleet management service 426 determines to remove a radio unit 163 (FIG. 1C) from an RBN 103 (FIG. 1A). For example … the demand associated with the coverage provided by the radio unit 163 may have diminished. [Column 32, lines 64-66, Column 33, lines 1-5] Fig. 5B).
Although Qureshi teaches the travel paths of one or more UVs 111 in a fleet of UVs 111 that provide edge computing capacity and/or network connectivity, Qureshi does not explicitly teach:
monitoring, by … an unmanned vehicle ...
However, in the same field of endeavor, Azizi teaches:
monitoring, by an unmanned vehicle … (Azizi: [1999] Accordingly, some aspects may provide a method of managing a floating cell of drones, e.g., floating cell 22905, using one or more anchor drones, e.g., anchor aerial device 22903 … [2002] In some aspects, anchor aerial device 22903 can serve as a hub for other members of floating cell 22905, e.g., secondary aerial devices 22904a-22904c. Anchor aerial device 22903 may provide secondary aerial devices 22904a-22904c with control information. Anchor aerial device 22903 can receive this control information from network access node 22901 and/or generate the control information locally. Anchor aerial device 22903 may then provide the control information to secondary aerial devices 22904a-22904c … [2007] ... In some aspects, anchor aerial device 22903 can utilize a combination of geolocation and intelligent 3D network quality measurements to cause the area of floating cell 22905 to be covered by directional antenna beam 22906 with guaranteed minimal data path bandwidth ... Fig. 229).
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 invention of Qureshi to include the features as taught by Azizi above in order to limit the ground-to-drone-communication to communication between a network access node and a single anchor drone within the drone cluster. (Azizi, ¶ [1999]).
Regarding claims 2, 10, and 18, Qureshi-Azizi discloses on the features with respect to claims 1, 9, and 17 as outlined above.
Qureshi further teaches:
wherein the edge communications devices are configured to join the communications network and to extend the communications network (Qureshi: ... Thus, in some cases, the UV fleet management service 426 may deploy the nearest UV 111 to the area ... In some cases, the UV fleet management service 426 identifies a set of a plurality of UVs 111 to work in concert in order to provide the needed coverage ... [Column 31, lines 4-8, lines 16-35] Fig. 5A).
Regarding claims 3, 11, and 19, Qureshi-Azizi discloses on the features with respect to claims 1, 9, and 17 as outlined above.
Azizi further teaches:
wherein the unmanned vehicle includes one or more sensors configured to measure the environmental data along the path (Azizi: [2007] In some aspects, a confined floating cell area may be maintained for floating cell 22905. This may be useful in determining appropriate beamforming settings (with manageable beamwidth for directional antenna beam 22906) or performing security checks. In some aspects, secondary aerial devices 22904a-22904c may be responsible for maintaining the confined floating cell area by remaining within a certain distance of anchor aerial device 22903. Secondary aerial devices 22904a-22904c can monitor the distance based on a physical distance (e.g., based on image/video data or a distance sensor) or by radio measurements. In some aspects, anchor aerial device 22903 can utilize a combination of geolocation and intelligent 3D network quality measurements to cause the area of floating cell 22905 to be covered by directional antenna beam 22906 with guaranteed minimal data path bandwidth).
The rationale and motivation for adding this teaching of Azizi is the same as the rationale and motivation for claims 1, 9, and 17.
Regarding claims 4, 12, and 20, Qureshi-Azizi discloses on the features with respect to claims 3, 11, and 19 as outlined above.
Azizi further teaches:
wherein the unmanned vehicle is configured to transmit a subset of the environmental data via the communications network (Azizi: [2022] FIG. 235 shows method 23500 of operating a secondary aerial device in a floating cell including a plurality of aerial terminal devices in accordance with some aspects. As shown in FIG. 235, method 23500 includes maintaining a signaling connection with an anchor aerial device of the floating cell and transmitting and receiving data with a network access node (23510), and controlling a position of the secondary aerial device to maintain less than a predefined distance between the secondary aerial device and the anchor aerial device according to one or more distance parameters (23520).).
The rationale and motivation for adding this teaching of Azizi is the same as the rationale and motivation for claims 1, 9, and 17.
Regarding claims 8 and 16, Qureshi-Azizi discloses on the features with respect to claims 1 and 17 as outlined above.
Qureshi further teaches:
wherein the deployed edge communications devices create a secure peer-to-peer network that facilitates communication between the unmanned vehicle and the communications network (Qureshi: (73) In the example of FIG. 1A, the UVs 111, the distributed computing devices 112 (FIG. 1A), the centralized computing devices 115 (FIG. 1A), and the core computing devices 118 (FIG. 1A) may be implemented as provider substrate extensions 224 of the cloud provider network 203. The installation or siting of provider substrate extensions 224 within a communication network 100 can vary subject to the particular network topology or architecture of the communication network 100. Provider substrate extensions 224 can generally be connected anywhere the communication network 100 can break out packet-based traffic (e.g., IP based traffic). Additionally, communications between a given provider substrate extension 224 and the cloud provider network 203 typically securely transit at least a portion of the communication network 100 (e.g., via a secure tunnel, virtual private network, a direct connection, etc.)).
Claims 5-7 and 13-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Qureshi-Azizi in view of Lu (US Patent Application Publication, 20240302841, hereinafter, “Lu”).
Regarding claims 5 and 13, Qureshi-Azizi discloses on the features with respect to claims 3 and 11 as outlined above.
Qureshi-Azizi does not explicitly teach:
wherein the one or more sensors include one of a light detection and ranging sensor and an echolocation sensor.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Lu teaches:
wherein the one or more sensors include one of a light detection and ranging sensor and an echolocation sensor (Lu: [0053] Exemplarily, the sensors used for obstacle avoidance include, but are not limited to, vision sensors, LiDARs (Light Detection and Ranging), millimeter-wave radars, or ultrasonic radars …).
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 invention of Qureshi-Azizi to include the features as taught by Lu above in order to provide a return flight. (Lu, ¶ [0006]).
Regarding claims 6 and 14, Qureshi-Azizi-Lu discloses on the features with respect to claims 5 and 13 as outlined above.
Lu further teaches:
further comprising one or more of creating and updating a three-dimensional digital representation of an environment along the path (Lu: [0048] After receiving the return path, the remote control terminal can display the return path on the display interface. In one example, as shown in FIG. 5, the return path 200 can be superimposed and displayed on a map corresponding to the current environment of the UAV. In another example, the return path can also be superimposed and displayed on the real-time footage captured by the UAV. In yet another example, the return path, a map corresponding to the current environment of the UAV, and a three-dimensional model obtained from the reconstruction of the UAV's current environment can all be superimposed and displayed together …).
The rationale and motivation for adding this teaching of Lu is the same as the rationale and motivation for Claims 5 and 13.
Regarding claims 7 and 15, Qureshi-Azizi-Lu discloses on the features with respect to claims 5 and 13 as outlined above.
Azizi further teaches:
updating, by the processor, the path based on the environmental data (Azizi: [1047] ... The TD decision engines at each terminal device may use the prediction results to optimize cell scan timing, optimize service and power levels, perform smart download/data transfer scheduling, make decisions on flexible pricing schemes, adjust travel or navigation routes based on predicted radio coverage and service, or negotiate with networks or other terminal devices or users of terminal devices for resources and timing of resource availability.).
The rationale and motivation for adding this teaching of Azizi is the same as the rationale and motivation for Claims 1 and 9.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LIEM H NGUYEN whose telephone number is (408) 918-7636. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday, 8:30AM-5:00PM PT.
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/LIEM H. NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2416