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 § 102
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 the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 21-26, 28-31, 33, 34, 36-41, 43, 44, & 46-52 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Chung et al. (US 20160339934 A1, herein after referred to as Chung).
Regarding claim 21 Chung teaches a system comprising: a plurality of wayside control units configured for placement on or near tracks in a railway network (FIG. 1: 310-330; paragraph 49); and one or more train-mounted units (FIG. 1: 100, 142, 162, & 230; paragraphs 49, 70, & 86) configured for deployment on one or more trains in the railway network (FIG. 1: 50; paragraph 49); wherein the plurality of wayside control units and the one or more train-mounted units are configured for providing decentralized train control operations in the railway network (paragraphs 89 & 90); and wherein, when providing the decentralized train control operations: each wayside control unit is configured to communicate with each train-mounted unit that passes within communication range of the wayside control unit (FIG. 1: depicted communicating); and each train-mounted unit is configured to: communicate with one or more wayside control units of the plurality of wayside control units, when within communication range of the train-mounted unit (FIG. 1: depicted); provide, based on the communication with the one or more wayside control units and independent of any interaction with a central control entity, one or more train control related functions in a train associated with the train-mounted unit (paragraph 88), wherein providing the one or more train control related functions comprises: assessing based on the communication with the one or more wayside control units one or more conditions relating to operation of the train within the railway network; and when at least one condition meets one or more particular criteria, perform or cause performing one or more responsive actions in the train (paragraphs 86-89).
Regarding claim 33 Chung teaches a train-mounted unit (FIG. 1: 100) configured for use within a train (FIG. 1: 50), the train-mounted unit comprising: a housing for enclosing components of the train-mounted unit (FIG. 1: depicted); a communication component (FIG. 3: 160), comprising one or more antennas, configured for transmitting and/or receiving wireless signals (FIG. 3: 162; paragraph 70); one or more input/output (I/O) components, for receiving input from an operator of the train and/or for providing output to the operator of the train (FIG. 3: 110 & 210); and one or more circuits operable to :process signals and data (FIG. 3: 120), and perform one or more functions relating to operations of the train-mounted unit within the decentralized train control system (allowed for by structure); wherein the train-mounted unit is configured to provide decentralized train control operations in a railway network comprising the train, during operation of the train within the railway network (paragraphs 89 & 90), and wherein the train-mounted unit is configured to, when providing the providing the decentralized train control operations: communicate with one or more wayside control units (paragraph 89), from a plurality of wayside control units in the railway network (paragraph 89), when within communication range of the train-mounted unit, wherein the plurality of wayside control units is configured for placement on or near tracks in the railway network (FIG. 1: 310-330 depicted located as claimed); and provide, based on the communication with the one or more wayside control units and independent of any interaction with a central control entity, one or more train control related functions in the train (paragraph 88), wherein providing the one or more train control related functions comprises: assessing based on the communication with the one or more wayside control units one or more conditions relating to operation of the train within the railway network; and when at least one condition meets one or more particular criteria, perform or cause performing one or more responsive actions in the train (paragraph 86-90).
Regarding claim 43 Chung teaches a wayside control unit (FIG. 1: 310-330), configured for use in a railway network (paragraph 68), the wayside control unit comprising: a housing for enclosing components of the wayside control unit (FIG. 1: depicted); a communication component (FIG. 7: 3160), comprising one or more antennas (FIG. 7: 162), configured for transmitting and/or receiving wireless signals (paragraph 68); and one or more circuits operable to: process signals and data, and perform one or more functions relating to operations of the wayside control unit within the decentralized train control system (FIG. 7: 3120); wherein the wayside control unit is configured for placement on or near tracks (FIG. 1: depicted); wherein the wayside control unit is configured to provide or support decentralized train control operations in one or more trains within the railway network; wherein, when providing the decentralized train control operations, the wayside control unit is configured to communicate with each train-mounted unit that passes within communication range of the wayside control unit (paragraph 69); and wherein the communication is configured to enable the train-mounted unit to provide one or more train control related functions in a train associated with the train-mounted unit, based on the communication with the wayside control unit and independent of any interaction with a central control entity in the railway network (paragraphs 86-90).
Regarding claim 22 Chung teaches that each wayside control unit is configured to: obtain information corresponding to each train that passes within communication range of the wayside control unit; and provide obtained train-related information to each train-mounted unit that passes within communication range of the wayside control unit (FIG. 7: through 3160; paragraph 154).
Regarding claim 23 Chung teaches that the wayside control unit receives at least a portion of train-related information from at least one train-mounted unit (FIG. 3: 110-122; paragraphs 55, 59, & 154).
Regarding claim 24 Chung teaches that the wayside control unit autonomously determine at least a portion of train-related information corresponding to at least one train (FIG. 7: 312, 3112-3122; paragraphs 67, 101, & 154).
Regarding claim 25 Chung teaches that each train-mounted unit maintains unique identification information associated with a corresponding train and a route assigned to the train within the railway network (paragraph 55).
Regarding claim 26 Chung teaches that each train-mounted unit communicates the unique identification information to each wayside control unit that comes within communication range of the train-mounted unit (paragraph 55).
Regarding claims 28 & 34 Chung teaches that when the one or more responsive actions comprise providing indication or feedback, relating to the at least one condition, to a train operator (FIG. 4: 472; paragraph 92), the train-mounted unit is configured to: monitor actions of the train operator; assess based on the monitoring, the train operator's handling of at least one expected subsequent responsive action; and directly perform the at least one expected subsequent responsive action when the train operator fails to do so (paragraph 45).
Regarding claims 29, 39, & 50 Chung teaches that the plurality of wayside control units and the one or more train-mounted units are configured for providing the decentralized train control operations in fail safe manner (paragraph 10).
Regarding claims 30, 40, & 51 Chung teaches that providing the decentralized train control operations in fail safe manner comprises use of one or both of: utilizing redundant components and/or subsystems, and redundant operation of parallel sensing functions (paragraphs 9, 52, & 70).
Regarding claims 31, 41, & 52 Chung teaches that utilizing redundant components and/or subsystems comprises utility a plurality of different communication links or interfaces (paragraph 70).
Regarding claim 36 Chung teaches wherein the communication component comprises a radio-frequency identification (RFID) reader configured for interacting with RFID tags in wayside control units of the decentralized train control system (paragraph 68).
Regarding claim 37 Chung teaches a power component for supplying and/or obtaining power for components of the train-mounted unit (paragraphs 56 & 139).
Regarding claim 38 Chung teaches an interface component for connecting to and/or interfacing with other systems of the train (FIG. 3: 220).
Regarding paragraph 44 Chung teaches that the wayside control unit is configured to: obtain information corresponding to each train operating with a railway network managed using the decentralized train control system, when the train passes within communication range of the wayside control unit; and provide train-related information associated with at least one train to at least one other train, when the at least one other train passes within communication range of the wayside control unit (paragraph 154).
Regarding claim 46 Chung teaches that one or more radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags configured for uniquely identifying the wayside control unit within the railway network (paragraphs 68 & 151).
Regarding claim 47 Chung teaches a support structure for holding and/or supporting the wayside control unit when placed on or near the tracks (FIG. 1: depicted).
Regarding claim 48 Chung teaches a power component for supplying and/or obtaining power for components of the wayside control unit (paragraph 116).
Regarding claim 49 Chung teaches one or more sensory components, for detecting, monitoring, and/or tracking trains (FIG. 7: 3114).
Regarding claim 50 Chung teaches that
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 27, 32, 35, 42, 45, & 53 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chung et al. (US 20160339934 A1, herein after referred to as Chung) in view of Zeitler et al. (US 20030028323 A1, herein after referred to as Zeitler).
Regarding claim 27 Chung does not explicitly teach that the plurality of wayside control units and the one or more train-mounted units configured for supporting and/or utilizing ultra-wideband (UWB) based communication.
However, Zeitler does teach the use of UWB communication (paragraph 33). It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have used UWB based communication as taught by Zeitler with the system of Chung to provide a high speed method of communication.
Regarding claims 35 & 45 Chung does not explicitly teach that the communication component is configured for supporting and/or utilizing ultra-wideband (UWB) based communication.
However, Zeitler does teach the use of UWB communication (paragraph 33). It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have used UWB based communication as taught by Zeitler with the system of Chung to provide a high speed method of communication.
Regarding claims 32, 42, & 53 Chung teaches that the plurality of different communication links or interfaces comprises, at least, radio-frequency identification (RFID) based communication (paragraph 68), and common radio based communication (paragraph 163) but does not teach ultra- wideband (UWB) based communication.
However, Zeitler does teach the use of UWB communication (paragraph 33). It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have used UWB based communication as taught by Zeitler with the system of Chung to provide a high speed method of communication.
Conclusion
Prior art made of record and not replied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure. The references noted on the attached PTO 892 teach train control systems of interest.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MAXWELL L MESHAKA whose telephone number is (571)272-5693. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 7:30-4:00.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Samuel J Morano IV can be reached on (571) 272-6684. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MAXWELL L MESHAKA/Examiner, Art Unit 3615
/S. Joseph Morano/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3615