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 .
Specification
Applicant is reminded of the proper content of an abstract of the disclosure.
A patent abstract is a concise statement of the technical disclosure of the patent and should include that which is new in the art to which the invention pertains. The abstract should not refer to purported merits or speculative applications of the invention and should not compare the invention with the prior art.
If the patent is of a basic nature, the entire technical disclosure may be new in the art, and the abstract should be directed to the entire disclosure. If the patent is in the nature of an improvement in an old apparatus, process, product, or composition, the abstract should include the technical disclosure of the improvement. The abstract should also mention by way of example any preferred modifications or alternatives.
Where applicable, the abstract should include the following: (1) if a machine or apparatus, its organization and operation; (2) if an article, its method of making; (3) if a chemical compound, its identity and use; (4) if a mixture, its ingredients; (5) if a process, the steps.
Extensive mechanical and design details of an apparatus should not be included in the abstract. The abstract should be in narrative form and generally limited to a single paragraph within the range of 50 to 150 words in length.
See MPEP § 608.01(b) for guidelines for the preparation of patent abstracts.
Claim Objections
Claims 1 and 3 objected to because of the following informalities: Examiner suggests to use “:” colon after “is configured to” in claim 1 and after “method executes” in claim 3. 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 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.
Claim 1 recites “a real space”. It is not clear and indefinite what it means by “real”. Does it mean “not virtual”?. Dependent claims 2-9 are also rejected for the same reasoning.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 10-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over “Hamabe” (US 2020/0412463) in view of Yamauchi et al. (US 2019/0005166, hereinafter “Yamauchi”) and further in view of “Takei” (US 2019/0132041).
For claim 1, Hamabe discloses A wireless communication environment evaluation method (FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a first example of an operation procedure of a radio wave environment analysis at the point in the model area shown in FIG. 2; see Hamabe par. 0042 and Figs. 3, 5, 7 and 10) comprising:
using an information processing device that includes a central processing unit, an output device, an input device, and a memory device and that is configured to provide a computational resource,
wherein the information processing device is configured to (The radio wave environment display device 100 includes a processor 1, a ROM 2, a RAM 3, a keyboard 4, a mouse 5, a display 6, and a Hard Disk Drive (HDD) 7. The ROM 2, the RAM 3, the keyboard 4, the mouse 5, the display 6, and the HDD 7 are connected to the processor 1 via an internal bus or the like in a way that data or information can be input and output; see Hamabe par. 0031-0032 and Fig. 1)
construct a structural model of an electromagnetic wave scatterer in the computational resource (In FIG. 3, various parameters are initialized on the radio wave environment display device 100 by a user operation (S1). Specifically, as the various parameters, a volume initial value of the scattering body (for example, 100 m3 or more), a volume reduction value for increasing the number of scattering bodies to be referred to in the analysis (for example, 10 m3), observation points (for example, the positions Pl, P2 and P3), and an observation point error setting value (for example, 3 dB) as an example of a convergence condition for terminating the analysis are set; see Hamabe par. 0043),
calculate a characteristic of an electromagnetic field by using the structural model (The radio wave environment display device 100 uses the parameter of the volume initial value of the scattering body set in step S1 and the analysis basic data 7b to perform a first analysis of a radio wave environment at a point in the area in which a scattering body having a volume of a volume initial value (for example, 100 m3 or more) (S2) is assumed to be used. That is, the radio wave environment display device 100 calculates, for each point, reception quality (for example, reception power and arrival direction) of radio waves from the wireless transmitter (not shown) arranged at the transmission point located on the map MP1 based on the analysis basic data 7b, and stores calculation results of the reception power and the arrival direction at each position (location) on the map MP1 in the HDD 7 as the analysis result data 7c; see Hamabe par. 0044) and a ray that simulates a radio wave traveling in a real space (The radio wave environment display device 100 according to Embodiment 1 can calculate, based on the analysis basic data 7b, the reception power and arrival directions of radio waves at respective points in the area (for example, a plurality of points distributed in an area of 100*100 or the like), by using, for example, a known ray tracing method (with reference to, for example, IMAI) or a known statistical estimation method; see Hamabe par. 0040), and
Hamabe does not explicitly disclose obtain, on a basis of a result of the calculation using a first structural model corresponding to a real space including a first object and excluding a second object and electromagnetic wave vector measurement data on a real space including the first object and the second object, position information on a position of the second object. Yamauchi discloses obtain, on a basis of a result of the calculation using a first structural model corresponding to a real space including a first object and excluding a second object and electromagnetic wave vector measurement data on a real space including the first object and the second object, position information on a position of the second object (it is possible to reduce the number of times of simulation when the simulation is performed for both of the condition in which the mobile object is absent and the condition in which the mobile object is present; see Yamauchi par. 0167; 2. The installation location determination device for a radio device according to claim 1, wherein the processor extracts, from a group including a first installation candidate point among the plurality of installation candidate points and the plurality of neighboring points set within the first distance from the first installation candidate point, a first point at which the first received signal strength is greatest and a second point at which the first received signal strength is smallest, the first received signal strengths calculated in the first simulation performed in a condition where a mobile object is not included in the environment, performs second simulation using the ray tracing method in a condition where the mobile object is included in the environment to calculate third received signal strengths at the first point and the second point, and calculates the second received signal strength based on the third received signal strengths; see Yamauchi page 11, claim 2). It would have been obvious to the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date to use Yamauchi's arrangement in Hamabe's invention to improve the simulation using the ray tracing method and calculation accuracy of the received signal strength in each installation candidate location (see Yamauchi par. 0046).
The combination of Hamabe and Yamauchi does not explicitly disclose vector measurement data. Takei discloses vector measurement data (since the electromagnetic wave 104 is a vector wave, each of electromagnetic waves 104 reaching one rotational polarization radio device 10 from a plurality of radio terminals 20 is synthesized vectorially, and the rotational polarization radio device 10 receives the electromagnetic wave 104 as a vector wave having one polarization direction. …Then, a shift occurs in a polarization direction uniquely determined by a normal vector of the reflection surface and an incident vector of the electromagnetic wave 104a; see Takei par. 0036-0037). It would have been obvious to the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date to use Takei's arrangement in Hamabe's invention to provide high communication quality even in an environment where a plurality of polarization directions are generated in the radio communication (see Takei par. 0012).
For claim 2, Hamabe discloses The wireless communication environment evaluation method according to claim 1, wherein the first structural model is changed on a basis of the position information to generate a second structural model including the first object and the second object (in the radio wave environment analysis, a volume of the scattering body that blocks the progress of the radio waves is limited to the volume initial value and a volume value reduced by the volume reduction value, so that scattering bodies having a volume value less than the initial volume value and the volume value reduced by the volume reduction value are excluded. Therefore, the radio wave environment display device 100 can perform the analysis at a speed higher than an analysis of the radio wave environment at each point for all the scattering bodies actually arranged on the map MP1. Further, even if the analysis is performed with the volume of the scattering body being reduced by the volume reduction value, the analysis is terminated when only a difference less than the error setting value is obtained at respective observation points (that is, all observation points), so that the radio wave environment display device 100 can acquire the analysis result data 7c with high accuracy while performing the analysis at a higher speed; see Hamabe par. 0052-0053).
For claim 10, Hamabe discloses A wireless communication environment evaluation system comprising (The radio wave environment display device 100 includes a processor 1, a ROM 2, a RAM 3, a keyboard 4, a mouse 5, a display 6, and a Hard Disk Drive (HDD) 7. The ROM 2, the RAM 3, the keyboard 4, the mouse 5, the display 6, and the HDD 7 are connected to the processor 1 via an internal bus or the like in a way that data or information can be input and output; see Hamabe par. 0031-0032 and Fig. 1):
an incoming wave information memory module (The RAM 3 is a writable and readable memory, is used as a work memory at the time of executing various kinds of radio wave environment analyses (with reference to FIGS. 3, 5, 7, and 10), and temporarily stores data or information to be used or generated during the various kinds of radio wave environment analyses; see Hamabe par. 0034 and Fig. 1) configured to store measurement data on an arrival direction of a received wave in a wireless communication service area (The radio wave environment display device 100 uses the parameter of the volume initial value of the scattering body set in step S1 and the analysis basic data 7b to perform a first analysis of a radio wave environment at a point in the area in which a scattering body having a volume of a volume initial value (for example, 100 m3 or more) (S2) is assumed to be used. That is, the radio wave environment display device 100 calculates, for each point, reception quality (for example, reception power and arrival direction) of radio waves from the wireless transmitter (not shown) arranged at the transmission point located on the map MP1 based on the analysis basic data 7b, and stores calculation results of the reception power and the arrival direction at each position (location) on the map MP1 in the HDD 7 as the analysis result data 7c; see Hamabe par. 0044);
an electromagnetic field analysis model storage module configured to store (The ROM 2 is a read-only memory, and stores a program and data of an Operating System (OS) in advance. The OS program is executed along with startup of the radio wave environment display device 100; see Hamabe par. 0033) a structural model of an electromagnetic wave scatterer (In FIG. 3, various parameters are initialized on the radio wave environment display device 100 by a user operation (S1). Specifically, as the various parameters, a volume initial value of the scattering body (for example, 100 m3 or more), a volume reduction value for increasing the number of scattering bodies to be referred to in the analysis (for example, 10 m3), observation points (for example, the positions Pl, P2 and P3), and an observation point error setting value (for example, 3 dB) as an example of a convergence condition for terminating the analysis are set; see Hamabe par. 0043); and
an electromagnetic field computational engine (The processor 1 acquires current time information by using the ROM 2 and the RAM 3 at the time of performing the processing, and outputs analysis result data 7c generated by various kinds of analyses to be described later to the display 6 and displays the analysis result data 7c; see Hamabe par. 0032) configured to perform an electromagnetic field calculation (The radio wave environment display device 100 calculates, for each of the observation points on the map MP1 (that is, all the positions Pl, P2, P3 set in step S1), an error (that is, a difference) between the analysis result data 7c obtained by the current analysis and the analysis result data 7c obtained by an immediately preceding analysis and compares these errors (S5); see Hamabe par. 0047),
Hamabe does not explicitly disclose wherein the electromagnetic field computational engine estimates, by using the measurement data and the structural model, a position of a movable body in the wireless communication service area through the electromagnetic field calculation. Yamauchi discloses wherein the electromagnetic field computational engine estimates, by using the measurement data and the structural model, a position of a movable body in the wireless communication service area through the electromagnetic field calculation (it is possible to reduce the number of times of simulation when the simulation is performed for both of the condition in which the mobile object is absent and the condition in which the mobile object is present; see Yamauchi par. 0167; 2. The installation location determination device for a radio device according to claim 1, wherein the processor extracts, from a group including a first installation candidate point among the plurality of installation candidate points and the plurality of neighboring points set within the first distance from the first installation candidate point, a first point at which the first received signal strength is greatest and a second point at which the first received signal strength is smallest, the first received signal strengths calculated in the first simulation performed in a condition where a mobile object is not included in the environment, performs second simulation using the ray tracing method in a condition where the mobile object is included in the environment to calculate third received signal strengths at the first point and the second point, and calculates the second received signal strength based on the third received signal strengths; see Yamauchi page 11, claim 2). It would have been obvious to the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date to use Yamauchi's arrangement in Hamabe's invention to improve the simulation using the ray tracing method and calculation accuracy of the received signal strength in each installation candidate location (see Yamauchi par. 0046).
For claim 11, Hamabe discloses The wireless communication environment evaluation system according to claim 10, wherein the measurement data includes an arrival direction of a radio wave obtained by receiving, by one or a plurality of receivers in the wireless communication service area, a radio wave transmitted from one or a plurality of transmitters present in the wireless communication service area (After step S3, the radio wave environment display device 100 uses the volume value of the scattering body set in step S3 and the analysis basic data 7b to perform the second analysis of the radio wave environment at the point in the area in which the use of the scattering body having a volume of the volume value (=for example, 90 m3 or more) (S4). That is, the radio wave environment display device 100 calculates, for each point, reception quality (for example, reception power and arrival direction) of the radio waves from the wireless transmitter (not shown) arranged at the transmission point located on the map MP1 based on the analysis basic data 7b, and stores calculation results of the reception power and the arrival direction at each position (location) on the map MP1 in the HDD 7 as the analysis result data 7c; see Hamabe par. 0046).
For claim 12, Hamabe does not explicitly disclose The wireless communication environment evaluation system according to claim 11, wherein the structural model is a structural model based on data on a structure that is present in the wireless communication service area and that excludes the movable body. Yamauchi discloses The wireless communication environment evaluation system according to claim 11, wherein the structural model is a structural model based on data on a structure that is present in the wireless communication service area and that excludes the movable body (it is possible to reduce the number of times of simulation when the simulation is performed for both of the condition in which the mobile object is absent and the condition in which the mobile object is present; see Yamauchi par. 0167; 2. The installation location determination device for a radio device according to claim 1, wherein the processor extracts, from a group including a first installation candidate point among the plurality of installation candidate points and the plurality of neighboring points set within the first distance from the first installation candidate point, a first point at which the first received signal strength is greatest and a second point at which the first received signal strength is smallest, the first received signal strengths calculated in the first simulation performed in a condition where a mobile object is not included in the environment, performs second simulation using the ray tracing method in a condition where the mobile object is included in the environment to calculate third received signal strengths at the first point and the second point, and calculates the second received signal strength based on the third received signal strengths; see Yamauchi page 11, claim 2). It would have been obvious to the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date to use Yamauchi's arrangement in Hamabe's invention to improve the simulation using the ray tracing method and calculation accuracy of the received signal strength in each installation candidate location (see Yamauchi par. 0046).
Claim(s) 14 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hamabe, Yamauchi and Takei, and further in view of Nishikawa et al. (US 2006/0211391, hereinafter “Nishikawa”).
For claim 14, the combination of Hamabe, Yamauchi and Takei does not explicitly disclose The wireless communication environment evaluation system according to claim 11, wherein the transmitter uses a radio wave at a frequency different from a frequency used for wireless communication in the wireless communication service area. Nishikawa discloses The wireless communication environment evaluation system according to claim 11, wherein the transmitter uses a radio wave at a frequency different from a frequency used for wireless communication in the wireless communication service area (When the communication environment between the mobile station and the base station in-communication is measured, the mobile station corrects the total receive power by subtracting the receive power of the signal received via the second channel from the total receive power of the signals received from the base station in-communication, and corrects the total noise power based on this total receive power after the correction, and measures the communication environment between the base station in-communication and the mobile station using the signal power of the pilot signals received from the base station in-communication and the corrected total noise power. By this, on the assumption that data is not communicated via the second channel, the communication environment of the base station in-communication can be estimated. As to communication environment of a base station which is not in-communication, on the other hand, the mobile station measures the communication environment between this base station, which is not in communication, and the mobile station using the pilot signals received from the base station which is not in-communication. By this, the communication environment at the time when each base station is not communicating data in the second channel, can be measured and notified to the network side; see Nishikawa par. 0079). It would have been obvious to the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date to use Nishikawa's arrangement in Hamabe's invention so the quality of the communication environment can be accurately judged and handover can be controlled based on this judgment, therefore the generation of unnecessary handover can be avoided and a drop in the communication throughput can be prevented (see Nishikawa par. 0050).
For claim 15, the combination of Hamabe, Yamauchi and Takei does not explicitly disclose The wireless communication environment evaluation system according to claim 11, wherein the transmitter uses a radio wave at a same frequency as a frequency used for wireless communication in the wireless communication service area. Nishikawa discloses The wireless communication environment evaluation system according to claim 11, wherein the transmitter uses a radio wave at a same frequency as a frequency used for wireless communication in the wireless communication service area (In the case of a communication system for respectively transmitting pilot signals from a plurality of base stations to a mobile station via the first channel (e.g. CPICH), and transmitting data to the mobile station from one of the base stations via the second channel ( e.g. HSPDSCH) on which hard handover is executed, a base station which communicates with a mobile station is switched based on the communication environment, such as SIR, between each base station and the mobile station, so that the mobile station is able to continue communication while moving (handover). For this, the mobile station measures the communication environment of a base station which is in communication via the second channel and that of the adjacent base station which is not in-communication under the same conditions, and notifies the result to the network side (see Nishikawa par. 0078). It would have been obvious to the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date to use Nishikawa's arrangement in Hamabe's invention so the quality of the communication environment can be accurately judged and handover can be controlled based on this judgment, therefore the generation of unnecessary handover can be avoided and a drop in the communication throughput can be prevented (see Nishikawa par. 0050).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-9 and 13 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 and provided they overcome the 112b issues above.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: claims 3-9 and 13 would be allowable because the closest prior arts listed above either alone or in combination, fail to anticipate or render obvious, the claimed invention of “wherein the electromagnetic wave vector measurement data includes a result of receiving, at a second position, a transmitted electromagnetic wave transmitted from a first position in a predetermined direction in the real space including the first object and the second object, and the wireless communication environment evaluation method executes a first step of generating, with use of the first structural model, a first ray that simulates the transmitted electromagnetic wave transmitted from the first position in the predetermined direction to travel to the second position, a second step of generating, with use of the first structural model, a second ray from the electromagnetic wave vector measurement data, and a third step of generating the second structural model by obtaining the position information on a basis of the first ray and the second ray, generating, on a basis of the position information, a structural model of an electromagnetic wave scatterer corresponding to at least part of the second object, as an additional structural model, and adding the additional structural model to the computational resource”, in combination with all other limitations in the claim(s) as defined by applicant.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
-Moriuchi et al. (US 2023/0059198);
-Asada et al. (US 2022/0007216).
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/CHAE S LEE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2415