Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 1-3, 5-7, 9-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP 2018-173749 A “PASCO” (IDS), In view of JP 2018-85059 A “RICOH” (IDS)
Regarding claim 1, RICOH discloses an information processing apparatus (RICOH, ¶ 12)
comprising:
at least one memory storing instructions, and
at least one processor (RICOH, ¶ 11) configured to execute the instructions to;
acquire first point group data indicating a distance (RICOH, ¶ [0049]
Here, in order to normally receive the aggregated data R [m] composed of M numerical values by the first distributed processing node 1 [1], it is necessary for the other distributed processing nodes 1 [k] (k = N,..., 2) to normally receive the aggregated data R [m]. Each of the communication paths 2 [n] (n = 1. N) between the distributed processing nodes does not have a function of normally returning the aggregated data R [m] that is not normal.);
acquire second point group data);
divide point group data (RICOH, ¶ [0051] Whether or not the distributed processing node 1 [1] can normally receive the aggregated data R [m] can be determined by, for example, comparing the aggregated data R [m] transmitted in step S 119 with the aggregated data R [m] received in steps S124 and S125. That is, if the transmitted aggregate data R [m] matches the received aggregate data R [m], it can be determined that the aggregated data R [m] can be normally received.) including the first point group data and the second point group data into one or a plurality of segments (RICOH, ¶ [0050] Therefore, when the distributed processing node 1 [1] normally receives the aggregated data R [m], it is guaranteed that all the distributed processing nodes 1 [n] (n = 1. N) can normally receive the aggregated data R [m]. In a case where the distributed processing node 1 [1] cannot normally receive the aggregated data R [m] (NO in step S125), the processing returns to step S103 and is performed again from the aggregated communication.);
calculate a distribution of the point group data in the segment (RICOH, ¶ [0055] The aggregated communication is performed in a path of the distributed processing node 1 [1] → the distributed processing node 1 [2] →. → the distributed processing node 1 [N] → the distributed processing node 1 [1]. The distributed communication is performed in a path called distributed processing node 1 [1] → distributed processing node 1 [N] →. → distributed processing node 1 [2] → distributed processing node 1 [1].)
It is note that RICOH is silent about outlier claimed.
However, PASCO discloses remove an outlier value (see citation below, about outlier, see also, PASCO, ¶ [0020] (8) A program according to the present invention is a program for causing a computer to perform a process of detecting a road sign on the basis of measurement data of a reflection point group acquired from a road surface by a laser scanner, based on the index value, determines a region in which the laser reflection intensity is uniform among the road surfaces, and obtains a reflection intensity undulation point group obtained by removing a region of the reflection point group; and clustering means that performs clustering related to a distribution on the road surface with respect to the reflection intensity undulation point group in accordance with a predetermined required resolution related to detection of the road sign, and generates a point group cluster separated for each road sign.); from the point group data in the segment, based on the distribution (PASCO, [0055] The road surface candidate point group extraction means 22 performs clustering on the Euclidean distance with respect to the reflection point group remaining in the removal of the point group data E4 in step S26 (step S28). Since the road surface is relatively wide and continuous, the road surface candidate point group extraction means 22 extracts the road surface candidate point group C2 in which the number of reflection points among the generated clusters is larger than the predetermined number Th4 (in the case of "Yes" in step S30), and classifies the other clusters into the noise point group E5 (in the case of "No" in step S30). The threshold Th 4 May be, for example, 1000 points.).
Both RICOH and PASCO teach systems with point group, and those systems are comparable to that of the instant application. Because the two cited references are analogous to the instant application, it 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, to include in the RICOH disclosure, removing the noise from signal, as taught by PASCO. Such inclusion would have increased the usefulness of the system by improving the method of automatically extract and recognize the road marking, and would have been consistent with the rationale of combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results to show a prima facie case of obviousness (MPEP 2143(I)(A)) under KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 127 S. Ct. 1727, 82 USPQ2d 1385, 1395-97 (2007).
Regarding claim 2, RICOH/PASCO, for the same motivation of combination, further discloses the information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the at least one processor configured to execute the instructions to calculate a distribution of distances with respect to the point group data in the segment (PASCO, ¶ 16).
Regarding claim 3, RICOH/PASCO, for the same motivation of combination, further discloses the information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the at least one processor configured to execute the instructions to estimate a surface from the point group data in the segment (PASCO, ¶ 18); and
calculate a distribution of angles (RICOH, ¶ 6) of incidence into the estimated surface with respect to the point group data in the segment (RICOH, para 66).
Regarding claim 5, RICOH/PASCO, for the same motivation of combination, further discloses the information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the point group data include a luminance value (PASCO, ¶ 19).
Regarding claim 6, RICOH/PASCO, for the same motivation of combination, further discloses an information processing system comprising:
a sensor configured to, while moving a sensor along a path, irradiate an object to be measured with a laser from the sensor (PASCO, abstract), receive reflected light, and thereby acquire point group data acquired by measuring a distance from the sensor to the object to be measured (PASCO, ¶ 7); and
the information processing apparatus according to of claim 1 (see rejection of claim 1).
Regarding claim 7, RICOH/PASCO, for the same motivation of combination, further discloses the information processing system according to claim 6, further comprising a moving body on which the sensor is mounted (PASCO, ¶ 2).
Regarding claim 9, RICOH/PASCO, for the same motivation of combination, discloses an information processing method comprising:
acquiring first point group data indicating a distance between a sensor and an object to be measured at a first measurement spot along a path (See rejection of claim 1);
acquiring second point group data indicating a distance between a sensor and the object to be measured at a second measurement spot different from the first measurement spot along the path (See rejection of claim 1);
dividing point group data including the first point group data and the second point group data into one or a plurality of segments (See rejection of claim 1);
calculating a distribution of the point group data in the segment (See rejection of claim 1); and
removing an outlier value from the point group data in the segment, based on the distribution (See rejection of claim 1).
Regarding claim 10, RICOH/PASCO, for the same motivation of combination, discloses a non-transitory computer readable medium storing a program that causes a computer to execute:
processing of acquiring first point group data indicating a distance between a sensor and an object to be measured at a first measurement spot along a path (See rejection of claim 1);
processing of acquiring second point group data indicating a distance between a sensor and the object to be measured at a second measurement spot different from the first measurement spot along the path (See rejection of claim 1);
processing of dividing point group data including the first point group data and the second point group data into one or a plurality of segments (See rejection of claim 1);
processing of calculating a distribution of the point group data in the segment (See rejection of claim 1); and
processing of removing an outlier value from the point group data in the segment, based on the distribution (See rejection of claim 1).
Claim(s) 4 and 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP 2018-85059 A “RICOH” (IDS), In view of JP 2018-173749 A “PASCO” (IDS), Further in view of US 2018/0160299 Al, “Onishi”
Regarding claim 4, RICOH/PASCO discloses the information processing apparatus according to claim 1.
It is noted that RICOH/PASCO is silent about wherein the segment is a sphere of a predetermined size or a voxel of a predetermined size as claimed.
However, ONISHI discloses wherein the segment is a sphere of a predetermined size or a voxel of a predetermined size (ONISHI, ¶ 94, i.e. While the flow chart of FIG. 4 shows that the requested data is made unnecessary and a possession notification is issued immediately upon receiving data from the vehicle 300, the requested data may be made unnecessary and a possession notification may be issued after the acquisition of a certain number of pieces of data. A plurality of pieces of data can be integrated by performing statistical processing with the data integrating unit 250. Since information handled in the present embodiment is point group data of LIDAR, the data integrating unit 250 can integrate a plurality of pieces of point group data using a voxel grid filter. A voxel grid filter is to divide a three-dimensional space into appropriate voxels (for example, a cube with 6 cm-side) and to approximate points existed in each voxel by the centroid of the points inside the voxel. A voxel grid filter enables a data amount to be suppressed and improves reliability of data by suppressing variations in measurement.).
Both RICOH/PASCO and ONISHI teach systems with point group, and those systems are comparable to that of the instant application. Because the two cited references are analogous to the instant application, it 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, to include in the RICOH/PASCO disclosure, voxel, as taught by ONISHI. Such inclusion would have increased the usefulness of the system by improving data collection by carried the date collection out in an efficient manner, and would have been consistent with the rationale of combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results to show a prima facie case of obviousness (MPEP 2143(I)(A)) under KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 127 S. Ct. 1727, 82 USPQ2d 1385, 1395-97 (2007).
Regarding claim 8, RICOH/PASCO/ONISHI, for the same motivation of combination, further discloses the information processing system according to claim 6, wherein the information processing apparatus are connected to the sensor in such a way as to be able to communicate point group data via a wireless communication network (ONISHI, ¶ 67, FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a general configuration of a multi-stage distributed data processing system 10 according to the present embodiment. The data processing system 10 may be constituted by a data center (a center server) 100, edge servers 200, and vehicles 300. The data center 100 and the edge servers 200 may be connected to each other by wired communication, wireless communication, or both wired and wireless communication, and the edge servers 200 and the vehicles 300 may be connected to each other by wireless communication. In addition, the vehicles 300 may also be connected to each other by wireless communication. The numbers of the respective apparatuses shown in FIG. 1 are purely exemplary and the numbers thereof are not particularly limited.)
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
US 20220219674 A1 SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR ADJUSTING ENGINE OPERATING POINTS BASED ON EMISSIONS SENSOR FEEDBACK
US 11313765 B2 Systems and methods for remote visual inspection and emissions testing of vehicles
US 20200150234 A1 SENSOR DATA INTEGRATION DEVICE, SENSOR DATA INTEGRATION METHOD AND COMPUTER READABLE MEDIUM
US 20190228647 A1 TECHNOLOGIES FOR MANAGING A WORLD MODEL OF A MONITORED AREA
US 20190176862 A1 LOCOMOTIVE CONTROL SYSTEM AND METHOD
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/FRANK F HUANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2485