DETAILED ACTION
America Invents Act
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of papers submitted under 35 USC §119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file. Applicant’s claims for priority under 35 USC §119 and 35 USC §371 are acknowledged as follow:
This application, 18/274,014, filed 25-July-2023, is a national stage entry of PCT/WIPO application PCT/EP2022/051352, filed 21-January-2022.
This application also claims priority from European application EP21154653.6, filed 2-February-2021.
Application PCT/EP2022/051352 claims priority from US provisional application # 63/141,250, filed 25-January 2021.
Therefore, this application will be accorded a prima facie effective filing date of 25-January-2021.
Information Disclosure Statement
The following information disclosure statements have been considered by the Examiner and made of record in the application file:
IDS#1 (7 references), submitted 25-July-2023.
IDS#2 (2 references), submitted 11-January-2024.
IDS#3 (1 reference), submitted 15-October-2024.
Preliminary Amendment
The present Office Action is based upon the original patent application filed on 25-July-2023 as modified by the preliminary amendment PA#1 filed on the same date. Claims 1-14 are now pending in the present application.
Claim Interpretation
The following is a quotation of 35 USC §112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
This application includes one or more claim limitations that use the word “means” or “step” but are nonetheless not being interpreted under 35 USC §112(f) because the specification of the disclosure fails to limit the corresponding structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function. The claim limitation will be interpreted according to an ordinary broad interpretation of the terms.
Consider claim 14: This claim introduces a “program code means”, but where the specification provides no specific definition of such means. The claim limitation will, therefore, be interpreted according to an ordinary broad interpretation of the term.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC §112
The following is a quotation of 35 USC §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.
Claim 14 is rejected under 35 USC §112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Consider claim 14: Claim limitation “program code means” invokes 35 U.S.C. 112(f). However, the written description fails to disclose the corresponding structure, material, or acts for performing the entire claimed function and to clearly link the structure, material, or acts to the function. Therefore, the claim is indefinite and is rejected under 35 USC §112(b).
Applicant may:
(a) Amend the claim so that the claim limitation will no longer be interpreted as a limitation under 35 U.S.C. 112(f);
(b) Amend the written description of the specification such that it expressly recites what structure, material, or acts perform the entire claimed function, without introducing any new matter (35 USC §132(a)); or
(c) Amend the written description of the specification such that it clearly links the structure, material, or acts disclosed therein to the function recited in the claim, without introducing any new matter (35 USC §132(a)).
If applicant is of the opinion that the written description of the specification already implicitly or inherently discloses the corresponding structure, material, or acts and clearly links them to the function so that one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize what structure, material, or acts perform the claimed function, applicant should clarify the record by either:
(a) Amending the written description of the specification such that it expressly recites the corresponding structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function and clearly links or associates the structure, material, or acts to the claimed function, without introducing any new matter (35 USC §132(a)); or
(b) Stating on the record what the corresponding structure, material, or acts, which are implicitly or inherently set forth in the written description of the specification, perform the claimed function. For more information, see 37 CFR 1.75(d) and MPEP §§ 608.01(o) and 2181.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC §103
The following is a quotation of 35 USC §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 of this title, 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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 USC §102 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 USC §102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 USC §102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-5 and 9-13 are rejected under 35 USC §103 as unpatentable over Sjolund et al. (United States Patent Application Publication # US 2017/0127241 A1), hereinafter Sjolund, which incorporates by reference, Jern et al. (United States Patent Application Publication # US 2015/0373692 A1), hereinafter Jern.
Consider claim 1: Radio frequency (RF) sensing system, Sjolund discloses a system and method for managing positioning data, comprising at least one sensor network operable to collect positioning data of the at least one communication device visiting a site and the plurality of sensors. In an example, the positioning data of the communication device comprises at least one of radio signal strength corresponding to at least one radio packet transmitted from at least one communication device to the plurality of sensors [Title; Abstract; Fig. 1-3; Para. 0008-0010, 0051-0054]; comprising
a plurality of RF sensing nodes, wherein the plurality of sensing nodes comprise a plurality of first sensing nodes, wherein each first RF sensing node comprises a RF node transceiver, and a node controller with a RF sensing controller configured to sense RF signals from the other RF nodes or to determine signal quality parameters of perform a combination thereof, wherein a system comprises one or more sensors (sensing nodes), positioned within one or more zones of a site [Para. 0049] and which detects wireless communication device (radio) signals including exemplary data corresponding to radio signal strength of transmitted packets [Para. 0050-0055], the sensors also communication in network fashion [Para. 0056-0057].
a controller comprising a transceiver, a mode controller having an operation mode controller, and a calibration mode controller, a processing unit (controller) (114) which obtains sensor data from the sensor network (110) through a pre-processing unit (112) and communication networks (118/120) and where the processing module comprises a plurality of functional modules, including a positioning module (122), a site-map module (124), a network configuration module (126), a caching module (128), a partition module (130), an analytics module (132), and an advertising module (134), where one or more of these provides control and support for performing network setup, calibration and operation functions [Fig. 1; Para. 0110-0114];
wherein in a calibration mode said calibration mode controller is configured to analyze metadata from the plurality of RF sensing nodes, where sensor data may comprise a signal strength of a signal received from a communication (or calibration) device, and metadata including communication device ID, sensor ID, site and zone IDs as well as a time stamp [Para. 0055-0056, 0086], to select a number of RF sensing nodes from among the plurality of RF sensing nodes for performing RF sensing in a sensing area based on the analyzed metadata, Sjolund specifically discloses embodiments wherein the processor employs the site-map and positioning modules along with various algorithms, during a setup and calibration process to determine a highest reliable positioning data to define a sensor group that the provides the best end results [Para. 0052, 0056, 0085-0089 (see also Fig. 4-5)];
wherein the calibration mode controller is configured to output instructions to a user device to instruct a user to perform activities or movements in the sensing area to enable a calibration of the RF sensing nodes by analyzing the RF signals detected by the RF sensing nodes during the activities or the movements of the user in the sensing area; wherein the calibration process may comprise instruction for a calibrator to go to one or more pre-defined calibration positions, from which calibration signals are transmitted and signals received by the sensors collected and analyzed by the processing unit (step 404) [Fig. 4, Para. 0085-0086; 0119-0125].
Sjolund, does not explicitly disclose that a sensor (sensing node) comprises a transceiver and controller, but clearly discloses that a sensor receives and transmits collected information in coordinated fashion within a network, and where embodiments use a packetized communication structure. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention, that transceiver and control structures exist to perform these functions. Jern, moreover, discloses a method for creating an electronic fingerprint for a mobile communication device, and which employs an analogous RF sensor network [Title; Abstract; Fig. 1-3; Para. 0001, 0023-0026] and particularly that a sensor (10) comprises a radio interface (202) and CPU (206).
Sjolund does not explicitly disclose a calibration mode and an operation mode, but discloses a processor with functional modules for collectively performing these functions, and specifically discloses the operations for setup, calibration and operation. It would have been obvious to the artisan that these structures and operations are equivalent to a calibration mode controller and operation mode controller.
Consider claim 2 and as applied to claim 1: Radio frequency sensing system according to claim 1,
wherein the metadata include at least one of naming information of the RF sensing nodes, type of RF sensing nodes, position of the RF sensing node, and relative position of the RF sensing nodes, Sjolund discloses that a communication device may transmit, and a sensor receive a metadata, an ID, which may be an exemplary MAC address [Para. 0056];
wherein the calibration mode controller is configured to analyze the metadata of the RF nodes and to perform a pre-selection from among the plurality of RF nodes based on the analysis; where sensor data may comprise a signal strength of a signal received from a communication (or calibration) device, and metadata including communication device ID, sensor ID, site and zone IDs as well as a time stamp [Para. 0055-0056, 0086].
Consider claim 3 and as applied to claim 2: Radio frequency sensing system according to claim 2, wherein the calibration mode controller is configured to output instructions to the user device to instruct a user to perform an activity or movements in the sensing area based on the analyzed metadata. Sjolund discloses that during a calibration process, the calibrator is instructed to the at least one defined calibration position, where the calibration device confirms the position when it reaches each position (step 404) [Fig. 4; Para. 0089, 0119-0121].
Consider claim 4 and as applied to claim 2: Radio frequency sensing system according to claim 2, wherein the calibration mode controller is configured to extract contextual information from the analyzed metadata and to use the contextual information in the preselection of the RF sensing nodes and for the instructions outputted to the user device. Sjolund discloses that received sensor and zone ID information (metadata) may be used in conjunction with the site-map module (124) to provide a virtual understanding of a site (302) and variation is signal reception capabilities of the sensor (308) (context) such as to highlight obstacles and impossible locations [Fig. 3; Para. 0117-0118].
Consider claim 5 and as applied to claim 4: Radio frequency sensing system according to claim 4, wherein the calibration mode controller is configured to verify the extracted contextual information on consistency and plausibility. Sjolund discloses periodic measurement of sensor to adjacent sensor communication (verification), and which allows the highlighting of a bas connection between sensors, and which may be indicative of the need for additional sensor placement, and/or anomalies with respect to the site, as may be caused by obstructions, or changes in layout [Para. 0087, 0092].
Consider claim 9 and as applied to claim 1: Radio frequency sensing system according to claim 1, wherein the calibration mode controller is configured to perform a pre-selection of the RF sensing nodes taking into account processing capabilities, internal metrics or parameters of the RF sensing nodes. Sjolund discloses that during calibration a sensor group which delivers the lowest positioning error is determined [Para. 0087] and in particular groups, and group operation is determined based on whether particular sensors have siblings, and whether various direction finding methods may be used (monolateration/bilateration) [Fig. 5-6; Para. 0126-0136].
Consider claim 10: Radio frequency sensing method in a RF sensing system comprising a plurality of RF sensing nodes, Sjolund discloses a system and method for managing positioning data, comprising at least one sensor network operable to collect positioning data of the at least one communication device visiting a site and the plurality of sensors. In an example, the positioning data of the communication device comprises at least one of radio signal strength corresponding to at least one radio packet transmitted from at least one communication device to the plurality of sensors [Title; Abstract; Fig. 1-3; Para. 0008-0010, 0051-0054]; wherein the plurality of sensing nodes comprise a plurality of first sensing nodes, wherein each first RF sensing node comprises a RF node transceiver, a node controller with a RF sensing controller configured to sense RF signals from other RF nodes or to determine signal quality parameters or to perform a combination thereof and a controller comprising a transceiver, wherein a system comprises one or more sensors (sensing nodes), positioned within one or more zones of a site [Para. 0049] and which detects wireless communication device (radio) signals including exemplary data corresponding to radio signal strength of transmitted packets [Para. 0050-0055], the sensors also communication in network fashion [Para. 0056-0057]; a mode controller having an operation mode controller and calibration mode controller, a processing unit (controller) (114) which obtains sensor data from the sensor network (110) through a pre-processing unit (112) and communication networks (118/120) and where the processing module comprises a plurality of functional modules, including a positioning module (122), a site-map module (124), a network configuration module (126), a caching module (128), a partition module (130), an analytics module (132), and an advertising module (134), where one or more of these provides control and support for performing network setup, calibration and operation functions [Fig. 1; Para. 0110-0114]; comprising the steps of:
in a calibration mode analyzing metadata from the plurality of RF sensing nodes, where sensor data may comprise a signal strength of a signal received from a communication (or calibration) device, and metadata including communication device ID, sensor ID, site and zone IDs as well as a time stamp [Para. 0055-0056, 0086], to select a number of RF sensing nodes from among the plurality of RF sensing nodes for performing RF sensing in the sensing area based on the analyzed metadata, embodiments wherein the processor employs the site-map and positioning modules along with various algorithms, during a setup and calibration process to determine a highest reliable positioning data to define a sensor group (selection of sensors) that the provides the best end results [Para. 0052, 0056, 0085-0089 (see also Fig. 4-5)]; and
outputting instructions to a user device to instruct a user to perform activities or movements in the sensing area to enable a calibration of the RF sensing nodes by analyzing the RF signals detected by the RF sensing nodes during the movements of the user in a sensing area, wherein the calibration process may comprise instruction for a calibrator to go to one or more pre-defined calibration positions, from which calibration signals are transmitted and signals received by the sensors collected and analyzed by the processing unit (step 404) [Fig. 4, Para. 0085-0086; 0119-0125].
Sjolund, does not explicitly disclose that a sensor (sensing node) comprises a transceiver and controller, but clearly discloses that a sensor receives and transmits collected information in coordinated fashion within a network, and where embodiments use a packetized communication structure. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention, that transceiver and control structures exist to perform these functions. Jern, moreover, discloses a method for creating an electronic fingerprint for a mobile communication device, and which employs an analogous RF sensor network [Title; Abstract; Fig. 1-3; Para. 0001, 0023-0026] and particularly that a sensor (10) comprises a radio interface (202) and CPU (206).
Sjolund does not explicitly disclose a calibration mode and an operation mode, but discloses a processor with functional modules for collectively performing these functions, and specifically discloses the operations for setup, calibration and operation. It would have been obvious to the artisan that these structures and operations are equivalent to a calibration mode controller and operation mode controller.
Consider claim 11 and as applied to claim 10: Radio frequency sensing method according to claim 10,
wherein the metadata include at least one of naming information of the RF sensing node, type of RF sensing nodes, position of the RF sensing nodes, relative position of the RF nodes, Sjolund discloses that a communication device may transmit, and a sensor receive a metadata, an ID, which may be an exemplary MAC address [Para. 0056];
wherein the calibration mode controller is configured to analyze the metadata of the RF nodes and to perform a preselection from among the plurality of RF nodes based on the analysis; where sensor data may comprise a signal strength of a signal received from a communication (or calibration) device, and metadata including communication device ID, sensor ID, site and zone IDs as well as a time stamp [Para. 0055-0056, 0086].
Consider claim 12 and as applied to claim 10: Radio frequency sensing method according to claim 10, further comprising the step of outputting instructions to a user interface of a user device to instruct a user to perform activities or movements in the sensing area based on the analyzed metadata. Sjolund discloses that during a calibration process, the calibrator is instructed to the at least one defined calibration position, where the calibration device confirms the position when it reaches each position (step 404) [Fig. 4; Para. 0089, 0119-0121].
Consider claim 13 and as applied to claim 10: Radio frequency sensing method according to claim 10, further comprising the step of extracting contextual information from the analyzed metadata and using the contextual information in the preselection of the RF sensing nodes and for the instructions outputted to the user interface. Sjolund discloses that received sensor and zone ID information (metadata) may be used in conjunction with the site-map module (124) to provide a virtual understanding of a site (302) and variation is signal reception capabilities of the sensor (308) (context) such as to highlight obstacles and impossible locations [Fig. 3; Para. 0117-0118].
Claims 6-8 are rejected under 35 USC §103 as unpatentable over Sjolund et al. (United States Patent Application Publication # US 2017/0127241 A1), hereinafter Sjolund, which incorporates by reference, Jern et al. (United States Patent Application Publication # US 2015/0373692 A1), hereinafter Jern, in view of Montaigne et al. (United States Patent Application Publication # US 2016/0364913 A1), hereinafter Montaigne.
Consider claim 6 and as applied to claim 1: Radio frequency sensing system according to claim 1, wherein the calibration mode controller is configured to generate augmented reality assisted instructions for the user to perform activities or movements during the calibration process.
Sjolund discloses the use of various devices such as mobile phones, smart phones, tablets and portable computers by users and for calibration [Para. 0051] but does not specifically disclose the use of virtual reality or augmented reality devices for this purpose. This was known in analogous prior art, however, and for example:
Montaigne discloses augmented reality methods and systems for measuring and/or manufacturing [Title; Abstract; Fig. 1-3; Para. 0001, 0013] and specifically that user instructions for various steps of a calibration process may be provided through an augmented reality headset [Fig. 3; Para. 0107].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of effective filing for the invention to use an augmented reality device to provide instructions to a user during the performance of a calibration process as taught by Montaigne and applied to a system and method for managing positioning data as taught by Sjolund and which allows detailed, clear and precise instructions to be provided.
Consider claim 7 and as applied to claim 1: Radio frequency sensing system according to claim 1, wherein the calibration mode controller is configured generate instructions or augmented reality assisted instructions for the user to perform movements or activities with the user device to determine metadata of the RF nodes during the calibration process.
Montaigne discloses that an augmented reality device may be used to read or confirm information, such as identifiers (metadata) on a work order, or object [Fig.2; Para. 0094-0099].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of effective filing for the invention that instructions provided to a user may include those related to object metadata as taught by Montaigne and applied to a system and method for managing positioning data as taught by Sjolund, for example to compare a sensor type or identifier with that registered by the system.
Consider claim 8 and as applied to claim 1: Radio frequency sensing system according to claim 1, wherein the calibration mode controller is configured to generate instructions or augmented reality assisted instructions for the user to perform actions, activities or movements with the user device to optically determine metadata of the RF nodes during the calibration process. Montaigne discloses the use of an augmented reality device to review and confirm various written information, such as a work order [Fig.2; Para. 0094-0099], and where applied to an exemplary application with respect to Sjolund, a user may compare a registered sensor type and/or ID with that visually (optically) observed and confirmed by the user.
Claim 14 is rejected under 35 USC §103 as unpatentable over Sjolund et al. (United States Patent Application Publication # US 2017/0127241 A1), hereinafter Sjolund, which incorporates by reference, Jern et al. (United States Patent Application Publication # US 2015/0373692 A1), hereinafter Jern, in view of Baxley et al. (United States Patent Application Publication # US 2016/0127931 A1), hereinafter Baxley.
Consider claim 14 and as applied to claim 1: A computer program product for calibrating a radio frequency sensing system according to claim 1, the computer program product comprising program code means causing a radio frequency sensing system according to claim 1 to execute a radio frequency sensing method.
Sjolund discloses a processing unit (114) comprising a plurality of modules for performing calibration and operation methods, but does not specifically disclose the use of program code. This would have been understood by one of ordinary skill, and is specifically disclosed in analogous prior are, and for example:
Baxley discloses systems and methods for localization of transmitters within a complex electromagnetic environment [Title; Abstract; Fig. 1-6; Para. 0008, 0028] and particularly that the system operates using program code [Para. 0321].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of effective filing for the invention to use program code to perform radio location methods as taught by Baxley and applied to a system and method for managing positioning data as taught by Sjolund where the use of program code and instructions for control of processor based systems is usual and understood.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to Applicant’s disclosure.
Kravets et a. (U.S. Patent # US 9,523,760 B1) disclosing detecting of motion based on repeated wireless transmissions.
Bathiche et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication # US 2018/0233145 A1) disclosing position calibration for an intelligent assistant computing device.
Manku (U.S. Patent Application Publication # US 2017/0013207 A1) disclosing a radio frequency camera system.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the Examiner should be directed to STEPHEN R BURGDORF whose telephone number is (571)270-7328. The Examiner can normally be reached on Monday and Friday at 11:00 AM to 8:00 PM EST/EDT.
If attempts to reach the Examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the Examiner’s supervisor, Quan-Zhen Wang can be reached at (571)272-3114. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571)273-8300.
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/STEPHEN R BURGDORF/ Examiner, Art Unit 2685