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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Election/Restrictions
Applicant's election with traverse of claims 1-18 in the reply filed on 9/24/2025 is acknowledged. This application contains claims 19 and 20 are drawn to an invention nonelected in the reply filed on 9/24/2025. A complete reply to the final rejection must include cancellation of nonelected claims or other appropriate action (37 CFR 1.144) See MPEP § 821.01.
Response to Amendment
Applicant's amendment filed on 1/29/2026 have been entered and fully considered. Claims 1-18 are amended, claims 19 and 20 are withdrawn, and claims 1-18 are currently pending.
Claim objections have been withdrawn based on applicant filed amendments.
Specification objection has been withdrawn based on applicant filed amendment.
Drawing objection has been withdrawn based on applicant filed amendment.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s argument and amendment with respect to claim rejections under 35 U.S.C. 101 have been fully considered and are persuasive, therefore claim rejections under 35 U.S.C. 101 have been withdrawn.
Applicant's arguments with respect to claims 1-18 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues that previously cited reference Ye does not teach determine a plurality of three anchor sets from the plurality of at least four anchors, for each of the three anchor sets, determining, based on tag distances corresponding to anchors in the three anchor set, a preliminary tag location corresponding to the respective three anchor set, as recited in claim 1 and its dependent claims, and similarly recited in claims 7 and 13 and their respective dependent claims.
Examiner respectfully disagrees. Ye teaches a plurality of anchors in areas 802a, 802b and transition area 805, such as anchor device 803a-d, 804a-d, and ranging devices 806a-c, wherein the ranging devices may include one or more of a tag and/or an anchor (Figure 20A and Paragraphs 0143 and 0151). A distance is determined from a set of three ranging/anchor device 806a-c and a different set of three ranging/anchor device 816a-c in order to determine the location of mobile tag (Figures 20A, B, and D, and Paragraphs 0154 and 0155). Therefore, Ye teaches determine a plurality of three anchor sets from the plurality of at least four anchors, for each of the three anchor sets, determining, based on tag distances corresponding to anchors in the three anchor set, a preliminary tag location corresponding to the respective three anchor set, as recited in claim 1 and its dependent claims, and similarly recited in claims 7 and 13 and their respective dependent claims.
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)(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.
Claims 1, 2, 7, 8, 13 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Ye et al. (US 20230095932 A1 and Ye hereinafter).
Regarding claim 1, Ye teaches an apparatus (Figures 1 and 3, Paragraph 0035; a device) comprising:
a transceiver configured to receive, from each of a plurality of at least four anchors (Figure 20A; plurality of at least four anchor devices and ranging devices (may also be anchor devices)), a radio frequency (RF) signal (Figures 1 and 3, Paragraphs 0035 and 0039; a first anchor 102 transmits the first wireless signal (S.sub.1) at time t.sub.0, which in turn is received by the mobile tag 101 at time t.sub.1 and the second anchor 104 at time t.sub.2. The second anchor 104 can be configured to transmit a second wireless signal (S.sub.2) at time t.sub.3, which is received by the mobile tag 101 at time t.sub.4. Examiner asserts that the mobile device comprises a transceiver to receive from plurality of anchors) based on which a tag distance corresponding to a distance of a tag from the respective anchor is identified (Figures 1 and 3, Paragraph 0039; mobile tag 101 can be configured to use a time difference of arrival (TDOA) measurement technique based on the first and second wireless signals (S.sub.1, S.sub.2) to determine location information between the mobile tag 101 and the anchors 102 and 104. Paragraph 0040; the first and second anchors 102 and 104 are stationary. Accordingly, their x-y coordinates and a distance (d.sub.AB) between the first and second anchors 102 and 104 can be made known to the mobile tag 101 either by a look-up table provisioned into a memory of the mobile tag 101 or by including such information in the first wireless signal (S.sub.1), which can then be obtained by the mobile tag 101. Additionally, the mobile tag 101 can be configured to include in its look-up table the receive time and transmit time (t.sub.2, t.sub.3) of the second anchor 104 and/or a time difference between these times (Δt=t.sub.3−t.sub.2) or can receive this information in the second wireless signal (S.sub.2) transmitted by anchor 104. The equations that follow can be used to calculate a first possible location of the mobile tag 101 relative to anchor pair 102, 104. Also as evidenced in Figure 1, distance between each anchor to the mobile device is corresponding to signals between each anchor and the mobile device); and
a processor operably coupled to the transceiver (Paragraph 0035; a device includes a processor and a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processing system, facilitate performance of operations), configured to:
determine a plurality of three anchor sets (Figures 20A, 20B and 20D; ranging device/anchor device 806a-c and a different set of three ranging/anchor device 816a0c at transition areas. Examiner asserts there are more than one transition area) from the plurality of at least four anchors (Figure 20A; plurality of at least four anchor devices and ranging devices (may also be anchor devices));
for each of the three anchor sets (Figures 20A, 20B and 20D; ranging device/anchor device 806a,b,c and 816a,b,c at transition area), determine, based on the tag distances corresponding to anchors in the three anchor set (Figures 20A, 20B and 20D; ranging device/anchor device 806a,b,c at transition area), a preliminary tag location corresponding to the respective three anchor set (Figures 1 and 3, Paragraph 0040; the first and second anchors 102 and 104 are stationary. Accordingly, their x-y coordinates and a distance (d.sub.AB) between the first and second anchors 102 and 104 can be made known to the mobile tag 101 either by a look-up table provisioned into a memory of the mobile tag 101 or by including such information in the first wireless signal (S.sub.1), which can then be obtained by the mobile tag 101. Additionally, the mobile tag 101 can be configured to include in its look-up table the receive time and transmit time (t.sub.2, t.sub.3) of the second anchor 104 and/or a time difference between these times (Δt=t.sub.3−t.sub.2) or can receive this information in the second wireless signal (S.sub.2) transmitted by anchor 104. The equations that follow can be used to calculate a first possible location of the mobile tag 101 relative to anchor pair 102, 104. Figure 20A and Paragraph 0146; when mobile tag is located at second position, P.sub.2, the mobile tag may still access RTLS [real-time location system] for estimate position. Paragraph 0150; the mobile tag mobile tag may determine its position at and/or near transition area 805); and
determine a final tag location based on the preliminary tag locations (Figure 20A and Paragraph 0152; The ranging devices 806 in transition area may be anchor devices and may be used to determine a ranging value [distance] between the mobile tag and the anchor/ranging device. Figure 20B and Paragraphs 0154 and 0155; system 810 provides a first RTLS position service in a first area 811 and a second RTLS position service in a nearby second area 812. The first and second RTLS position services may be provided via first and second wireless networks 802 (FIG. 20A and corresponding paragraphs) providing wireless coverage to a mobile tag 817 operating within a respective area 811, 812. The system 810 also includes a transition area or region 815 along a border 819 between the first and second areas 811, 812. The system 810 also includes a group of wireless border ranging devices 816a, 816b, 816c, generally 816. The example border ranging devices 816 are located within the transition region 815 The ranging results provide one or more range values d.sub.1, d.sub.2, and d.sub.3 based on predetermined or otherwise known locations, estimates and/or inferences may be determined by one or more of the network 802, the anchors 803, 804 (FIG. 20A), the mobile tag 817 and/or another mobile tag 808 (FIG. 20A) based on one or more of the range values d.sub.1, d.sub.2, and d.sub.3 alone or in combination with the locations of the border ranging devices 816 and/or an estimated location [interpreted as final tag location] of the mobile tag 817. Paragraph 0162; the range measurements obtained in cooperation with the border ranging devices 816, alone or in combination with the RTLS position service, may support a detection, determination and/or estimation of a border crossing event. The border ranging measurements may be used to determine a more precise position of the mobile tag 817); and
provide the final tag location to a location based service (Paragraph 0067; once a mobile tag calculate information, the mobile tag can in turn report the location information to other devices and/or serverFigure 20F and Paragraph 0178; it is determined at 866 that the mobile tag is close to the transition are, one or more ranges are determined at 870 with respect to one or more border ranging devices 816 (FIG. 20B). The ranges may be determined according to range measurements conducted by one or more of the border ranging devices 816 and/or the mobile tag, and in at least some embodiments, one or more of the anchors of the corresponding anchor network. Range measurements may be obtained using any of the illustrative range, distance and/or position techniques disclosed herein and/or otherwise generally known. Paragrapsh 0180 and 0181; range measurements may be evaluated by comparison of the range measurements obtained between the mobile tag and different ones of the border ranging devices, and a determination is made to whether a handover should occur. Thus the range measurement is provided in order to make a handover decision).
Regarding claim 7, claim 7 recites similar features as claim 1, therefore is rejected for at least the same reason as discussed above regarding claim 1.
Regarding claim 13, claim 13 recites similar features as claim 1, therefore is rejected for at least the same reason as discussed above regarding claim 1. Further, Ye teaches a non-transitory computer readable medium embodying a computer program, the computer program comprising program code that, when executed by a processor of a device, causes the device to perform functions (Paragraph 0135; a non-transitory machine-readable medium comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processing system of a mobile device including a processor, facilitate performance of operations).
Regarding claims 2, 8 and 14, Ye teaches all of the limitations of claims 1, 7 and 13, as described above. Further, Ye teaches the final tag location is determined based on a statistical analysis of the preliminary tag locations (Figure 20G and Paragraph 0193; according to the example process 880, one or more of the range measurements alone or in combination with one or more of the other relevant monitored information may be evaluated at 892. Evaluation may include, without limitation, evaluation of the range measurements obtained between the mobile tag and one or more of the border ranging devices. Alternatively or in addition, the evaluations may include comparisons of range measurements obtained at different times between the mobile tag and any one or more of the border ranging devices 806. The evaluation of the range(s) and/or other relevant information may include one or more of an estimation of a direction of movement of the mobile tag 807, a prediction of a future position of the mobile tag 807, e.g., at a predetermined future time, such as within a number of seconds and/or before a subsequent monitoring at 890 and/or at 892, a determination of a likelihood that transit of the mobile tag from one service area to another is imminent, and so on, e.g., according to a determined probability based on one or more of the range measurements and/or the other relevant information).
Pertinent Prior Arts
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Hladik et al. (US 20230062514 A1) discloses obtain at least two definite anchor object distances between object transponder and at least two anchor gateways with respective known positions via distance measuring device using a two-way ranging method, and determine position of the object transponder.
Raza et al. (US 11579238 B2) discloses localization of mobile tags using a system including a plurality of anchors located at known locations.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-6, 9-12 and 15-18 are 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 if these claims overcome the claim objection and claim rejection under 35 U.S.C. 101.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
Applicant's invention is drawn to robust indoor positioning system that determines a final tag location based on preliminary tag locations obtained from signals containing distance information from plurality of anchors in an anchor set.
The prior arts, Ye, Hladik, Raza, and a thorough search discloses various aspects and features of applicant's claimed invention but fail to explicitly or implicitly teach or disclose
wherein to determine the final tag location, the processor is further configured to: determine a center tag location based on the preliminary tag locations; for each of the three anchor sets: determine a squared tag distance associated with the respective three anchor set; determine whether the the squared tag distance is greater than a threshold distance; and in response to the squared tag distance being greater than the threshold distance, remove the respective three anchor set from the plurality of three anchor sets and generate a retained anchor set group; and determine the final tag location based on the preliminary tag locations corresponding to the retained anchor set group, as recited in claims 3, 9 and 15;
wherein to determine the final tag location, the processor is further configured to: determine an X coordinate, a Y coordinate, and a Z coordinate for each preliminary tag location, creating an X coordinate set, a Y coordinate set, and a Z coordinate set; determine a median and standard deviation for each of the X coordinate set, the Y coordinate set, and the Z coordinate set; for each of the three anchor sets: determine whether the X coordinate, Y coordinate, and Z coordinate for the preliminary tag location associated with the three anchor set are within two standard deviations of the median value of the respective coordinate set; and in response to any of the X coordinate, the Y coordinate, or the Z coordinate being more than two standard deviations from the median value of the respective coordinate set, remove the respective three anchor set from the plurality of three anchor sets and generate a retained anchor set group; and determine the final tag location based on the preliminary tag locations corresponding to the retained anchor set group, as disclosed in dependent claims 5, 11 and 17; and
wherein to determine the plurality of three anchor sets, the processor is further configured to: determine a 2-anchor set from the plurality of at least four anchors, each 2-anchor set comprising a first anchor and a second anchor; identify a triangle for each 2-anchor set, each triangle comprising vertices at the first anchor, the second anchor, and the tag; for each of the identified triangles: determine whether the tag distance associated with the first anchor is less than a sum of the tag distance associated with the second anchor and a distance between the first anchor and the second anchor; in response to the tag distance associated with the first anchor being greater than the sum of the tag distance associated with the second anchor and the distance between the first anchor and the second anchor, identify the first anchor as an erroneous anchor and generate a retained anchor group; determine whether the tag distance associated with the second anchor is less than the sum of the tag distance associated with the first anchor and the distance between the first anchor and the second anchor; in response to the tag distance associated with the second anchor being greater than the sum of the tag distance associated with the first anchor and the distance between the first anchor and the second anchor, identify the second anchor as an erroneous anchor; and in response to the first or second anchor being identified as erroneous, remove the anchors identified as erroneous from the plurality of at least four anchors and generate a retained plurality of anchors; and wherein the plurality of three anchor sets is determined based on the retained plurality of anchors, as disclosed in dependent claims 6, 12 and 18.
These functions, in combination of remaining functions are neither taught nor disclosed by the prior art. Accordingly, claims 3, 5, 6, 9, 11, 12, 15, 17 and 18 would be allowed if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. Further, claim 4 depends from claim 3, claim 10 depends from claim 9, and claim 16 depends from claim 15, therefore claims 4, 10 and 16 would be allowable based by the virtue of their dependency from objected base claims.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Jing Gao whose telephone number is (571)270-7226. The examiner can normally be reached on 9am - 6pm M-F.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, Applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor Alison Slater can be reached on (571) 270-0375. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Jing Gao/
Examiner, Art Unit 2647
Prosecution Insights