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 .
Response to Arguments
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103:
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-12 and 14-20 have been considered but are moot. Independent claims 1 and 10 amendment to further clarify the features of the claimed invention (i.e. transmit data about a roadway, one or more unoccupied parking spaces, and one or more occupied parking spaces to a nearby travelling vehicle) necessitates new ground of rejection.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 10/15/2025 has been entered.
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.
Claims 1-4, 6, 10-11, 14-15 and 18-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kitaura et al. (US 20240240963 A1; hereafter Kitaura) in view of Khoo et al. (US 20200175869 A1; hereafter Khoo).
Regarding claim 1, Kitaura teaches a method for executing an autonomous parking process of a vehicle using a driver assistance system (see at least, [0010] FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of a control process executed by a vehicle control unit of a parking assistance device), comprising: sensing an external environment of the vehicle (see at least, [0030] The surrounding monitoring sensor…is an autonomous sensor that is mounted on a subject vehicle…and monitors a surrounding environment of the subject vehicle); receiving coordinates identifying a location of the vehicle (see at least, [0035] The parking assistance device…is connected to a map database…and a GPS…can measure a current
position of the subject vehicle), and receiving a navigational speed limit that is associated with the location identified by the coordinates (see at least, [0067] the tracking control unit…causes the subject vehicle…to move along the target route based on the current position of the subject vehicle…
estimated by the position estimation unit...When there is a speed limit in the parking lot…the tracking control unit…sets the traveling speed with the speed limit as an upper limit); transmitting data associated with the external environment and the navigational speed limit to an Electronic Control Unit (ECU) of the vehicle (see at least, [0069] the tracking control unit…acquires the detection signals output from sensors ... and outputs a control signal to the various ECUs…in order to cause the subject vehicle…to move to track the search route…and the parking route); carrying out the autonomous parking process of the vehicle (see at least, [0038] The parking assistance device…causes the subject vehicle…to automatically move to a target parking position); determining a region of interest of the external environment of the vehicle based on the data and the navigational speed limit (see at least, [0067] the tracking control unit…causes the subject vehicle…to move along the target route based on the current position of the subject vehicle...automatically causes the vehicle…to move to the target
parking position ...When there is a speed limit in the parking lot…the tracking control unit…sets the traveling speed with the speed limit as an upper limit).
Kitaura does not explicitly teach monitoring on-coming traffic within the region of interest; and transmitting data about a roadway, one or more unoccupied parking spaces, and one or more occupied parking spaces to a nearby travelling vehicle; wherein the ECU is configured to determine if an unoccupied parking space is a restricted parking space. However, Khoo teaches these limitations.
Khoo teaches monitoring on-coming traffic within the region of interest (see at least, [0064] The parking condition data may include vehicle location data of a plurality of vehicles…within the predetermined distance of the destination, and the vehicle location data may be detected by respective location sensors…of the plurality of vehicles…may include vehicle speed data of the plurality of vehicles within the predetermined distance of the destination, the vehicle speed data detected by respective speed sensors….of the plurality of vehicles); and transmitting data about a roadway, one or more unoccupied parking spaces, and one or more occupied parking spaces to a nearby travelling vehicle (see at least, Fig 4, [0044] The first vehicle 402A may communicate the potential opening of the parking spot and the location of the parking spot to one or more vehicles (e.g., second vehicle 402B or third vehicle 402C); wherein the ECU is configured to determine if an unoccupied parking space is a restricted parking space (see at least, [0053] The image data may be used by the ECU 504 to determine…parking regulation or parking restriction data; [0038] the parking regulation
object is a parking sign, the parking sign may have a series of situations where vehicles are allowed to park, and another series of situations where vehicles are not allowed to park).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Kitaura to include monitoring on-coming traffic within the region of interest; and transmitting data about a roadway, one or more unoccupied parking spaces, and one or more occupied parking spaces to a nearby travelling vehicle wherein the ECU is configured to determine if an unoccupied parking space is a restricted parking space as taught by Khoo so that the vehicle is able to efficiently find parking, thereby avoiding contributing to the traffic congestion at the destination location which reduces traffic collisions improving overall safety of the vehicles near the destination location (Khoo, [0015]).
Regarding claim 2, the combination of Kitaura and Khoo teaches the method according to claim 1. Khoo further teaches wherein the monitoring on-coming traffic within the region of interest comprises determining a speed and a position of each traveling vehicle within the region of interest (see at least, [0064] The parking condition data may include vehicle location data of a plurality of vehicles…within the predetermined distance of the destination, and the vehicle location data may be detected by respective location sensors…of the plurality of vehicles…may include vehicle speed data of the plurality of vehicles within the predetermined distance of the destination, the vehicle speed data detected by respective speed sensors….of the plurality of vehicles).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have further modified Kitaura to include monitoring on-coming traffic within the region of interest comprises determining a speed and a position of each traveling vehicle within the region of interest as taught by Khoo so that the vehicle is able to efficiently find parking, thereby avoiding contributing to the traffic congestion at the destination location which reduces traffic collisions improving overall safety of the vehicles near the destination location (Khoo, [0015]).
Regarding claim 3, the combination of Kitaura and Khoo teaches the method according to claim 1. Kitaura further teaches wherein the autonomous parking process is a parking-in process for entering an unoccupied parking space or a parking-out process for exiting an occupied parking space occupied by the vehicle (see at least, [0067] the tracking control unit…automatically causes the vehicle…to move to the target parking position…along the parking route…during the parking assistance).
Regarding claim 4, the combination of Kitaura and Khoo teaches the method according to claim 3. Kitaura further teaches comprising: identifying the unoccupied parking space (see at least, [0049) the free space recognition unit…constitutes a “space recognition unit” that searches the parking
lot…for the parking space…for parking the subject vehicle…based on the surrounding information of the subject vehicle ); and determining a parking-in trajectory for the vehicle into the unoccupied parking space based on a geometry of the unoccupied parking space and the location of the vehicle relative to the unoccupied parking space (see at least, [0065] The route generation unit…generates a target route through which the subject vehicle…should pass in the parking lot…based on the results of the scene recognition, three-dimensional object recognition, and free space recognition).
Regarding claim 6, the combination of Kitaura and Khoo teaches the method according to claim 1. Kitaura further teaches further comprising determining a safe zone of the region of interest (see at least, [0049) a free space is recognized from the parking lot...based on the shape of the parking lot
…and the presence or absence of parking of other vehicle).
Regarding claim 10, Kitaura teaches a driver assistance system for a vehicle (see at least, [0010] FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of a control process executed by a vehicle control unit of a parking assistance device), comprising: a plurality of detection sensors configured to collect data associated with an external environment of the vehicle (see at least, Fig 1, [0034] the surrounding monitoring
sensor…includes the surrounding monitoring cameras 31, the sonars 32, the millimeter wave radar 33, and the LiDAR 34); a navigational sensor configured to receive coordinates identifying a location of the vehicle (see at least, [0035] The parking assistance device…is connected to a map database…and a GPS…can measure a current position of the subject vehicle, and further configured to receive a navigational speed limit that is associated with the location identified by the coordinates (see at least, [0067] the tracking control unit…causes the subject vehicle…to move along the target route based on the current position of the subject vehicle…estimated by the position estimation unit...When there is a speed limit in the parking lot…the tracking control unit…sets the traveling speed with the speed limit as an upper limit); and an Electronic Control Unit (ECU) configured to: receive data associated with the external environment of the vehicle from the plurality of detection sensors; receive the coordinates and the navigational speed limit from the navigational sensor (see at least, [0069] the tracking control unit…acquires the detection signals output from sensors ... and outputs a control signal to the various ECUs…in order to cause the subject vehicle…to move to track the search route…and the parking route); carry out an autonomous parking process of the vehicle (see at least, [0038] The parking assistance device…causes the subject vehicle…to automatically move to a target parking position); determine a region of interest of the external environment of the vehicle based on the data and the navigational speed limit (see at least, [0067] the tracking control unit…causes the subject vehicle…to move along the target route based on the current position of the subject vehicle...
automatically causes the vehicle…to move to the target parking position ...When there is a speed limit in the parking lot…the tracking control unit…sets the traveling speed with the speed limit as an upper limit); determine an unoccupied parking space within the external environment of the vehicle (see at least, [0049) the free space recognition unit…constitutes a “space recognition unit” that searches the parking lot…for the parking space…for parking the subject vehicle…based on the surrounding information of the subject vehicle ) based on the data provided by the plurality of detection sensors (see at least, [0034] the surrounding monitoring sensor…includes the surrounding monitoring cameras…the sonars…the millimeter wave radar…and the LiDAR….multiple combinations of these sensors may be used to monitor the surrounding).
Kitaura does not explicitly teach determine if the unoccupied parking space is a restricted parking space; monitor on-coming traffic within the region of interest detected by the plurality of detection sensors; and transmit data about a roadway, one or more unoccupied parking spaces, and one or more occupied parking spaces to a nearby travelling vehicle. However, Khoo teaches these limitations.
Khoo teaches determine if the unoccupied parking space is a restricted parking space (see at least, [0053] The image data may be used by the ECU 504 to determine…parking regulation or parking restriction data; [0038] the parking regulation object is a parking sign, the parking sign may have a series of situations where vehicles are allowed to park, and another series of situations where vehicles are not allowed to park; monitor on-coming traffic within the region of interest detected by the plurality of detection sensors (see at least, [0064] The parking condition data may include vehicle location data of a plurality of vehicles…within the predetermined distance of the destination, and the vehicle location data may be detected by respective location sensors…of the plurality of vehicles…may include vehicle speed data of the plurality of vehicles within the predetermined distance of the destination, the vehicle speed data detected by respective speed sensors….of the plurality of vehicles); and transmit data about a roadway, one or more unoccupied parking spaces, and one or more occupied parking spaces to a nearby travelling vehicle (see at least, Fig 4, [0044] The first vehicle 402A may communicate the potential opening of the parking spot and the location of the parking spot to one or more vehicles (e.g., second vehicle 402B or third vehicle 402C).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Kitaura to include determine if the unoccupied parking space is a restricted parking space; monitor on-coming traffic within the region of interest detected by the plurality of detection sensors; and transmit data about a roadway, one or more unoccupied parking spaces, and one or more occupied parking spaces to a nearby travelling vehicle as taught by Khoo so that the vehicle is able to efficiently find parking, thereby avoiding contributing to the traffic congestion at the destination location which reduces traffic collisions improving overall safety of the vehicles near the destination location (Khoo, [0015]).
Regarding claim 11, the combination of Kitaura and Khoo teaches the driver assistance system of claim 10. Kitaura further teaches wherein at least one detection sensor of the plurality of detection sensors is an ultrasonic sensor (see at least, [0033] The sonar…performs measurement using ultrasonic waves as the probe waves, and is provided at multiple locations with respect to the vehicle V).
Regarding claim 14, the combination of Kitaura and Khoo teaches the driver assistance system of claim 10. Khoo further teaches wherein the ECU (see at least, [0077] An ECU…of the vehicle determines a plurality of candidate parking locations based on the parking condition data ) is further configured to determine a speed and a position of each traveling vehicle within the region of interest based on the data provided by the plurality of detection sensors (see at least, [0064] The parking condition data may include vehicle location data of a plurality of vehicles…within the predetermined distance of the destination, and the vehicle location data may be detected by respective location sensors…of the plurality of vehicles…may include vehicle speed data of the plurality of vehicles within the predetermined distance of the destination, the vehicle speed data detected by respective speed
sensors….of the plurality of vehicles).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have further modified Kitaura to include determine a speed and a position of each traveling vehicle within the region of interest based on the data provided by the plurality of detection sensors as taught by Khoo so that the vehicle is able to efficiently find parking, thereby avoiding contributing to the traffic congestion at the destination location which reduces traffic collisions improving overall safety of the vehicles near the destination location (Khoo, [0015]).
Regarding claim 15, the combination of Kitaura and Khoo teaches the driver assistance system of claim 10. Kitaura further teaches wherein the region of interest is disposed within a single lane of a multilane roadway (see at least, [0075] the vehicle control unit…specifies the parking spot and the traveling
lane based on the sensing information sequentially acquired by the surrounding monitoring sensor).
Regarding claim 18, the combination of Kitaura and Khoo teaches the driver assistance system of claim 10. Kitaura further teaches wherein the autonomous parking process is a parking-in process for entering an unoccupied parking space or a parking-out process for exiting an occupied parking space occupied by the vehicle (see at least, [0067] the tracking control unit…automatically causes the vehicle…to move to the target parking position…along the parking route…during the parking assistance).
Regarding claim 19, the combination of Kitara and Khoo teaches the driver assistance system of claim 18. Kitaura further teaches wherein the ECU is further configured to determine a parking-in trajectory for the vehicle into the unoccupied parking space based on a geometry of the unoccupied parking space measured by the plurality of detection sensors and the location of the vehicle relative to the unoccupied parking space (see at least, [0065] The route generation unit…generates a target route through which the subject vehicle…should pass in the parking lot…based on the results of the scene recognition, three-dimensional object recognition, and free space recognition).
Claims 7 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kitaura et al. (US 20240240963 A1; hereafter Kitaura) in view of Khoo et al. (US 20200175869 A1; hereafter Khoo) in further view of Tsunekawa et al. (US 20130169449 A1; hereafter Tsunekawa).
Regarding claim 7, the combination of Kitaura and Khoo teaches the method according to claim 6. The combination does not explicitly teach further comprising modifying the safe zone based on a speed and a position of a traveling vehicle of the on-coming traffic within the region of interest. However, Tsunekawa teaches this limitation.
Tsunekawa teaches modifying the safe zone based on a speed and a position of a traveling vehicle of the on-coming traffic within the region of interest (see at least, [0102] the position of the oncoming vehicle…based on the detected travelling direction and travelling velocity, and the detected relative position, every predetermined time…every 100 msec); [0024] The collision determination
section adjusts the collision determination reference).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have further modified the combination of Kitaura and Khoo to include modifying the safe zone based on a speed and a position of a traveling vehicle of the on-coming traffic within the region of interest as taught by Tsunekawa in order to appropriately estimate whether or not there is a possibility of collision with the oncoming vehicle (Tsunekawa, [0102]).
Regarding claim 17, the combination of Kitaura and Khoo teaches the driver assistance system of claim 10. The combination does not explicitly teach wherein the ECU is further configured to determine a safe zone of the region of interest, the safe zone being a predetermined percentage of the region of interest or a predetermined time for the on-coming traffic to be located within the region of interest.
However, Tsunekawa teaches this limitation.
Tsunekawa teaches wherein the ECU is further configured to determine a safe zone of the region of interest, the safe zone being a predetermined percentage of the region of interest or a predetermined time for the on-coming traffic to be located within the region of interest (see at least, [0102] the
position of the oncoming vehicle…based on the detected travelling direction and travelling velocity,
and the detected relative position, every predetermined time… every 100 msec).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have further modified the combination of Kitaura and Khoo to include determine a safe zone of the region of interest, the safe zone being a predetermined time for the on-coming traffic to be located within the region of interest as taught by Tsunekawa in order to appropriately estimate whether or not there is a possibility of collision with the oncoming vehicle (Tsunekawa, [0102]).
Claims 5 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kitaura et al. (US 20240240963 A1; hereafter Kitaura) in view of Khoo et al. (US 20200175869 A1; hereafter Khoo) in further view of Iwami (US 20190185055 A1; hereafter Iwami).
Regarding claim 5, the combination of Kitaura and Khoo teaches the method according to claim 3. The combination does not explicitly teach further comprising determining a parking-out trajectory of the vehicle to exit the occupied parking space occupied by the vehicle based on a geometry of the occupied parking space and a geometry of a roadway connected to the occupied parking space.
However, Iwami teaches this limitation.
Iwami teaches determining a parking-out trajectory of the vehicle to exit the occupied parking space occupied by the vehicle based on a geometry of the occupied parking space and a geometry of a roadway connected to the occupied parking space (see at least, [0067] An exit-from-parking coordinate system…is defined by a state of the host vehicle…at a time when the parking exit assist control is started…the position of the host vehicle…is set as an origin…of the exit-from-parking coordinate system…The pulling-out direction of the host vehicle…is the positive direction on the X-axis and is a direction in which the host vehicle…intends to travel (pull out) relative to the assist starting position).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have further modified the combination of Kitaura and Khoo to include determining a parking-out trajectory of the vehicle to exit the occupied parking space occupied by the vehicle based on a geometry of the occupied parking space and a geometry of a roadway connected to the occupied parking space as taught by Iwami so that it can be made certain that there is a sufficient safety of driving after the host vehicle exits from parking (Iwami, [0109]).
Regarding claim 20, the combination of Kitaura and Khoo teaches the driver assistance system of claim 18. The combination does not explicitly teach wherein the ECU is further configured to determine a parking-out trajectory of the vehicle to exit the occupied parking space occupied by the vehicle based on a geometry of the occupied parking space measured by the plurality of detection sensors and a geometry of a roadway connected to the occupied parking space. However, Iwami teaches this limitation.
Iwami teaches the ECU is further configured to determine a parking-out trajectory of the vehicle to exit the occupied parking space occupied by the vehicle based on a geometry of the occupied parking space measured by the plurality of detection sensors and a geometry of a roadway connected to the occupied parking space (see at least, Fig 1 Box 18-Assist ECU; [0067] An exit-from-parking coordinate system…is defined by a state of the host vehicle…at a time when the parking exit assist control is started…the position of the host vehicle…is set as an origin…of the exit-from-parking coordinate system…The pulling-out direction of the host vehicle…is the positive direction on the X-axis and is a direction in which the host vehicle…intends to travel (pull out) relative to the assist starting position).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have further modified the combination of Kitaura and Khoo to include determine a parking-out trajectory of the vehicle to exit the occupied parking space occupied by the vehicle based on a geometry of the occupied parking space and a geometry of a roadway connected to the occupied parking space as taught by Iwami so that it can be made certain that there is a sufficient safety of driving after the host vehicle exits from parking (Iwami, [0109]).
Claims 8, 9 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kitaura et al. (US 20240240963 A1; hereafter Kitaura) in view of Khoo et al. (US 20200175869 A1; hereafter Khoo) in further view of Patil et al. (US 20240059277 A1; hereafter Patil).
Regarding claim 8, the combination of Kitaura and Khoo teaches the method according to claim 6. The combination does not explicitly teach comprising aborting or pausing the autonomous parking process subsequent to the on-coming traffic entering the safe zone. However, Patil teaches this limitation.
Patil further teaches comprising aborting or pausing the autonomous parking process subsequent to the on-coming traffic entering the safe zone (see at least, [0079] The vehicle…then waits for the oncoming vehicle…moving in a particular direction…to reach a position…at a predefined safe distance in the parking aisle).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have further modified the combination of Kitaura and Khoo to include aborting or pausing the autonomous parking process subsequent to the on-coming traffic entering the safe zone as taught by Patil so that collision is avoided (Patil, [0078]).
Regarding claim 9, the combination of Kitaura and Khoo teaches the method according to claim 6. The combination does not explicitly teach comprising continuing the autonomous parking process while the on-coming traffic is disposed within the safe zone if a completion percentage of the autonomous parking process is greater than a predetermined completion percentage. However, Patil teaches this limitation.
Patil further teaches comprising continuing the autonomous parking process while the on-coming traffic is disposed within the safe zone if a completion percentage of the autonomous parking process is greater than a predetermined completion percentage (see at least, [0081] FIG. 5, while the oncoming vehicle…is moving in the particular direction…towards the exemplary position…The vehicle…neither needs to stop the parking activity nor needs to wait for the oncoming vehicle…to reach the exemplary position…performs automated parking of the vehicle…uninterruptedly).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have further modified the combination of Kitaura and Khoo to include continuing the autonomous parking process while the on-coming traffic is disposed within the safe zone if a completion percentage of the autonomous parking process is greater than a predetermined completion percentage as taught by Patil so that collision is avoided (Patil, [0078]).
Regarding claim 16, the combination of Kitaura and Khoo teaches the driver assistance system of claim 10. The combination does not explicitly teach wherein the ECU is further configured to determine the region of interest based on an estimated time to complete the autonomous parking process. However, Patil teaches this limitation.
Patil teaches wherein the ECU is further configured to determine the region of interest based on an estimated time to complete the autonomous parking process (see at least, [0078] FIG. 5 that when the vehicle…moves…from the ideal start point…to the middle point …the vehicle...may possibly collide with another vehicle…already parked in a parking row…a collision is avoided by re-planning a path of the vehicle…which increases an overall time required for parking the vehicle).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have further modified the combination of Kitaura and Khoo to include determine the region of interest based on an estimated time to complete the autonomous parking process as taught by Patil in order to prevent the need for performing multiple back and forth movements, which decreases an overall time taken to park the vehicle, decreases fuel consumption (Patil, [0082]).
Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kitaura et al. (US 20240240963 A1; hereafter Kitaura) in view of Khoo et al. (US 20200175869 A1; hereafter Khoo) in further view of Ronning et al. (US 20160371983 A1; Ronning).
Regarding claim 12, the combination of Kitaura and Khoo teaches the driver assistance system of claim 10. The combination does not explicitly teach wherein at least one detection sensor of the plurality of detection sensors is a visual sensor configured to capture a video feed. However, Ronning teaches this limitation.
Ronning teaches wherein at least one detection sensor of the plurality of detection sensors is a visual sensor configured to capture a video feed (see at least, [0158] the reference image may be compared to the live video feed or image captures from the camera…Features may be detected in the frames of the live video feed or periodic images captured by the camera).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have further modified the combination of Kitaura and Khoo to include at least one detection sensor of the plurality of detection sensors is a visual sensor configured to capture a video feed as taught by Ronning so that the frames of the live video feed or periodic images captured by the camera…to determine the vehicle's position relative to the ideal parking position as captured in the reference image (Ronning, [0158]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Cho et al. (US 20230280747 A1) discloses monitoring on-coming traffic within the region of interest comprises determining a speed and a position of each traveling vehicle within the region of interest ([0358] an estimated speed of the detected moving object (for example, the oncoming vehicle 100D), an estimated distance between the detected moving object (for example, the oncoming vehicle 100D) and the vehicle).
Liu et al. (US 20220198928 A1) discloses receiving coordinates identifying a location of the vehicle and identifying an unoccupied parking space ([0024] navigation information is presented in the format of (X, Y, Z); where X and Y and Z are three coordinates that define the geographic location, i.e., a position of a vehicle;[0063] The first device 102 can use the object detection module 115 of FIG. 1 to begin the process of identifying the parking space 202 for the autonomous vehicle or parking assist function of the first device).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TOYA PETTIEGREW whose telephone number is (313)446-6636. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30pm - 5:00pm M-F.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jelani Smith can be reached at 571-270-3969. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/TOYA PETTIEGREW/Examiner, Art Unit 3662
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