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 .
Status of Claims
This Office Action is in response to the applicant’s response on September 18th, 2025. Claims 1-12 are presently pending and are presented for examination.
Response to Amendment
In response to applicant’s amendment filed September 18th, 2025, Examiner withdraws the previous 102 and 103 prior art rejections.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, filed September 18th, 2025, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of US-20220139222 (hereinafter, “Bao”).
Claim Objections
Claim 12 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 12 recites “driving assistance information generation method for a driving assistance system including a roadside server connected a driving assistance system including to a roadside sensor and a roadside device” Examiner believes it should recite “driving assistance information generation method for a driving assistance system including a roadside server connected to a driving assistance system and including a roadside sensor and a roadside device”.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 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 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1-3, and 6-12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 being unpatentable over JP2019185366A (hereinafter, “Kuroda”) in view of US-20220139222 (hereinafter, “Bao”).
Regarding claim 1 Kuroda discloses a driving assistance system (see at least Fig. 1; driving assistance system 50) comprising a roadside server (see at least [0032]; “a driving assistance system 50 according to this embodiment includes a server device 100”) connected by wire or wirelessly to a roadside sensor and a vehicle (see at least [0033]; “the server device 100 is capable communicating with one or more sensing devices and receives sensor data from the sensing devices. The detection device collects information about the road and its surrounding conditions,” and [0035]; “the detection device includes a first roadside sensor 400A and a second roadside sensor 400B as roadside infrastructure equipment installed in the service area of the edge server 100, and an in-vehicle device 500 mounted on a vehicle 60b traveling within the service area” the roadside sensors 400 correspond to Applicant’s roadside sensor and [0067]; “The roadside sensor 400 is connected to the Internet via the device and communicates with the edge server 100 or the core server 300 via the Internet. The communication function of the communication unit 440 may be wired communication using a wired line such as an optical line, in addition to wireless communication”), the roadside server acquiring information from the roadside sensor and transmitting driving assistance information to vehicles (see at least [0032]; “a driving assistance system 50 according to this embodiment includes a server device 100 that performs driving assistance, and a communication terminal 200 mounted in a vehicle 60a that receives driving assistance from the server device 100. The server device 100 provides the communication terminal 200 with information useful for driving (hereinafter referred to as “driving support information”), thereby supporting each driver”), wherein
the roadside server (see at least Fig. 1; server device 100) comprises:
a wide-area communication circuit to perform wide-area communication that uses radio communication involving a base station (see at least [0059]; “The communication unit 230 communicates with the edge server 100 via the base station 66 (see FIG. 3). This communication unit 230 includes an IC for performing modulation and multiplexing used in each of the LTE and 5G lines, an antenna for emitting and receiving radio waves of a predetermined frequency, an RF circuit, and the like”);
a sensor information processing circuit to generate sensing information using information indicating a state in a detection range of the roadside sensor from the roadside sensor (see at least [0033]; “the detection device collects information about the road and its surrounding conditions) hereinafter referred to as “road information”) and collect information about them. Each detection device has a communication function and transmits collected information to the server device 100 as sensor data” and [0035]; “the detection device includes a first roadside sensor 400A and a second roadside sensor 400B as roadside infrastructure equipment installed in the service area” and [0038]; “the roadside sensor 400…detect dynamic information of pedestrians 30, vehicles 60, etc.”), the sensing information including a position and a movement direction of a first dynamic object within the detection range (see at least [0038]; “the roadside sensor 400…detect dynamic information of pedestrians 30, vehicles 60, etc.” and [0046]; “the dynamic information includes, for example, position information of moving objects (vehicles, pedestrians, etc.),” and [0073]; “if the sensor data is video data acquired by a digital camera, the object’s movement speed, acceleration, movement direction, etc. can be detected”);
an assistance information generation circuit to generate driving assistance information by combining surrounding object information and the sensing information (see at least [0049]; “The communication unit 130 also receives sensor data uploaded from an in-vehicle device 500 (see FIG. 2) and sensor data uploaded from a roadside sensor 400 installed on a road or the like the sensor data received by the communication unit 130 is transmitted to the storage device 120 and stored as a database…The control unit 110 reads out data from the storage device 120 as appropriate, executes a predetermined analysis process (for example, analysis process for obtaining driving support information,” the sensing information corresponds to the sensor data from the roadside sensor and the surrounding object information corresponds to the sensor data from the in-vehicle device),
the surrounding object information being obtained by extracting, from probe information received by the wide-area communication circuit (see at least [0033]; “each detection device has a communication function and transmits collected information to the server device 100 as sensor data,” and [0035]; “the detection device includes…an in-vehicle device 500 mounted on vehicle 60b traveling within the service area,” the sensor information from the in-vehicle device 500 is the probe information), being allowed to be delayed (see at least [0041]; “when sensor data is sent from an in-vehicle device 500 or a roadside sensor 400 to the edge server 100 and analyzed by the edge server 100, the sensor data arrives at the edge server 100 with a delay due to the response speed of these devices” the sensor data corresponding to probe information is delayed due to communication speed), and including a position and a velocity (see at least [0057]; “With reference to FIG. 6 , the on-vehicle device 500 includes the communication terminal 200 , an on-vehicle sensor 510 , a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver 520 , a display 530 , a speaker 540 , an input device 550 , a vehicle speed sensor 560 , and a gyro sensor 570,” the vehicle 60b corresponds to the second dynamic object and its on-vehicle device includes a GPS receiver to determine the vehicle’s position and a vehicle speed sensor to determine the velocity) of a second dynamic object which is outside the detection range of the roadside sensor and which is within a predetermined information collection range (see at least fig. 2 as can be seen in fig. 2 the roadside sensor 4001 only images one of the three vehicles and a pedestrian this vehicle corresponds to the first dynamic object, the second dynamic object corresponds to vehicle 60b which while not detected by the vehicle is still able to transmit data because it’s still served by the greater network served by the core server 300, the area served by server 300 corresponds to the predetermined information collection range), predicted position information (see at least [0042]; “the edge server 100 according to the present embodiment executes a predictive analysis for predicting a future state of sensor data with a large delay separately from sensor data with a small delay”) present within an information provision range included in the information collection range and including the detection range of the roadside sensor and being wider than the detection range (see at least fig. 2 the provision range is denied as a geographic range in which the vehicle is present, Examiner asserts that the geographic range covered by servers 100 is an information provision range as can be shown it is a part of the collection range that server 300 serves and includes the area served by the roadside sensor,
the predicted position information including a predicted position of the second dynamic object predicted to be in the information provision range in consideration of delays in wide-area communication that uses the radio communication involving the base station and in processing in the roadside server (Examiner Note: applicant defines probe information as information from an in-vehicle device of the corresponding vehicle; [0012] “the in-vehicle device 10 periodically or regularly transmits probe information including the position and velocity of the corresponding vehicle”) (see at least [0042]; “the edge server 100 according to the present embodiment executes a predictive analysis process for predicting a future state of sensor data with a large delay separately from sensor data with a small delay,” the data from the in-vehicle device, which corresponds to probe information, is considered to generate predicting a future state of the vehicle in consideration of delay in communication, the vehicle is considered to be the second dynamic object, [0073]; “For example, the predictive analysis processing unit 164 processes the sensor data in the same manner as the real-time analysis processing unit 162 to detect objects, and predicts the future state of the detected object a time period corresponding to the delay time (e.g., 1 to 2 seconds) ahead.” and [0059]; “The communication unit 230 communicates with the edge server 100 via the base station 66 (see FIG. 3). This communication unit 230 includes an IC for performing modulation and multiplexing used in each of the LTE and 5G lines, an antenna for emitting and receiving radio waves of a predetermined frequency, an RF circuit, and the like,” the edge server predicts positioning of all dynamic objects within its range this would include objects leaving the range as well as staying within the range),
the driving assistance information including a position and a velocity of the first dynamic object when the first dynamic object is sensed to be in the information provision range, and the predicted position of the second dynamic object see at least [0040]; “the edge server 100 performs a predetermined analysis process (e.g., analysis process for obtaining driving assistance information) on each sensor data received via the core server 300 or without via the core server 300, and distributes dynamic information (driving assistance information) generated by the analysis process to the vehicle 60a to be assisted,” [0065]; “the communication terminal 200 of the in-vehicle device 500 has a function of receiving driving support information (dynamic information) transmitted from the edge server 100 to the vehicle itself via the communication unit 230. Based on the received dynamic information, the communication terminal 200 executes driving assistance control such as outputting a warning to the passenger while driving on the display 530 and performing compulsory braking intervention,” and [0046]; “the dynamic information includes, for example, position information of moving objects,” the dynamic information of an object would further include the object’s speed, predictions for all objects within the range of the system would be included in the dynamic information, this would include dynamic information from the vehicles themselves (second dynamic object) as well as detected by the sensors (first dynamic object));
a sensor interface to acquire the information indicating a state of the detection range from the roadside sensor and output the acquired information to the sensor information processing circuit in real time (see at least [0049]; “the communication unit 130 also receives…sensor data uploaded from a roadside sensor,” and [0072]; “The real-time analysis processing unit 162 performs real-time analysis processing on the sensor data”); and
…the information provision range corresponds in position to a position of the vehicle and extends around the vehicle (see at least Fig. 2 and 3), and
the information collection range is a range in which the probe information of the second dynamic object, which is outside the detection range of the roadside sensor, is collected by the wide-area communication using the radio communication involving the base station (Examiner Note: applicant defines the information collection range as [0038] being set to include the entire range of the driving assistance system) (see at least Fig. 2 and 3, vehicles not within the range of the roadside sensor are still managed to be collected [0059]; “The communication unit 230 communicates with the edge server 100 via the base station 66 (see FIG. 3). This communication unit 230 includes an IC for performing modulation and multiplexing used in each of the LTE and 5G lines, an antenna for emitting and receiving radio waves of a predetermined frequency, an RF circuit, and the like”).
Kuroda does not disclose wherein information is transmitted to the vehicles through a roadside device wherein the driving assistance system connected by wire or wirelessly to a…roadside device, the roadside server…transmitting driving assistance information to the roadside device…
a roadside device interface to transmit the driving assistance information to the roadside device; wherein
the roadside device has a roadside-device communication range and is configured to transmit the driving assistance information to a dynamic object in the roadside-device communication range.
Bao, in the same field of endeavor, teaches wherein information is transmitted to the vehicles through a roadside device wherein the driving assistance system connected by wire or wirelessly to a…roadside device (see at least fig. 2, and [0033]; “there may also be a communication connection between roadside devices 110 and 120,” 120 corresponds to Applicant’s roadside server and roadside device 110 corresponds to Applicant’s roadside device), the roadside server…transmitting driving assistance information to the roadside device (see at least [0061]; “information related to a parking area may be provided, for example, from a remote device 120 to a roadside device 110. The roadside device 110 makes the information included in a perception message 202 and provides to the transportation means 130, to assist the transportation means 130 for finding a suitable parking spot as soon as possible,” a communication portion of the remote device 10, which corresponds to the server, is used to transmit driving information to the roadside device) …
a roadside device interface to transmit the driving assistance information to the roadside device (see at least [0061]; “information related to a parking area may be provided, for example, from a remote device 120 to a roadside device 110. The roadside device 110 makes the information included in a perception message 202 and provides to the transportation means 130, to assist the transportation means 130 for finding a suitable parking spot as soon as possible,” a communication portion of the remote device 10, which corresponds to the server, is used to transmit driving information to the roadside device); wherein
the roadside device has a roadside-device communication range and is configured to transmit the driving assistance information to a dynamic object in the roadside-device communication range (see at least [0034]; “a roadside subsystem 112 is integrated/installed/ fixed in the roadside device 110, and a vehicle mounted subsystem 132 is integrated/installed/fixed in the transportation means 130-1. The roadside subsystem 112 and the vehicle-mounted subsystem 132 communicate with each other to implement driving control of the transportation means 130.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention with a reasonable expectation of success to have modified the driving assistance system of Kuroda with the roadside device of Bao. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of achieving effective and safe driving control by assistance of an external device (see at least Bao [abstract]).
Regarding claim 2 Kuroda in view of Bao renders obvious all of the limitations of claim 1. Additionally, Kuroda discloses further comprising a server communicably connected to the roadside server through the wide-area communication (Examiner Note: Applicant defines wide-area communication as the following; [0019]; “wide-area communication is, for example, radio communication using mobile phone lines in a fifth- generation mobile communication system or the like. Generally, wide-area communication is radio communication involving the base station 20.”) (see at least [0035]; “the edge server 100 communicates with the core server 300 via wired or wireless communication,” the core server corresponds to Applicant’s server, [0059]; “The communication unit 230 communicates with the edge server 100 via the base station 66 (see FIG. 3). This communication unit 230 includes an IC for performing modulation and multiplexing used in each of the LTE and 5G lines, an antenna for emitting and receiving radio waves of a predetermined frequency, an RF circuit, and the like.”), wherein
the server comprises:
a movement prediction calculation circuit to calculate the predicted position information of the second dynamic object using the probe information of the second dynamic object (see at least [0042]; “the edge server 100 according to the present embodiment executes a predictive analysis process for predicting a future state of sensor data with a large delay separately from sensor data with a small delay,” the data from the in-vehicle device, which corresponds to probe information, is considered to generate predicting a future state of the vehicle in consideration of delay in communication, the vehicle is considered to be the second dynamic object, [0073]; “For example, the predictive analysis processing unit 164 processes the sensor data in the same manner as the real-time analysis processing unit 162 to detect objects, and predicts the future state of the detected object a time period corresponding to the delay time (e.g., 1 to 2 seconds) ahead.” and [0059]; “The communication unit 230 communicates with the edge server 100 via the base station 66 (see FIG. 3). This communication unit 230 includes an IC for performing modulation and multiplexing used in each of the LTE and 5G lines, an antenna for emitting and receiving radio waves of a predetermined frequency, an RF circuit, and the like”), and a delay time obtained in consideration of the wide-area communication and processing in the roadside server (see at least [0070]; “The filter unit 152 acquires delay information related to communication delays of the sensor data, and classifies the output data (sensor data) of the packet receiving unit 150 in accordance with predetermined conditions based on the delay information,” all data has a corresponding delay time);
a provision information generation circuit to generate the surrounding object information obtained by extracting the predicted position information of the second dynamic object present within the information provision range (see at least [0073]; “The predictive analysis processing unit 164 executes predictive analysis processing on the sensor data with large delay stored in the large delay group storage unit 158. The predictive analysis processing unit 164 reads out the sensor data from the large delay group storage unit 158, executes predictive analysis processing, and stores the analysis result in a corresponding predetermined output buffer (not shown) in association with the acquisition time t1 of the sensor data. ) and store it in For example, the predictive analysis processing unit 164 processes the sensor data in the same manner as the real-time analysis processing unit 162 to detect objects, and predicts the future state of the detected object a time period corresponding to the delay time (e.g., 1 to 2 seconds) ahead. If the sensor data is video data acquired by a digital camera, the object's movement speed, acceleration, movement direction, etc. can be detected by calculating the difference between successive frames, and this information can be used to predict the object's position after a certain amount of time has passed depending on the delay time. A part of the area of the storage device 120 (see FIG. 4) can be used for each output buffer of the real-time analysis processing unit 162 and the predictive analysis processing unit 164” the state of the vehicle is determined by the predictive analysis processing unit and the result is stored, this result corresponds to the generated surrounding object information); and
a base station interface to transmit the surrounding object information to the roadside server via the base station (see at least [0059]; “The communication unit 230 communicates with the edge server 100 via the base station 66 (see FIG. 3). This communication unit 230 includes an IC for performing modulation and multiplexing used in each of the LTE and 5G lines, an antenna for emitting and receiving radio waves of a predetermined frequency, an RF circuit, and the like.”).
Regarding claim 3 Kuroda in view of Bao renders obvious all of the limitations of claim 2. Additionally, Kuroda discloses wherein the roadside server further comprises a wide-area communication circuit to communicate with the server in the wide-area communication (see at least [0035]; “the edge server 100 communicates with the core server 300 via wired or wireless communication,” the core server corresponds to Applicant’s server, [0059]; “The communication unit 230 communicates with the edge server 100 via the base station 66 (see FIG. 3). This communication unit 230 includes an IC for performing modulation and multiplexing used in each of the LTE and 5G lines, an antenna for emitting and receiving radio waves of a predetermined frequency, an RF circuit, and the like.”), and
the wide-area communication circuit receives the surrounding object information from the server (see at least [0040]; “the sensor data received by the core server 300 is transmitted to the edge server,” and [0047]; “The communication unit 130 is a communication device that performs 5G-compatible communication processing, and communicates with the core server 300, base stations 66, etc. via the metro network 62. The communication unit 130 transmits information provided by the control unit 110 to an external device via the metro network 62, and provides information received via the metro network 62 to the control unit 110,” the probe information of the vehicle may be transmitted to the core server which can then be further transmitted to the edge server).
Regarding claim 6 Kuroda in view of Bao renders obvious all of the limitations of claim 3. Additionally, Kuroda discloses wherein when there are multiple types of the wide-area communication (see at least [0067]; “The communication function of the communication unit 440 may be wired communication using a wired line such as an optical line, in addition to wireless communication.”),
the server is provided for each type of the wide-area communication (see at least [0066]; “the communication unit 440 to upload video data (sensor data) captured by the roadside camera 430 to the edge server 100 or the core server 300 via the communication unit 440,” and [0067]; “The communication function of the communication unit 440 may be wired communication using a wired line such as an optical line, in addition to wireless communication.,” data is able to be communicated to the server through both wireless and wired communication these correspond to types of wire-area communication), and
the roadside server includes the wide-area communication circuit for each type of the wide-area communication (see at least [0130]; “the edge server classifies each sensor data according to the type of communication line (optical line, 5G line, LTE line, etc.) with the party (in-vehicle device or roadside sensor) to which the sensor data is being transmitted. That is, the edge server performs different processes on the sensor data depending on the type of communication line.”).
Regarding claim 7 Kuroda in view of Bao renders obvious all of the limitations of claim 1. Additionally, Bao, in the same field of endeavor, teaches wherein the roadside server is further connected to an other roadside device to which an other roadside sensor is connected (see at least fig. 2 and [0041]; “For example, the environment 100 may have more roadside devices 110 and sensing devices 107 deployed on roadside, to monitor additional geographic locations.), and
the roadside server generates and transmits the driving assistance information for each of the roadside device and the other roadside device (see at least [0061]; “information related to a parking area may be provided, for example, from a remote device 120 to a roadside device 110. The roadside device 110 makes the information included in a perception message 202 and provides to the transportation means 130, to assist the transportation means 130 for finding a suitable parking spot as soon as possible,” a communication portion of the remote device 10, which corresponds to the server, is used to transmit driving information to the roadside device).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention with a reasonable expectation of success to have modified the driving assistance system of Kuroda with the roadside device of Bao. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of achieving effective and safe driving control by assistance of an external device (see at least Bao [abstract]).
Regarding claim 8 Kuroda in view of Bao renders obvious all of the limitations of claim 1. Additionally, Kuroda discloses wherein the roadside device interface communicates with the vehicle via the base station in the wide-area communication (see at least [0059]; “The communication unit 230 communicates with the edge server 100 via the base station 66 (see FIG. 3). This communication unit 230 includes an IC for performing modulation and multiplexing used in each of the LTE and 5G lines, an antenna for emitting and receiving radio waves of a predetermined frequency, an RF circuit, and the like.”).
Regarding claim 9 Kuroda in view of Bao renders obvious all of the limitations of claim 1. Additionally, Kuroda discloses wherein when a communication device of the second dynamic object is capable of performing communication using the wide-area communication by designating the roadside server,
the roadside server further comprises a movement prediction calculation circuit to calculate the predicted position information of the second dynamic object using the probe information of the second dynamic object (see at least [0042]; “the edge server 100 according to the present embodiment executes a predictive analysis process for predicting a future state of sensor data with a large delay separately from sensor data with a small delay,” the data from the in-vehicle device, which corresponds to probe information, is considered to generate predicting a future state of the vehicle in consideration of delay in communication, the vehicle is considered to be the second dynamic object, [0073]; “For example, the predictive analysis processing unit 164 processes the sensor data in the same manner as the real-time analysis processing unit 162 to detect objects, and predicts the future state of the detected object a time period corresponding to the delay time (e.g., 1 to 2 seconds) ahead.” and [0059]; “The communication unit 230 communicates with the edge server 100 via the base station 66 (see FIG. 3). This communication unit 230 includes an IC for performing modulation and multiplexing used in each of the LTE and 5G lines, an antenna for emitting and receiving radio waves of a predetermined frequency, an RF circuit, and the like”)and a delay time obtained in consideration of the wide-area communication and processing in the roadside server (see at least [0070]; “The filter unit 152 acquires delay information related to communication delays of the sensor data, and classifies the output data (sensor data) of the packet receiving unit 150 in accordance with predetermined conditions based on the delay information,” all data has a corresponding delay time), and
the assistance information generation circuit uses the surrounding object information obtained by extracting the predicted position information of the second dynamic object present within the information provision range (see at least [0032]; “a driving assistance system 50 according to this embodiment includes a server devoice 100 that performs driving assistance, and a communication terminal 200 mounted in a vehicle 60a that receives driving assistance from the server device 100. The server device 100 provides the communication terminal 200 with information useful for driving (hereinafter referred to as “driving support information”), thereby supporting each driver,” each vehicle contains a communication terminal and would be capable of receiving driving assistance information).
Regarding claim 10 Kuroda in view of Bao renders obvious all of the limitations of claim 1. Additionally, Kuroda discloses wherein the first dynamic object and the second dynamic object include any of a vehicle, a person, and a bicycle (see at least [0046]; “the dynamic information includes, for example, position information of moving objects (vehicles, pedestrians, etc.)”).
Regarding claim 11 Kuroda discloses a server device connected by wire or wirelessly to a roadside sensor and a vehicle (see at least [0033]; “the server device 100 is capable communicating with one or more sending devices and receives sensor data from the sending devices. The detection device collects information about the road and its surrounding conditions,” and [0035]; “the detection device includes a first roadside sensor 400A and a second roadside sensor 400B as roadside infrastructure equipment installed in the service area of the edge server 100, and an in-vehicle device 500 mounted on a vehicle 60b traveling within the service area” the roadside sensors 400 correspond to Applicant’s roadside sensor, and the in-vehicle device 500 of vehicle 60 corresponds to the roadside device, and [0067]; “The roadside sensor 400 is connected to the Internet via the device and communicates with the edge server 100 or the core server 300 via the Internet. The communication function of the communication unit 440 may be wired communication using a wired line such as an optical line, in addition to wireless communication”), which acquires information from the roadside sensor and transmits driving assistance information to vehicles (see at least [0032]; “a driving assistance system 50 according to this embodiment includes a server devoice 100 that performs driving assistance, and a communication terminal 200 mounted in a vehicle 60a that receives driving assistance from the server device 100. The server device 100 provides the communication terminal 200 with information useful for driving (hereinafter referred to as “driving support information”), thereby supporting each driver”), the server device comprising:
a wide-area communication circuit to perform wide-area communication that uses radio communication involving a base station (see at least [0059]; “The communication unit 230 communicates with the edge server 100 via the base station 66 (see FIG. 3). This communication unit 230 includes an IC for performing modulation and multiplexing used in each of the LTE and 5G lines, an antenna for emitting and receiving radio waves of a predetermined frequency, an RF circuit, and the like”);
a sensor information processing circuit to generate sensing information using information indicating a state in a detection range of the roadside sensor from the roadside sensor (see at least [0033]; “the detection device collects information about the road and its surrounding conditions) hereinafter referred to as “road information”) and collect information about them. Each detection device has a communication function and transmits collected information to the server device 100 as sensor data” and [0035]; “the detection device includes a first roadside sensor 400A and a second roadside sensor 400B as roadside infrastructure equipment installed in the service area” and [0038]; “the roadside sensor 400…detect dynamic information of pedestrians 30, vehicles 60, etc.”), the sensing information including a position and a movement direction of a first dynamic object within the detection range (see at least [0038]; “the roadside sensor 400…detect dynamic information of pedestrians 30, vehicles 60, etc.” and [0046]; “the dynamic information includes, for example, position information of moving objects (vehicles, pedestrians, etc.),” and [0073]; “if the sensor data is video data acquired by a digital camera, the object’s movement speed, acceleration, movement direction, etc. can be detected”);
an assistance information generation circuit to generate driving assistance information by combining surrounding object information and the sensing information (see at least [0049]; “The communication unit 130 also receives sensor data uploaded from an in-vehicle device 500 (see FIG. 2) and sensor data uploaded from a roadside sensor 400 installed on a road or the like the sensor data received by the communication unit 130 is transmitted to the storage device 120 and stored as a database…The control unit 110 reads out data from the storage device 120 as appropriate, executes a predetermined analysis process (for example, analysis process for obtaining driving support information,” the sensing information corresponds to the sensor data from the roadside sensor and the surrounding object information corresponds to the sensor data from the in-vehicle device),
the surrounding object information being obtained by extracting, from probe information received by the wide-area communication circuit (see at least [0033]; “each detection device has a communication function and transmits collected information to the server device 100 as sensor data,” and [0035]; “the detection device includes…an in-vehicle device 500 mounted on vehicle 60b traveling within the service area,” the sensor information from the in-vehicle device 500 is the probe information), being allowed to be delayed (see at least [0041]; “when sensor data is sent from an in-vehicle device 500 or a roadside sensor 400 to the edge server 100 and analyzed by the edge server 100, the sensor data arrives at the edge server 100 with a delay due to the response speed of these devices” the sensor data corresponding to probe information is delayed due to communication speed), and including a position and a velocity (see at least [0057]; “With reference to FIG. 6 , the on-vehicle device 500 includes the communication terminal 200 , an on-vehicle sensor 510 , a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver 520 , a display 530 , a speaker 540 , an input device 550 , a vehicle speed sensor 560 , and a gyro sensor 570,” the vehicle 60b corresponds to the second dynamic object and its on-vehicle device includes a GPS receiver to determine the vehicle’s position and a vehicle speed sensor to determine the velocity) of a second dynamic object which is outside the detection range of the roadside sensor and which is within a predetermined information collection range (see at least fig. 2 as can be seen in fig. 2 the roadside sensor 4001 only images one of the three vehicles and a pedestrian this vehicle corresponds to the first dynamic object, the second dynamic object corresponds to vehicle 60b which while not detected by the vehicle is still able to transmit data because it’s still served by the greater network served by the core server 300, the area served by server 300 corresponds to the predetermined information collection range), predicted position information (see at least [0042]; “the edge server 100 according to the present embodiment executes a predictive analysis for predicting a future state of sensor data with a large delay separately from sensor data with a small delay”) present within an information provision range included in the information collection range and including the detection range of the roadside sensor and being wider than the detection range (see at least fig. 2 the provision range is denied as a geographic range in which the vehicle is present, Examiner asserts that the geographic range covered by servers 100 is an information provision range as can be shown it is a part of the collection range that server 300 serves and includes the area served by the roadside sensor,
the predicted position information including a predicted position of the second dynamic object predicted to be in the information provision range in consideration of delays in wide-area communication that uses the radio communication involving the base station and in processing in the server device (Examiner Note: applicant defines probe information as information from an in-vehicle device of the corresponding vehicle; [0012] “the in-vehicle device 10 periodically or regularly transmits probe information including the position and velocity of the corresponding vehicle”) (see at least [0042]; “the edge server 100 according to the present embodiment executes a predictive analysis process for predicting a future state of sensor data with a large delay separately from sensor data with a small delay,” the data from the in-vehicle device, which corresponds to probe information, is considered to generate predicting a future state of the vehicle in consideration of delay in communication, the vehicle is considered to be the second dynamic object, [0073]; “For example, the predictive analysis processing unit 164 processes the sensor data in the same manner as the real-time analysis processing unit 162 to detect objects, and predicts the future state of the detected object a time period corresponding to the delay time (e.g., 1 to 2 seconds) ahead.” and [0059]; “The communication unit 230 communicates with the edge server 100 via the base station 66 (see FIG. 3). This communication unit 230 includes an IC for performing modulation and multiplexing used in each of the LTE and 5G lines, an antenna for emitting and receiving radio waves of a predetermined frequency, an RF circuit, and the like,” the edge server predicts positioning of all dynamic objects within its range this would include objects leaving the range as well as staying within the range),
assistance information including a position and a velocity of the first dynamic object when the first dynamic object is sensed to be in the information provision range, and the predicted position of the second dynamic object see at least [0040]; “the edge server 100 performs a predetermined analysis process (e.g., analysis process for obtaining driving assistance information) on each sensor data received via the core server 300 or without via the core server 300, and distributes dynamic information (driving assistance information) generated by the analysis process to the vehicle 60a to be assisted,” [0065]; “the communication terminal 200 of the in-vehicle device 500 has a function of receiving driving support information (dynamic information) transmitted from the edge server 100 to the vehicle itself via the communication unit 230. Based on the received dynamic information, the communication terminal 200 executes driving assistance control such as outputting a warning to the passenger while driving on the display 530 and performing compulsory braking intervention,” and [0046]; “the dynamic information includes, for example, position information of moving objects,” the dynamic information of an object would further include the object’s speed, predictions for all objects within the range of the system would be included in the dynamic information, this would include dynamic information from the vehicles themselves (second dynamic object) as well as detected by the sensors (first dynamic object));
a sensor interface to acquire the information indicating a state of the detection range from the roadside sensor and output the acquired information to the sensor information processing circuit in real time (see at least [0049]; “the communication unit 130 also receives…sensor data uploaded from a roadside sensor,” and [0072]; “The real-time analysis processing unit 162 performs real-time analysis processing on the sensor data”); and
…the information provision range corresponds in position to a position of the vehicle and extends around the vehicle (see at least Fig. 2 and 3), and
the information collection range is a range in which the probe information of the second dynamic object, which is outside the detection range of the roadside sensor, is collected by the wide-area communication using the radio communication involving the base station (Examiner Note: applicant defines the information collection range as [0038] being set to include the entire range of the driving assistance system) (see at least Fig. 2 and 3, vehicles not within the range of the roadside sensor are still managed to be collected [0059]; “The communication unit 230 communicates with the edge server 100 via the base station 66 (see FIG. 3). This communication unit 230 includes an IC for performing modulation and multiplexing used in each of the LTE and 5G lines, an antenna for emitting and receiving radio waves of a predetermined frequency, an RF circuit, and the like”).
Kuroda does not disclose wherein information is transmitted to the vehicles through a roadside device wherein the server device connected by wire or wirelessly to a…roadside device, the roadside server…transmitting driving assistance information to the roadside device…
a roadside device interface to transmit the driving assistance information to the roadside device.
Bao, in the same field of endeavor, teaches wherein information is transmitted to the vehicles through a roadside device wherein the driving assistance system connected by wire or wirelessly to a…roadside device (see at least fig. 2, and [0033]; “there may also be a communication connection between roadside devices 110 and 120,” 120 corresponds to Applicant’s roadside server and roadside device 110 corresponds to Applicant’s roadside device), the roadside server…transmitting driving assistance information to the roadside device (see at least [0061]; “information related to a parking area may be provided, for example, from a remote device 120 to a roadside device 110. The roadside device 110 makes the information included in a perception message 202 and provides to the transportation means 130, to assist the transportation means 130 for finding a suitable parking spot as soon as possible,” a communication portion of the remote device 10, which corresponds to the server, is used to transmit driving information to the roadside device) …
a roadside device interface to transmit the driving assistance information to the roadside device (see at least [0061]; “information related to a parking area may be provided, for example, from a remote device 120 to a roadside device 110. The roadside device 110 makes the information included in a perception message 202 and provides to the transportation means 130, to assist the transportation means 130 for finding a suitable parking spot as soon as possible,” a communication portion of the remote device 10, which corresponds to the server, is used to transmit driving information to the roadside device).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention with a reasonable expectation of success to have modified the driving assistance system of Kuroda with the roadside device of Bao. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of achieving effective and safe driving control by assistance of an external device (see at least Bao [abstract]).
Regarding claim 12 Kuroda discloses a driving assistance information generation method for a driving assistance system (see at least Fig. 1; driving assistance system 50) including a roadside server connected a driving assistance system including to a roadside sensor and a roadside device (see at least [0032]; “a driving assistance system 50 according to this embodiment includes a server device 100,” and [0033]; “the server device 100 is capable communicating with one or more sending devices and receives sensor data from the sending devices. The detection device collects information about the road and its surrounding conditions,” and [0035]; “the detection device includes a first roadside sensor 400A and a second roadside sensor 400B as roadside infrastructure equipment installed in the service area of the edge server 100, and an in-vehicle device 500 mounted on a vehicle 60b traveling within the service area” the roadside sensors 400 correspond to Applicant’s roadside sensor and the in-vehicle device 500 of vehicle 60 corresponds to the roadside device), the roadside server acquiring information from the roadside sensor and transmitting driving assistance information to the roadside device (see at least [0032]; “a driving assistance system 50 according to this embodiment includes a server devoice 100 that performs driving assistance, and a communication terminal 200 mounted in a vehicle 60a that receives driving assistance from the server device 100. The server device 100 provides the communication terminal 200 with information useful for driving (hereinafter referred to as “driving support information”), thereby supporting each driver”) … the driving assistance information generation method comprising:
generating, by the roadside server, sensing information using information indicating a state in a detection range of the roadside sensor from the roadside sensor (see at least [0033]; “the detection device collects information about the road and its surrounding conditions) hereinafter referred to as “road information”) and collect information about them. Each detection device has a communication function and transmits collected information to the server device 100 as sensor data” and [0035]; “the detection device includes a first roadside sensor 400A and a second roadside sensor 400B as roadside infrastructure equipment installed in the service area” and [0038]; “the roadside sensor 400…detect dynamic information of pedestrians 30, veh