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 Amendment
The Amendment filed on 12/16/2025 has been entered. Claims 1-19 remain pending in the application. Applicant’s amendments to the title and drawing have overcome each and every objection previously set forth in the Non-Final Office Action mailed on 9/19/2025.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments on pages 15-18 with respect to claims 1 and 19 have been considered but are moot upon a further consideration and a new ground of rejection made under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Zhu (US PGPub 2020/0036944).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 1-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Zhu (US PGPub 2020/0036944).
Regarding claims 1 and 19, Zhu teaches a wireless communication method for a movable platform (Zhu, see abstract, A method for transmitting video from a movable object), comprising:
obtaining channel parameters of at least two wireless communication links established between the movable platform and a terminal device (Zhu, see paragraphs 0114 and 0085, the channel analysis unit 401 may be configured to assess the channel conditions or characteristics in real-time. The one or more channel characteristics or conditions may include noise, interference, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), bit error rate, fading rate or bandwidth), the at least two wireless communication links comprising at least one public network communication link (Zhu, see figure 1 and paragraph 0084, One or more communication links 105 may be provided for transmitting the video data. The wireless link may include … a 3G link, a LTE link), wherein the at least two wireless communication links comprise a first wireless communication link and a second wireless communication link (Zhu, see figure 1 and paragraph 0066, One or more communication links 105 may be provided between the movable object and the remote terminal for transmitting the video data), and the channel parameters comprise a first channel parameter of the first wireless communication link and a second channel parameter of the second wireless communication link (Zhu, see paragraphs 0114 and 0085, the channel analysis unit 401 may be configured to assess the channel conditions or characteristics in real-time. The one or more channel characteristics or conditions may include noise, interference, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), bit error rate, fading rate or bandwidth);
determining, based on the first channel parameter and the second channel parameter, a target channel parameter that is a smaller one of the first channel parameter and the second channel parameter (Zhu, see paragraphs 0106 and 0107, channels or communication links with low noise level, less interference, high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), or low fading rate may be assigned to the high priority sub-video data units. high priority sub-video data units may be selected to be transmitted using channels or communication links with good channel conditions); and
encoding data captured by the movable platform according to the target channel parameter (Zhu, see paragraph 0103, the encoding techniques or parameters may be selected based on the priority such that more information may be preserved for the high priority sub-images. For instance, the sub-images may be encoded at different data compression ratio that the higher priority (e.g., sub-image 205) may be compressed less than the lower priority sub-images. more bits may be allocated to the sub-image with high priority) and sending the encoded data to the terminal device over the at least two wireless communication links (Zhu, see paragraph 0107, high priority sub-video data units may be selected to be transmitted using channels or communication links with good channel conditions).
Regarding claim 2, Zhu teaches wherein the at least two wireless communication links further comprise at least one private network communication link, the public network communication link being a wireless communication link established based on public network communication (Zhu, see paragraph 0084, The wireless link may include a RF (radio frequency) link, a Wi-Fi link, WiMAX link, a Bluetooth link, a 3G link, a LTE link, software defined radio (SDR) based link or any other wireless technology based links), and the private network communication link being a wireless communication link established based on private communication (Zhu, see paragraph 0084, The wireless link may include a RF (radio frequency) link, a Wi-Fi link, WiMAX link, a Bluetooth link, a 3G link, a LTE link, software defined radio (SDR) based link or any other wireless technology based links).
Regarding claim 3, Zhu teaches wherein the at least two wireless communication links comprise a first public network communication link and a second public network communication link (Zhu, see paragraph 0084, The wireless link may include a RF (radio frequency) link, a Wi-Fi link, WiMAX link, a Bluetooth link, a 3G link, a LTE link, software defined radio (SDR) based link or any other wireless technology based links), and a network operator corresponding to the first public network communication link is different from a network operator corresponding to the second public network communication link (Zhu, see paragraph 0084, The wireless link may include a RF (radio frequency) link, a Wi-Fi link, WiMAX link, a Bluetooth link, a 3G link, a LTE link, software defined radio (SDR) based link or any other wireless technology based links).
Regarding claim 4, Zhu teaches wherein the encoding the data captured by the movable platform according to the target channel parameter and sending the encoded data to the terminal device over the at least two wireless communication links comprises:
encoding the data according to the target channel parameter to obtain target data (Zhu, see paragraph 0103, the encoding techniques or parameters may be selected based on the priority such that more information may be preserved for the high priority sub-images. For instance, the sub-images may be encoded at different data compression ratio that the higher priority (e.g., sub-image 205) may be compressed less than the lower priority sub-images. more bits may be allocated to the sub-image with high priority); and
sending the target data to the terminal device over the at least two wireless communication links (Zhu, see paragraph 0107, high priority sub-video data units may be selected to be transmitted using channels or communication links with good channel conditions).
Regarding claim 5, Zhu teaches wherein the encoding the data according to the target channel parameter to obtain the target data comprises:
determining a target coding rate based on the target channel parameter (Zhu, see paragraph 0107, high priority sub-video data units may be selected to be transmitted using channels or communication links with good channel conditions); and
encoding the data according to the target coding rate to obtain the target data (Zhu, see paragraph 0107, high priority sub-video data units may be selected to be transmitted using channels or communication links with good channel conditions).
Regarding claim 6, Zhu teaches wherein the sending the target data to the terminal device over the at least two wireless communication links comprises:
performing a packetization process on the target data to obtaining a plurality of data packets (Zhu, see paragraph 0135, The coded sub-video data units may be selected and organized to be transmitted using multiple channels or communication links 507); and
sending the plurality of data packets to the terminal device simultaneously over the first wireless communication link and the second wireless communication link (Zhu, see paragraph 0135, the coded sub-video data units may be selected and assigned to different channels according to the priority of the coded sub-video data such that high energy concentrated sub-video data unit may be transmitted using the high quality channel).
Regarding claim 7, Zhu teaches wherein the sending the target data to the terminal device over the at least two wireless communication links comprises:
performing a packetization process on the target data to obtain a plurality of data packets (Zhu, see paragraph 0135, The coded sub-video data units may be selected and organized to be transmitted using multiple channels or communication links 507); and
simultaneously sending a first portion of the plurality of data packets to the terminal device over the first wireless communication link and sending a second portion of the plurality of data packets other than the first portion of data packets to the terminal device over the second wireless communication link (Zhu, see paragraph 0135, the coded sub-video data units may be selected and assigned to different channels according to the priority of the coded sub-video data such that high energy concentrated sub-video data unit may be transmitted using the high quality channel).
Regarding claim 8, Zhu teaches further comprising:
obtaining first feedback information sent by the terminal device (Zhu, see paragraph 0137, when an erroneous sub-image or sub-video data unit is identified, such data may not be used for reconstruction of the image frame);
determining that an error has occurred in one of the transmitted data packets based on the first feedback information (Zhu, see paragraph 0137, when an erroneous sub-image or sub-video data unit is identified, such data may not be used for reconstruction of the image frame); and
simultaneously sending the second portion of the data packets to the terminal device over the first wireless communication link and sending the first portion of the data packets to the terminal device over the second wireless communication link (Zhu, see paragraph 0138, the image data or video data may be reconstructed based on correctly received sub-video data or sub-images 513. The correctly received sub-video data or sub-images may be the data that without transmission error. The image data or video data may be reconstructed using the correctly received sub-video data and a value assigned to the erroneous sub-video data).
Regarding claim 9, Zhu teaches further comprising:
obtaining first feedback information sent by the terminal device (Zhu, see paragraph 0137, when an erroneous sub-image or sub-video data unit is identified, such data may not be used for reconstruction of the image frame);
determining that an error has occurred in one of the transmitted data packets based on the first feedback information, the one of the transmitted packets to be retransmitted is determined from the plurality of data packets based on the first feedback information (Zhu, see paragraph 0137, when an erroneous sub-image or sub-video data unit is identified, such data may not be used for reconstruction of the image frame);
under a condition that the one of the transmitted packets to be retransmitted is located in the first portion of the packet, retransmitting the one of the transmitted packets to be retransmitted to the terminal device over the second wireless communication link (Zhu, see paragraph 0138, the image data or video data may be reconstructed based on correctly received sub-video data or sub-images 513. The correctly received sub-video data or sub-images may be the data that without transmission error. The image data or video data may be reconstructed using the correctly received sub-video data and a value assigned to the erroneous sub-video data); and
under a condition that the one of the transmitted packets to be retransmitted is located in the second portion of the packet, retransmitting the one of the transmitted packets to be retransmitted to the terminal device over the first wireless communication link (Zhu, see paragraph 0138, the image data or video data may be reconstructed based on correctly received sub-video data or sub-images 513. The correctly received sub-video data or sub-images may be the data that without transmission error. The image data or video data may be reconstructed using the correctly received sub-video data and a value assigned to the erroneous sub-video data).
Regarding claim 10, Zhu teaches wherein the data comprises a first portion of data and a second portion of data, the encoding the data captured by the movable platform according to the channel parameters and sending the encoded data to the terminal device over the at least two wireless communication links comprises:
determining a target wireless communication link with the best link quality from the at least two wireless communication links based on the channel parameters of the at least two wireless communication links (Zhu, see paragraphs 0106 and 0107, channels or communication links with low noise level, less interference, high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), or low fading rate may be assigned to the high priority sub-video data units. high priority sub-video data units may be selected to be transmitted using channels or communication links with good channel conditions);
encoding the first portion of data according to a channel parameter of the target wireless communication link, and transmitting the encoded first portion of data to the terminal device over the target wireless communication link (Zhu, see paragraph 0103, the encoding techniques or parameters may be selected based on the priority such that more information may be preserved for the high priority sub-images. For instance, the sub-images may be encoded at different data compression ratio that the higher priority (e.g., sub-image 205) may be compressed less than the lower priority sub-images. more bits may be allocated to the sub-image with high priority); and
encoding the second portion of data according to the channel parameters of the remaining wireless communication links, and transmitting the encoded second portion of data to the terminal device over the remaining wireless communication links (Zhu, see paragraph 0103, the encoding techniques or parameters may be selected based on the priority such that more information may be preserved for the high priority sub-images. For instance, the sub-images may be encoded at different data compression ratio that the higher priority (e.g., sub-image 205) may be compressed less than the lower priority sub-images. more bits may be allocated to the sub-image with high priority).
Regarding claim 11, Zhu teaches further comprising:
obtaining second feedback information sent by the terminal device (Zhu, see paragraph 0137, when an erroneous sub-image or sub-video data unit is identified, such data may not be used for reconstruction of the image frame);
determining, based on the second feedback information, that there is an error in a part of the data transmitted by the target wireless communication link, and the part of data to be retransmitted is determined from the first portion of the data based on the second feedback information (Zhu, see paragraph 0137, when an erroneous sub-image or sub-video data unit is identified, such data may not be used for reconstruction of the image frame);
suspending transmitting the encoded second portion of the data to the terminal device over the remaining wireless communication links and sending the part of data to be retransmitted to the terminal device over the remaining wireless communication links (Zhu, see paragraph 0138, the image data or video data may be reconstructed based on correctly received sub-video data or sub-images 513. The correctly received sub-video data or sub-images may be the data that without transmission error. The image data or video data may be reconstructed using the correctly received sub-video data and a value assigned to the erroneous sub-video data); and
after the part of data to be retransmitted has been sent, continue transmitting the encoded second portion of the data to the terminal device over the remaining wireless communication links (Zhu, see paragraph 0138, the image data or video data may be reconstructed based on correctly received sub-video data or sub-images 513. The correctly received sub-video data or sub-images may be the data that without transmission error. The image data or video data may be reconstructed using the correctly received sub-video data and a value assigned to the erroneous sub-video data).
Regarding claim 12, Zhu teaches wherein the encoding the data captured by the movable platform according to the target channel parameter and sending the encoded data to the terminal device over the at least two wireless communication links comprises:
determining a target wireless communication link with the best link quality from the at least two wireless communication links based on the channel parameters of the at least two wireless communication links (Zhu, see paragraphs 0106 and 0107, channels or communication links with low noise level, less interference, high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), or low fading rate may be assigned to the high priority sub-video data units. high priority sub-video data units may be selected to be transmitted using channels or communication links with good channel conditions);
encoding the data captured by the movable platform according to a channel parameter of the target wireless communication link (Zhu, see paragraph 0103, the encoding techniques or parameters may be selected based on the priority such that more information may be preserved for the high priority sub-images. For instance, the sub-images may be encoded at different data compression ratio that the higher priority (e.g., sub-image 205) may be compressed less than the lower priority sub-images. more bits may be allocated to the sub-image with high priority); and
sending the encoded data to the terminal device simultaneously over the at least two wireless communication links (Zhu, see paragraph 0107, high priority sub-video data units may be selected to be transmitted using channels or communication links with good channel conditions).
Regarding claim 13, Zhu teaches further comprising:
obtaining third feedback information sent by the terminal device (Zhu, see paragraph 0137, when an erroneous sub-image or sub-video data unit is identified, such data may not be used for reconstruction of the image frame);
determining, based on the third feedback information, that there is an error in a part of the data transmitted by the target wireless communication link (Zhu, see paragraph 0137, when an erroneous sub-image or sub-video data unit is identified, such data may not be used for reconstruction of the image frame);
suspending sending the encoded data to the terminal device over the remaining wireless communication links (Zhu, see paragraph 0138, the image data or video data may be reconstructed based on correctly received sub-video data or sub-images 513. The correctly received sub-video data or sub-images may be the data that without transmission error. The image data or video data may be reconstructed using the correctly received sub-video data and a value assigned to the erroneous sub-video data);
sending the part of the data to be retransmitted to the terminal device over the remaining wireless communication links (Zhu, see paragraph 0138, the image data or video data may be reconstructed based on correctly received sub-video data or sub-images 513. The correctly received sub-video data or sub-images may be the data that without transmission error. The image data or video data may be reconstructed using the correctly received sub-video data and a value assigned to the erroneous sub-video data); and
after the part of the data to be retransmitted has been sent, continue sending the encoded data to the terminal device over the remaining wireless communication links (Zhu, see paragraph 0138, the image data or video data may be reconstructed based on correctly received sub-video data or sub-images 513. The correctly received sub-video data or sub-images may be the data that without transmission error. The image data or video data may be reconstructed using the correctly received sub-video data and a value assigned to the erroneous sub-video data).
Regarding claim 14, Zhu teaches further comprising:
obtaining a link quality trend of the target wireless communication link (Zhu, see paragraph 0137, when an erroneous sub-image or sub-video data unit is identified, such data may not be used for reconstruction of the image frame);
selecting a target channel bandwidth from channel bandwidths of the at least two wireless communication links based on the link quality trend (Zhu, see paragraph 0137, when an erroneous sub-image or sub-video data unit is identified, such data may not be used for reconstruction of the image frame);
encoding the data captured by the movable platform according to the target channel bandwidth (Zhu, see paragraph 0138, the image data or video data may be reconstructed based on correctly received sub-video data or sub-images 513. The correctly received sub-video data or sub-images may be the data that without transmission error. The image data or video data may be reconstructed using the correctly received sub-video data and a value assigned to the erroneous sub-video data); and
sending the encoded data to the terminal device simultaneously over the at least two wireless communication links (Zhu, see paragraph 0138, the image data or video data may be reconstructed based on correctly received sub-video data or sub-images 513. The correctly received sub-video data or sub-images may be the data that without transmission error. The image data or video data may be reconstructed using the correctly received sub-video data and a value assigned to the erroneous sub-video data).
Regarding claim 15, Zhu teaches wherein the obtaining the channel parameters of the at least two established wireless communication links is preceded by:
obtaining link quality of an established first wireless communication link (Zhu, see paragraph 0137, when an erroneous sub-image or sub-video data unit is identified, such data may not be used for reconstruction of the image frame); and
under a condition that the link quality of the first wireless communication link is less than or equal to a preset threshold, establishing the remaining wireless communication links between the movable platform and the terminal device to obtain the at least two wireless communication links (Zhu, see paragraph 0138, the image data or video data may be reconstructed based on correctly received sub-video data or sub-images 513. The correctly received sub-video data or sub-images may be the data that without transmission error. The image data or video data may be reconstructed using the correctly received sub-video data and a value assigned to the erroneous sub-video data).
Regarding claim 16, Zhu teaches further comprising:
under a condition that the link quality of the first wireless communication link is greater than the preset threshold, encoding the data captured by the movable platform according to a channel parameter of the first wireless communication link (Zhu, see paragraph 0138, the image data or video data may be reconstructed based on correctly received sub-video data or sub-images 513. The correctly received sub-video data or sub-images may be the data that without transmission error. The image data or video data may be reconstructed using the correctly received sub-video data and a value assigned to the erroneous sub-video data); and
sending the encoded data to the terminal device over the first wireless communication link (Zhu, see paragraph 0107, high priority sub-video data units may be selected to be transmitted using channels or communication links with good channel conditions).
Regarding claim 17, Zhu teaches further comprising:
under a condition that the link quality of the first wireless communication link changes from less than or equal to the preset threshold to greater than the preset threshold, disconnecting the remaining wireless communication links (Zhu, see paragraph 0138, the image data or video data may be reconstructed based on correctly received sub-video data or sub-images 513. The correctly received sub-video data or sub-images may be the data that without transmission error. The image data or video data may be reconstructed using the correctly received sub-video data and a value assigned to the erroneous sub-video data);
encoding the data captured by the movable platform according to a channel parameter of the first wireless communication link (Zhu, see paragraph 0103, the encoding techniques or parameters may be selected based on the priority such that more information may be preserved for the high priority sub-images. For instance, the sub-images may be encoded at different data compression ratio that the higher priority (e.g., sub-image 205) may be compressed less than the lower priority sub-images. more bits may be allocated to the sub-image with high priority); and
sending the encoded data to the terminal device over the first wireless communication link (Zhu, see paragraph 0107, high priority sub-video data units may be selected to be transmitted using channels or communication links with good channel conditions).
Regarding claim 18, Zhu teaches wherein the at least two wireless communication links comprise a non-point-to-point wireless communication link, the method further comprising:
obtaining a first fault-tolerant frame acquisition request sent by an intermediate node of the non-point-to-point wireless communication link (Zhu, see paragraph 0137, when an erroneous sub-image or sub-video data unit is identified, such data may not be used for reconstruction of the image frame);
according to the first error-tolerant frame acquisition request, performing intra-frame encoding on the data captured by the movable platform to obtain an error-tolerant frame (Zhu, see paragraph 0138, the image data or video data may be reconstructed based on correctly received sub-video data or sub-images 513. The correctly received sub-video data or sub-images may be the data that without transmission error. The image data or video data may be reconstructed using the correctly received sub-video data and a value assigned to the erroneous sub-video data); and
sending the error-tolerant frame to the terminal device over any one of the wireless communication links, or sending the error-tolerant frame to the terminal device over the wireless communication link with the best link quality, or sending the error-tolerant frame to the terminal device over the at least two the wireless communication links simultaneously (Zhu, see paragraph 0138, the image data or video data may be reconstructed based on correctly received sub-video data or sub-images 513. The correctly received sub-video data or sub-images may be the data that without transmission error. The image data or video data may be reconstructed using the correctly received sub-video data and a value assigned to the erroneous sub-video data).
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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 CHONG G KIM whose telephone number is (571)270-0619. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri @ 9am - 5pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Nicholas R. Taylor can be reached at 571-272-3889. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CHONG G KIM/Examiner, Art Unit 2443
/CHRISTOPHER B ROBINSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2443