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 .
Priority
Applicant claims the benefit of US Provisional Application No. 63/479,349, filed January 10, 2023. Claims 1, 4-6, 8-10, and 17 have been afforded the benefit of this filing date.
However, US Provisional Application No. 63/479,349 does not have adequately written description for claims 2-3, 7, 11-16 to be afforded the benefit of this filing date. See MPEP 211.05(A) for provisional application requiring written description and drawing(s) (if any).
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement filed 04/23/2024 fails to comply with 37 CFR 1.98(a)(2), which requires a legible copy of each cited foreign patent document; each non-patent literature publication or that portion which caused it to be listed; and all other information or that portion which caused it to be listed. It has been placed in the application file, but the information referred to therein has not been considered. However, the foreign document CN-1758796-A has not been considered by the examiner because the foreign document was not submitted and no English translation was provided. Examiner notes the applicant submitted two NPL literature “LIONEL REYERO, GILLES DELISLE, A Pervasive Indoor-Outdoor Positioning System.”
The information disclosure statement filed 04/23/2024 fails to comply with 37 CFR 1.98(a)(2), which requires a legible copy of each cited foreign patent document; each non-patent literature publication or that portion which caused it to be listed; and all other information or that portion which caused it to be listed. It has been placed in the application file, but the information referred to therein has not been considered. However, the foreign document WO-2017214797-A1 has not been considered by the examiner because the foreign document was not submitted. Examiner notes WO-2017214797-A1 was possibly misnumbered and should have been WO-201721979-A1.
Claim Objections
Applicant is advised that should claim 12 be found allowable, claim 13 will be objected to under 37 CFR 1.75 as being a substantial duplicate thereof. When two claims in an application are duplicates or else are so close in content that they both cover the same thing, despite a slight difference in wording, it is proper after allowing one claim to object to the other as being a substantial duplicate of the allowed claim. See MPEP § 608.01(m).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 17 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 17 recites the limitation, lines 12-14, “and determine a location of the first device by searching, using the first plurality of BSSIDs, a database including a second plurality of BSSIDs and location data associated the second plurality of BSSIDs” renders the claim indefinite because it’s unclear which database the second device is searching for in order to determine the location of the first device. In claim 17 lines 5-6 recites “a database comprising a second plurality of BSSIDs and locations associated therewith;” but that refers to the first device. With the claim language it seems that the first device has all the information needed to determine its own location but sends to the second device and has the second device perform the location determination by searching the first device database. Examiner points to Fig.4, paragraph 54, wherein the first device searches its own storage and since that storage does not have “access historical locations of other devices” thus as another embodiment the first device sends BSSIDs to the second device wherein has a database of a second plurality of BSSIDs and of historical locations of other devices. Examiner suggest to differentiate “a database including a second plurality of BSSIDs” between the first and second device.
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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(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.
Claim(s) 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(a)(2) as being anticipated by Kim (US-20200019580-A1) (IDS, 06/06/2024).
Regarding Claim 1, Kim discloses a method comprising: receiving a geolocation payload from a first device having a receiver (paragraph [0150], Fig.9, "the electronic device 910 may transmit, to a server device 900, a list of the identifier of at least one access point 920 and the identifier of the base station 930 acquired through a network using the first wireless communication circuit and/or the second wireless communication circuit." (i.e., List of identifiers is reading on a "a geolocation payload.")),
the geolocation payload comprising a first plurality of basic service set identifications (BSSID) detected by the first device (paragraph [0060], "According to various embodiments, the respective access points 221, 222, and 223 may have inherent identifiers, and the inherent identifier may include a basic service set identifier (BSSID)…the electronic device 210 can acquire all the identifiers of the plurality of access points." and paragraph [0151], Fig.9, "the server device 900 may receive the identifier of at least one access point 920 and the identifier of the base station 930, and it may identify location information (or Wi-Fi location) matching the identifier of the at least one access point 920 received in a pre-constructed first database 991 (or Wi-Fi DB). Further, the server device 900 may identify the location information (or cell location) matching the identifier of the base station 930 received in a second database 992 (or cell DB).");
determining a location of the first device by searching, using the first plurality of BSSIDs, a database including a second plurality of BSSIDs and location data associated with the second plurality of BSSIDs (paragraph [0151], Fig.9, "the server device 900 may receive the identifier of at least one access point 920 and the identifier of the base station 930, and it may identify location information (or Wi-Fi location) matching the identifier of the at least one access point 920 received in a pre-constructed first database 991 (or Wi-Fi DB)." and paragraph [0152], Fig.9, "the server device 900 may determine the location of the electronic device 910 using a positioning algorithm 995 based on the location information acquired from the first database 991 and the second database 992. The positioning algorithm 995 may be included in various instructions stored in a memory (e.g., memory 820 of FIG. 8) of the server device, and it may be performed by the processor (e.g., processor 810 of FIG. 8). The server device 900 may transmit the determined location (or device location) of the electronic device 910." (i.e., the server uses the identifier received by the UE to match the identifier in the database 991 and 992 to identify location information and then sent the location information to the UE.)).
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) 2-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim (US-20200019580-A1) (IDS, 06/06/2024) in view of Zhang (US-20110059751-A1).
Regarding Claim 2, Kim discloses all the limitation of claim 1.
However, Kim does not disclose determining the location using an alternative location lookup if the search does not find location data in the database based on the first plurality of BSSIDs.
Zhang discloses determining the location using an alternative location lookup if the search does not find location data in the database based on the first plurality of BSSIDs (paragraph [0034-0035], Fig.2, "Next, at step 410, it is determined at the location server that a primary positioning method is unavailable. For example, as shown in both FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, at block 245 it is determined at the location server 120 that the AGPS positioning method is unavailable because the AGPS algorithm failed." (i.e., Zhang discloses when one method fails, the server can use a different method or approach to identify the user device location.)).
Kim and Zhang are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field Locating users or terminals for network management purposes. Therefore, 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 Kim to implemented Zhang method of location determination because it is obvious to try to have another method to determine the user location when one method fails and Zhang enables a hybrid positioning method to determine the user location with greater accuracy (Zhang paragraph [0041], “Advantages of some embodiments of the present invention therefore include enabling a location server to significantly improve the accuracy of a position determination of a target device when a primary positioning method is unavailable. Embodiments of the present invention enable a hybrid positioning method to be used to determine the position of the target device with greater accuracy than presently used alternative positioning methods.”).
Regarding Claim 3, Kim in view of Zhang discloses all the limitation of claim 2.
Zhang further discloses wherein the alternative location lookup is (paragraph [0029], Fig.2:250, "For example, the AGPS algorithm may fail because the target SET 105 is operating in an "urban canyon" environment where an inadequate number of satellites are in view. Therefore, at block 250, the location server 120 resorts to a high accuracy alternative positioning method. For example, rather than employing a low accuracy Cell-ID method, an AGPS hybrid algorithm is employed that uses available satellite data in combination with the distance value included in the SUPL POS INIT distance message 225." (i.e., When AGPS fails or with combination KIM that first search for user location using BSSID, the alternative method uses a hybrid model with satellite in combination with distance value from SUPL POS INIT to locate user device, wherein SUPL is the distance calculated from UE to base station as disclosed in par.25.))
The proposed combination as well as the motivations for combining the references presented in the rejection of the parent claim apply to this claim and are incorporated herein by reference.
Claim(s) 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim (US-20200019580-A1) (IDS, 06/06/2024) in view of Tanabe (US-20090240656-A1).
Regarding Claim 8, Kim discloses all the limitation of claim 1.
However, Kim does not disclose wherein the determining the location of the device searches the second plurality of BSSIDs from a first time period.
Tanabe discloses wherein the determining the location of the device searches the second plurality of BSSIDs from a first time period (paragraph [0264], "the mobile terminal 102 can transmit the entity ID or service ID with designating a past time range, and the entity management server 106 can acquire a plurality of location information items on the corresponding entity ID in the time range, for example. This enables tracking the "location locus" of the gateway 112 or the entity ID belonging to the gateway 112 at a certain past time range. Thus, the record of the past locations can be searched." (i.e., Tanabe discloses searching BSSIDs in a time period or time range.)).
Kim and Tanabe are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field Locating users or terminals for network management purposes. Therefore, 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 Kim to implement the method of Tanabe wherein the mobile terminal can specify the specific time period to search the entity ID such as BSSID in order to increase the chances of finding the relevant BSSID and the corresponding location thus reducing time to search and saving processing power of the server (Tanabe, paragraph [0268], “Thus storing the entity ID enables finding the communications device at a time when the gateway 112 passes nearby, even if the target communications device cannot be found at the point of the notification request. In addition, the probability of finding the target communications device can be increased when the gateway 112 stores the entity ID associated with the search instruction and searches for the entity ID on a regular basis, or when the gateway 112 registers the entity ID in the entity management server 106.”).
Claim(s) 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim (US-20200019580-A1) (IDS, 06/06/2024) in view of Duleba (US-20150244819-A1).
Regarding Claim 9, Kim discloses all the limitation of claim 1.
However, Kim does not disclose wherein the geolocation payload further comprises a received internet protocol (IP) address of the device, wherein the database includes stored device IP addresses associated with the location data, and wherein the determining of the location of the device uses the received IP address.
Duleba discloses wherein the geolocation payload further comprises a received internet protocol (IP) address of the device (paragraph [0075], Fig.9, "Method 900 may include receiving an IP-address geolocation query, as depicted at block 902. In some embodiments, receiving an IP-address geolocation query may include LES server 206 receiving IP-address geolocation query 218." (i.e., receiving user IP-address for geolocation.)),
wherein the database includes stored device IP addresses associated with the location data (paragraph [0064], "generating an IP-address mapping table based on IP-address/reduced-geolocation information 214 may include consolidating geolocation data for each IP-address into a corresponding entry of an IP-address/geolocation mapping table 216." and paragraph [0065], Fig.8A, "FIG. 8A depicts an exemplary embodiment of IP-address/geolocation mapping table 216. As depicted, IP-address/geolocation mapping table 216 may include a listing of entries 802 each corresponding to a given IP-address 804 and recent geolocation data 806 corresponding to the given IP-address 804." (i.e., Examiner points to Fig.8A:216 wherein discloses a table with IP address and the associated location.)),
and wherein the determining of the location of the device uses the received IP address (paragraph [0076], Fig.9, "Method 900 may include mapping the given IP-address to identify a geolocation, as depicted at block 904…For example, LES server 206 may identify the given IP-address "132.16.254.1" as being mapped to zip-code "92113" based at least in part on processing of IP-address/geolocation mapping table 216." And paragraph [0077], “Method 900 may include returning the geolocation corresponding to the given IP-address, as depicted at block 906… the geolocation data provided may also include an associated confidence level… may use the confidence value to assess how or even if the geolocation should be relied on.” (i.e., The location is determined because the server returned the geolocation corresponding to the given IP address.)).
Kim and Duleba are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the determine the user location based on identifier of the network device the user is connected to and matching with the location in the storage. Therefore, 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 Kim to implement the method of Duleba because Duleba enables Kim to provide high accuracy of a user device location by their associated IP address and can serve as an additional data to Kim two storage (Kim, Fig.9:991;992, first and second database) (Duleba, paragraph [0026], “the techniques described herein may enable a first device associated with a given IP-address to be located based on highly-precise geolocation data received from a second device associated with the same IP-address. For example, when a user accesses the internet via a GPS enabled cellular phone connected through a wireless router/modem having a given IP-address, a desktop computer connected to the Internet through the same router/modem may be precisely geolocated based on the geolocation data received from the cellular phone.”).
Claim(s) 11-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim (US-20200019580-A1) (IDS, 06/06/2024) in view of Montague (US-20230092670-A1).
Regarding Claim 11, Kim discloses all the limitation of claim 1.
However, Kim does not explicitly disclose wherein the location data stored in the database comprises previously stored location data of the first device, a second device, or a combination thereof.
Montague discloses wherein the location data stored in the database comprises previously stored location data of the first device, a second device, or a combination thereof (paragraph [0083], "the server 300 may receive location reports for the one or more other devices 200n by retrieving one or more stored location reports from the database 400." and paragraph [0085], “the server 300 may be configured to provide the provisional location to the database 400 for storage as a location report, based on the output location confidence value for the provisional location. In this way, the database 400 of location reports used for location verification can be grown over time,” and paragraph [0093], Fig.4:S14, "At step S14, the method comprises receiving one or more location reports each including a location for another device in the first network environment. In some examples, the location report may be received with one or more additional metadata items" and paragraph [0095], "receiving the location reports may include retrieving one or more stored location reports from a database. In this way, location reports may be accessed over a large area, a large number and variety of devices, and over a longer period of time. In some examples, location reports in the data may be anonymised." (i.e., Montague discloses a database of storing second device location in order to be used to help determine first device location as disclosed in Fig.14.)).
Kim and Montague are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field Locating users or terminals for network management purposes. Therefore, 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 Kim to implement the method of Montague of storing user location data determined by the user because there is a need to improve the verification of the device location in order to provide the user with high accuracy of the location determined by a server (Montague, paragraph [0006], “As such, there is a need to improve the verification of a device location. The present invention aims to address this need.”). It obvious to try to store other user device location in order to use their data such as geographical location or the access point that is sensed by the second service as it would provide more data in order to increase the accuracy of the first device location.
Regarding Claim 12, Kim discloses all the limitation of claim 1.
However, Kim does not explicitly disclose wherein the location data stored in the database comprises previously stored location data of a second device
Montague discloses wherein the location data stored in the database comprises previously stored location data of a second device (paragraph [0083], "the server 300 may receive location reports for the one or more other devices 200n by retrieving one or more stored location reports from the database 400." and paragraph [0085], “the server 300 may be configured to provide the provisional location to the database 400 for storage as a location report, based on the output location confidence value for the provisional location. In this way, the database 400 of location reports used for location verification can be grown over time,” and paragraph [0093], Fig.4:S14, "At step S14, the method comprises receiving one or more location reports each including a location for another device in the first network environment. In some examples, the location report may be received with one or more additional metadata items" and paragraph [0095], "receiving the location reports may include retrieving one or more stored location reports from a database. In this way, location reports may be accessed over a large area, a large number and variety of devices, and over a longer period of time. In some examples, location reports in the data may be anonymised." (i.e., Montague discloses a database of storing second device location in order to be used to help determine first device location as disclosed in Fig.14.)).
Kim and Montague are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field Locating users or terminals for network management purposes. Therefore, 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 Kim to implement the method of Montague of storing user location data determined by the user because there is a need to improve the verification of the device location in order to provide the user with high accuracy of the location determined by a server (Montague, paragraph [0006], “As such, there is a need to improve the verification of a device location. The present invention aims to address this need.”). It obvious to try to store other user device location in order to use their data such as geographical location or the access point that is sensed by the second service as it would provide more data in order to increase the accuracy of the first device location.
Regarding Claim 13, which is similar in scope to claim 12, thus rejected under the same rationale. Examiner notes claim 12 and claim 13 are identical.
Claim(s) 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim (US-20200019580-A1) (IDS, 06/06/2024) in view of Stuntebeck (US-20160094707-A1).
Regarding Claim 14, Kim discloses all the limitation of claim 1.
However, Kim does not disclose further comprising enforcing device rules based on the determined location of the device.
Stuntebeck discloses further comprising enforcing device rules based on the determined location of the device (paragraph [0036], “The location service 315 may be executed to receive location information requests from mobile devices 112 and to provide location information in response. For example, the mobile device 112 may send a location information request with GPS coordinates, wireless access point names, etc.,” and paragraph [0043], Fig.3:245, " Additionally, certain compliance rules 245 may be enforced depending upon the location of the mobile device 112. For example, certain compliance rules 245 may be triggered when the location of the mobile device 112 is detected to be within or outside of a certain geographic area, or when the mobile device 112 is connected to a particular network 306." (i.e., It’s known in the art to enforce a rule based on the user location.)).
Kim and Stuntebeck are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field Locating users or terminals for network management purposes. Therefore, 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 Kim to implement the method of Stuntebeck in order to help users to comply with state laws in addition to determine the user location thus increasing user safety and compliance with law (Stuntebeck, paragraph [0043], “For example, texting while driving may be illegal in one state, but not in another. Thus, the compliance rule 245 may indicate that texting while driving is to be restricted in the state in which it is illegal, but not in the state in which it is legal.” and paragraph [0033], “Moreover, enforcing the compliance rules 245 may influence the behavior of the employees with respect to safety and reduce potential liability for the employer.”).
Claim(s) 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim (US-20200019580-A1) (IDS, 06/06/2024) in view of Chatterjee (US-20080248813-A1).
Regarding Claim 15, Kim discloses all the limitation of claim 1.
Kim further discloses further comprising updating the database with(paragraph [0094], "According to various embodiments, the first database 421 may match and store the identifiers of the access points (e.g., access points 221, 222, and 223 of FIG. 2) and the location information. Here, the identifier of the access point may include a basic service set identifier (BSSID)," and paragraph [0099], "but the identifier of the first access point (e.g., first access point 221 of FIG. 2) and the identifier of the second access point (e.g., second access point 222 of FIG. 2) are received through the communication interface 430, the processor 410 may update the location information matching the identifier of the first access point based on the location information matching the identifier of the second access point in the first database 421." and paragraph [0117], "The server device may successively input the acquired location information acquired in the first database 521, and it may delete the previously acquired location information that exceeds the location information collection time (e.g., one month) and the number of times of collection (e.g., 100 times) from the first database 421." (i.e., a timestamp is implied since the server is deleting the oldest location information of the BSSIDs to make room for new BSSIDs.)).
However, Kim does not disclose further comprising updating the database with the determined location.
Chatterjee discloses further comprising updating the database with the determined location (paragraph [0055], Fig.1, "In some cases, for example, the location database 116 may update the estimated positions of a client device (e.g., mobile device 102) and the location nodes 114 seen by the client device when the client device reports position data and node data associated with the location nodes 114 it sees. In other cases, the location database 116 may update the estimated positions of a client device (e.g., mobile device 118) and the location nodes 114 seen by the client device when the client device requests its location by sending a query identifying the location nodes 114 it sees." (i.e., Modifying Kim database to store user location.)).
Kim and Chatterjee are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field Locating users or terminals for network management purposes. Therefore, 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 Kim to implement the method of Chatterjee as it will enable a user device to obtain location such as when GPS is unavailable and can use other device’s location and data to determine the user device location (Chatterjee, paragraph [0040], “the location database 116 may allow the mobile device 118 to obtain a course location when GPS capability is unavailable. In some cases, the mobile device 118 may comprise a non-location aware device that does not possess built-in GPS capability. The mobile device 118 may query the location database 116 and receive positioning information for estimating its position without the need for GPS hardware or software.” and paragraph [0055], “By continuously sampling and updating the location database 116, the system may adapt to changing positions and changing node IDs and names.”).
Claim(s) 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim (US-20200019580-A1) (IDS, 06/06/2024) in view of Reyes (US-10813072-B1).
Regarding Claim 16, Kim discloses all the limitation of claim 1.
However, Kim does not disclose further comprising verifying the determined location against a previous location of the first device.
Reyes discloses further comprising verifying the determined location against a previous location of the first device (Col.13, lines59-67, "and/or confirm the estimation of the client device's location with other information, for example, previously estimated locations…the location estimate determined using any of the above methods may be further supplemented to confirm or adjust the location estimate, for example, by confirming that it is possible for the client device to be located in the estimated location." (i.e., Reyes discloses the location can be compared with the previous location.)).
Kim and Reyes are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field Locating users or terminals for network management purposes. Therefore, 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 Kim to implement the method of Reyes because it’s obvious to try to verify the user new location by comparing the previous location determined by the server in order to provide accurate location of the user and comparing the locations ensures that the new data is plausible and not a result of a sensor error or GPS glitch (e.g., suddenly appearing hundreds of miles away in an instant).
Claim(s) 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim (US-20200019580-A1) (IDS, 06/06/2024) in view of ZHAO (CN-103533635-A) (IDS, English translated provided by examiner).
Regarding Claim 17, Kim discloses A system (Fig.9) for determining a location of a first device comprising:
a first device comprising a receiver for detecting a first plurality of BSSIDs (paragraph [0068], Fig.3, "The access point may periodically broadcast a beacon signal including its own identifier, and the electronic device 300 may receive the beacon signal using the first wireless communication circuit 330, and it may acquire identifiers of respective adjacent access points." and paragraph [0149], Fig.9, “an electronic device 910 according to various embodiments (e.g., processor 310 of FIG. 3) may identify an identifier (e.g., BSSID) of at least one access point 920 by scanning an adjacent access point 920 using a first wireless communication circuit (e.g., first wireless communication circuit 330 of FIG. 3). Further, the electronic device 910 may identify an identifier (e.g., CID) of a base station 930 using a second wireless communication circuit” (i.e., first device receiving beacon from access point.)),
a processor for assembling a geolocation payload comprising the detected BSSIDs (paragraph [0066], Fig.3, "an electronic device 300 according to various embodiments may include a processor 310…" and paragraph [0150], “the electronic device 910 may transmit, to a server device 900, a list of the identifier of at least one access point 920 and the identifier of the base station 930” (i.e., Par.150 implies assembles a geolocation payload as the electronic device 910 needs to assemble a list of identifier that detected and send to the server.)),
and a transmitter for transmitting the geolocation payload (paragraph [0066], Fig.3, "an electronic device 300 according to various embodiments may include a processor 310, a memory 320, a first wireless communication circuit 330, a second wireless communication circuit 340, and a GPS sensor 350." and paragraph [0150], Fig.9, “the electronic device 910 may transmit, to a server device 900, a list of the identifier of at least one access point 920 and the identifier of the base station 930 acquired through a network using the first wireless communication circuit and/or the second wireless communication circuit.” (i.e., a transmitter is implied since the first device is sending the list of access point detected by the first device.));
and a second device (Fig.9, server) comprising a receiver (Fig.4:430, communication interface) and computer readable medium (Fig.4:420, memory) having instructions stored thereon that when executed, causes the second device to:
receive a geolocation payload from a first device having a receiver (paragraph [0150], Fig.9, “the electronic device 910 may transmit, to a server device 900, a list of the identifier of at least one access point 920 and the identifier of the base station 930 acquired through a network using the first wireless communication circuit and/or the second wireless communication circuit.” and paragraph [0152], “the server device 900 may receive the identifier of at least one access point 920 and the identifier of the base station 930,”),
the geolocation payload comprising a first plurality of basic service set identifications (BSSID) detected by the first device (paragraph [0149], Fig.9, “if a location information request event generated from an application is identified, an electronic device 910 according to various embodiments (e.g., processor 310 of FIG. 3) may identify an identifier (e.g., BSSID) of at least one access point 920 by scanning an adjacent access point 920 using a first wireless communication circuit (e.g., first wireless communication circuit 330 of FIG. 3).” and paragraph [150], “paragraph [0150], Fig.9, “the electronic device 910 may transmit, to a server device 900, a list of the identifier of at least one access point 920”);
and determine a location of the first device by searching, using the first plurality of BSSIDs, a database including a second plurality of BSSIDs and location data associated the second plurality of BSSIDs (paragraph [0151], Fig.9, "the server device 900 may receive the identifier of at least one access point 920 and the identifier of the base station 930, and it may identify location information (or Wi-Fi location) matching the identifier of the at least one access point 920 received in a pre-constructed first database 991 (or Wi-Fi DB)." and paragraph [0152], Fig.9, "the server device 900 may determine the location of the electronic device 910 using a positioning algorithm 995 based on the location information acquired from the first database 991 and the second database 992. The positioning algorithm 995 may be included in various instructions stored in a memory (e.g., memory 820 of FIG. 8) of the server device, and it may be performed by the processor (e.g., processor 810 of FIG. 8). The server device 900 may transmit the determined location (or device location) of the electronic device 910." (i.e., the server uses the identifier received by the UE to match the identifier in the database 991 and 992 to identify location information and then sent the location information to the UE.)).
However, Kim does not explicitly disclose a database comprising a second plurality of BSSIDs and locations associated therewith.
ZHAO discloses a database comprising a second plurality of BSSIDs and locations associated therewith (paragraph [0051], “compared with the existing technology, the embodiment through the stored access point identification code and the position information of the access point position database stored in the mobile terminal, when the mobile terminal performs positioning. mobile terminal firstly obtains the current location near the access point identification code, then finding the corresponding location in the location database of the mobile terminal according to the access point identification code, and then determines the position of the mobile terminal according to the signal strength and the location of the access point…” and paragraph [0053], "Because when the mobile terminal searches the network may search to a plurality of base stations (i.e., access point), and according to the base station identification code in the location database may be searched to obtain the position of the plurality of base stations, so that when there are 3 or more than 3 of the base station can for accurately locating the position of the mobile terminal by selecting 3 of the base station signal intensity different" (i.e., the UE has a storage comprising a plurality of access point identifier and the location correlated.)).
Kim and ZHAO are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field Locating users or terminals for network management purposes. Therefore, 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 Kim to implement the system of ZHAO such as having a first device a database of access point with the location as the first device would not need server interaction and can rapidly determine the positioning of the first device with relatively little network connection and ZHAO also enables to contact the server if the first device is unable to located itself (ZHAO, paragraph [0051], “the mobile terminal does not need and server interaction. it can rapidly determine the position of the mobile terminal does not need relatively little network connection or network connection.” and paragraph [0062], “after giving cannot determine the position of mobile terminal prompt, it further can adopt the existing technology the same manner through network connection from the remote server obtains the position of the mobile terminal.”).
Claim(s) 4, 6-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim (US-20200019580-A1) (IDS, 06/06/2024) in view of Lange (US-20230015349-A1) in further view of Kuang (US-20200045665-A1).
Regarding Claim 4, Kim discloses all the limitation of claim 1.
However, Kim does not disclose further comprising: assembling the first plurality of BSSIDs into received BSSID combinations, each received BSSID combination including a first number of BSSIDs from the first plurality of BSSIDs, wherein the second plurality of BSSIDs are stored as stored BSSID combinations, each stored BSSID combination including the first number of BSSIDs from the second plurality of BSSIDs, and wherein the determining of the location searches using the received BSSID combinations for matches in the stored BSSID combinations.
Lange discloses further comprising: assembling the first plurality of BSSIDs into received BSSID combinations (paragraph [0073], Fig.3:304, "Step 304 includes identifying two or more access point subs-sets from the set of multiple access points, wherein each of the two or more access point sub-sets comprises one or more of the multiple access points. Each of the two or more access point sub-sets is identified with respect to shape of the sub-set, density of the sub-set, a clustering pattern of the one or more access points contained therein, etc." (i.e., Lange discloses grouping the access points into groups e.g., sub-sets. Kim discloses providing the server with identified AP with BSSID.)),
each received BSSID combination including a first number of BSSIDs from the first plurality of BSSIDs (paragraph [0073], Fig.3:304, "…wherein each of the two or more access point sub-sets comprises one or more of the multiple access points." (i.e., each sub-set comprises of one or more multiple access points.)).
Kim and Lange are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field Locating users or terminals for network management purposes. Therefore, 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 Kim to implement the method of Lange of grouping the multiple access points into sub-sets because Lange describes of filtering the sub-set in order to filter the sub-set to reduce non-relevant data as that would lead to reduce network costs, power costs, and data costs for requesting devices (Lange, paragraph [0005], “Accordingly, a need exists for access point geo-location techniques that reduce network costs, power costs, and data costs for requesting devices.” and paragraph [0046], “Further, the quality of the constellation of access points provided to the requesting device (by the server) can provide considerable value to the process of determining (locally) a positional fix of the requesting device. As used herein, a “constellation” refers to a particular grouping of one or more access points, with respect to the shape, density and clustering of the points therein. Additionally, the above-noted “value” can include increased accuracy, wherein the better the constellation returned by the server (for example, the more evenly spaced the access points whose data are returned to the requesting device), the better the requesting device will subsequently be able to accurately determine its position.” and paragraph [0047], “a server can examine and/or detect multiple access points (for example, all possible access points within a given proximity and/or radius) and perform one or more filtering functions on the detected access points… select the most optimal set (constellation) of access points in terms of selecting the constellation that requires the least number of access points (and thus will allow the smallest data-sized response)”).
However, Kim in view of Lange do not disclose wherein the second plurality of BSSIDs are stored as stored BSSID combinations, each stored BSSID combination including the first number of BSSIDs from the second plurality of BSSIDs, and wherein the determining of the location searches using the received BSSID combinations for matches in the stored BSSID combinations.
Kuang discloses wherein the second plurality of BSSIDs are stored as stored BSSID combinations (paragraph [0105], Fig.3, "In FIG. 3, a to-be-positioned area is divided into M sub-areas, each sub-area has a corresponding fingerprint database, and a plurality of fingerprint databases constitute a total fingerprint database, namely, the total fingerprint database of the to-be-positioned area. A corresponding reference AP set is generated for each fingerprint database, namely, a reference AP set corresponding to each of the M sub-areas. The reference AP set includes a BSSID (or an identifier, a MAC address, or the like of an AP) of an AP with higher reference significance for a corresponding sub-area." (i.e., Examiner points to Fig.3 wherein the storage comprises of combination of AP wherein includes BSSID for each location.)),
each stored BSSID combination including the first number of BSSIDs from the second plurality of BSSIDs (paragraph [0105], Fig.3, "…The reference AP set includes a BSSID (or an identifier, a MAC address, or the like of an AP) of an AP with higher reference significance for a corresponding sub-area." (i.e., Examiner points to Fig.3 wherein shows sets of AP wherein includes BSSID for each sub-area.)),
and wherein the determining of the location searches using the received BSSID combinations for matches in the stored BSSID combinations (paragraph [0094], Fig.2, "Step 203: The server compares a BSSID of an AP received by the terminal device with BSSIDs in the M reference AP sets, to determine a target reference AP set corresponding to a sub-area in which the terminal device is located." (i.e., Compared the received BSSID from the terminal with the BSSID stored in order to identify a matching set to then calculate the locate the terminal device.)).
Kim in view of Lange and Kuang are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field Locating users or terminals for network management purposes. Therefore, 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 Kim to implement the method of Kuang of storing the AP based on sub-area as shown in Kuang Fig.3 in order to reduce calculation amount and improve efficiency of searching sub-area the terminal is located (Kuang, paragraph [0008], “an AP that meets a condition in each sub-area is obtained through screening, to generate a reference AP set corresponding to each sub-area, so as to help the terminal device quickly position a sub-area in which the terminal device is currently located, thereby reducing a related calculation amount in a fingerprint positioning process of the terminal device, and improving positioning efficiency.”).
Regarding Claim 6, Kim in view of Lange in further view of Kuang discloses all the limitation of claim 4.
Kuang further discloses wherein the determining of the location of the device searches the database using the received BSSID combinations until at least one received BSSID combination is found (paragraph [0042], "determine, as the target reference AP set, a reference AP set in the M reference AP sets that has a maximum quantity of elements in an intersection set with a second AP set, where the second AP set includes BSSIDs that are currently received by the terminal device and that are of APs whose RSSIs meet a preset condition," (i.e., Kuang discloses APs received from the UE called “a second AP set” is compared with “M refence AP” and the BSSID combination is found when there are “a maximum quantity of elements in an intersection” thus always finding one M refence AP set.)).
The proposed combination as well as the motivations for combining the references presented in the rejection of the parent claim apply to this claim and are incorporated herein by reference.
Regarding Claim 7, Kim in view of Lange in further view of Kuang discloses all the limitation of claim 4.
Kuang further discloses wherein the geolocation payload includes a signal strength for each of the first plurality of BSSIDs (paragraph [0025], "receiving, by the server, the BSSID and the corresponding RSSI of the AP that are received by the terminal device and then sent by the terminal device." (i.e., receiving BSSID and the corresponding RSSI from the terminal device.)),
and the searching using the received BSSID combinations are based on the signal strengths (paragraph [0029], "perform screening in the fingerprint database corresponding to each sub-area, and select BSSIDs of N APs in the fingerprint database to constitute a reference AP set, where the N APs are APs in the corresponding fingerprint database whose maximum RSSIs are greater than a preset threshold," and paragraph [0042], "determine, as the target reference AP set, a reference AP set in the M reference AP sets that has a maximum quantity of elements in an intersection set with a second AP set, where the second AP set includes BSSIDs that are currently received by the terminal device and that are of APs whose RSSIs meet a preset condition,"(i.e., searching based on intersection of M reference AP sets that matches second AP set. This is based on signal strength because the APs need to meet a threshold before compared with the APs the UE is sending.)).
The proposed combination as well as the motivations for combining the references presented in the rejection of the parent claim apply to this claim and are incorporated herein by reference.
Claim(s) 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim (US-20200019580-A1) (IDS, 06/06/2024) in view of Duleba (US-20150244819-A1) in further view of SMYTH (WO-2012001366-A2).
Regarding Claim 10, Kim in view of Duleba discloses all the limitation of claim 9.
However, Kim in view of Duleba do not exility disclose wherein the determining of the location of the devices compares the received IP address to determine if it is within range of the stored device IP addresses.
Smyth discloses wherein the determining of the location of the devices compares the received IP address to determine if it is within range of the stored device IP addresses (page 45, lines 25-32, Fig.15B, "The query is processed to extract the public IP address and a query is then sent to monitoring system server 200 (step 412) which triggers a look-up operation being performed on NAT data store 27 to determine the private IP address (step 414). The private IP address range associated with the private IP address is used to determine the AP ID used by the device (step 416), and from this the service identifier for the connection the AP is currently using can be found (418)," (i.e., Duleba discloses an exact IP address or close, while SMYTH discloses the IP address can within a certain range of a plurality of IP address.)).
Kim in view of Duleba and Smyth are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field Locating users or terminals for network management purposes. Therefore, 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 Kim to implement the method of Smyth as that would enable the server of Kim to track the user device in real time (Smyth, page 5, lines 29-31, “Another aspect of the invention comprises a method of tracking the location of a mobile communications-enabled device (16) in each of a plurality of open-access short-range wireless communications local area networks (12) in real-time, the method comprising: allocating an IP address to said device when it associates with each said wireless access point;”).
Claim(s) 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim (US-20200019580-A1) (IDS, 06/06/2024) in view of Lange (US-20230015349-A1) in further view of Kuang (US-20200045665-A1) in further view of ZHAO (CN-103533635-A) (IDS, English translated provided by examiner).
Regarding Claim 5, Kim in view of Lange in further view of Kuang discloses all the limitation of claim 4.
However, Kim in view of Lange in further view of Kuang do not explicitly disclose wherein the first number is at least 3.
ZHAO discloses wherein the first number is at least 3 (paragraph [0053], "Because when the mobile terminal searches the network may search to a plurality of base stations (i.e., access point), and according to the base station identification code in the location database may be searched to obtain the position of the plurality of base stations, so that when there are 3 or more than 3 of the base station can for accurately locating the position of the mobile terminal by selecting 3 of the base station signal intensity different" and paragraph [0055], "if the searching and obtaining the position information of the access point of the access point identification code is greater than or equal to 3 from the position database, then from each access point identifier corresponding to the access point 3 of access point;" and paragraph [0064], "The access point identification code on the remote server searches the location of the access corresponding to the access point identifier;" (i.e., searching for at least a minimum of three or more base stations to accurately determine the mobile terminal location. Kim discloses providing the server with access point with BSSID, Lange discloses grouping the access point to filter out non-relevant access points groups, ZHAO discloses UE needing to use at least three base stations for the most accurate location of the UE and thus in combination teach claim 5.)).
Kim in view of Lange in further view of Kuang and ZHAO are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field Locating users or terminals for network management purposes. Therefore, 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 Kim to implement the method of ZHAO of searching a minimum of three access points as that will provide the most accurate location of the user device compared to two or one base station (ZHAO, paragraph [0057], “according to the calculated distance, calculated by triangle locating method out of the position of the mobile terminal.” and paragraph [0058], “can be found from the position database 3 or more than 3 base station position information, can calculate the position of the mobile terminal according to the signal intensity and the position of the 3 base station to realize the precise location.”).
Conclusion
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ERKIN S. ABDULLAEV
Examiner
Art Unit 2648
/ERKIN ABDULLAEV/Examiner, Art Unit 2648
/WESLEY L KIM/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2648