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 .
Specification
Applicant is reminded of the proper language and format for an abstract of the disclosure.
The abstract should be in narrative form and generally limited to a single paragraph on a separate sheet within the range of 50 to 150 words in length. The abstract should describe the disclosure sufficiently to assist readers in deciding whether there is a need for consulting the full patent text for details.
The language should be clear and concise and should not repeat information given in the title. It should avoid using phrases which can be implied, such as, “The disclosure concerns,” “The disclosure defined by this invention,” “The disclosure describes,” etc. In addition, the form and legal phraseology often used in patent claims, such as “means” and “said,” should be avoided.
The abstract of the disclosure is objected to because the abstract states “Disclosed are systems and techniques for wireless communications” and “For example”, which should be omitted from the abstract.
A corrected abstract of the disclosure is required and must be presented on a separate sheet, apart from any other text. See MPEP § 608.01(b).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1-4, 6-22, and 24-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hwang et al. (“Hwang”) [PGPUB 2023/0141488] (cited on IDS, filed 10/27/25) in view of Herbert et al. (“Herbert”) [PGPUB 2024/0212502].
Regarding claim 1, the Hwang reference discloses a network entity for wireless communications, the network entity comprising: at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled to the at least one memory [ie. V2X server (“network entity”); Hwang; paragraphs 0026, 0174, and 0234] and configured to:
receive, from a plurality of first network devices, a plurality of first sensor sharing messages comprising sensor information, wherein each first sensor sharing message of the plurality of first sensor sharing messages comprises respective sensor information associated with one or more devices [ie. sharing mobility (“sensor”) information messages when the devices are still close enough (“mobility change is less than the preconfigured threshold”); Hwang; figures 18 and 19; para 0012, 0020-0021, 0149, 0175-0176, and 0211-0213];
combine the respective sensor information from the plurality of first sensor sharing messages to generate combined sensor information [ie. merge messages; Hwang; para 0175-0178 and 0213];
determine one or more second network devices for receiving the combined sensor information based on the combined sensor information and a respective distance of each second network device of the one or more second network devices from the one or more neighbor VRU [Hwang; fig 19; para 0149, 0201-0202, and 0213-0214]; and
output, for transmission to at least one of the one or more second network devices or another network entity, a second sensor sharing message comprising the combined sensor information [Hwang; para 0149, 0201-0202 and 0214].
The Hwang reference discloses sensing neighboring UE or VRU devices [Hwang; para 0104 and 0214] but does not specifically disclose “objects detected in a respective sensing range of each first network device of the plurality of first network devices” and “a respective distance of each second network device of the one or more second network devices from the one or more objects”.
However, in the same field of endeavor, the Herbert reference discloses “respective sensor information associated with one or more objects detected in a respective sensing range of each first network device of the plurality of first network devices” and “a respective distance of each second network device of the one or more second network devices from the one or more objects” [ie. alert message of road hazard (“object”) to other vehicles in the surrounding location (“respective distance”); Herbert; fig 10, 11 and 15B; para 0146-0147, 0158 and 0160-0161]. The Hwang and Herbert references are analogous art, since they have similar problem solving area in being able to warn other drivers of close objects (ie. road hazard, pedestrian). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to combine the teaching of locating an object to a vehicle, taught by Herbert, into the system, taught by Hwang. The motivation for doing so would have been to send messages only to vehicles close to the object (road hazard).
Regarding claim 2, the combination of Hwang-Herbert further discloses exclude, from the combined sensor information, sensor information from at least one first sensor sharing message of the plurality of first sensor sharing messages [ie. sensor messages excluded outside of predetermined period (Period #1); Hwang; fig 16; para 0175, 0213, and 0216-0217].
Regarding claim 3, the combination of Hwang-Herbert further discloses to determine to exclude, from the combined sensor information, the sensor information from the at least one first sensor sharing message of the plurality of first sensor sharing messages based on expiration of an expiration time for the sensor information from the at least one first sensor sharing message [ie. uplink sensor data in period #1 would be excluded in period #2; Hwang; fig 16; para 0187 and 0216-0218].
Regarding claim 4, the combination of Hwang-Herbert further discloses the respective sensor information of each first sensor sharing message, and wherein the at least one processor is configured to: [ie. accuracy of prediction of the VRU device will raise the confidence level of the sensor message; Hwang; para 0206-0207] and combining messages based the accuracy of the shared messages from mobility change calculation of the devices [Hwang; para 0017 and 0020-0021]. The Hwang reference does not specifically disclose the accuracy level (“confidence level”) indicating a level of certainty of detection of the one or more objects. The Herbert reference discloses confidence level indicating a level of certainty of detection of the one or more objects [ie. a degree of confidence of the sensor within messages; Herbert; para 0113-0114]. The Hwang and Herbert references are analogous art, since they have similar problem solving area in being able to warn other drivers of close objects (ie. road hazard, pedestrian). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to combine the teaching of confidence level, taught by Herbert, into the system, taught by Hwang. The motivation for doing so would have been to send only messages of accurate information. Also, the combination of Hwang-Herbert further discloses combine the sensor information from the plurality of first sensor sharing messages based on the respective confidence level of each first sensor sharing message [Hwang; 0020-0021 and 0206-0207] [Herbert; para 0113-0114].
Regarding claim 6, the combination of Hwang-Herbert further discloses combine the sensor information from the plurality of first sensor sharing messages, the at least one processor is configured to: determine a first sensor sharing message from the plurality of first sensor sharing messages includes a first instance of information associated with an object; determine a second sensor sharing message from the plurality of first sensor sharing messages includes a second instance of the information associated with the object [ie. different states (“instances”) for a VRU (“object”); Hwang; para 00185-0186 and 195]; include, in the combined sensor information, the first instance of the information from the first sensor sharing message; and exclude, from the combined sensor information, the second instance of the information from the second sensor sharing message [ie. based on preconfigured time threshold would include the first instance message but not the second instance (later) message; Hwang; fig 16; para 0032, 0089, 0175, 0179, and 0187-0188].
Regarding claim 7, the combination of Hwang-Herbert further discloses determine, at a first time from a sensor sharing message of the plurality of first sensor sharing messages, an expiration time for sensor information included in the sensor sharing message; and include, based on the first time being earlier than the expiration time for the sensor information, the sensor information from the sensor sharing message in the combined sensor information [ie. sensor information message within predetermined time period to be merged with other messages; Hwang; para 0149 and 0212-0213].
Regarding claim 8, the combination of Hwang-Herbert further discloses each first sensor sharing message of the plurality of first sensor sharing messages and each second sensor sharing message of the second sensor sharing message is at least one of a Sensor Data Sharing Message (SDSM), a Basic Safety Message (BSM), a Cooperative Awareness Message (CAM), a Collective Perception Message (CPM), or a Decentralized Environmental Message (DENM) [Hwang; fig 11; para 0007-0008] [Herbert; fig 8; para 0035].
Regarding claim 9, the combination of Hwang-Herbert further discloses first network device of the one or more first network devices and each second network device of the one or more second network devices is one of a vehicle, a roadside unit (RSU), a vulnerable road user (VRU), traffic infrastructure, or user equipment (UE) [Hwang; fig 11; para 0004 and 0058] [Herbert; para 0034].
Regarding claim 10, the combination of Hwang-Herbert further discloses the network entity is one of a base station, a portion of a base station, a network server, a roadside unit (RSU), a vulnerable road user (VRU), traffic infrastructure, or user equipment (UE) [Hwang; fig 11; para 0003-0004, 0057-0058, and 0174] [Herbert; para 0047].
Regarding claim 11, the combination of Hwang-Herbert further discloses the plurality of first sensor sharing messages are received via network-controlled communications, and the second sensor sharing message is transmitted via the network-controlled communications [Hwang; fig 1 and 13; para 0057-0058 and 0149-0150].
Regarding claim 12, the combination of Hwang-Herbert further discloses the network-controlled communications is Universal Mobile Telecommunication System Air Interface (Uu) communications [Hwang; fig 13; para 0057-0058 and 0149-0150].
Regarding claim 13, the Hwang reference discloses a network device for wireless communications, the network device comprising: at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled to the at least one memory [ie. vehicle or VRU (Vulnerable Road Users) (“network device”); Hwang; figure 13; paragraphs 0149, 0240, and 0234-0235] and configured to:
obtain, from one or more sensors, sensor data within a sensing range of the network device [Hwang; fig 1; para 0011-0012 and 0235];
generate a sensor sharing message comprising sensor information [Hwang; para 0147 and 0212-0214]; and
output, for transmission to a network entity via network-controlled communications, the sensor sharing message for processing and transmission of the sensor information [Hwang; para 0147 and 0212-0214].
The Hwang reference discloses messages based on sensor information [Hwang; fig 1; para 0004 and 0149] but does not specifically disclose “determine one or more objects within the sensing range of the network device based on the sensor data” and “sensor information comprises information associated with the one or more objects”. However, in the same field of endeavor, the Herbert reference discloses “determine one or more objects within the sensing range of the network device based on the sensor data” and “sensor information comprises information associated with the one or more objects” [Herbert; fig 10 and 11; para 0113-0116]. The Hwang and Herbert references are analogous art, since they have similar problem solving area in being able to warn other drivers of close objects (ie. road hazard, pedestrian). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to combine the teaching of determining objects, taught by Herbert, into the system, taught by Hwang. The motivation for doing so would have been to detect specific objects by sensor data.
Regarding claim 14, the combination of Hwang-Herbert further discloses each sensor of the one or more sensors is one of a camera, a light detection and ranging (LIDAR) sensor, an infrared sensor, or a radar sensor [Hwang; para 0234] [Herbert; fig 4; para 0009].
Regarding claim 15, the combination of Hwang-Herbert further discloses the network device is one of a vehicle, a roadside unit (RSU), a vulnerable road user (VRU), traffic infrastructure, or user equipment (UE) [Hwang; figure 13; paragraphs 0149, 0240, and 0234-0235] [Herbert; para 0034].
Regarding claim 16, the combination of Hwang-Herbert further discloses the network entity is one of a base station, a portion of a base station, a network server, a roadside unit (RSU), a vulnerable road user (VRU), traffic infrastructure, or user equipment (UE) [ie. V2X server (“network entity”); Hwang; paragraphs 0026, 0174, and 0234] [Herbert; para 0047].
Regarding claim 17, the combination of Hwang-Herbert further discloses the sensor sharing message is at least one of a Sensor Data Sharing Message (SDSM), a Basic Safety Message (BSM), a Cooperative Awareness Message (CAM), a Collective Perception Message (CPM), or a Decentralized Environmental Message (DENM) [Hwang; fig 1 and 13; para 0057-0058 and 0149-0150].
Regarding claim 18, the combination of Hwang-Herbert further discloses the network-controlled communications is Universal Mobile Telecommunication System Air Interface (Uu) communications [Hwang; fig 13; para 0057-0058 and 0149-0150].
Regarding claims 19-22 and 24-28, the method of claims 19-22 and 24-28 perform the similar steps as the apparatus of claims 1-4, 6-8, 11, and 12. The combination of Hwang-Herbert teaches the apparatus of claims 1-4, 6-8, 11, and 12, as referenced above. Therefore, claims 19-22 and 24-28 are rejected using the same art and rationale set forth above in the rejection of claims 1-4, 6-8, 11, and 12, by the teachings of Hwang-Herbert.
Regarding claims 29 and 30, the method of claims 29 and 30 perform the similar steps as the apparatus of claims 13 and 18. The combination of Hwang-Herbert teaches the apparatus of claims 13 and 18, as referenced above. Therefore, claims 29 and 30 are rejected using the same art and rationale set forth above in the rejection of claims 13 and 18, by the teachings of Hwang-Herbert.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5 and 23 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Sivanesan et al. [PGPUB 2023/0138163] describes transmitting DENM based on a minimum safe distance metric.
Altekar et al. [PGPUB 2025/0150782] describes filtering V2X messages based on location of an object.
Kwak et al. [PGPUB 2025/0330785] describes a fusion of different sensor messages for V2V system.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JASON D CARDONE whose telephone number is (571)272-3933. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri. 8am-4pmEST.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Umar Cheema can be reached at 571-270-3037. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/JASON D CARDONE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2458