DETAILED ACTION
This Non-Final Office Action is in response to application number 18/417,949 filed on January 19th 2024. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Information Disclosure Statements
The information disclosure statements (IDS), submitted on January 22nd, 2026, May 5th, 2025 and January 26th, 2024, are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negatived by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1,2,4,6,7,9.,24,25,27,29,30 and 32 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Hahn. (US 20190230485 A1 in view of Baek (US 20220167209 A1).
Regarding claims 1,6,24 and 29, Hahn discloses a method at an interworking vehicle, the method comprising: providing an interworking function for providing simultaneous access to a plurality of vehicle-to-everything radio access technology (V2X RATs) (US 20190230485 A1 Paragraph 0010 discloses “The terminal may include layers 1 to 3 supporting the first RAT, layers 1 to 3 supporting the second RAT, and an interworking control layer for supporting interworking between the first RAT and the second RAT.”); receiving a communication from at least one vehicle in a platoon using a first vehicle-to-everything V2X RAT (US 20190230485 A1 Paragraph 0055 discloses “The V2V communications may include communications between a first vehicle 100 (e.g., a communication node located in the vehicle 100) and a second vehicle 110m(e.g., a communication node located in the vehicle 110). Various driving information such as velocity, heading, time, position, and the like may be exchanged between the vehicles 100 and 110 through the V2V communications. For example, autonomous driving (e.g., platooning) may be supported based on the driving information exchanged through the V2V communications.”); subsequently determining an intention to cease providing the interworking function (US 20190230485 A1 Paragraph 0120 discloses “ In this case, the terminal (e.g., 3GPP L1-L3) may transmit an interworking release message to the base station indicating that the interworking between the terminal and the access point is released (S915). The base station may receive the interworking release message from the terminal, and may determine that the interworking between the terminal and the access point is released based on the received interworking release message.”);
Hahn fails to explicitly disclose receiving a communication from a first further vehicle that is available for inclusion in the platoon, the first further vehicle being configured to communicate using a second V2X RAT; adding the first further vehicle to the platoon; and transmitting a message to trigger removal of the first further vehicle from the platoon prior to a cessation of the interworking function.
However in an analogous art Baek teaches receiving a communication from a first further vehicle that is available for inclusion in the platoon, the first further vehicle being configured to communicate using a second V2X RAT; adding the first further vehicle to the platoon (US 20220167209 Baek Paragraph 00374 discloses “In accordance with the protocol for enabling a new vehicle to participate in the platoon, if one vehicle desiring to participate in the platoon has the channel access authority, this vehicle first transmits a message including joining-related information (Platoon join/leave=“1”), and then participates in the platoon. The channel access authority for this vehicle scheduled to participate in the platoon may be acquired through contention during the time margin shown in FIG. 2, after the last PV of the platoon has transmitted the message to a destination. The actual platoon joining may be performed, after the last PV of the platoon has transmitted the message.”); and transmitting a message to trigger removal of the first further vehicle from the platoon prior to a cessation of the interworking function (US 20220167209 Baek Table 0016 discloses “In contrast, if one vehicle transmitting messages is not participating in platoon or is attempting to leave the platoon, ‘Platoon join/leave is set to ‘0’”.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified Hahn to incorporate the teachings of Baek to receive a communication from a first further vehicle that is available for inclusion in the platoon, the first further vehicle being configured to communicate using a second V2X RAT; adding the first further vehicle to the platoon; and transmitting a message to trigger removal of the first further vehicle from the platoon prior to a cessation of the interworking function, in order to achieve computational and operational efficiency by joining the platoon and to prioritize safety and navigational integrity by leaving the platoon.
Regarding claims 2,7,25 and 30, Hahn disclose the method of claim 1.
Hahn fails to explicitly disclose wherein adding the first further vehicle to the platoon comprises: transmitting a request for the first further vehicle to join the platoon; and receiving an acknowledgement from the first further vehicle.
However in an analogous art Baek teaches wherein adding the first further vehicle to the platoon comprises: transmitting a request for the first further vehicle to join the platoon; and receiving an acknowledgement from the first further vehicle (US 20220167209 Baek Paragraph 00374 discloses from the perspective of the first further vehicle transmitting the request to join the platoon “In accordance with the protocol for enabling a new vehicle to participate in the platoon, if one vehicle desiring to participate in the platoon has the channel access authority, this vehicle first transmits a message including joining-related information (Platoon join/leave=“1”), and then participates in the platoon. The channel access authority for this vehicle scheduled to participate in the platoon may be acquired through contention during the time margin shown in FIG. 2, after the last PV of the platoon has transmitted the message to a destination. The actual platoon joining may be performed, after the last PV of the platoon has transmitted the message.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified Hahn to incorporate the teachings of Baek to transmit a request for the first further vehicle to join the platoon; and receiving an acknowledgement from the first further vehicle, in order to achieve computational and operational efficiency by joining the platoon.
Regarding claim 4,9,27 and 32, Hahn discloses the method of claim 1, further comprising, transmitting to the first vehicle via the first V2X RAT, an indication that the interworking vehicle is available to support the interworking function (US 20190230485 A1 Paragraph 0016 discloses “The operation method may further include, when the resource allocation message is received from the access point, transmitting, by the terminal, to the base station an interworking report message indicating that the terminal performs V2X communication with the access point.”).
Claims 3,5,8,10,26,28,31 and 33 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Hahn. (US 20190230485 A1 in view of Schubert et al. (US 9940840 B1).
Regarding claims 3,8,26 and 31, Hahn discloses the method of claim 2.
Hahn fails explicitly to disclose wherein the first further vehicle is a member of a different platoon, and wherein adding the first further vehicle to the platoon comprises transmitting a request for the first further vehicle to join the platoon to a platoon management entity for the different platoon.
However in an analogous art Schubert et al. teaches wherein the first further vehicle is a member of a different platoon, and wherein adding the first further vehicle to the platoon comprises transmitting a request for the first further vehicle to join the platoon to a platoon management entity for the different platoon ( US 9940840 B1 Paragraph 79 discloses “At stage 604, a second vehicle is identified as a candidate for joining the first platoon. The second vehicle may be identified in various manners….In some implementations, computing systems of the first vehicles in the first platoon, or the CC system 404, may actively search for candidate vehicles to join the first platoon and the second vehicle may be identified without broadcasting a request to join the first platoon.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified Hahn to incorporate the teachings of Schubert et al. to add the first further vehicle to the platoon comprises transmitting a request for the first further vehicle to join the platoon to a platoon management entity for the different platoon, in order to achieve computational and operational efficiency by adding to the platoon.
Regarding claims 5,10,28 and 33, Hahn discloses the method of claim 2.
Hahn fails to explicitly disclose prior to transmitting the request for the first further vehicle to join the platoon, transmitting, from the interworking vehicle, an indication of the availability of the first further vehicle to join the platoon
However in an analogous art Schubert et al. teaches further comprising, prior to transmitting the request for the first further vehicle to join the platoon, transmitting, from the interworking vehicle, an indication of the availability of the first further vehicle to join the platoon ( US 9940840 B1 Paragraph 79 discloses “At stage 604, a second vehicle is identified as a candidate for joining the first platoon. The second vehicle may be identified in various manners….In some implementations, computing systems of the first vehicles in the first platoon, or the CC system 404, may actively search for candidate vehicles to join the first platoon and the second vehicle may be identified without broadcasting a request to join the first platoon.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified Hahn to incorporate the teachings of Schubert et al. to transmit an indication of the availability of the first further vehicle to join the platoon, prior to transmitting the request for the first further vehicle to join the platoon in order to enable the first further vehicle to take the necessary actions to prepare in anticipation of joining a platoon.
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 11-23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a) as being anticipated by Hahn. (US 20190230485 A1).
Regarding claims 11 and 18, Hahn discloses an interworking unit comprising a communication system capable of communicating using more than one radio access technology (RAT), wherein the communication system is configured to: communicate with a platoon management entity; communicate wirelessly with at least one vehicle in a platoon using a first vehicle-to-everything (V2X) RAT; communicate wirelessly with a first further vehicle using a second V2X RAT (US 20190230485 A1 Paragraph 0055 discloses “The V2V communications may include communications between a first vehicle 100 (e.g., a communication node located in the vehicle 100) and a second vehicle 110 (e.g., a communication node located in the vehicle 110). Various driving information such as velocity, heading, time, position, and the like may be exchanged between the vehicles 100 and 110 through the V2V communications. For example, autonomous driving (e.g., platooning) may be supported based on the driving information exchanged through the V2V communications. The V2V communications supported in the cellular communication system 140 may be performed based on “sidelink” communication technologies (e.g., ProSe and D2D communication technologies, and the like). ”); convert messages received using the first V2X RAT to be compatible with the second V2X RAT (US 20190230485 A1 Paragraph 0094 discloses “The multi-RAT interworking control layer may be used to support communications between communication nodes supporting different RATs.”; and transmit a capability indication message of interworking capabilities to at least one of the first vehicle, the first further vehicle or the platoon management entity (US 20190230485 A1 Paragraph 0094 discloses “The operation method may further include, when the resource allocation message is received from the access point, transmitting, by the terminal, to the base station an interworking report message indicating that the terminal performs V2X communication with the access point.”).
Regarding claim 12, Hahn discloses the interworking unit of claim 11, wherein the interworking unit is in a vehicle (US 20190230485 A1 Paragraph 0010 discloses “The terminal may include layers 1 to 3 supporting the first RAT, layers 1 to 3 supporting the second RAT, and an interworking control layer for supporting interworking between the first RAT and the second RAT.” Paragraph 006 discloses “In cellular communication systems supporting V2X communications (e.g., C-V2X communication), a terminal located in a vehicle may perform the V2X communications using a resource allocated by a base station or a resource arbitrarily selected within a resource pool configured by the base station.”).
Regarding claims 13 and 19, Hahn discloses the interworking unit of claim 12, wherein the interworking unit communicates that it is ready to join a platoon (US 20190230485 A1 Paragraph 0055 discloses “The V2V communications may include communications between a first vehicle 100 (e.g., a communication node located in the vehicle 100) and a second vehicle 110 (e.g., a communication node located in the vehicle 110). Various driving information such as velocity, heading, time, position, and the like may be exchanged between the vehicles 100 and 110 through the V2V communications. For example, autonomous driving (e.g., platooning) may be supported based on the driving information exchanged through the V2V communications.”).
Regarding claims14 and 20, Hahn discloses the interworking unit of claim 13, wherein the communication that the interworking unit is ready to join a platoon is sent to at least one of the platoon management entity, the first vehicle using the first V2X RAT or the first further vehicle using the second V2X RAT(US 20190230485 A1 Paragraph 0055 discloses “The V2V communications may include communications between a first vehicle 100 (e.g., a communication node located in the vehicle 100) and a second vehicle 110 (e.g., a communication node located in the vehicle 110). Various driving information such as velocity, heading, time, position, and the like may be exchanged between the vehicles 100 and 110 through the V2V communications. For example, autonomous driving (e.g., platooning) may be supported based on the driving information exchanged through the V2V communications. The V2V communications supported in the cellular communication system 140 may be performed based on “sidelink” communication technologies (e.g., ProSe and D2D communication technologies, and the like). ”).
Regarding claims 15 and 21, Hahn discloses the interworking unit of claim 14, wherein the interworking unit communicates an availability of the interworking function to at least one of the platoon management entity, the first vehicle using the first V2X RAT or the first further vehicle using the second V2X RAT (US 20190230485 A1 Paragraph 0055 discloses “The V2V communications may include communications between a first vehicle 100 (e.g., a communication node located in the vehicle 100) and a second vehicle 110 (e.g., a communication node located in the vehicle 110). Various driving information such as velocity, heading, time, position, and the like may be exchanged between the vehicles 100 and 110 through the V2V communications. For example, autonomous driving (e.g., platooning) may be supported based on the driving information exchanged through the V2V communications. The V2V communications supported in the cellular communication system 140 may be performed based on “sidelink” communication technologies (e.g., ProSe and D2D communication technologies, and the like). ”).
Regarding claims 16 and 22,, Hahn discloses the interworking unit of claim 15, wherein the interworking unit is configured to: receive a request from the platoon management entity to provide the interworking function; and transmit an acknowledgement of the request to the platoon management entity (US 20190230485 A1 Paragraph 0025 discloses “The first RAT layer may receive a first radio resource control (RRC) message from the base station, the first RRC message including information indicating that multi-RAT based operations are allowed, and transmit data to the interworking control layer when a channel busy ratio (CBR) measurement result is greater than or equal to a CBR threshold in a channel configured by the base station, the interworking control layer may transfer the data received from the first RAT layer to the second RAT layer, and the second RAT layer may transmit the data received from the interworking control layer to an access point using a radio resource configured by the access point supporting the second RAT.” Paragraph 0025 discloses “the interworking control layer may transmit the interworking response message received from the second RAT layer to the first RAT layer; and the first RAT layer may receive the interworking response message from the interworking control layer.”).
Regarding claims 17 and 23, Hahn discloses the interworking unit of claim 15, wherein the interworking unit is configured to: receive a request from the platoon management entity to provide the interworking function; transmit a rejection of the request; and provide a reason code along with the rejection (US 20190230485 A1 Paragraph 0025 discloses “The first RAT layer may receive a first radio resource control (RRC) message from the base station, the first RRC message including information indicating that multi-RAT based operations are allowed, and transmit data to the interworking control layer when a channel busy ratio (CBR) measurement result is greater than or equal to a CBR threshold in a channel configured by the base station, the interworking control layer may transfer the data received from the first RAT layer to the second RAT layer, and the second RAT layer may transmit the data received from the interworking control layer to an access point using a radio resource configured by the access point supporting the second RAT.” Paragraph 0025 discloses “the interworking control layer may transmit the interworking response message received from the second RAT layer to the first RAT layer; and the first RAT layer may receive the interworking response message from the interworking control layer.”).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Samuel Dilan Rutnam whose telephone number is 703-756-1374. The examiner can normally be reached between 8:30am-5:00pm Mon-Fri.
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/Samuel Dilan Rutnam/
Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2471
/MOHAMMAD S ADHAMI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2471