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 .
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.
DETAILED ACTION
This communication is in response to Application No. 18/426,142 filed on 29 January 2024. Claims 1-20 are presented for examination.
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 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US PGPUB 2023/0422193 A1 to Ye et al and in view of US PGPUB 2023/0276401 A1 to Reddy et al.
Regarding Claim 1, Ye discloses a method of synchronizing a first cluster of anchors with a second cluster of anchors (FIG. 22C provides for synchronizing cluster 2 of anchors with cluster 3), the method comprising: receiving a first time-synchronization event by a first anchor of the first cluster of anchors (FIG. 22C and 0122-0123 provides for receiving a synchronization signal from inside the cluster by boundary radio device 659 first anchor of cluster 2), wherein the first time-synchronization event was initiated by a second anchor of the first cluster of anchors during a first session in which anchors of the first cluster of anchors provided first responses (FIG. 22B, 0117-0118, and 0122-0123 provides for the signal for synchronization was initiated by radio device 671 second anchor of cluster 2 during a first transmission in which anchors of cluster 2 for processing the timestamp difference values); and relaying the first time-synchronization event to one anchor of the second cluster of anchors during a second session (FIG. 22C and 0123 provides for retransmitting/echoing the timestamp information to boundary radio device 658 one anchor of cluster 3 during a retransmission), wherein the relayed time-synchronization event causes the one anchor of the second cluster of anchors to initiate a second time-synchronization event during a third session of the second cluster of anchors (FIG. 22C and 0123 provides for wherein the echoed timestamp information causes the boundary radio device 658 one anchor of cluster 3 to in turn echo the timestamp information during a retransmission of cluster 3). Ye doesn’t explicitly disclose to obtain second responses to the second time-synchronization event from anchors of the second cluster of anchors. Reddy, in a similar field of endeavor, discloses wherein the relayed time-synchronization event causes the one anchor of the second cluster of anchors to initiate a second time-synchronization event during a third session of the second cluster of anchors and to obtain second responses to the second time-synchronization event from anchors of the second cluster of anchors (FIG. 6A and 0066-0069 provides for wherein anchor 610 causes response DTM messages from anchors in the second cluster 630). One of ordinary skill in the art before the effectively filed date of the claimed invention would have recognized the ability to utilize the teachings of Reddy for inter-cluster synchronization. The inter-cluster synchronization of Reddy, when implemented with the radio device transmitting signals of the Ye system, will allow one of ordinary skill in the art to transmit polling messages across multiple clusters in order to synchronize radio devices based on degree of proximity. Therefore, the examiner concludes it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to utilize the inter-cluster synchronization of Reddy with the radio device transmitting signals of the Ye system for the desirable purpose of establishing synchronization within a multi-cluster deployment.
Regarding Claim 2, the Ye/Reddy system discloses the method of claim 1, wherein each anchor of the first cluster of anchors and the second cluster of anchors is an access point (Reddy, 0033 provides for access points 130). Same motivation as claim 1.
Regarding Claim 3, the Ye/Reddy system discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the first time-synchronization event includes a one-way ranging session (Ye, 0040-0041 provides for range request signal is one-way).
Regarding Claim 4, the Ye/Reddy system discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the first time-synchronization event is a poll message sent by an anchor acting as a controller (Reddy, 0059, 0064-0065, and 0069 provides for poll DTM set by init-anchor). Same motivation as claim 1.
Regarding Claim 5, the Ye/Reddy system discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the second anchor of the first cluster of anchors acts as a controller and the other anchors of the first cluster of anchors act as responders (Reddy, 0059 provides for controller and responder). Same motivation as claim 1.
Regarding Claim 6, the Ye/Reddy system discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the one anchor of the second cluster of anchors acts as a controller and the other anchors of the second cluster of anchors act as responders (Reddy, 0059 provides for controller and responder). Same motivation as claim 1.
Regarding Claim 7, the Ye/Reddy system discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the first anchor of the first cluster of anchors also resides in the second cluster of anchors as a shared anchor between the first cluster of anchors and the second cluster of anchors (Reddy, FIG. 6A and 0066 provides for wherein anchor 610 reside in first cluster 620 and second cluster 630). Same motivation as claim 1.
Regarding Claim 8, the Ye/Reddy system discloses the method of claim 7, wherein the shared anchor operates as a single-sided two-way ranging initiator (Reddy, 0053 provides for single-sided TWR, or SS-TWR). Same motivation as claim 1.
Regarding Claim 9, the Ye/Reddy system discloses the method of claim 1, wherein each of the first responses and the second responses includes an adjusted clock offset calculation (Ye, 0107 provides for adjusted clock) and adjusted transmission timestamps (Ye, 0123 provides for adjusted timestamp information).
Regarding Claim 10, similar rejection where the method of claim 1 teaches the system of claim 10.
Regarding Claim 11, similar rejection where the method of claim 2 teaches the system of claim 11.
Regarding Claim 12, similar rejection where the method of claim 3 teaches the system of claim 12.
Regarding Claim 13, similar rejection where the method of claim 8 teaches the system of claim 13.
Regarding Claim 14, similar rejection where the method of claim 1 teaches the non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14.
Regarding Claim 15, similar rejection where the method of claim 3 teaches the non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15.
Regarding Claim 16, similar rejection where the method of claim 4 teaches the non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16.
Regarding Claim 17, similar rejection where the method of claim 5 teaches the non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17.
Regarding Claim 18, similar rejection where the method of claim 6 teaches the non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18.
Regarding Claim 19, similar rejection where the method of claim 8 teaches the non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19.
Regarding Claim 20, similar rejection where the method of claim 9 teaches the non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 20.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US PGPUB 2023/0171729 A1 to Oh et al discloses time synchronization for ultra-wideband communication.
US PGPUB 2023/0009717 A1 to Bilstad et al discloses RF-based location services.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SCHQUITA GOODWIN whose telephone number is (571)272-5477. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am - 5pm EST.
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/SCHQUITA D GOODWIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2459