DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see Applicant’s Remarks 35 U.S.C. § 112(b), filed on 07/02/2025, regarding 35 U.S.C. § 112(b) rejections are persuasive in view of amendments filed on 07/02/2025. 35 U.S.C. § 112(b) rejections are withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1 and 5 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Applicant’s remark, on page 10 and 11, asserts that Coy merely discloses “data communications received by the vehicle 12 from several other vehicles 12' include vehicle speed and location of the transmitting vehicle, and a notification that such data has already been transmitted to a traffic information server 82 at Page a particular time (see, Coy at col. 9, lines 45-51), and that data related to the vehicle speed and location is transmitted to the traffic information server 82 at periodic time stamps” and that time stamp is transmitted from vehicle to server not from vehicle to vehicle.
However, as disclosed in Coy’s col.5 line 58, Coy teaches the communication between mobile vehicle in v2v communication system. Additionally, according to Coy, a timestamp is generated for data along a particular route that the vehicle is traveling. ”Coy col.11 line 56, data related to the vehicle speed and location may be transmitted, to the traffic information server 82, at periodic time stamps for a predetermined time interval (also referred to as breadcrumbs). The time stamps (or breadcrumbs) are taken along a particular route that the vehicle 12 is traveling, thereby marking the vehicle's path” and “Coy, Col. 5, line 58, The vehicle 12 further includes a vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication system 84 operatively connected to the electronic processing device 36 of the telematics unit 14. The V2V communication system 84 generally allows the mobile vehicle 12 to wirelessly communicate with another mobile vehicle (shown as 12' in FIG. 2) also having V2V communication capability when the two vehicles 12, 12' are in relatively close proximity of each other.” Furthermore “Coy, col.5 line 22, At least the speed of the vehicle 12 and the location of the vehicle 12 (determined from the location detection chipset/component 44 described above) at a then-current time may, in some instances, be compared (by the processing device 36 of the telematics unit 14) to other received data or predetermined ranges to determine whether the information or data is redundant, and thus should not be transmitted outside the vehicle 12. Generally, the processing device 36 is configured with one or more algorithms which compare and contrast the vehicle data with the other data or with the preset or configurable range(s) to determine the redundancy status. For example, if the processing device 36 receives V2V communications including speed data from a number of other vehicles over a previous, predetermined time period, where the speed data for each of these other vehicles falls within a calibrated, predetermined range, the processing device 36 will consider the speed data as redundant” discloses redundant information not being transmitting outside vehicle, which implies data is not transmitted to other vehicles or server, showing its V2V communication capability.
On page 12, applicant states Coy fails to disclose amended feature “control the first communication interface to transmit the generated second time stamp to the third communication interface mounted on the following probe vehicle”
While Coy discusses the communication of multiple vehicles for the transmission of data and generating time stamps, it specifically does not teach communication with a third vehicle with third interface that follow the probes vehicle. However, new reference Yamashiro teaches communication system for vehicles that are arranged consecutively that includes first, second, and third vehicle.( Yamashiro, col.2 line 42, the abridged information transmitted from the subject vehicle (i.e., a source of the abridged information, or an ab-info-source vehicle) includes the ID information of the lead vehicle, which has the travel locus similar to the subject vehicle. Therefore, the vehicular wireless communication apparatus in a third vehicle (e.g., a vehicle traveling behind the subject vehicle), which receives the abridged information from the subject vehicle, can identify the travel locus information of the lead vehicle by further receiving the travel locus information and the ID information of the lead vehicle (e.g., a vehicle traveling in front of the subject vehicle))
On page 12 and 13, applicant states that feature (ii) "control the first communication interface to continue to transmit the generated second time stamp for N minutes even in a case where the probe vehicle has finished passing through the link and entered a following link” is not taught by Coy.
However, the amended claim has a new scope that is addressed with the combination of Coy and new references Yamashiro and Kikuchi that address the limitation of feature(ii) as disclosed in the 35 USC § 103 rejection section below.( Coy’s probe vehicle that is assigned to transmit data from one or more road segments shows its capability to transmit data from different road segment that it already passed through. Coy col.10 line 19 , FIG. 4, rather than data being transmitted directly to the traffic information server 82 from each vehicle 12, 12' on the road segment, one vehicle (e.g., vehicle 12'') may be designated as a hub, where data from other vehicles 12, 12' is communicated directly to the hub vehicle 12'' rather than to the traffic information server 82. One or more hub vehicles 12'' may be designated for one or more road segments in a particular area. Kikuchi, paragraph 8, the behavior information collecting unit 23e may request a plurality of automobiles M to transmit probe information. Specifically, the behavior information collecting unit 23e requests the vehicle M traveling in the automatic driving mode to continue to transmit the behavior information to the server 20 for a predetermined time. The predetermined period can be arbitrarily determined.)
On page 13 applicant asserts Konishi does not discuss continuing to transmit the time information even in a case where a probe vehicle has finished passing through a link in road network and entered a following link, but rather it teaches acquiring information within predetermined time. However, as discussed above, due to the scope of the claim being changed, the new reference Kikuchi addresses the continuing of the transmitting of information for a predetermined time.
On page 13 applicant states Pietrobon and Fushiki are silent in teaching “control the first communication interface to transmit the generated second time stamp to the third communication interface mounted on the following probe vehicle”
However, as disclosed above, the combination of Coy and Yamashiro teach the feature.
On page 13 applicant asserts that claims 3 and 4 are dependent on claim 1 and because of the amendment of claim 1, therefore it should not be obvious over combinations of Coy, Pietrobon and Fushiki.
However, as disclosed above, the combination of Coy and Yamashiro teach the feature.
On page 14 applicant asserts dependent claims 3 and 4 include all of the features of amended in claim 1. And the subject matter of claim 3 and 4 would not have been obvious for the combination of Coy, Pietrobon and Fushiki.
However dependent claims 3 and 4 depend on independent claim 1 and claim 1 remains rejected as shown in this section of the office action and the claims rejected as addressed in the non-final rejection.
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.
Claims 1,5,6,7, and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Coy (US 8050855 B2) (hereinafter Coy) in view of Yamashiro (US 8989915 B2) (hereinafter Yamashiro) in further view of Li (CN 101136803 A) (hereinafter Li).
Regarding claim 1,A communication device configured to be mounted on a probe vehicle(Coy uses a telematics unit as a communication device. Coy, Col. 1, line 12, Mobile vehicles are, in some instances, used as probes for transmitting information from an on-board telematics unit), the communication device comprising:
a first communication [[unit]]interface that communicates with a server(According to the specification a communication interface can be a V2X communication standard such as DSRC. Coy discloses similar communication standard. Coy, col.3 line 60, the protocol may be a short-range wireless communication technologies, such as BLUETOOTH.TM., dedicated short-range communications (DSRC), or Wi-Fi. Coy, Col. 1, line 12, Mobile vehicles are, in some instances, used as probes for transmitting information from an on-board telematics unit to a traffic information server), wherein the first communication interface further communicates with a second communication interface mounted on second probe vehicle traveling close to the probe vehicle(Coy, claim 11,transmitting data, via a wireless communication system, to the traffic information server from a first mobile vehicle; communicating other data from a second mobile vehicle to the first mobile vehicle; Coy, Col. 5, line 58, The vehicle 12 further includes a vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication system 84 operatively connected to the electronic processing device 36 of the telematics unit 14. The V2V communication system 84 generally allows the mobile vehicle 12 to wirelessly communicate with another mobile vehicle (shown as 12' in FIG. 2) also having V2V communication capability when the two vehicles 12, 12' are in relatively close proximity of each other.) and with a communication interface mounted on an another probe vehicle traveling close to the probe vehicle(Coy, claim 11,transmitting data, via a wireless communication system, to the traffic information server from a first mobile vehicle; communicating other data from a second mobile vehicle to the first mobile vehicle; Coy, Col. 5, line 58, The vehicle 12 further includes a vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication system 84 operatively connected to the electronic processing device 36 of the telematics unit 14. The V2V communication system 84 generally allows the mobile vehicle 12 to wirelessly communicate with another mobile vehicle (shown as 12' in FIG. 2) also having V2V communication capability when the two vehicles 12, 12' are in relatively close proximity of each other); and
a processor configured to receive a first time stamp from the second communication interface via the first communication interface(Timestamp can generated by Coy for data related to each vehicle, which implies a first, second or third timestamp can be generated for each vehicle close to the subject vehicle. Coy col.11 line 56, data related to the vehicle speed and location may be transmitted, to the traffic information server 82, at periodic time stamps for a predetermined time interval (also referred to as breadcrumbs). The time stamps (or breadcrumbs) are taken along a particular route that the vehicle 12 is traveling, thereby marking the vehicle's path. Coy, claim 15, a processor operatively disposed in the first mobile vehicle, the processor including one or more algorithms for determining whether the data is redundant by: comparing the data with other data previously transmitted to the traffic information server from a second mobile vehicle. Coy, claim 11, communicating other data from a second mobile vehicle to the first mobile vehicle), and
control the first communication interface not to transmit probe data obtained from the probe vehicle in a case where the processor has received M or more first time stamps within past N minutes from a time at which the probe vehicle finished passing through [[the]]a link in a road network(A link is assumed as a range or segment of a road. Coy col.5 line 30, Generally, the processing device 36 is configured with one or more algorithms which compare and contrast the vehicle data with the other data or with the preset or configurable range(s) to determine the redundancy status. Coy, Col. 9, line 39, It is to be understood that the data from the vehicle 12 may also be considered redundant, and thus not transmitted to the traffic information server 82, if a predetermined number of other vehicles 12' has already transmitted substantially the same data within a predefined period of time before the time associated with the data of the vehicle 12 (i.e., .+-.5 minutes of the then-current time). In this example, the vehicle 12 may receive data communications from several other vehicles 12' within V2V communication range, where each data communication includes the speed and location of the transmitting vehicle, and a notification that such data has already been transmitted to the traffic information server 82 at a particular time. Coy, col.5 line 22, At least the speed of the vehicle 12 and the location of the vehicle 12 (determined from the location detection chipset/component 44 described above) at a then-current time may, in some instances, be compared (by the processing device 36 of the telematics unit 14) to other received data or predetermined ranges to determine whether the information or data is redundant, and thus should not be transmitted outside the vehicle 12. Generally, the processing device 36 is configured with one or more algorithms which compare and contrast the vehicle data with the other data or with the preset or configurable range(s) to determine the redundancy status. For example, if the processing device 36 receives V2V communications including speed data from a number of other vehicles over a previous, predetermined time period, where the speed data for each of these other vehicles falls within a calibrated, predetermined range, the processing device 36 will consider the speed data as redundant), wherein the first time stamp corresponds to the link, N is a real number of zero or more, and M is an integer of one or more, and
wherein the processor is further configured to, in a case where the processor has not received the M or more first time stamps within the past N minutes from the time at which the probe vehicle finished passing through the link(Timestamp can generated by Coy for data related to each vehicle, which implies a first, second or third timestamp can be generated for each vehicle close to the subject vehicle. Coy, Col. 9, line 56, In the event that the predefined period of time has lapsed or the predetermined number of uploads has not been met, the vehicle 12 may transmit its data to the traffic information sever 82 even though the data may be same as the data previously uploaded from other vehicles 12'. Coy, Col. 5, line 22, At least the speed of the vehicle 12 and the location of the vehicle 12 (determined from the location detection chipset/component 44 described above) at a then-current time may, in some instances, be compared (by the processing device 36 of the telematics unit 14) to other received data or predetermined ranges to determine whether the information or data is redundant, and thus should not be transmitted outside the vehicle 12),
control the first communication interface to transmit the probe data corresponding to the link to the server(A link is assumed as a range or segment of a road. Coy, Col. 12, line 16,data that may be transmitted to the traffic information server 82 includes a number of vehicles 12, 12' traveling on a specific road segment at a then-current time),
generate second time stamp corresponding to the link(Timestamp can generated by Coy for data related to each vehicle, which implies a first, second or third timestamp can be generated for each vehicle close to the subject vehicle. Coy, Col. 11, line 59,The time stamps (or breadcrumbs) are taken along a particular route that the vehicle 12 is traveling, thereby marking the vehicle's path), wherein the second time stamp of the probe data is transmitted from the first communication interface to the server(Coy, Col. 1, line 12, Mobile vehicles are, in some instances, used as probes for transmitting information from an on-board telematics unit to a traffic information server), and
control the first communication interface to transmit the generated second time stamp to the communication interface mounted on the another probe vehicle(Coy, claim 11,transmitting data, via a wireless communication system, to the traffic information server from a first mobile vehicle; communicating other data from a second mobile vehicle to the first mobile vehicle; Coy, Col. 5, line 58,The vehicle 12 further includes a vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication system 84 operatively connected to the electronic processing device 36 of the telematics unit 14. The V2V communication system 84 generally allows the mobile vehicle 12 to wirelessly communicate with another mobile vehicle)
While Coy teaches about the transmission of data between vehicles while generating time stamps for the data and link(road segments), it fails to teach communication system for vehicles that are arranged consecutively similar to a platoon. A vehicle that communicates with a second communication interface mounted on a preceding probe vehicle traveling in front of the probe vehicle; and with a third communication interface mounted on a following probe vehicle traveling behind the probe vehicle; control the first communication interface to transmit the generated second time stamp to the third communication interface mounted on the following probe vehicle; timestamp wherein the second time stamp includes a transmission time
However, Yamashiro, which is in the same analogous art and that teaches about vehicular wireless communication apparatus and system discloses a vehicle that communicates with a second communication interface mounted a preceding vehicle traveling in front of the vehicle(Yamashiro, col.10 line 10, With reference to FIG. 4, the vehicle A is the other vehicle, and the vehicle B is the subject vehicle. Further, a black dot represents a travel locus point of the vehicle A (i.e., the other vehicle)Yamashiro, col.12 line 37, when the vehicle B, which is following the vehicle A and is having a similar travel locus as the vehicle A, transmits the abridged information with the device ID of vehicle A); and with a third communication interface mounted on a following vehicle traveling behind the probe vehicle(Yamashiro, col.2 line 42, the abridged information transmitted from the subject vehicle (i.e., a source of the abridged information, or an ab-info-source vehicle) includes the ID information of the lead vehicle, which has the travel locus similar to the subject vehicle. Therefore, the vehicular wireless communication apparatus in a third vehicle (e.g., a vehicle traveling behind the subject vehicle), which receives the abridged information from the subject vehicle, can identify the travel locus information of the lead vehicle by further receiving the travel locus information and the ID information of the lead vehicle (e.g., a vehicle traveling in front of the subject vehicle)).Control the first communication interface to transmit the generated second time stamp to the third communication interface mounted on the following probe vehicle(Yamashiro, col.2 line 42, the abridged information transmitted from the subject vehicle (i.e., a source of the abridged information, or an ab-info-source vehicle) includes the ID information of the lead vehicle, which has the travel locus similar to the subject vehicle. Therefore, the vehicular wireless communication apparatus in a third vehicle (e.g., a vehicle traveling behind the subject vehicle), which receives the abridged information from the subject vehicle, can identify the travel locus information of the lead vehicle by further receiving the travel locus information and the ID information of the lead vehicle (e.g., a vehicle traveling in front of the subject vehicle)).
Therefore, it would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the teachings of coy with Yamashiro’s vehicle communication system that transmits data between a subject vehicle, a front vehicle and a following vehicle for data exchange. Coy teaches the transmission of data between vehicles, however it specifically fails to disclose the first vehicle(subject vehicle) having to connect directly to the preceding vehicle (lead vehicle) and the vehicle behind the subject vehicle. Yamashiro addresses this deficiency by its teaching of exchange of data between consecutive vehicles that are arranged near to each other. By transmitting data between consecutive vehicles, it is possible to obtain accurate data for a specific link as the data point represent similar characteristics, enabling accurate probe data acquisition with fewer errors.
The combination of Coy and Yamashiro specifically fails to disclose a timestamp wherein the second time stamp includes a transmission time.
However, Li, which is in the similar analogous art and that teaches about method for detecting bandwidth discloses a timestamp wherein the second time stamp includes a transmission time(Li, paragraph 3, Real Time Transport Protocol packet, the packet has a unique identification code, which can be used as bandwidth probe packet, the packet also has a time stamp for recording the transmission time).
Therefore, it would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the teachings of Coy and Yamashiro with Li’s timestamp that includes transmission time to identify data sequence, and for determining receiving time of probe data. Coy teaches generating timestamps, but fails to disclose the timestamps having transmission time. Li addresses Coy’s deficiency. By having transmission time, it is possible to determine the chronological order of probe data that was sent to or received from the vehicles or servers.
Regarding claim 5, The combination of Coy, Yamashiro, Li teaches A vehicle(Coy, Col. 2, line 55, Vehicle 12 is a mobile vehicle such as a motorcycle, car, truck, recreational vehicle (RV), boat, plane, etc., and is equipped with suitable hardware and software that enables it to communicate (e.g., transmit and/or receive voice and data communications) over the wireless carrier/communication system 16), wherein the vehicle includes the communication device according to claim 1, and functions as the probe vehicle(Coy uses a telematics unit as a communication device. Coy, Col. 1, line 12, Mobile vehicles are, in some instances, used as probes for transmitting information from an on-board telematics unit).
Regarding claim 6, the combination of Coy, Yamashiro, and Li the communication device according to claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to control the first communication interface to transfer the first time stamp received from the second communication interface to the third communication interface in a case where the processor has received the M or more first time stamps within the past N minutes from the time at which the probe vehicle finished passing through the link(Coy’s receiving of data within certain time from multiple other vehicles and determining if it is redundant or not demonstrates its communication capability with two or more interfaces of different vehicles. In addition, Yamashiro, as discussed above, disclose the communication between first, second, and third vehicles that are arranged consecutively. Coy, col.5 line 33. If the processing device 36 receives V2V communications including speed data from a number of other vehicles over a previous, predetermined time period, where the speed data for each of these other vehicles falls within a calibrated, predetermined range, the processing device 36 will consider the speed data as redundant. If the processing device 36 receives V2V communications including the speed data from the other vehicles over the previous predetermined time period and the speed data does not fall within the calibrated, predetermined range, the processing device 36 will consider the speed data as non-redundant. Yamashiro, col.2 line 42, the abridged information transmitted from the subject vehicle (i.e., a source of the abridged information, or an ab-info-source vehicle) includes the ID information of the lead vehicle, which has the travel locus similar to the subject vehicle. Therefore, the vehicular wireless communication apparatus in a third vehicle (e.g., a vehicle traveling behind the subject vehicle), which receives the abridged information from the subject vehicle, can identify the travel locus information of the lead vehicle by further receiving the travel locus information and the ID information of the lead vehicle (e.g., a vehicle traveling in front of the subject vehicle)).
Regarding claim 7, the combination of Coy, Yamashiro, and Li teach the communication device according to claim 1, wherein the second time stamp further includes a link identifier for identifying the corresponding link(A link is assumed as a range, segment of a road, or routes. Coy col.11 line 59, the time stamps (or breadcrumbs) are taken along a particular route that the vehicle 12 is traveling, thereby marking the vehicle's path. Such information may be used in, e.g., determining a historical speed of a particular route, engineering planning of origin-destination travel patterns, and/or the like. Coy col.10 line 58 ,the processor 36 may be configured with navigation software which identifies the road segment(s) and the speed limit(s)/expected ranges associated therewith).
Regarding claim 8, the combination of Coy, Yamashiro, and Li teach the communication device according to claim 1, wherein the preceding probe vehicle and the following probe vehicle are traveling within a predetermined distance from the probe vehicle(Coy, col.8 line 54, The vehicle 12 compares the communicated data from the other vehicle 12' with its own data and determines whether the two sets of data are substantially the same. By "substantially the same", it is meant that the two sets of data include 1) the same vehicle location or road segment (e.g., between two exits on an Interstate, at a particular intersection, or the like), 2) vehicle speed within a predetermined range (e.g., the speed limit .+-.5 mph, or the compared speeds are within 10 mph of each other), and 3) time of day within a predetermined range (e.g., data recordation times are within 5 minutes of each other)).
Claims 2,11,12, and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Coy (US 8050855 B2) (hereinafter Coy) in view of Yamashiro (US 8989915 B2) (hereinafter Yamashiro) in further view of Li (CN 101136803 A) (hereinafter Li) ) in further view of Kikuchi (JP 2019185099 A) (hereinafter Kikuchi).
Regarding claim 2, A communication device configured to be mounted on a probe vehicle(Coy uses a telematics unit as a communication device. Coy, Col. 1, line 12, Mobile vehicles are, in some instances, used as probes for transmitting information from an on-board telematics unit),
the communication device comprising:
a first communication interface that communicates with a server(According to the specification a communication interface can be a V2X communication standard such as DSRC. Coy discloses similar communication standard. Coy, col.3 line 60, the protocol may be a short-range wireless communication technologies, such as BLUETOOTH.TM., dedicated short-range communications (DSRC), or Wi-Fi. Coy, Col. 1, line 12, Mobile vehicles are, in some instances, used as probes for transmitting information from an on-board telematics unit to a traffic information server), wherein the first communication interface further communicates with a second communication interface mounted on second probe vehicle traveling close to the probe vehicle(Coy, claim 11, transmitting data, via a wireless communication system, to the traffic information server from a first mobile vehicle; communicating other data from a second mobile vehicle to the first mobile vehicle; Coy, Col. 5, line 58, The vehicle 12 further includes a vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication system 84 operatively connected to the electronic processing device 36 of the telematics unit 14. The V2V communication system 84 generally allows the mobile vehicle 12 to wirelessly communicate with another mobile vehicle (shown as 12' in FIG. 2) also having V2V communication capability when the two vehicles 12, 12' are in relatively close proximity of each other) and with a communication interface mounted on a probe vehicle traveling close to the probe vehicle(Coy, claim 11,transmitting data, via a wireless communication system, to the traffic information server from a first mobile vehicle; communicating other data from a second mobile vehicle to the first mobile vehicle; Coy, Col. 5, line 58, The vehicle 12 further includes a vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication system 84 operatively connected to the electronic processing device 36 of the telematics unit 14. The V2V communication system 84 generally allows the mobile vehicle 12 to wirelessly communicate with another mobile vehicle (shown as 12' in FIG. 2) also having V2V communication capability when the two vehicles 12, 12' are in relatively close proximity of each other): and
a processor configured to
receive a first time stamp from the second communication interface via the first communication interface(Timestamp can generated by Coy for data related to each vehicle, which implies a first, second or third timestamp can be generated for each vehicle close to the subject vehicle. Coy col.11 line 56, data related to the vehicle speed and location may be transmitted, to the traffic information server 82, at periodic time stamps for a predetermined time interval (also referred to as breadcrumbs). The time stamps (or breadcrumbs) are taken along a particular route that the vehicle 12 is traveling, thereby marking the vehicle's path Coy, claim 15, a processor operatively disposed in the first mobile vehicle, the processor including one or more algorithms for determining whether the data is redundant by: comparing the data with other data previously transmitted to the traffic information server from a second mobile vehicle. Coy, claim 11, communicating other data from a second mobile vehicle to the first mobile vehicle), and
control the first communication interface not to transmit probe data obtained from the probe vehicle in a case where the processor has received M or more first time stamps within past N minutes from a time at which the probe vehicle finished passing through a link in a road network(A link is assumed as a range or segment of a road. Coy col.5 line 30, Generally, the processing device 36 is configured with one or more algorithms which compare and contrast the vehicle data with the other data or with the preset or configurable range(s) to determine the redundancy status. Coy, Col. 9, line 39, It is to be understood that the data from the vehicle 12 may also be considered redundant, and thus not transmitted to the traffic information server 82, if a predetermined number of other vehicles 12' has already transmitted substantially the same data within a predefined period of time before the time associated with the data of the vehicle 12 (i.e., .+-.5 minutes of the then-current time). In this example, the vehicle 12 may receive data communications from several other vehicles 12' within V2V communication range, where each data communication includes the speed and location of the transmitting vehicle, and a notification that such data has already been transmitted to the traffic information server 82 at a particular time. Coy, col.5 line 22, At least the speed of the vehicle 12 and the location of the vehicle 12 (determined from the location detection chipset/component 44 described above) at a then-current time may, in some instances, be compared (by the processing device 36 of the telematics unit 14) to other received data or predetermined ranges to determine whether the information or data is redundant, and thus should not be transmitted outside the vehicle 12. Generally, the processing device 36 is configured with one or more algorithms which compare and contrast the vehicle data with the other data or with the preset or configurable range(s) to determine the redundancy status. For example, if the processing device 36 receives V2V communications including speed data from a number of other vehicles over a previous, predetermined time period, where the speed data for each of these other vehicles falls within a calibrated, predetermined range, the processing device 36 will consider the speed data as redundant), wherein the first time stamp corresponds to the link, N is a real number of zero or more, and M is an integer of one or more, and wherein
the processor is further configured to, in a case where the processor has not received the M or more first time stamps within the past N minutes from the time at which the probe vehicle finished passing through the link(Timestamp can generated by Coy for data related to each vehicle, which implies a first, second or third timestamp can be generated for each vehicle close to the subject vehicle. Coy, Col. 9, line 56, In the event that the predefined period of time has lapsed or the predetermined number of uploads has not been met, the vehicle 12 may transmit its data to the traffic information sever 82 even though the data may be same as the data previously uploaded from other vehicles 12'. Coy, Col. 5, line 22, At least the speed of the vehicle 12 and the location of the vehicle 12 (determined from the location detection chipset/component 44 described above) at a then-current time may, in some instances, be compared (by the processing device 36 of the telematics unit 14) to other received data or predetermined ranges to determine whether the information or data is redundant, and thus should not be transmitted outside the vehicle 12),
control the first communication interface to transmit the probe data corresponding to the link to the server(A link is assumed as a range or segment of a road. Coy, Col. 12, line 16,data that may be transmitted to the traffic information server 82 includes a number of vehicles 12, 12' traveling on a specific road segment at a then-current time),
generate a second time stamp corresponding to the link(Timestamp can generated by Coy for data related to each vehicle, which implies a first, second or third timestamp can be generated for each vehicle close to the subject vehicle. Coy, Col. 11, line 59,The time stamps (or breadcrumbs) are taken along a particular route that the vehicle 12 is traveling, thereby marking the vehicle's path), wherein the second time stamp of the probe data is transmitted from the first communication interface to the server(Coy, Col. 1, line 12, Mobile vehicles are, in some instances, used as probes for transmitting information from an on-board telematics unit to a traffic information server),
control the first communication interface to transmit the generated second time stamp to the communication interface mounted on the another probe vehicle(Coy, claim 11,transmitting data, via a wireless communication system, to the traffic information server from a first mobile vehicle; communicating other data from a second mobile vehicle to the first mobile vehicle; Coy, Col. 5, line 58,The vehicle 12 further includes a vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication system 84 operatively connected to the electronic processing device 36 of the telematics unit 14. The V2V communication system 84 generally allows the mobile vehicle 12 to wirelessly communicate with another mobile vehicle), and
control the first communication interface to transmit timestamp even in a case where the probe vehicle has finished passing through the link and entered a following link(Coy’s probe vehicle that is assigned to transmit data from one or more road segments shows its capability to transmit data from different road segment that it already passed through. Coy col.10 line 19 , FIG. 4, rather than data being transmitted directly to the traffic information server 82 from each vehicle 12, 12' on the road segment, one vehicle (e.g., vehicle 12'') may be designated as a hub, where data from other vehicles 12, 12' is communicated directly to the hub vehicle 12'' rather than to the traffic information server 82. One or more hub vehicles 12'' may be designated for one or more road segments in a particular area).
While Coy teaches about the transmission of data between vehicles while generating time stamps for the data and link(road segments), it fails to teach communication system for vehicles that are arranged consecutively similar to a platoon. A vehicle that communicates with a second communication interface mounted on a preceding probe vehicle traveling in front of the probe vehicle; and with a third communication interface mounted on a following probe vehicle traveling behind the probe vehicle; control the first communication interface to transmit the generated second time stamp to the third communication interface mounted on the following probe vehicle; timestamp wherein the second time stamp includes a transmission time; control communication interface to continue to transmit the generated second time stamp for N minutes.
However, Yamashiro, which is in the same analogous art and that teaches about vehicular wireless communication apparatus and system discloses a vehicle that communicates with a second communication interface mounted a preceding vehicle traveling in front of the vehicle(Yamashiro, col.10 line 10, With reference to FIG. 4, the vehicle A is the other vehicle, and the vehicle B is the subject vehicle. Further, a black dot represents a travel locus point of the vehicle A (i.e., the other vehicle)Yamashiro, col.12 line 37, when the vehicle B, which is following the vehicle A and is having a similar travel locus as the vehicle A, transmits the abridged information with the device ID of vehicle A); and with a third communication interface mounted on a following vehicle traveling behind the probe vehicle(Yamashiro, col.2 line 42, the abridged information transmitted from the subject vehicle (i.e., a source of the abridged information, or an ab-info-source vehicle) includes the ID information of the lead vehicle, which has the travel locus similar to the subject vehicle. Therefore, the vehicular wireless communication apparatus in a third vehicle (e.g., a vehicle traveling behind the subject vehicle), which receives the abridged information from the subject vehicle, can identify the travel locus information of the lead vehicle by further receiving the travel locus information and the ID information of the lead vehicle (e.g., a vehicle traveling in front of the subject vehicle)).Control the first communication interface to transmit the generated second time stamp to the third communication interface mounted on the following probe vehicle(Yamashiro, col.2 line 42, the abridged information transmitted from the subject vehicle (i.e., a source of the abridged information, or an ab-info-source vehicle) includes the ID information of the lead vehicle, which has the travel locus similar to the subject vehicle. Therefore, the vehicular wireless communication apparatus in a third vehicle (e.g., a vehicle traveling behind the subject vehicle), which receives the abridged information from the subject vehicle, can identify the travel locus information of the lead vehicle by further receiving the travel locus information and the ID information of the lead vehicle (e.g., a vehicle traveling in front of the subject vehicle)).
Therefore, it would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the teachings of coy with Yamashiro’s vehicle communication system that transmits data between a subject vehicle, a front vehicle and a behind vehicle for data exchange. Coy teaches the transmission of data between vehicles, however it specifically fails to disclose the first vehicle(subject vehicle) having to connect directly to the preceding vehicle (lead vehicle) and the vehicle behind the subject vehicle. Yamashiro addresses this deficiency by its teaching of exchange of data between consecutive vehicles that are arranged near to each other. By transmitting data between consecutive vehicles, it is possible to obtain accurate data for a specific link as the data point represent similar characteristics, enabling accurate probe data acquisition with fewer errors.
The combination of Coy and Yamashiro specifically fails to disclose a timestamp a timestamp wherein the second time stamp includes a transmission time ; control communication interface to continue to transmit the generated second time stamp for N minutes.
However, Li, which is in the similar analogous art and that teaches about method for detecting bandwidth discloses a timestamp wherein the second time stamp includes a transmission time(Li, paragraph 3, Real Time Transport Protocol) packet, the packet has a unique identification code, which can be used as bandwidth probe packet, the packet also has a time stamp for recording the transmission time).
Therefore, it would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the teachings of Coy and Yamashiro with Li’s timestamp that includes transmission time to identify data sequence, and for determining receiving time of probe data. Coy teaches generating timestamps, but fails to disclose the timestamps having transmission time. Li addresses Coy’s deficiency. By having transmission time, it is possible to determine the chronological order of probe data that was sent to or received from the vehicles or servers.
The combination of Coy, Yamashiro, and Li specifically fails to disclose a system that control communication interface to continue to transmit the generated second time stamp for N minutes.
However, Kikuchi, which is in the same analogous art and that teaches about a device for traffic information of a road link discloses a system that control communication to continue to transmit the generated second time stamp for N minutes.(Kikuchi, paragraph 8, the behavior information collecting unit 23e may request a plurality of automobiles M to transmit probe information. Specifically, the behavior information collecting unit 23e requests the vehicle M traveling in the automatic driving mode to continue to transmit the behavior information to the server 20 for a predetermined time. The predetermined period can be arbitrarily determined. ).
Therefore, it would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the teachings of Coy, Yamashiro, and Li with Kikuchi’s continuous information transmission for predetermined time for comprehensive data analysis. Coy, Yamashiro, and Li disclose transmission of data between vehicles and servers, but fail to disclose transmitting the data for predetermined time N. By transmitting data for predefined time, it is possible to capture probe data change over time rather than just a snapshot. Furthermore, it is possible to adapt transmission duration based on traffic conditions such as high traffic and low traffic.
Regarding claim 11, the combination of Coy, Yamashiro, Li, and Kikuchi teach the communication device according to claim 2, wherein the processor is further configured to cause the first communication interface to transfer the first time stamp received from the second communication interface to the third communication interface in a case where the processor has received the M or more first time stamps within the past N minutes from the time at which the probe vehicle finished passing through the link(Coy’s receiving of data within certain time from multiple other vehicles and determining if it is redundant or not demonstrates its communication capability with two or more interfaces of different vehicles. In addition, Yamashiro, as discussed above, disclose the communication between first, second, and third vehicles that are arranged consecutively. Coy, col.5 line 33. If the processing device 36 receives V2V communications including speed data from a number of other vehicles over a previous, predetermined time period, where the speed data for each of these other vehicles falls within a calibrated, predetermined range, the processing device 36 will consider the speed data as redundant. If the processing device 36 receives V2V communications including the speed data from the other vehicles over the previous predetermined time period and the speed data does not fall within the calibrated, predetermined range, the processing device 36 will consider the speed data as non-redundant. Yamashiro, col.2 line 42, the abridged information transmitted from the subject vehicle (i.e., a source of the abridged information, or an ab-info-source vehicle) includes the ID information of the lead vehicle, which has the travel locus similar to the subject vehicle. Therefore, the vehicular wireless communication apparatus in a third vehicle (e.g., a vehicle traveling behind the subject vehicle), which receives the abridged information from the subject vehicle, can identify the travel locus information of the lead vehicle by further receiving the travel locus information and the ID information of the lead vehicle (e.g., a vehicle traveling in front of the subject vehicle)).
Regarding claim 12, the combination of Coy, Yamashiro, Li, and Kikuchi teach the communication device according to claim 2, wherein the second time stamp further includes a link identifier for identifying the corresponding link(A link is assumed as a range, segment of a road, or routes. Coy col.11 line 59, the time stamps (or breadcrumbs) are taken along a particular route that the vehicle 12 is traveling, thereby marking the vehicle's path. Such information may be used in, e.g., determining a historical speed of a particular route, engineering planning of origin-destination travel patterns, and/or the like. Coy col.10 line 58 ,the processor 36 may be configured with navigation software which identifies the road segment(s) and the speed limit(s)/expected ranges associated therewith).
Regarding claim 13, the combination of Coy, Yamashiro, Li, and Kikuchi teach the communication device according to claim 2, wherein the preceding probe vehicle and the following probe vehicle are traveling within a predetermined distance from the probe vehicle(Coy, col.8 line 54, The vehicle 12 compares the communicated data from the other vehicle 12' with its own data and determines whether the two sets of data are substantially the same. By "substantially the same", it is meant that the two sets of data include 1) the same vehicle location or road segment (e.g., between two exits on an Interstate, at a particular intersection, or the like), 2) vehicle speed within a predetermined range (e.g., the speed limit .+-.5 mph, or the compared speeds are within 10 mph of each other), and 3) time of day within a predetermined range (e.g., data recordation times are within 5 minutes of each other)).
Claims 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Coy (US 8050855 B2) (hereinafter Coy) in view of Yamashiro (US 8989915 B2) (hereinafter Yamashiro) in further view of Li (CN 101136803 A) (hereinafter Li) in further view of Pietrobon (US 20200105134 A1) (hereinafter Pietrobon).
Regarding claim 3, Coy teaches the communication device according to claim 1(Coy uses a telematics unit as a communication device. Coy, Col. 1, line 12, Mobile vehicles are, in some instances, used as probes for transmitting information from an on-board telematics unit).
While Co