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 .
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.
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, 2, 21, 22, 25, 26, 29, 30-33, 35-36 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tyson (Pub. No.: US 2020/0357268 A1) and further in view of Trikha (Pub. No.: US 2019/0356508A1).
With respect to claim 1:
Tyson discloses an edge sensor unit configured for operating in a communication network comprising a plurality of network nodes (fig. 3A and 3B), the edge sensor unit comprising: a plurality of sensor devices configured for obtaining sensory data (fig. 3A and 3B, item 210 is a sensor); one or more processing circuits configured for one or both of controlling and processing of data (abstract and parag. 0007 discloses processor); wherein the edge sensor unit is configured to communicate with one or both of at least one other edge sensor unit or a sensor gateway node configured to provide connectivity to edge sensor units in the communication network (parag. 0024 discloses that sensors transmit data to each other); wherein the one or more processing circuits are configured to perform or support fusing of sensory data obtained by the edge sensor unit and at least one other edge sensor unit in the communication network (abstract and parag. 0007);
Tyson does not explicitly disclose a communication module comprising one or more communication circuits configured to facilitate or support local communication with one or more other nodes in the communication network;
Trikha discloses a communication module comprising one or more communication circuits configured to facilitate or support local communication with one or more other nodes in the communication network (fig. 7, item 710 is a communication module).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to utilize the teaching of Trikha into the teaching of Tyson in order to reduce energy consumption, while maintaining occupant comfort.
With respect to claims 2, 22:
Tyson discloses the edge sensor unit according to claim 1, wherein the communication network comprises a mesh network (parag. 0025 and 0038).
With respect to claim 21:
Tyson discloses a sensor gateway node configured for operating in a communication network comprising a plurality of network nodes (fig. 3A and 3B); wherein the plurality of network nodes comprises one or more edge sensor units (fig. 3A and 3B, item 210 is a sensor); wherein the sensor gateway node is configured to establish connections with the one or more edge sensor units (parag. 0024 discloses that sensors transmit data to each other); and wherein the one or more processing circuits are configured to process data obtained within the communication network, the processing comprising fusing sensory data obtained by the one or more edge sensor units (abstract and parag. 0007);
Tyson does not explicitly disclose the sensor gateway node comprising: a point-to-point radio configured for facilitating and/or supporting point-to-point communication within the communication network; one or more processing circuits configured for one or both of controlling and processing of data; and a communication module comprising one or more communication circuits configured to facilitate or support one or both of local communication with one or more local devices that are not part of the communication network, and remote communication with one or more remote systems;
Trikha discloses sensor gateway node comprising a point-to-point radio configured for facilitating and/or supporting point-to-point communication within the communication network (parag. 0217 discloses various radio); one or more processing circuits configured for one or both of controlling and processing of data (abstract and parag. 0007 discloses processor); and a communication module comprising one or more communication circuits configured to facilitate or support one or both of local communication with one or more local devices that are not part of the communication network, and remote communication with one or more remote systems (fig. 7, item 710 is a communication module and parag. 0217 and 0223);
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to utilize the teaching of Trikha into the teaching of Tyson in order to reduce energy consumption, while maintaining occupant comfort.
With respect to claim 25:
Trikha discloses the sensor gateway node according to claim 21, wherein the communication module comprises a cellular radio component configured to handle handling communication via cellular based connections (parag. 0087 and 0140).
With respect to claim 26:
Trikha discloses the sensor gateway node according to claim 25, wherein the cellular radio component comprises 4G/LTE radio and/or 5G radio (parag. 0223 and 0230).
With respect to claim 29:
Tyson discloses the sensor gateway node according to claim 21, wherein the one or more communication circuits are configured to set up and use local network-based communication with the one or more local devices, using one or more local wired and/or wireless connections via the communication module (parag. 0063).
With respect to claim 30:
Trikha discloses the sensor gateway node according to claim 21, wherein the one or more communication circuits are configured to enable cloud-based communication, with a cloud network, using one or more connections via the communication module (parag. 0075).
With respect to claim 31:
Trikha discloses the sensor gateway node according to claim 30, wherein the one or more communication circuits are configured to set up and use virtual private network (VPN) based communication with the cloud network (parag. 0092).
With respect to claim 32:
Trikha discloses the sensor gateway node according to claim 30, wherein the one or more communication circuits are configured to communicate data with at least one remote system via the cloud-based routing (parag. 0075).
With respect to claim 33:
Tyson discloses the sensor gateway node according to claim 30, wherein the one or more communication circuits are configured to adaptively process data for communication to the one more remote system and the one or more local devices (parag. 0038).
With respect to claim 35:
Tyson discloses the sensor gateway node according to claim 21, further comprising one or more positioning devices configured to obtain one or both of geo-positioning data and orientation data (parag. 0021).
With respect to claim 36:
Tyson discloses the sensor gateway node according to claim 35, wherein the one or more processing circuits are configured to utilize the geo-positioning data and orientation data in support of one or both of the fusing of sensory data, and determining positioning and/or orientation related adjustments or corrections ((abstract and parag. 0007 and parag. 0021).
Claims 3-5, 23, 24, 27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tyson (Pub. No.: US 2020/0357268 A1), Trikha (Pub. No.: US 2019/0356508A1)
As applied to claim 1 above and further in view of Dukes (Pub. No.: US 2025/0178970A1).
With respect to claims 3, 23:
The rejection of claim 1 is incorporated; Tyson and Trikha do not explicitly disclose wherein the communication module comprises a point-to-point radio configured for communication within the communication network.
Dukes discloses communication module comprises a point-to-point radio configured for communication within the communication network (parag. 0109). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date pf the claimed invention to utilize the teaching of Dukes into the teaching of Tyson in view of Trikha in order to minimize cost.
With respect to claims 4, 24:
Trikha discloses the edge sensor unit according to claim 1, wherein the communication module is configured to enable or support one or more of WiFi, cellular, and satellite based communication (parag. 0071 and 0087).
With respect to claims 5, 27:
Trikha discloses the edge sensor unit according to claim 1, wherein the communication module comprises or is coupled to one or more antennas, and wherein the one or more communication circuits is configured to support or control communication via the one or more antennas (fig. 4, item 455 connected to antenna).
Claims 6-19, 28, 35 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tyson (Pub. No.: US 2020/0357268 A1), Trikha (Pub. No.: US 2019/0356508A1)
As applied to claim 1 above and further in view of Li (Pub. No.: US 2024/0356598A1).
With respect to claims 6, 28:
The rejection of claim 1 is incorporated; Tyson and Trikha do not explicitly disclose edge sensor unit wherein the one or more antennas comprise at least one multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) antenna, and wherein the one or more communication circuits is configured to support or control communication via the MIMO antenna.
Li discloses sensor unit wherein the one or more antennas comprise at least one multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) antenna, and wherein the one or more communication circuits is configured to support or control communication via the MIMO antenna (fig. 3 and fig. 6).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to utilize the teaching of Li into the teaching of Tyson in view of Trikha in order to provide a mechanism of wireless communication between a UAV and a remote control station that offers high efficiency and accuracy in data transmission despite the rapidly time-variant channel for the communication.
With respect to claims 7, 35:
Li discloses the edge sensor unit according to claim 1, further comprising one or more positioning devices configured to obtain one or both of geo-positioning data and orientation data (parag. 0025).
With respect to claim 8:
Li discloses the edge sensor unit according to claim 7, wherein the one or more processing circuits are configured to determined, based on the geo-positioning data and orientation data, accurate location and heading related data for the edge sensor unit compensating for object detection locations (parag. 0022).
With respect to claim 9:
Trikha discloses the edge sensor unit according to claim 7, wherein the one or more processing circuits are configured to determined, based on the geo-positioning data and orientation data, compensating adjustments or corrections for object detection locations (parag. 0134).
With respect to claim 10:
Tyson discloses the edge sensor unit according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of sensor devices is configured to obtain sensory data corresponding to or based on at least two different types of sensing technologies (fig. 3A, and 3B, parag. 0047).
With respect to claim 11:
Trikha discloses the edge sensor unit according to claim 10, wherein the at least two different types of sensing technologies comprise optical sensing and radar sensing (parag. 0111 discloses radar while parag. 0168 discloses optical).
With respect to claim 12:
Trikha discloses the edge sensor unit according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of sensor devices comprises two or more radar-based sensors (parag. 0168).
With respect to claim 13:
Tyson discloses the edge sensor unit according to claim 1, further comprising a power component configured for providing or obtaining power based on one or more different power supply sources (fig. 5, item 530 is a power source).
With respect to claim 14:
Tyson discloses the edge sensor unit according to claim 13, the one or more different power supply sources comprise one or more of direct current (DC) input, alternating current (AC) input, solar input, regenerative energy capture input, and battery (parag. 0057 discloses AC or DC power supply).
With respect to claim 15:
Tyson discloses the edge sensor unit according to claim 1, wherein the one or more processing circuits are configured to control or manage one or both of operation of the plurality of sensor devices and handling of sensory data to support operating collaboratively with at least one other edge sensor unit in the communication network (parag. 0059).
With respect to claim 16:
Tyson discloses the edge sensor unit according to claim 15, wherein the one or more processing circuits are configured to support operating collaboratively with the at least one other edge sensor unit in the communication network using timing synchronization (parag. 0013-0015 discloses processor support sensor for time event mapping).
With respect to claim 17:
Tyson discloses the edge sensor unit according to claim 15, wherein the one or more processing circuits are configured to operating collaboratively with at least one other edge sensor unit to enable combined object tracking with at least one other edge sensor unit (parag. 0047-0048).
With respect to claim 18:
Tyson discloses the edge sensor unit according to claim 15, wherein the one or more processing circuits are configured to perform or support fusing of sensory data collaboratively with at the least one other edge sensor unit (abstract and parag. 0007).
With respect to claim 19:
Tyson discloses the edge sensor unit according to claim 1, wherein the one or more processing circuits are configured to perform or support the fusing of sensory data in real-time or near real-time (parag. 0013-0014).
Claims 20 and 34 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tyson (Pub. No.: US 2020/0357268 A1), Trikha (Pub. No.: US 2019/0356508A1)
As applied to claim 1 above and further in view of Netscher (Pub. No.: US 2019/0287376A1).
With respect to claim 20, 34:
The rejection of claims 1, 21 are incorporated; Tyson and Trikha do not explicitly disclose wherein the one or more processing circuits are configured to process at least some of the sensory data using artificial intelligence (Al) based processing.
Netscher discloses wherein the one or more processing circuits are configured to process at least some of the sensory data using artificial intelligence (Al) based processing (parag. 0039).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to utilize the teaching of Netscher into the teaching of Tyson in view of Trikha in order to detect, analyze and prevent events such as falls and wanderings involved in the care of cognitively impaired individuals through video recording.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AJIBOLA A AKINYEMI whose telephone number is (571)270-1846. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00am-5:00pm, EST.
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/AJIBOLA A AKINYEMI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2649
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