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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 12/22/2023. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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 text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim(s) 1, 3-4, 6-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yoshida (US 20210274271 A1), hereinafter Yoshida in view of Yasuda (US 20200052974 A1), hereinafter Yasuda.
Regarding to claim 1,
Yoshida teaches a remote control system for remotely controlling an operation of a control target, the remote control system comprising:
a remote controller; and ... wherein the remote controller includes
a transmitter that transmits a control signal for controlling an operation of a remote control target to the control target (fig. 2, [0069] configuration of a remote control system ... includes a remote control apparatus 10, a control target 20, and a communication network 30. ... [0078] the transmission part 201 transmits a packet with a control input u stored therein to the control target 20).
Yoshida does not explicitly teach a prediction processor ... the prediction processor includes
delay time prediction processing circuitry that predicts a delay time from transmission of the control signal from the remote controller to feedback to control of the operation of the remote control target, on the basis of the control signal transmitted from the remote controller, and
generation circuitry that generates a control signal for controlling an operation for the remote controller at a timing in which the delay time is reflected in a transmission timing of the control signal from the remote controller, on the basis of the delay time predicted by the delay time prediction processing circuitry unit and the control signal transmitted from the remote controller.
Yasuda teaches a prediction processor ... the prediction processor includes
delay time prediction processing circuitry that predicts a delay time from transmission of the control signal from the remote controller to feedback to control of the operation of the remote control target, on the basis of the control signal transmitted from the remote controller, and
generation circuitry that generates a control signal for controlling an operation for the remote controller at a timing in which the delay time is reflected in a transmission timing of the control signal from the remote controller, on the basis of the delay time predicted by the delay time prediction processing circuitry unit and the control signal transmitted from the remote controller ([0094] delay distribution prediction unit 14a calculates any percentage point of the estimated delay time distribution, and calculates the estimated delay time based on the percentage point. Delay distribution prediction unit 14a transmits information about a delay, including at least the calculated estimated delay time, to control target device .... ... [0095] upon receiving the information about the delay ... control target device 17 controls the own device based on the estimated delay time and control information included in the information. ... control information may be generated by a delay prediction device 10a side, based on the estimated delay time. Alternatively, the control information may be generated by a control target device 17 side).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to add the teaching of Yasuda to the teaching of Yoshida. The motivation for such an addition would be to provide a delay prediction device for predicting a future communication delay with high accuracy ([0035] Yasuda).
Regarding to claim 3,
Yoshida and Yasuda teach the remote control system according to claim 1,
Yoshida further teaches controlling an operation of the remote controller at a timing in which the delay time is reflected in the transmission timing, on the basis of the control signal generated by the generation circuitry (fig. 2, [0081] Based on the probability distribution of the communication delay, the control input arrival pattern generation part 205 generates a plurality of sets, each including, as an element of the set, a time at which a control input u already transmitted or to be transmitted arrives at the control target 20 ... [0088] The state predicting part 206 predicts...a state (state change) of the control target 20 at the arrival time of the control input to be transmitted. ... [0091] The control input determination part 208 determines a control input u to be outputted to the control target ... based on a result of a statistical processing performed on the calculated control input set).
Regarding to claim 7,
Yoshida and Yasuda teach the remote control system according to claim 1
Yoshida further teaches a non-transitory computer readable medium storing a remote control processing program for causing a processor to function as the transmitter of the remote controller of the remote control system according to claim 1 and each unit of the prediction processor ([0045] The above-mentioned program can be recorded in a computer-readable storage medium. The storage medium may be a non-transient medium such as a semiconductor memory, a hard disk, a magnetic recording medium, or an optical recording medium. The present invention can be embodied as a computer program product).
Claim(s) [4, 6 and 8] (method) is/are rejected under the same reasoning as claim(s) [1, 3 and 7] (apparatus), where Yoshida teaches both device and method ([0023]).
Claims 2 and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yoshida in view of Yasuda and further in view of Bohge (US 20200259752 A1), hereinafter Bohge .
Regarding to claim 2,
Yoshida and Yasuda teach the remote control system according to claim 1,
Yoshida does not explicitly teaches the generation circuitry generates the control signal for controlling the operation on the remote controller at a timing obtained by subtracting an allowable value of the delay time from the delay time predicted by the delay time prediction processing circuitry at a transmission timing of the control signal from the remote controller, on the basis of the delay time predicted by the delay time prediction processing circuitry and the control signal transmitted from the remote controller
Yasuda teaches the generation circuitry generates the control signal for controlling the operation on the remote controller at a ... of the delay time from the delay time predicted by the delay time prediction processing circuitry at a transmission timing of the control signal from the remote controller, on the basis of the delay time predicted by the delay time prediction processing circuitry and the control signal transmitted from the remote controller ([0094] delay distribution prediction unit 14a calculates any percentage point of the estimated delay time distribution, and calculates the estimated delay time based on the percentage point. Delay distribution prediction unit 14a transmits information about a delay, including at least the calculated estimated delay time, to control target device .... ... [0095] upon receiving the information about the delay ... control target device 17 controls the own device based on the estimated delay time and control information included in the information. ... control information may be generated by a delay prediction device 10a side, based on the estimated delay time. Alternatively, the control information may be generated by a control target device 17 side).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to add the teaching of Yasuda to the teaching of Yoshida. The motivation for such an addition would be to provide a delay prediction device for predicting a future communication delay with high accuracy ([0035] Yasuda).
Yoshida and Yasuda do not explicitly teach timing obtained by subtracting an allowable value.
Bohge teaches timing obtained by subtracting an allowable value ([0010] predict the quality of the future data connection with respect to the maximum latency that is assigned to the respective application module. The communication module is preferably configured to generate the control signal based on a quality value that describes the estimated quality of the future data connection).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to add the teaching of Bohge to the teaching of Yoshida and Yasuda. The motivation for such an addition would be to provide a method which allows operating a communication systems in a very reliable way ([0003] Bohge).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to VAN T NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-6178. The examiner can normally be reached 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM (EST). Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ayman A Abaza can be reached at (571) 270-0422. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/VAN TA NGUYEN/Examiner, Art Unit 2465
/AYMAN A ABAZA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2465