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 . 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.
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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 4, 11 and 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by CN 110281988 A.
Referring to Claim 1: CN 110281988 discloses a method for train positioning, comprising:
periodically transmitting, by a balise transmission module (BTM), balise data to a vehicle on-board controller (VOBC) according to a rule (see Applicant provided EPO translation, Para. [0008]);
periodically receiving, by the VOBC, the balise data transmitted by the BTM (Para. [0018]), and periodically obtaining a data frame, the data frame comprising a current traveling time tn, a current traveling speed vn, and a current traveling distance sn of a train (Para. [0019]); and
determining, by the VOBC based on the received balise data and the obtained data frame, a location of the train when the train passes a balise (Para. [0008] and [0022]).
Referring to Claim 4: CN 110281988 discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the periodically obtaining the data frame comprises:
saving (via memory 28) the data frame to a list location_list [n], wherein the list location_list[n] comprises a current traveling time, a current traveling speed, and a current traveling distance of the train in each data-frame obtaining cycle, and n is a number of data-frame obtaining cycles (Para. [0025]-[0027]).
Referring to Claim 11: CN 110281988 discloses a system for train positioning, comprising a balise transmission module (BTM) and a vehicle on-board controller (VOBC), wherein
the BTM is configured to periodically transmit balise data to the VOBC according to a rule, and the balise data comprises identification information of a balise (Para. [0008]);
the VOBC is configured to periodically receive the balise data transmitted by the BTM (Para. [0018]), and periodically obtain a data frame, and the data frame comprises a current traveling time tn, a current traveling speed vn, and a current traveling distance sn of a train (Para. [0019]); and
the VOBC is configured to determine, based on the received balise data and the obtained data frame, a location of the train when the train passes the balise (Para. [0008] and [0022]).
Referring to Claim 14: CN 110281988 discloses the system according to claim 11, wherein the VOBC is further configured to: save (via memory 28) the data frame to a list location_list [n], wherein the list location_list[n] comprises a current traveling time, a current traveling speed, and a current traveling distance of the train in each data-frame obtaining cycle, and n is a number of data-frame obtaining cycles (Para. [0025]-[0027]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2, 3, 5-10, 12, 13 and 15-20 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 2 and depending claim 3, the prior art, including CN 110281988, fails to teach the BTM transmitting idle frame data to the VOBC when the BTM does not detect the balise and the BTM transmitting a response frame to the VOBC when the BTM detects the balise, the response frame including identification information and an energy mark parameter of the balise, as recited in claim 2. Rather, CN 110281988 teaches that the VOBC periodically transmits the data frame to the BTM (Para. [0030]), not the reverse, as claimed. Thus, while transmitting identification information (Para. [0031]) and energy marks parameters (Para. [0025]) is known, it would require an improper degree of hindsight reasoning to reverse the transmission of the response frame and to additionally transmit the claimed frames in response to detecting and not detecting a balise. Another relevant reference, CN 107953902 A, teaches two way communication between the beacon reader, i.e., BTM, and the VOBC (Fig. 4). However, modifying CN 110281988 in view of CN 107953902 to arrive at claim 2 would require improper hindsight. Thus, claim 2 and claims depending therefrom are nonobvious.
Regarding claim 5 and depending claims 6-10, the prior art, including CN 110281988, fails to teach “determining, by the VOBC based on a time difference between a receiving time of the response frame and an obtaining time of the data frame, a time t_balise when the train passes the balise,” as recited in claim 5. Rather, CN 110281988 teaches that the VOBC periodically transmits the data frame to the BTM (Para. [0030]), not the VOBC receiving the frame from the BTM and calculating a time difference between a receiving time of the response frame and an obtaining time of the data frame, as claimed. Another relevant reference, CN 107953902 A, teaches two way communication between the beacon reader, i.e., BTM, and the VOBC (Fig. 4). However, modifying CN 110281988 in view of CN 107953902 to arrive at claim 5 would require improper hindsight. Thus, claim 5 and claims depending therefrom are nonobvious.
System claims 12 and 13 are allowable for the same reasons as explained above regarding corresponding method claims 2 and 3.
System claims 15-20 are allowable for the same reasons as explained above regarding corresponding method claims 5-10.
Conclusion
The references made of record and not relied upon are considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure because the references generally relate to the state of the art in VOBC based balise positioning systems: US-20210114639-A1, US-20200070859-A1, US-20190114914-A1, US-20190092360-A1, US-20170057528-A1 and US-20150239482-A1.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ZACHARY L KUHFUSS whose telephone number is (571)270-7858. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 10:00am to 6:00 pm CDT.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Samuel (Joe) Morano can be reached on (571)272-6682. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ZACHARY L KUHFUSS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3617
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