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 Amendment
Amendment filed on 07/16/2026 is acknowledged. Claims 6-8 are added as new. As such, claims 1-8 are pending for examination.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1 and 5 and addition of new dependent claims 6-8 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.
Addition of three new dependent claims 6-8 with limitations required examiner to find citations from new references. Amendment to the independent claims 1 and 5 have been addressed to with the citations from the references.
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 and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable Yamaguchi (US 20250044399 A) in further view of SEUNG et al. (CN102043157A, hereinafter Seung)
Regarding Claim 1, Yamaguchi teaches
a position determining system comprising one or more processors
(Yamaguchi [Fig.1] teaches communication devices and control device with position determination units)
acquire a communication state among each of a plurality of access points and a plurality of communication devices;
(Yamaguchi [0016, line 5] The position determination system 1 includes three first communication devices 10A to 10C, four second communication devices 20A to 20D, and a control device 30.)
(Note: disclosed access points are communication devices in the reference.)
estimate relative positions of the communication devices based on the communication state;
(Yamaguchi [0006] One aspect of the present disclosure provides a position determination system including: at least four communication devices provided in a vehicle and acquiring respective distances to a mobile terminal around the vehicle or in a vehicle interior by wireless communication with the mobile terminal.
[0016] With reference to FIG. 1, a position determination system 1 determines a position of a smartphone 3 around a vehicle 2 (shown in FIG. 2) (i.e., outside the vehicle interior) or in the vehicle interior. The position determination system 1 is mounted on the vehicle 2. The position determination system 1 includes three first communication devices 10A to 10C, four second communication devices 20A to 20D, and a control device 30.
(Note: disclosed "communication device" is a mobile terminal/smart phone 3 in the reference. Furthermore, position determination requires multiple devices to exchanges signals which means they are all in connected state and therefore reads on “communication state”.)
But Yamaguchi does not teach
acquire placement state data that is at least one of image data of a region in which the communication devices are present [[and]] or point cloud data of the region;
estimate position data of the communication devices from the placement state data; and
determine positions of the communication devices in the region, by associating the relative positions the position data within a predetermined distance from the relative positions.
However, in a similar endeavor, Seung teaches
acquire placement state data that is at least one of image data of a region in which the communication devices are present [[and]] or point cloud data of the region;
(Seung [0019] An image acquisition unit is used to acquire an image of the object when the distance calculation unit receives a signal through communication with the signal device;
[0025] When the distance calculation unit receives a signal through communication with the signal device, it acquires an image of the object and measures the moving direction angle and position of the object's position estimation device;)
(Note: Claim language requires examiner to find at least one limitation in the reference. Examiner has elaborated one and that is considered to be sufficient.)
estimate position data of the communication devices from the placement state data; and
(Seung [0019] An image acquisition unit is used to acquire an image of the object when the distance calculation unit receives a signal through communication with the signal device)
(Note: Placement state unit is the image acquisition unit in the reference and position data is estimated through the combination of image acquisition unit and the distance calculation unit.)
determine positions of the communication devices in the region, by associating the relative positions the position data within a predetermined distance from the relative positions.
(Seung [0020] A position measurement unit is used to measure the movement direction angle and position of the object position estimation device when the distance calculation unit receives the signal through communication with the signal device;
[0022] The position determination unit is used to determine the estimated position of the object based on the separation distance calculated by the distance calculation unit, the image marked by the synchronization unit, and the movement direction angle and position marked by the synchronization unit.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the examined application to have modified Yamaguchi and by incorporating Seung providing resources to arrive at the invention.
The motivation of doing so would have enabled the system to acquire identification information, placement system to acquire image data of the determination region to determine the position of the communication device, thus allowing pinpointing a more specific geographic region using 3D to determine the position.
Regarding Claim 5, Yamaguchi teaches a position determining method comprising:
acquiring a communication state among each of a plurality of access points and a plurality of communication devices;
(Yamaguchi [0016, line 5] The position determination system 1 includes three first communication devices 10A to 10C, four second communication devices 20A to 20D, and a control device 30.)
(Note: disclosed access points are communication devices in the reference.)
estimating relative positions of the communication devices based on the communication state;
(Yamaguchi [0006] One aspect of the present disclosure provides a position determination system including: at least four communication devices provided in a vehicle and acquiring respective distances to a mobile terminal around the vehicle or in a vehicle interior by wireless communication with the mobile terminal.
[0016] With reference to FIG. 1, a position determination system 1 determines a position of a smartphone 3 around a vehicle 2 (shown in FIG. 2) (i.e., outside the vehicle interior) or in the vehicle interior. The position determination system 1 is mounted on the vehicle 2. The position determination system 1 includes three first communication devices 10A to 10C, four second communication devices 20A to 20D, and a control device 30.
(Note: disclosed "communication device" is a mobile terminal/smart phone 3 in the reference. Furthermore, position determination requires multiple devices to exchanges signals which means they are all in connected state and therefore reads on “communication state”.)
But Yamaguchi does not teach
acquiring placement state data that is at least one of image data of a region in which the communication devices are present [[and]] or point cloud data of the region;
estimating position data of the communication devices from the placement state data; and
determining positions of the communication devices in the region, by associating the relative positions the position data within a predetermined distance from the relative positions.
However, in a similar endeavor, Seung teaches
acquiring placement state data that is at least one of image data of a region in which the communication devices are present [[and]] or point cloud data of the region;
(Seung [0019] An image acquisition unit is used to acquire an image of the object when the distance calculation unit receives a signal through communication with the signal device;
[0025] When the distance calculation unit receives a signal through communication with the signal device, it acquires an image of the object and measures the moving direction angle and position of the object's position estimation device;)
(Note: Claim language requires examiner to find at least one limitation in the reference. Examiner has elaborated one and that is considered to be sufficient.)
estimate position data of the communication devices from the placement state data; and
(Seung [0019] An image acquisition unit is used to acquire an image of the object when the distance calculation unit receives a signal through communication with the signal device)
(Note: Placement state unit is the image acquisition unit in the reference and position data is estimated through the combination of image acquisition unit and the distance calculation unit.)
determine positions of the communication devices in the region, by associating the relative positions the position data within a predetermined distance from the relative positions.
(Seung [0020] A position measurement unit is used to measure the movement direction angle and position of the object position estimation device when the distance calculation unit receives the signal through communication with the signal device;
[0022] The position determination unit is used to determine the estimated position of the object based on the separation distance calculated by the distance calculation unit, the image marked by the synchronization unit, and the movement direction angle and position marked by the synchronization unit.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the examined application to have modified Yamaguchi and by incorporating Seung providing resources to arrive at the invention.
The motivation of doing so would have enabled the system to acquire identification information, placement system to acquire image data of the determination region to determine the position of the communication device, thus allowing pinpointing a more specific geographic region using 3D to determine the position.
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yamaguchi (US 20250044399 A) and SEUNG et al. (CN102043157A, hereinafter Seung) and in view of Kee et al. (US 20240326847 A1, hereinafter known as Kee)
Regarding Claim 2, the combination of Yamaguchi and Seung teach claim 1 but fail to teach
communication devices are provided in a plurality of moving bodies that is movable through the region by self driving;
positions of the moving bodies
However, in a similar endeavor, Kee teaches
wherein: the communication devices are provided in a plurality of moving bodies that is movable through the region by self driving;
(Kee [0014] an autonomous vehicle (AV) is a motorized vehicle that does not require a human driver.)
positions of the moving bodies
(Kee [0015] Each time a computing system of an AV is powered on, the computing system may need to determine the initial location and orientation of the vehicle relative to a map of the AV, such as a navigation map and/or a map of a scene. Here, the initial location and orientation of the vehicle can refer to the location and orientation of the vehicle when the vehicle was powered off and/or when the vehicle is powered on. Once the vehicle's position (e.g., location and orientation) has been initialized, the vehicle can use localization algorithms to continually update its position as it navigates through the environment.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the examined application to have modified Yamaguchi and Seung by incorporating Kee providing resources to arrive at the invention.
The motivation of doing so would have enabled to define the disclosed communication devices as plurality of self driving moving bodies and to determine the position of these moving bodies by the position determining unit.
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yamaguchi (US 20250044399 A) and SEUNG et al. (CN102043157A, hereinafter Seung) in view of Tapia (US 20160021503 A1, hereinafter Tapia)
Regarding Claim 3, the combination Yamaguchi and Seung teach claim 1 but fail to teach
wherein: the communication state is communication strength between the communication devices and the access points, respectively;
use a magnitude relation of the communication strength at the access points, to acquire communication strength relative positions that are relative positions of the communication devices with respect to the access points.
and associate the communication strength relative positions with the position data, so as to determine the positions of the communication devices in the region.
However, in a similar endeavor, Tapia teaches
wherein: the communication state is communication strength between the communication devices and the access points, respectively;
(Tapia [0017, line 3] Each signal characteristic may be measured by mobile measuring equipment at each known geolocation. Each signal characteristic may be a signal strength or a signal quality. Signal strength may be measured via received signal strength indicator (RSSI).)
the one or more processors are configured
(Tapia [0026, line4] The computing device 200 may include a communication interface 202, one or more processors 204, memory 206, and hardware 208.)
use a magnitude relation of the communication strength at the access points, to acquire communication strength relative positions that are relative positions of the communication devices with respect to the access points.
(Tapia [0018] The access point data 112 may include the identification information of Wi-Fi access points and their geolocations.
[0018, line 3] The access point data 112 may further include the signal characteristics of communication signals produced by user devices and received by the Wi-Fi access points.)
and associate the communication strength relative positions with the position data, so as to determine the positions of the communication devices in the region.
(Tapia [0021] Subsequently, the geolocation engine 102 may use the trained geolocation model to perform machine learning-based geolocation 106 and estimate the geolocation of a user device. In one scenario, the geolocation engine 102 may use the trained geolocation model and a classification algorithm to classify the data inputs that are relevant for a user device. Such data inputs may include time of the day, one or more signal characteristics (e.g., signal strength, signal quality, etc.) of the telecommunication signal from the user device received by a network cell, interference to the network cell from nearby network cells, location of the network cell, and/or so forth. Accordingly, the classification algorithm may calculate a probability that the user device is located in each of multiple geographical areas. Following the calculation of the probabilities, the geolocation engine 102 may select a geographical area with a highest probability as the geolocation of the user device.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the examined application to have modified Yamaguchi and Seung and by incorporating Tapia providing resources to arrive at the invention.
The motivation of doing so would have used communication-strength ordering to infer relative positions. This provides the wireless-based positional relationship among devices.
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yamaguchi (US 20250044399 A) and SEUNG et al. (CN102043157A, hereinafter Seung) in view of Tapia (US 20160021503 A1, hereinafter Tapia) and in further view of Kee et al. (US 20240326847 A1, hereinafter known as Kee)
Regarding Claim 4, the combination of Yamaguchi and Seung teach claim 1, and but do not teach
configured to
However, in a similar endeavor, Tapia teaches
configured to
(Tapia [0026, line 4] The computing device 200 may include a communication interface 202, one or more processors 204, memory 206, and hardware 208.)
acquire identification information of a determination communication device that is set in advance, among the communication devices, and information regarding a determination region in which the determination communication device exists,
(Tapia [0024] In hotspot area identification 108, the geolocations of multiple user devices that are pinpointed via machine learning may be used to identify hotspot area where user devices tend to aggregate. The geolocation of the multiple user devices is processed along with wireless communication data 122.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the examined application to have modified Yamaguchi and Seung and by incorporating Tapia providing resources to arrive at the invention.
The motivation of doing so would have combined communication-state estimates with placement-state estimates. This is the efficient way of matching step for position determination.
But the combination of Yamaguchi, Seung and Tapia do not teach
is acquired as the placement state data;
and
However, in a similar endeavor, Kee teaches
is acquired as the placement state data;
(Kee [0021] In some cases, if the preliminary check is satisfied, the systems and techniques can perform a granular check to determine whether the position of an AV has changed or not. For example, the systems and techniques can use image data such as camera data or LIDAR data (e.g., point cloud data) to ensure that the AV is at the same position or within a threshold precision, such as at the centimeter level or any other threshold precision.)
and
(Kee [0018, line 4] localization may include determining geolocation/geographic information such as coordinates (e.g., longitude, latitude, and elevation), an orientation of the AV (e.g., a direction of travel, a pose of the AV, an angular orientation of the AV, a heading of the AV, etc.), a speed of the AV, a position (e.g., location and/or orientation) of the AV relative one or more reference points and/or objects in a scene, etc.
(Kee [0018, line 8] an AV can utilize navigation sensors such as Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)/Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers and Inertial Measurement Units (IMUs). The systems and techniques described herein can determine and/or save the position of an AV (Note: disclosed position determining phase is the selecting phase in the reference.)
(Note: Disclosed Access points are GNSS or GPS in the reference). (Note: Communication state acquiring unit acquires among other aspects signal strength, timing, information about which access point (Wi-Fi/Cell towers/GNSS/GPS) they connect to.)
(Note: Placement state acquiring unit acquires among other aspects images, point cloud data etc.)
(Note: Position determining unit combines both the information from the communication state acquiring unit and placement state acquiring unit and identifies the real location of the disclosed communication device.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the examined application to have modified the combined teachings of Yamaguchi, Seung and Tapia and by incorporating Kee providing resources to arrive at the invention.
The motivation of doing so would have enabled to determine actual positions from image or point cloud data providing geometric position data in the region.
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over in view of Yamaguchi (US 20250044399 A), SEUNG et al. (CN102043157A, hereinafter Seung) and Tapia (US 20160021503 A1, hereinafter Tapia) and in further view of Kim et al. (US RE50542 E, hereinafter Kim)
Regarding Claim 6, the combination of Yamaguchi, Seung and Tapia teach claim 3 but fail to teach
wherein the relative positions of the communication devices include coordinate values of the communication devices calculated by converting values of the communication strength into distances.
However, in a similar endeavor, Kim teaches
wherein the relative positions of the communication devices include coordinate values of the communication devices calculated by converting values of the communication strength into distances.
(Kim [Col. 20, line 60] The trigonometry method is used to calculate a position of a mobile terminal based on a distance between coordinates of at least three wireless APs and the mobile terminal. In order to measure the distance between the mobile terminal and the wireless APs, signal strength may be converted into distance information, Time of Arrival (ToA), Time Difference of Arrival (TDoA), Angle of Arrival (AoA), or the like may be taken for transmitted wireless signals.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the examined application to have modified the combined teachings of Yamaguchi, Seung and Tapia and by further incorporating Kim providing resources to arrive at the invention.
The motivation of doing so would have enabled to estimate relative positions from signal strength ranking. This creates wireless-based relative location cues.
Claims 7 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yamaguchi (US 20250044399 A) and SEUNG et al. (CN102043157A, hereinafter Seung) in view of SHIBUICHI (US 20260172408 A1, hereinafter Shibuichi)
Regarding Claim 7, combination of Yamaguchi and Seung teach claim 1, but fail to teach
wherein the one or more processors are further configured to determine whether or not the number of communication devices from the placement state data matches the total number of communication devices from the communication state.
However, in a similar endeavor, Shibuichi teaches
wherein the one or more processors are further configured to determine whether or not the number of communication devices from the placement state data matches the total number of communication devices from the communication state.
(Shibuichi [0277, line 4] the control server 10 includes a processor 311
[0003, line 12] The receiving unit receives a location signal or a wireless signal from each mobile terminal. The extraction unit detects two or more mobile terminals within a predetermined range from a biometric matching apparatus based on the received location signal or wireless signal, and extracts two or more registered biometric images associated with the identification information of the detected mobile terminals from the registered biometric images stored in the storage unit, respectively. The matching unit matches the respective input biometric information with the extracted registration biometric images.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the examined application to have modified Yamaguchi and Seung and by incorporating Shibuichi providing resources to arrive at the invention.
The motivation of doing so would have enabled to have identified number of communication devices for efficient position and location determination.
Regarding Claim 8, the combination of Yamaguchi and Seung teach claim 1, but fail to teach
wherein the one or more processors are further configured to acquire first identification information of the communication devices from a database and second identification information of the communication devices from the communication devices,
and in determining the positions of the communication devices in the region, the one or more processors are configured to confirm that the first identification information matches the second identification information.
However, in a similar endeavor, Shibuichi teaches
wherein the one or more processors are further configured to acquire first identification information of the communication devices from a database and second identification information of the communication devices from the communication devices, and
(Shibuichi[0277, line 4] the control server 10 includes a processor 311
[0003, line 11] The acquiring unit acquires input biometric information of a specific user. The receiving unit receives a location signal or a wireless signal from each mobile terminal. The extraction unit detects two or more mobile terminals within a predetermined range from a biometric matching apparatus based on the received location signal or wireless signal, and extracts two or more registered biometric images associated with the identification information of the detected mobile terminals from the registered biometric images stored in the storage unit, respectively. The matching unit matches the respective input biometric information with the extracted registration biometric images.
[0095, line 4] The service server 20 performs a matching process (1-to-N matching; N is a positive integer, the same applies hereinafter) using the generated authentication information for matching (hereinafter referred to as “matching authentication information”) and registered authentication information registered in the user management database.)
in determining the positions of the communication devices in the region, the one or more processors are configured to confirm that the first identification information matches the second identification information.
(Shibuichi [0003, line 12] The receiving unit receives a location signal or a wireless signal from each mobile terminal. The extraction unit detects two or more mobile terminals within a predetermined range from a biometric matching apparatus based on the received location signal or wireless signal, and extracts two or more registered biometric images associated with the identification information of the detected mobile terminals from the registered biometric images stored in the storage unit, respectively. The matching unit matches the respective input biometric information with the extracted registration biometric images.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the examined application to have modified Yamaguchi and Seung and by incorporating Shibuichi providing resources to arrive at the invention.
The motivation of doing so would have enabled to have identified number of communication devices for efficient position and location determination.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RANA HASSAN MAHMUD whose telephone number is (571)272-8939. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Friday.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Kathy Wang-Hurst can be reached at 5712705371. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/RANA H MAHMUD/Examiner, Art Unit 2644
/KATHY W WANG-HURST/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2644
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