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
This action is in response to amendments and remarks filed on 10/22/2025. Claims 1, 3, 5-15, 34, 36-37 and 39 are considered in this office action. Claims 1, 3, 5, 11-14, 34, and 39 have been amended. Claims 1, 3, 5-15, 34, 36-37 and 39 are pending examination. Applicant's amendment necessitated new grounds of rejection therefore, claims 1, 3, 5-15, 34, 36-37 and 39 are rejected.
Specification
The use of the terms Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, WiMAX, Zigbee, and Ultra-Wideband, which is a trade name or a mark used in commerce, has been noted in this application. The term should be accompanied by the generic terminology; furthermore the term should be capitalized wherever it appears or, where appropriate, include a proper symbol indicating use in commerce such as ™, SM , or ® following the term.
Although the use of trade names and marks used in commerce (i.e., trademarks, service marks, certification marks, and collective marks) are permissible in patent applications, the proprietary nature of the marks should be respected and every effort made to prevent their use in any manner which might adversely affect their validity as commercial marks.
Response to Arguments
Applicant presents the following arguments regarding the previous office action:
Dantu does not disclose receiving input from a user at a device to identify the unique location as an LOI for claim 2 now claim 1.
Bandy does not disclose normalizing the sensor signals used for signature mapping.
Contrary to the previous 101 rejection, the application is integrated into a practical application.
Applicant’s argument A, with respect to the independent claims has been fully considered and is moot in light of new grounds for rejection below
Regarding argument B: Under the broadest reasonable interpretation the defined frame of reference within the environment encompasses an environment fixed reference such as a building grid. Bandy teaches transforming and normalizing at least a portion of inertial and navigation signal data such as heading and segment orientation derived from an Inertial Navigation Unit into the environment frame by explicitly correcting the tracking path to the building grid. Then adjusting the directional data so it is expressed consistently to ensure the compass angles being compared are all facing the same direction. Under the broadest reasonable interpretation this is analogous to normalizing sensor signals for signature mapping.
Regarding argument C: The amended claims still recite collecting data, analyzing the data to generate a representation, and storing the result to a location, which is an abstract idea. The implementation of generic computing components such as the IMU being carried along a path merely specifies the data source and the field of use and does not add any concrete technological mechanism for how the signature is computed. Accordingly the claims remain directed to a judicial exception under Step 2A prong One, and are not integrated into a practical application under Step 2A, Prong Two, because there is no recitation of a specific technological improvement to the functionality of the IMU, processors or location system. Furthermore, the applicant relies on statements in the specification regarding the shortcoming of GNSS infrastructure. The alleged benefits are not commensurate with the scope of the claim because the claims broadly cover any manner of generating and storing a reference path signature from the IMU signals without reciting a particular solution that yields the asserted accuracy improvements. Thus, the claims do not add any inventive concept to transform the nature of the claims into a patent eligible application. Therefore the 101 rejection of claims 1, 3, 5-15, 34, 36-37 and 39 are maintained.
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, 5-7, 11-13, and 34 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bandyopadhyay et al. (US20120130632A1) in view of Mishra (US20150073708A1).
Regarding claim 1, Bandy discloses, a method for calibrating an environment (0488, according to an aspect of the invention, experiments may be performed in various buildings to show that each region in a building can yield a unique magnetic signature), the method comprising: identifying one or more locations of interest (LOIs) within the environment (0383,The errors at a tracking point of interest may be estimated with respect to a reference point. This reference point may be the start point of tracking, a selected point, or any tracking point in the tracking data) … (0488, FIG. 20A, for example, depicts unique magnetic signatures of three hallways in a building), determining a reference path signature for each of the one or more LOIs (0488, recording the magnetic signature for a region may help correct a trackee's position to this region when a signature match is detected); and for each reference path signature, storing the reference path signature in the non-transitory computer readable media with data indicating to which LOI it corresponds (0486, some sensors may have the same or similar readings every time a trackee visits a certain location. Storing and mapping these readings may enable a tracking point at a later time t2 with more accumulated error to be matched to the tracking estimate for a previous tracking point at time t1). However Bandy does not explicitly disclose, identifying comprising, for each of the one or more LOIs, receiving input from a user at a device at a unique location within the environment to identify and store the unique location as an LOI in non-transitory computer readable media and the determining comprising, for a given LOI of the one or more LOIs, receiving a series of signals from an inertial measurement unit (IMU) being carried along a path of a user within the environment to the given LOI.
Nevertheless Mishra who is in the same field of endeavor of navigation via recorded paths discloses, the identifying comprising, for each of the one or more LOIs, receiving input from a user at a device at a unique location within the environment (0023, the request is received from the user at the mobile device 122 and also received at the server 125 from the mobile 122 via the network 127. The destination request may specify a street address, a business name, an indoor location, or a point of interest), to identify and store the unique location as an LOI in non-transitory computer readable media (0022, A geographic database is stored on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium or any computer storage that is accessible to the server 125) … (0063, At act S103, the processor 300 is configured to store the set of navigation instructions in a contact database indexed by the first entity…the processor 300 selects the entry in response to a user interaction showing interest in the first entity, or a point of interest associated with the first entity); and the determining comprising, for a given LOI of the one or more LOIs, receiving a series of signals from an inertial measurement unit (IMU) being carried along a path of a user within the environment to the given LOI (0038, For example, the mobile device 122 may record the path while traveling the path. A user may initiate a recording process by entered a start command on the mobile device 122. The user then travels the path) … (The sensors may include inertial sensors).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one skilled in the art to combine Bandy and Mishra’s disclosures in order to use people’s cellphones as an IMU to collect learn and map locations indoors as people naturally walk.
Justification for combining Bandyopadhyay and Mishra’s disclosures not only comes from the state of the art but from Bandyopadhyay (0654, other embodiments, uses and advantages of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art).
Regarding claim 5, Bandy discloses, A method for calibrating an environment, (0488, according to an aspect of the invention, experiments may be performed in various buildings to show that each region in a building can yield a unique magnetic signature), the method comprising: identifying one or more locations of interest (LOIs) within the environment; (0383,The errors at a tracking point of interest may be estimated with respect to a reference point. This reference point may be the start point of tracking, a selected point, or any tracking point in the tracking data) … (0488, FIG. 20A, for example, depicts unique magnetic signatures of three hallways in a building), determining a reference path signature for each of the one or more LOIs (0488, recording the magnetic signature for a region may help correct a trackee's position to this region when a signature match is detected); and normalizing at least a portion of the series of signals from the IMU to a defined frame of reference within the environment to define a normalized series of signals (0411, since most hallways in a building are aligned to the building grids, shapes comprising long orthogonal segments are likely to occur along the building grid. After detection of path grids/shapes in a tracking path, and assigning compass angles when available, the tracking path may be corrected to the building grid and partitions where appropriate) and for each reference path signature, storing the reference path signature in non-transitory computer readable media with data indicating to which LOI it corresponds (0486, some sensors may have the same or similar readings every time a trackee visits a certain location. Storing and mapping these readings may enable a tracking point at a later time t2 with more accumulated error to be matched to the tracking estimate for a previous tracking point at time t1).
Additionally, Mishra discloses, determining a reference path signature for each of the one or more LOIs, the determining comprising, for a given LOI of the one or more LOIs, receiving a series of signals from an inertial measurement unit (IMU) being carried along a path of a user within the environment to the given LOI (0038, For example, the mobile device 122 may record the path while traveling the path. A user may initiate a recording process by entered a start command on the mobile device 122. The user then travels the path) … (The sensors may include inertial sensors).
Regarding claim 6, Bandy and Mishra disclose, the method of claim 5, as discussed supra. Additionally Bandy discloses, determining the reference path signature for each of the one or more LOIs further comprises, for the given LOI, determining the normalized series of signals to form at least part of the reference path signature for the given LOI (0379, after computing the new location estimate for the current shape, checks can be performed for additional corrections for the current shape).
Regarding claim 7, Bandy and Mishra disclose, the method of claim 5, as discussed supra. Additionally Bandy discloses, determining the reference path signature for each of the one or more LOIs further comprises, for the given LOI, processing the normalized series of signals to determine processed signal data (0376, for each new tracking point, the distance between the tracking points, rawDistance may be calculated using the distance formulae. The heading, mapHeading may then be calculated as the rawHeading+pointRotation, where the pointRotation is the rotation for the previous tracking point), and determining the processed signal data to form at least part of the reference path signature for the given LOI (0376, the heading, mapHeading may then be calculated as the rawHeading+pointRotation, where the pointRotation is the rotation for the previous tracking point).
Regarding claim 11, Bandy and Mishra disclose, the method of claim 5, as discussed supra. Additionally Bandy discloses, the IMU comprises at least one of an accelerometer, a gyroscope, or a magnetometer (0072, the INU can include a combination of digital or analog accelerometers, gyroscopes, and magnetic field sensors).
Regarding claim 12, Bandy and Mishra disclose, the method of claim 5, as discussed supra. Additionally Bandy discloses, the series of signals from the IMU comprises signals from at least one of an accelerometer, a gyroscope or a magnetometer (0072, the INU can include a combination of digital or analog accelerometers, gyroscopes, and magnetic field sensors).
Regarding claim 13, Bandy and Mishra disclose, the method of claim 5, as discussed supra. Additionally Bandy discloses, the series of signals from the IMU comprises a combination of signals from two or more of an accelerometer, a gyroscope, or a magnetometer (0072, the INU can include a combination of digital or analog accelerometers, gyroscopes, and magnetic field sensors).
Regarding claim 34, Bandyopadhyay discloses, a non-transitory computer readable medium comprising executable program code (0015, the computer may comprise a general purpose computer programmed with a mapping software application (and/or other software) that enables the various features and functions of the invention), that when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to: identify one or more locations of interest (LOIs) within an environment (0080, those having skill in the art will recognize that computer 120 may comprise a processor, one or more interfaces (to various peripheral devices or components), memory, one or more storage devices, and/or other components coupled via a bus. The memory may comprise random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), or other memory. The memory may store computer-executable instructions to be executed by the processor as well as data which may be manipulated by the processor) … (0488, FIG. 20A, for example, depicts unique magnetic signatures of three hallways in a building); determine a reference path signature for each of the one or more LOIs (0488, recording the magnetic signature for a region may help correct a trackee's position to this region when a signature match is detected); and normalizing at least a portion of the series of signals from the IMU to a defined frame of reference within the environment to define a normalized series of signals (0411, since most hallways in a building are aligned to the building grids, shapes comprising long orthogonal segments are likely to occur along the building grid. After detection of path grids/shapes in a tracking path, and assigning compass angles when available, the tracking path may be corrected to the building grid and partitions where appropriate) and for each reference path signature, store the reference path signature in the non-transitory computer readable mediums with data indicating to which LOI it corresponds (0486, some sensors may have the same or similar readings every time a trackee visits a certain location. Storing and mapping these readings may enable a tracking point at a later time t2 with more accumulated error to be matched to the tracking estimate for a previous tracking point at time t1).
Additionally, Mishra discloses, the determining comprising, for a given LOI of the one or more LOIs, receiving a series of signals from an inertial measurement unit (IMU) being carried along a path of a user within the environment to the given LOI (0038, For example, the mobile device 122 may record the path while traveling the path. A user may initiate a recording process by entered a start command on the mobile device 122. The user then travels the path) … (The sensors may include inertial sensors).
Claims 3, and 36-37 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bandyopadhyay et al. (US20120130632A1) in view of Mishra (US20150073708A1) further in view of Dantu (US20120143495A1).
Regarding claim 3, Bandy and Mishra disclose the method of claim 1 as discussed supra. Additionally, Dantu who is in the same field of endeavor of navigation discloses, wherein identifying the one or more LOIs within the environment comprises initiating a training period during which the one or more LOIs are learned dynamically based on locations of a device as it is moved throughout the environment (0152, the occupants of the building can collect magnetic signatures of different hallways since they usually move around the same set of locations daily, following routine paths and most of them carry smartphones. The data collected can be uploaded onto a server. This form of data collection and sharing can be also categorized as participatory sensing where users can passively participate in the sensing process since all that is required is to walk and collect data. Following these procedures, a database can be easily built and continuously updated providing accurate maps of the building).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one skilled in the art to combine the combination of Bandy and Mishra with Dantu’s disclosures in order to use people’s cellphones as an IMU to collect learn and map locations indoors as people naturally walk.
Justification for combining Bandy and Mishra with Dantu’s disclosures not only comes from the state of the art but from Bandyopadhyay (0654, other embodiments, uses and advantages of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art).
Regarding claim 36, Bandy and Mishra disclose the non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 34 as discussed supra. Additionally, Dantu discloses, identifying the one or more LOIs within the environment comprises, for each of the one or more LOIs, receiving instruction from a device at a unique location within the environment to identify the unique location as an LOI (0152, the occupants of the building can collect magnetic signatures of different hallways since they usually move around the same set of locations daily, following routine paths and most of them carry smartphones. The data collected can be uploaded onto a server. This form of data collection and sharing can be also categorized as participatory sensing where users can passively participate in the sensing process since all that is required is to walk and collect data).
Regarding claim 37, Bandy and Mishra disclose the non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 34 as discussed supra. Additionally, Dantu discloses, identifying the one or more LOIs within the environment comprises initiating a training period during which the one or more LOIs are learned dynamically based on locations of a device as it is moved throughout the environment (0152, the occupants of the building can collect magnetic signatures of different hallways since they usually move around the same set of locations daily, following routine paths and most of them carry smartphones. The data collected can be uploaded onto a server. This form of data collection and sharing can be also categorized as participatory sensing where users can passively participate in the sensing process since all that is required is to walk and collect data. Following these procedures, a database can be easily built and continuously updated providing accurate maps of the building).
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bandyopadhyay et al. (US20120130632A1) in view of Mishra (US20150073708A1) further in view of Moldwin et al. (US20190170516A1).
Regarding claim 8, Bandy and Mishra disclose the method of claim 5 as discussed supra. Additionally, Bandy discloses the processed signal data comprises at least one of step data corresponding to heading data corresponding to the path of the user (0649, the heading direction is rotated to the compass direction predicted by the INU if the compass reliability is better than a threshold value). However, Bandyopadhyay does not explicitly disclose, the processed signal data comprises at least one of step data corresponding to the path of the user, stride length data corresponding to the path of the user.
Nevertheless, Moldwin who is in the same field of endeavor of inertial sensor localization discloses, the processed signal data comprises at least one of step data corresponding to the path of the user, stride length data corresponding to the path of the user (8, the PIMIMU device is configured to calculate a step length of an individual based on at least one of attitude information and the location signal, the controller is configured to determine the location of the PIMIMU device based on the plurality of magnetic beacons in conjunction with the attitude information from the PIMIMU device),
It would have been prima facie obvious to one skilled in the art to combine the combination of Bandy and Mishra with Moldwin’s disclosures in order to make the paths correlate to the exact step and stride length of users for more precise mapping and localization.
Justification for combining the combination of Bandy and Mishra with Moldwin’s disclosures not only comes from the state of the art but from Moldwin (0019, Numerous specific details are set forth such as examples of specific components, devices, and methods, to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the present disclosure. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that specific details need not be employed, that example embodiments may be embodied in many different forms and that neither should be construed to limit the scope of the disclosure.).
Claims 9-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bandyopadhyay et al. (US20120130632A1) in view of Mishra (US20150073708A1) further in view of Cigada et al. (US20180318991A1).
Regarding claim 9, Bandy and Mishra disclose the method of claim 7 as discussed supra. Additionally, Cigada who is in the same field of endeavor of sensor signal transmissions discloses, processed signal data comprises an approximation of the normalized series of signals based on Piecewise Aggregate Approximation (PAA) (0089, one of the important parts in step 3 consists in obtaining the PAA of the second order derivative signal, meaning that for each segment in which the time history has been divided, the average inside that segment is calculated) … (0090, the signal is divided into intervals, then the mean value for each interval is calculated, and the mean values are stored. Having transformed the second order derivative signal into a PAA representation, the algorithm applies a transformation to obtain a discrete representation having breakpoints).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one skilled in the art to combine the combination of Bandy and Mishra with Cigada’s disclosures in order to apply PAA/SAX/SFA to normalize IMU signals in order to reduce dimensionality of signature data for storage and improve the matching efficiency on real-time location signature lookup.
Justification for combining the combination of Bandy and Mishra with Moldwin’s disclosures not only comes from the state of the art but from Bandyopadhyay (0654, other embodiments, uses and advantages of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art).
Regarding claim 10, Bandy and Mishra disclose the method of claim 7 as discussed supra. Additionally, Cigada discloses, the processed signal data comprises a symbolic approximation of the normalized series of signals based on at least one of Symbolic Aggregate approximation (SAX) or Symbolic Fourier Approximation (SFA) (0068, in the third step of the algorithm, the second order derivative signal is converted to a digital or symbolic representation using dimensionality reduction methods carried out through the piecewise aggregate approximation (PAA) and then symbolic aggregate approximation (SAX) methods).
Claims 14-15, and 39 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bandyopadhyay et al. (US20120130632A1) in view of Mishra (US20150073708A1) further in view of Kalasapur et al. (US20090322517A1).
Regarding claim 14, Bandy and Mishra disclose the method of claim 1 as discussed supra. Additionally, Kalasapur who is in the same field of endeavor of signatures for locations discloses, determining the reference path signature for each of the one or more LOIs comprises, for a given LOI of the one or more LOIs, determining a correlation between the given LOI and a state of an Internet-of-Things (IoT) device located within the environment (0007, an environment sensor designed to detecting one or more digital devices around the apparatus; a location signature bank; and a signature manager coupled to the environment sensor and the location signature bank, wherein the signature manager is designed to store information received from the environment sensor in a device log, generate signatures for locations based on the information, and store the generated signatures in the location signature bank).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one skilled in the art to combine the combination of Bandy and Mishra with Kalasapur’s disclosures in order to augment path based location signatures with a devices state information. This would improve the overall accuracy and robustness of the system.
Justification for combining the combination of Bandy and Mishra with Kalasapur’s disclosures not only comes from the state of the art but from Kalasapur (0046, while the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to specific embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that changes in the form and details of the disclosed embodiments may be made).
Regarding claim 15, Bandy and Mishra disclose the method of claim 14 as discussed supra. Additionally, Kalasapur discloses, determining the reference path signature for each of the one or more LOIs further comprises, for the given LOI, determining the correlation to form at least part of the reference path signature for the given LOI (0007, the signature manager is designed to store information received from the environment sensor in a device log, generate signatures for locations based on the information, and store the generated signatures in the location signature bank).
Regarding claim 39, Bandy and Mishra disclose the non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 34 as discussed supra. Additionally, Kalasapur discloses determining the reference path signature for each of the one or more LOIs comprises, for a given LOI of the one or more LOIs, determining a correlation between the given LOI (0007, an environment sensor designed to detecting one or more digital devices around the apparatus; a location signature bank; and a signature manager coupled to the environment sensor and the location signature bank, wherein the signature manager is designed to store information received from the environment sensor in a device log, generate signatures for locations based on the information, and store the generated signatures in the location signature bank), and a state of an Internet-of-Things (IoT) device located within the environment (0007, the signature manager is designed to store information received from the environment sensor in a device log, generate signatures for locations based on the information, and store the generated signatures in the location signature bank).
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.
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Examiner, Art Unit 3665
/CHRISTIAN CHACE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3665
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