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 Interpretation
Claim 32 recites the following contingent limitation(s): “in response to detecting that a first trigger condition is met, sending at least one target audio signal, wherein at least one arrival time corresponding to the at least one target audio signal is determined based on the target audio signal, and wherein sending the at least one target audio signal comprises: sending a plurality of target audio signals according to a preset frequency, wherein the plurality of target audio signals comprise a first sounding signal and a second sounding signal, the at least one arrival time comprises a first time set corresponding to the first sounding signal and a second time set corresponding to the second sounding signal, the first time set comprises at least one first time at which the first sounding signal arrives at the terminal device through direct incidence or reflection, and the second time set comprises at least one second time at which the second sounding signal arrives at the terminal device through direct incidence or reflection”. The limitation(s) is/are contingent because the action “sending at least one target audio signal” is depended upon the condition of “detecting that a first trigger condition is met”. The BRI of the claim requires no action to be performed related to “sending at least one target audio signal” when the condition does not fulfill. For compact prosecution reason, prior arts are provided for all method steps that mirror the related apparatus claims.
Claim 38 recites the following contingent limitation(s): “in response to detecting that a second trigger condition is met, obtaining at least one arrival time corresponding to at least one target audio signal, wherein the at least one target audio signal comprises a plurality of target audio signals sent by the vehicle according to a preset frequency, the plurality of target audio signals comprise a first sounding signal and a second sounding signal, the at least one arrival time comprises a first time set corresponding to the first sounding signal and a second time set corresponding to the second sounding signal, the first time set comprises at least one first time at which the first sounding signal arrives at the terminal device through direct incidence or reflection, and the second time set comprises at least one second time at which the second sounding signal arrives at the terminal device through direct incidence or reflection”. The limitation(s) is/are contingent because the action “obtaining at least one arrival time corresponding to at least one target audio signal” is depended upon the condition of “detecting that a second trigger condition is met”. The BRI of the claim requires no action to be performed related to “obtaining at least one arrival time corresponding to at least one target audio signal” when the condition does not fulfill. For compact prosecution reason, prior arts are provided for all the steps.
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 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.
Claim(s) 32-33, 36-38, 41-43, 46-47 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hannon et al. (US 2017/0019525 A1) (Hannon herein after) in view of Hamada et al. (US 2017/0136992 A1) (Hamada herein after).
Re Claim 32 and 42, Hannon discloses a method and an apparatus in a vehicle, applied to a vehicle comprised in a location obtaining system, the location obtaining system further comprises a terminal device, the apparatus comprises: a memory storage configured to store instructions; and one or more processors in communication with the memory storage, wherein the one or more processors execute the instructions (memory, processor, [0227]), and the method comprises:
in response to detecting that a first trigger condition is met (the vehicle sound system may be configured to transmit the acoustic signals while the vehicle engine is running. In alternative embodiments, the vehicle sound system may be configured to transmit the acoustic signals while the vehicle is in motion. In one example, the vehicle sound system may be configured to cease transmission of the acoustic signals when the vehicle is stopped or parked [0096]), sending at least one target audio signal (where each of the plurality of transmitters 1805 is configured to transmit an acoustic signal into an acoustic environment within the vehicle [0065]), wherein at least one arrival time corresponding to the at least one target audio signal is determined based on the target audio signal (system 1800 may use the Time of Arrival (TOA) of the acoustic signal for detection of the mobile device 1803 and to determine whether the mobile device 1803 is in a driver side location of a vehicle [0067]), and wherein sending the at least one target audio signal comprises:
sending a plurality of target audio signals according to a preset frequency (ultrasonic sounds may also refer to sounds having a frequency greater than about 10 KHz or a frequency greater than about 15 KHz, which may include sounds at the high frequency end of the audible sound spectrum [0066]), wherein the plurality of target audio signals comprise a first sounding signal and a second sounding signal (each transmitter 1805 may be configured to emit an acoustic signal into the acoustic environment of the vehicle in which each acoustic signal comprises short pulse of a high frequency (ultrasonic) sound signal [0070]), the at least one arrival time comprises a first time set corresponding to the first sounding signal and a second time set corresponding to the second sounding signal (a plurality of speakers 1805. Each pulse may be transmitted at about 19 KHz and may be separated from another pulse by a pre-defined time delay [0074]), the first time set comprises at least one first time at which the first sounding signal arrives at the terminal device through direct incidence or reflection, and the second time set comprises at least one second time at which the second sounding signal arrives at the terminal device through direct incidence or reflection (acoustic signal from each speaker is identified and the time difference between each pulse is analyzed [0074]); and
obtaining first location information corresponding to the terminal device, wherein the first location information indicates where the terminal device is located, and the first location information is determined based on a time interval between an arrival time in the first time set and an arrival time in the second time set (acoustic signal from each speaker is identified and the time difference between each pulse is analyzed. Based on the time difference between the pulses, a relative distance is calculated to each speaker and a determination is made as to whether the mobile device is in the driver zone or not [0074]).
Hannon discloses the claimed invention except obtaining first location information corresponding to the terminal device, wherein the first location information indicates whether the terminal device is located inside the vehicle or outside the vehicle.
However, Hamada discloses a method and system for vehicle communication wherein vehicle cabin inside or outside determining process, a position estimating technology using transmission and reception of radio signals between the in-vehicle device and the portable device is used (Patent Documents 1 to 3 and the like). The position estimating technology using transmission and reception of radio signals is largely divided into a range-based system and a range-free system. The range-based system is a method in which, in the vehicle cabin inside or outside determining process, special information relating to a radio signal that is transmitted and received between a plurality of on-vehicle antennas disposed at different positions in a vehicle and a portable device, for example, a received signal strength indication (RSSI), a time of arrival (TOA), a time difference of arrival (TDOA), an angle of arrival (AOA), or the like of a radio signal is measured by the in-vehicle device or the portable device, and the position of the portable device is estimated based on a difference between measurement results. In contrast to this, the range-free system is a method in which, in the vehicle cabin inside or outside determining process, based on the presence or absence of a response signal for a detection signal between an on-vehicle antenna of which the position is known and the portable device, a relative position (presence/absence) is estimated in the in-vehicle device or the portable device ([0004]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the method and system of Hannon, by making use of the technique taught by Hamada, in order to improve the accuracy of location estimation.
Both references are within the same field of telecommunication, and in particular of vehicle communication, the modification does not change a fundamental operating principle of Hannon, nor does Hannon teach away from the modification (Hannon merely discloses a preferred embodiment). The combination has a reasonable expectation of success in that the modifications can be made using conventional and well known engineering and/or programming techniques, the method and system taught by Hamada is not altered and continues to perform the same function as separately, and the resultant combination produces the highly predictable result of obtaining first location information corresponding to the terminal device, wherein the first location information indicates whether the terminal device is located inside the vehicle or outside the vehicle.
Re Claims 33 and 43, the combined teachings disclose the method according to claim 32 and the apparatus according to claim 42, Hannon discloses wherein the target audio signal is a linear frequency modulation signal or a ZC sequence signal (the width of the passband may be set to a narrow range for improved noise immunity, or may be set to a wider range to allow the acoustic pulse to be transmitted using frequency modulation or frequency hopping techniques [0067]).
Re Claim 34, the combined teachings disclose the method according to claim 32, wherein in response to the time interval between the arrival time in the first time set and the arrival time in the second time set being within a preset time range, the first location information indicates that the terminal device is located inside the vehicle, wherein a determining factor of the preset time range comprises a time interval between two adjacent target audio signals sent by the vehicle; or in response to the time interval between the arrival time in the first time set and the arrival time in the second time set being not within the preset time range, the first location information indicates that the terminal device is located outside the vehicle (under BRI no further method steps are performed, see rejection claim 32).
Re Claims 36 and 46, the combined teachings disclose the method according to claim 32 and the apparatus according to claim 42, Hannon discloses wherein the first trigger condition is met in response to: detecting that the vehicle is parked; detecting that a distance between the terminal device and the vehicle meets a first distance condition; or obtaining a first instruction, wherein the first instruction triggers the vehicle to obtain the first location information (the vehicle sound system may be configured to transmit the acoustic signals while the vehicle engine is running [0096]).
Re Claims 37 and 47, the combined teachings disclose the method according to claim 36 and the apparatus according to claim 46, wherein detecting that the vehicle is parked comprises: obtaining a velocity, acceleration, and an angular velocity of the vehicle, and inputting the velocity, the acceleration, and the angular velocity of the vehicle into a classification model, to obtain predicted category information output by the classification model, wherein the predicted category information indicates whether the vehicle is in a stopped state or a moving state (detecting that the vehicle is parked condition is not selected with BRI on claim 36 and claim 46).
Re Claim 38, Hannon discloses a method, applied to a terminal device comprised in a location obtaining system, the location obtaining system further comprises a vehicle, and the method comprises:
in response to detecting that a second trigger condition is met (the vehicle sound system may be configured to transmit the acoustic signals while the vehicle engine is running. In alternative embodiments, the vehicle sound system may be configured to transmit the acoustic signals while the vehicle is in motion. In one example, the vehicle sound system may be configured to cease transmission of the acoustic signals when the vehicle is stopped or parked [0096]), obtaining at least one arrival time corresponding to at least one target audio signal (system 1800 may use the Time of Arrival (TOA) of the acoustic signal for detection of the mobile device 1803 and to determine whether the mobile device 1803 is in a driver side location of a vehicle [0067]), wherein the at least one target audio signal comprises a plurality of target audio signals sent by the vehicle according to a preset frequency (ultrasonic sounds may also refer to sounds having a frequency greater than about 10 KHz or a frequency greater than about 15 KHz, which may include sounds at the high frequency end of the audible sound spectrum [0066]), the plurality of target audio signals comprise a first sounding signal and a second sounding signal, the at least one arrival time comprises a first time set corresponding to the first sounding signal and a second time set corresponding to the second sounding signal (each transmitter 1805 may be configured to emit an acoustic signal into the acoustic environment of the vehicle in which each acoustic signal comprises short pulse of a high frequency (ultrasonic) sound signal [0070]), the first time set comprises at least one first time at which the first sounding signal arrives at the terminal device through direct incidence or reflection, and the second time set comprises at least one second time at which the second sounding signal arrives at the terminal device through direct incidence or reflection (acoustic signal from each speaker is identified and the time difference between each pulse is analyzed [0074]); and
generating, based on a time interval between an arrival time in the first time set and an arrival time in the second time set, first location information corresponding to the terminal device (acoustic signal from each speaker is identified and the time difference between each pulse is analyzed. Based on the time difference between the pulses, a relative distance is calculated to each speaker and a determination is made as to whether the mobile device is in the driver zone or not [0074]).
Hannon discloses the claimed invention except obtaining first location information corresponding to the terminal device, wherein the first location information indicates whether the terminal device is located inside the vehicle or outside the vehicle.
However, Hamada discloses a method and system for vehicle communication wherein vehicle cabin inside or outside determining process, a position estimating technology using transmission and reception of radio signals between the in-vehicle device and the portable device is used (Patent Documents 1 to 3 and the like). The position estimating technology using transmission and reception of radio signals is largely divided into a range-based system and a range-free system. The range-based system is a method in which, in the vehicle cabin inside or outside determining process, special information relating to a radio signal that is transmitted and received between a plurality of on-vehicle antennas disposed at different positions in a vehicle and a portable device, for example, a received signal strength indication (RSSI), a time of arrival (TOA), a time difference of arrival (TDOA), an angle of arrival (AOA), or the like of a radio signal is measured by the in-vehicle device or the portable device, and the position of the portable device is estimated based on a difference between measurement results. In contrast to this, the range-free system is a method in which, in the vehicle cabin inside or outside determining process, based on the presence or absence of a response signal for a detection signal between an on-vehicle antenna of which the position is known and the portable device, a relative position (presence/absence) is estimated in the in-vehicle device or the portable device ([0004]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the method and system of Hannon, by making use of the technique taught by Hamada, in order to improve the accuracy of location estimation.
Both references are within the same field of telecommunication, and in particular of vehicle communication, the modification does not change a fundamental operating principle of Hannon, nor does Hannon teach away from the modification (Hannon merely discloses a preferred embodiment). The combination has a reasonable expectation of success in that the modifications can be made using conventional and well known engineering and/or programming techniques, the method and system taught by Hamada is not altered and continues to perform the same function as separately, and the resultant combination produces the highly predictable result of obtaining first location information corresponding to the terminal device, wherein the first location information indicates whether the terminal device is located inside the vehicle or outside the vehicle.
Re Claim 41, the combined teachings disclose the method according to claim 38, wherein the second trigger condition is met in response to: detecting that the vehicle is parked; detecting that a distance between the terminal device and the vehicle meets a first distance condition; detecting that a displacement of the terminal device meets a preset displacement; or obtaining a second instruction, wherein the second instruction triggers the terminal device to obtain the first location information (the vehicle sound system may be configured to transmit the acoustic signals while the vehicle engine is running [0096]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 34-35, 39-40, 44-45 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Kim et al. (US 2023/0224981 A1) – user location detection method and system
Aasen et al. (US 11733345 B2) – location-based functionality using acoustic location determination techniques
Buttolo et al. (US 2017/0149946 A1) – simplified connection to and disconnection from vehicle computing systems
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KENNETH T LAM whose telephone number is (571)270-1862. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30-5:00 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Hannah S. Wang can be reached at (571) 272-9018. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/KENNETH T LAM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2631
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