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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. CN 202111574469.2, filed on 12/21/2021.
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Drawings
The drawings were received on 06/19/2024. These drawings are acceptable.
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.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over O'Brien et al. (Hereinafter “O’Brien”, US 20140248898), in view of Chen (Hereinafter “Chen”, US 20240272292), and further in view of SEKIYA et al. (Hereinafter “Sekiya”, US 20210358236).
Regarding claim 1, 13, and 14 O’Brien discloses: A method for positioning a mobile terminal, comprising:
acquiring a ranging distance between each of a plurality of UWB anchors and the mobile terminal in a current period, to obtain a plurality of ranging distances;; : (i.e., Referring to FIG. 3, the vehicle system 10 determines a distance between the wireless device 12 and each node (main base station 14 and auxiliary base stations 16) using TOF. As described in paragraph [0034]).
O’Brien discloses all limitations recited within claims as described above. But does not expressly disclose features of these claims:
determining, according to a plurality of ranging distances, a target area where the mobile terminal is located in the current period from a plurality of preset areas.
And calculating position coordinates of the mobile terminal in the current period according to the target area where the mobile terminal is located in the current period and the ranging distance between each of the plurality of UWB anchors and the mobile terminal in the current period.
In similarly endeavor, Chen discloses: determining, according to a plurality of ranging distances, a target area where the mobile terminal is located in the current period from a plurality of preset areas; : (i.e., In some embodiments, the step S110 may specifically include: acquiring information of first ultra-wideband radio waves between each anchor antenna 2 and the target tag 200 in a preset region. As described in paragraph [0060]).
Chen further discloses an apparatus for positioning a mobile terminal, comprising a memory and a processor; A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, having stored there on a computer program; wherein the memory stores a computer program that, when being executed by the processor, causes the processor to perform operations. (i.e., In another aspect, the present disclosure further provides a vehicle-mounted positioning apparatus employing ultra-wideband, including a processor and a memory, wherein the memory stores at least one instruction or at least one program. As described in paragraph [0018]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of applicant’s claimed invention to have incorporated the teachings of Chen into the invention of O’Brien in order to provide a more accurate calculation of the ranging distance and position coordinate of the mobile terminal.
The combination of O’Brien and Chen fails to teach: calculating position coordinates of the mobile terminal in the current period according to the target area where the mobile terminal is located in the current period and the ranging distance between each of the plurality of UWB anchors and the mobile terminal in the current period.
In a similar endeavor, Sekiya discloses calculating position coordinates of the mobile terminal in the current period according to the target area where the mobile terminal is located in the current period and the ranging distance between each of the plurality of UWB anchors and the mobile terminal in the current period. (i.e., The vehicular position estimation system includes: a position coordinate calculation portion that calculates a position coordinate of the portable terminal by combining the distance information generated by the three or more in-vehicle communication devices and an installation position of each of the in-vehicle communication devices that has generated the distance information; and an area inside-outside determination portion that determines whether the portable terminal is present in a system actuation area that is a region within a predetermined system actuation distance from an area formation station, based on a communication status between the portable terminal and the area formation station that is a predetermined in-vehicle communication device among the multiple in-vehicle communication devices. As described in paragraph [0022]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of applicant’s claimed invention to have incorporated the teachings of Sekiya into the invention of O’Brien and Chen in order to provide a more accurate calculation of the ranging distance and position coordinate of the mobile terminal.
Regarding claim 2, 3 and 15, O’Brien, Chen, and Sekiya disclose all limitations recited within claims as described above.
Chen further discloses wherein
the plurality of UWB anchors comprise six UWB anchors, wherein two UWB anchors of the six UWB anchors are respectively located on a left side and a right side of a front grille of the vehicle, two UWB anchors of the six UWB anchors are respectively located on a left side and a right side of a tailgate of the vehicle, and two UWB anchors of the six UWB anchors are located in a middle area of a ceiling of the vehicle and are separately set along a length direction of a vehicle body; the area outside the vehicle comprises a front area outside the vehicle, a rear area outside the vehicle, a front-left area outside the vehicle, a rear-left area outside the vehicle, a front-right area outside the vehicle and a rear-right area outside the vehicle; (i.e., In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the multiple anchor antennas 2 are divided into a plurality of groups that are arranged in different preset installation regions of the vehicle, and each group includes at least one anchor antenna 2. As described in paragraph [0037]).
And the area inside the vehicle comprises a front-left area inside the vehicle, a front-right area inside the vehicle, a rear-left area inside the vehicle and a rear-right area inside the vehicle. (i.e., The preset installation regions may include, but are not limited to, a left front region 101, a right front region 102, a left rear region 103, a right rear region 104, a left region 105, a right region 106, a roof region 107, or the like, As described in paragraph [0038]).
Combination of O’Brien and Chen does not disclose features of these claims:
wherein the plurality of preset areas are areas determined based on a vehicle, and the plurality of preset areas comprise an area outside the vehicle and an area inside the vehicle.
In similarly endeavor, Sekiya further discloses: wherein the plurality of preset areas are areas determined based on a vehicle, and the plurality of preset areas comprise an area outside the vehicle and an area inside the vehicle. (i.e., Further, a case where the three-dimensional estimation position calculated by the position coordinate calculation portion F51 does not match the presence area of the portable terminal 2 determined by the presence area determination portion F52 is a case where the three-dimensional estimation position is located outside the presence area of the portable terminal 2 determined by the presence area determination portion F52. As described in paragraph [0134]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of applicant’s claimed invention to have incorporated the teachings of Sekiya into the invention of O’Brien, and Chen in order to provide a more accurate calculation of the ranging distance and position coordinate of the mobile terminal.
Regarding claim 4, and 16 O’Brien, Chen, and Sekiya disclose all limitations recited within claims as described above.
In similarly endeavor, Chen further discloses: wherein determining, according to the plurality of ranging distances, the target area where the mobile terminal is located in the current period from the plurality of preset areas comprises:
determining, according to position coordinates of the mobile terminal in a previous period, boundary demarcation data of a target area where the mobile terminal is located in the previous period, wherein the boundary demarcation data comprise a demarcation distance from each of boundary demarcation points to each of the plurality of UWB anchors; : (i.e., In practical applications, the target tag 200 may be repositioned at an interval of a second preset time by the currently determined optimal positioning anchor antenna group, and the latest positioning result and the previous positioning result are compared to judge whether the position of the target tag 200 changes. And/or, the above steps S110 to S120 may be repeated at an interval of a third preset time, and the latest estimated position and the previous estimated position are compared to judge whether the position of the target tag 200 changes. As described in paragraph [0127]).
And in response to an absolute value of a first difference value, which is between the demarcation distance from each of the boundary demarcation points to each of the plurality of UWB anchors and a ranging distance corresponding to the each UWB anchor, being greater than a set value, determining the target area of the mobile terminal in the previous period as the target area of the mobile terminal in the current period. (i.e., ) if a monitoring result is yes, judging whether a first optimal positioning anchor antenna group currently for positioning is matched with the current position of the target tag 200. [0129] S230: if a judgment result is no, re-determining a second optimal positioning anchor antenna group according to the current position of the target tag 200. If the judgment result is yes, the step S210 is executed again. As described in paragraph [0128]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of applicant’s claimed invention to have incorporated the teachings of Chen into the invention of O’Brien, and Sekiya in order to provide a more accurate calculation of the ranging distance and position coordinate of the mobile terminal.
Regarding claim 6, and 19 O’Brien, Chen, and Sekiya disclose all limitations recited within claims as described above.
In similarly endeavor, O’Brien further discloses: wherein before determining the boundary demarcation data of the target area where the mobile terminal is located in the previous period, the method further comprises:
acquiring a displacement of the mobile terminal in the current period; . (i.e., The vehicle system calculates the displacement (d.sub.x, d.sub.y and d.sub.z) of the wireless device 12 in each direction (x, y, z) by taking the second integral of the corresponding filtered acceleration value. As described in paragraph [0050]).
And determining the set value according to the displacement of the mobile terminal in the current period. (i.e., The vehicle system estimates a present distance vector ({right arrow over (D)}.sub.p) and a heading of the wireless device based on the displacement values (d.sub.x, d.sub.y and d.sub.z) using a Kalman filter. As described in paragraph [0051]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of applicant’s claimed invention to have incorporated the teachings of O’Brien into the invention of Chen, and Sekiya in order to provide a more accurate calculation of the ranging distance and position coordinate of the mobile terminal.
Regarding claim 8, and 20 O’Brien, Chen, and Sekiya disclose all limitations recited within claims as described above.
In similarly endeavor, Chen further discloses wherein calculating the position coordinates of the mobile terminal in the current period according to the target area where the mobile terminal is located in the current period and the ranging distance between each of the plurality of UWB anchors and the mobile terminal in the current period comprises:
determining a confidence corresponding to each of the plurality of UWB anchors in the current period according to the target area where the mobile terminal is located in the current period; (i.e., In practical applications, the preset region may include a plurality of sub-regions, and the table of the corresponding relationships records preset corresponding relationships between the sub-regions and the positioning anchor antenna groups for positioning. As described in paragraph [0084]).
And calculating the position coordinates of the mobile terminal in the current period according to the confidence corresponding to each of the plurality of UWB anchors in the current period and the ranging distance between each of the plurality of UWB anchors and the mobile terminal in the current period. (i.e., matching the estimated position with the sub-regions in the table of the corresponding relationships to determine a sub-region containing the estimated position. As described in paragraph [0085]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of applicant’s claimed invention to have incorporated the teachings of Chen into the invention of O’Brien, and Sekiya in order to provide a more accurate calculation of the ranging distance and position coordinate of the mobile terminal.
Regarding claim 9 O’Brien, Chen, and Sekiya disclose all limitations recited within claims as described above
In similarly endeavor, Chen further discloses: wherein calculating the position coordinates of the mobile terminal in the current period according to the confidence corresponding to each of the plurality of UWB anchors in the current period and the ranging distance between each of the plurality of UWB anchors and the mobile terminal in the current period comprises:
multiplying the confidence corresponding to each of the plurality of UWB anchors by the ranging distance corresponding to the each UWB anchor in the current period, to obtain a corrected ranging distance from each of the plurality of UWB anchors to the mobile terminal in the current period; (i.e., multiplying the ranking values of each first ultra-wideband signal by corresponding weight coefficients, As described in paragraph [0123]).
calculating the position coordinates of the mobile terminal in the current period according to the corrected ranging distance corresponding to each of the plurality of UWB anchors and position coordinates of each of the plurality of UWB anchors (i.e., determining the optimal positioning anchor antenna group according to the comprehensive ranking value, As described in paragraph [0124]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of applicant’s claimed invention to have incorporated the teachings of Chen into the invention of O’Brien, and Sekiya in order to provide a more accurate calculation of the ranging distance and position coordinate of the mobile terminal.
Regarding claim 10 O’Brien, Chen, and Sekiya disclose all limitations recited within claims as described above.
In similarly endeavor, O’Brien further discloses: the method further comprising:
acquiring a displacement of the mobile terminal in the current period; (i.e., The vehicle system calculates the displacement (d.sub.x, d.sub.y and d.sub.z) of the wireless device 12 in each direction (x, y, z) by taking the second integral of the corresponding filtered acceleration value. As described in paragraph [0050]).
calculating predicted coordinates of the mobile terminal in the current period according to position coordinates of the mobile terminal in the previous period and the displacement of the mobile terminal in the current period; (i.e., This normalized data is then processed to determine a heading and a displacement (d1, d2, d3) between the wireless device 12 oriented at a previous position (e.g., the initial position) and the present position, by taking the first and second integral of the x and y axis accelerations. As described in paragraph [0049]).
wherein calculating the position coordinates of the mobile terminal in the current period according to the target area where the mobile terminal is located in the current period and the ranging distance between each of the plurality of UWB anchors and the mobile terminal in the current period comprises:
calculating measurement coordinates of the mobile terminal in the current period according to the target area where the mobile terminal is located in the current period and the ranging distance between each of the plurality of UWB anchors and the mobile terminal in the current period; (i.e., The vehicle system estimates a present distance vector ({right arrow over (D)}.sub.p) and a heading of the wireless device based on the displacement values (d.sub.x, d.sub.y and d.sub.z) using a Kalman filter. As described in paragraph [0051]).
And fusing the measurement coordinates and the predicted coordinates to obtain the position coordinates of the mobile terminal in the current period. (i.e., The Kalman filter algorithm estimates a state using a two-step process including a time update prediction step, and a measurement update step. As described in paragraph [0052]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of applicant’s claimed invention to have incorporated the teachings of O’Brien into the invention of Chen, and Sekiya in order to provide a more accurate calculation of the ranging distance and position coordinate of the mobile terminal.
Allowable Subject Matter
Regarding Claim 5, 7, 17 and 19: Claim 5, 7, 17, and19 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
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ERIC M. VO whose telephone number is (571)272-9854. The examiner can normally be reached T-F; 7:30 - 5:30.
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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 571-270-5371. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Eric M. Vo/Examiner, Art Unit 2644
/KATHY W WANG-HURST/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2644
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