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 Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 3-5, 11, 13-14 and 19 and are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a1) as being anticipated by Ghosh (US-12256350-B1).
Regarding claims 1, 4-5, 11, 14 and 19, Ghosh discloses a system comprising:
at least one gateway device (the ground station 106 may act as a network gateway, col. 7, lines 28-29); and
a relay device (The ground stations 106 may pass data between the satellites 102, col. 7, lines 17-18), a device pass data is a relay) in communication with the at least one gateway device, wherein the relay device is configured to:
generate, via a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) component, a plurality
of pulse per second (PPS) signals based on establishing a connection with at least one
GNSS satellite, wherein the plurality of PPS signals is time synchronized with a GNSS
Clock (see Fig. 5)(primary external source is a GNSS constellation 502, col. 17, line 55-56);
determine a first PPS signal (a primary PPS signal 508, col. 18, lines17-18) of the plurality of PPS signals associated with the at least one gateway device sending a beacon (gateway is implemented to broadcast, see also downlink data 114 in Fig. 5, col. 17, line) to at least one end device;
based on the determined first PPS signal, determine a second PPS signal of the plurality of PPS signals associated with sending a message to the at least one gateway device, the second PPS signal occurring before the first PPS signal (the primary PPS system 174); and
send the message to the at least one gateway device based on detecting an edge of
the second PPS signal (the primary PPS signal 508 is indicative of a start time of a second, col. 18, lines 17-18),
wherein the at least one gateway device is configured to utilize a time associated with
receipt of the message at the at least one gateway device to determine that the at least one
gateway device is time synchronized with the GNSS clock (PPS selector system 178, Fig. 5).
Regarding claims 3, 13, Ghosh discloses wherein the at least one gateway device is not configured to establish a connection with the at least one GNSS satellite (not all the ground station is configured to connect with GNSS satellite or visible to satellites).
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.
Claim(s) 2, 12 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ghosh (US-12256350-B1) as applied to claims 1, 11 and 19 above, and further in view of Arora (EP-3840454-A1).
Regarding claims 2, 12 and 20, Ghosh does not specifically disclose use of LoRaWAN in class B communication. However, Arora teaches use of such system as a choice with balance system regarding latency and energy consumption (abstract). It would have been obvious to modify Ghosh with Arora by implementing LoRaWAN among multiple ground stations spread out in a large area in order to achieve efficient synchronization.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6-10, 15-18 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 HARRY K LIU whose telephone number is (571)270-1338. The examiner can normally be reached on every M-F 10 AM to 6:30 PM.
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/HARRY K LIU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3645 Tel: (571) 270-1338
Fax: (571) 270-2338
Email: harry.liu@uspto.gov