CTNF 18/778,064 CTNF 100671 Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. Drawings 06-22 AIA The drawings are objected to because Page 9 of the specification, paragraph 0051 reads “The graph 160 generally has an X-axis 162 in units of degrees” and the corresponding Fig. 4 reads “164” on both the X and Y axis. Element 162 is not found in any of the Figures. Page 9 of the specification, paragraph 0052 reads “ A curve 182 illustrates an example measurement…” and in the corresponding Fig. 4, element 182 is not found . Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 07-06 AIA 15-10-15 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. 07-07-aia AIA 07-07 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 – 07-08-aia AIA (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. 07-12-aia AIA (a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. 07-15-03-aia AIA Claim(s) 1, 6-11, and 16-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Nasr et al. (FR2934729A1) . Regarding claim 1, Nasr discloses A system comprising (see pg. 1, paragraph 1, “The present invention relates to a system and a method for locating a communicating mobile object.”) : a plurality of angle-of-arrival receivers operational to measure a plurality of directions between a transmitter and the plurality of angle-of-arrival receivers (see pg. 6, paragraph 2, “The extraction step is carried out from the set of signals received by the fixed receivers and consists of extracting at least the following 30 data: - the angles between the respective arrival directions of the d1 and d2 paths on each fixed receiver Rxl and Rx2”) , wherein the transmitter moves within a volume (see pg. 1, paragraph 1, “The present invention relates to a system and a method for locating a communicating mobile object. It is particularly applicable to the localization of one or more communicating mobile objects in a confined or indoor environment. Examples include locating a shopping cart in a supermarket, or locating a trolley in a warehouse”; transmitter can be moving in a confined/indoor environment, like a grocery cart in a supermarket; pg. 10, paragraph 2, transmitter can be a moving object) ; a plurality of time-of-arrival receivers operational to measure a plurality of distances between the transmitter and the plurality of time-of-arrival receivers (see pg. 5, paragraph 4, “To this end, the invention is based on the use of the starting directions, the arrival directions and the delay times of the signals emitted by the transmitter.”; pg. 6, paragraph 2, “The extraction step is carried out from the set of signals received by the fixed receivers and consists of extracting at least the following 30 data: - the angles between the respective arrival directions of the d1 and d2 paths on each fixed receiver Rxl and Rx2, and a reference direction of a fixed reference frame of the environment, the relative angles between the respective departure directions of the d paths from the object to be located, the time differences separating the arrival of the paths on each of the receiving networks and the time differences separating the arrival of the paths arriving on different receivers”; pg. 10, paragraph 2, “We simultaneously measure the relative departure directions and the absolute arrival directions of the paths, as well as the relative delays between the travel times of the signals that followed each of the paths linking the transmitter to the receivers.”) ; and a processing circuit coupled to the plurality of angle-of-arrival receivers and the plurality of time-of-arrival receivers (see Fig. 2, processing unit 3) , wherein the processing circuit is operational to: determine a location of the transmitter in three dimensions within the volume based on the plurality of directions and the plurality of distances (see pg. 16, paragraph 2, “The position of the transmitter Tx is then determined by this processing unit 3,”; pg. 16, paragraph 3, “it is possible to apply the method of the invention to determine the three dimensional coordinates of the transmitter Tx.”) ; and report the location of the transmitter to additional circuitry (see pg. 16, paragraph 3, “The processing unit 3 is preferably located away from each of the fixed receivers Rxl, Rx2, and communicates with these receivers via wired or wireless means.”; pg. 17, paragraph 1, “Furthermore, the representation of the system of the invention in Figure 2 is a functional, non-limiting representation. In particular, it would be perfectly reasonable to place the entire intelligence of the system, including the processing unit 3, in one of the fixed receivers Rxl or Rx2, as explained above. It is also possible to split a module into different sub-modules 5 physically arranged in different places in the system.”) . Regarding claim 6, Nasr further discloses The system according to claim 1, wherein to determine the location of the transmitter, the processing circuit is further operational to: perform a two-stage localization operation on the plurality of directions and the plurality of distances (see Fig. 2, elements 2 and 3 happen after signal reception 4) . Regarding claim 7, Nasr further discloses The system according to claim 6, wherein a first stage of the two-stage localization operation includes: determine a plurality of pseudo locations of the transmitter within the volume based on the plurality of distances (see pg. 12 last paragraph – pg. 13, paragraph 1, “It is therefore assumed that the characterized paths are the direct path if it exists, and the paths having undergone only one reflection or one diffraction. If it turned out that one of the characterized paths had undergone multiple reflections and could not be identified as such during processing, this would lead to a decrease in localization accuracy. 20 In the example 24-05-2026 - Page 12 shown in Figure 1, we limit ourselves, to illustrate the process and without this being limiting, to two possible paths between the object Tx and each receiver Rxl and Rx2. In this variant, if other possible routes exist, we nevertheless limit ourselves to characterizing the two shortest and/or 25 most energy-efficient routes as indicated above. However, considering other paths that have undergone at most one reflection or diffraction, if they exist, improves the accuracy of the localization.”; pg. 10, paragraph 3, “The equations are formulated assuming that all paths undergo one and only one reflection or diffraction. However, in the case of a direct 30 ray, the reflection point resulting from the processing phase will be a "fictitious" point located on the path linking the emitter to the receiver.”) . Regarding claim 8, Nasr further discloses The system according to claim 7, wherein a second stage of the two-stage localization operation includes: determine one of the plurality of pseudo locations as the location of the transmitter based on the plurality of directions (see pg. 9, paragraph 3, “In the present invention, a certain number of paths (at least equal to 2) are taken into account among the possible paths arriving on each of the 15 receiving networks, which have the highest energies. We can therefore expect to detect in this case the direct path (if it exists) and the paths that have undergone reflection or, possibly, diffraction. Paths that have undergone multiple reflections will, on the other hand, be very attenuated, with each reflection resulting in a loss of signal energy. If such a route could not be identified as such after processing, and therefore could not be rejected, its contribution may increase the error on the location of the mobile. If we therefore take into account paths that have undergone reflection or diffraction, there is an additional unknown compared to the hypothesis of 25 free space (direct path only), the position of the point of reflection or diffraction being unknown.”) . Regarding claim 9, Nasr further discloses The system according to claim 8, wherein the second stage of the two-stage localization operation includes: remove one or more out-of-view pseudo locations of the plurality of pseudo locations that is hidden from one or more of the plurality of angle-of-arrival receivers prior to the determination of the location (see pg. 8, paragraph 2, “The processing device includes, for each fixed receiver, a module for selecting the characteristics of the most energetic paths received by the fixed receiver and arriving within a given time gap.”) . Regarding claim 10, Nasr further discloses The system according to claim 1, wherein: the transmitter is a mobile phone operational to transmit a signal detectable by the plurality of angle-of-arrival receivers and the plurality of time-of-arrival receivers (see pg. 5, paragraph 4, “More specifically, the invention relates, according to a first aspect, to a method for locating a communicating mobile object. The object is equipped with a network of at least Ntx transmission elements, with Ntx greater than or equal to two, each of these transmission elements being capable of emitting signals… these receiving elements being capable of receiving the signals emitted by each of the emitting elements of the moving object”) . Regarding claim 11, the same cited sections and rationale from claim 1 are applied. Regarding claims 16-19, the same cited sections and rationale for claims 6-9 are applied. The only difference between claims 6-9 and claims 16-19 is that claims 6-9 refer to an apparatus while claims 16-19 refer to a method. The examiner considers Nasr pg. 1, paragraph 1 (“ The present invention relates to a system and a method for locating a communicating mobile object. ”) to show that the positioning apparatus performs the positioning method of claims 16-19. Regarding claim 20, the same cited sections and rationale from claim 1 are applied. Nasr further discloses A vehicle comprising: a cabin that defines a volume, wherein the volume is sized to hold one or more occupants and a transmitter, and the one or more occupants are operational to move the transmitter within the volume (see pg. 1, paragraph 1, “The present invention relates to a system and a method for locating a communicating mobile object. It is particularly applicable to the localization of one or more communicating mobile objects in a confined or indoor environment. Examples include locating a shopping cart in a supermarket, or locating a trolley in a warehouse.”; a cabin volume could be an indoor environment like a supermarket, and a supermarket customer with a shopping cart could be an occupant moving a transmitter) ; Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-06 AIA 15-10-15 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. 07-20-aia AIA 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. 07-23-aia AIA 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. 07-20-02-aia AIA 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. 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 2 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nasr et al. (FR2934729A1) in view of Wang et al. (CN 116148767 A) . Regarding claim 2, Wang discloses The system according to claim 1, wherein to determine the location of the transmitter the processing circuit is further operational to: perform a time-dependent weighted linear least squares operation on the plurality of directions and the plurality of distances (see pg. 4, paragraph 1, “Construct the weighted least squares problem with constraints according to the special orthogonal group that Qo needs to satisfy…”) . It would have been obvious to someone with ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the features as disclosed by Wang into the invention of Nasr. Both Nasr and Wang are considered analogous arts to the claimed invention as they both disclose positioning localization methods to detect a moving transmitter. Nasr discloses the limitations of claim 1; however, Nasr fails to disclose performing a time-dependent weighted linear least squares operation on the directions and distances. This feature is disclosed by Wang where the method of localization includes a weighted least squares operation on the received signal data. The combination of Nasr and Wang would be obvious with a reasonable expectation of success in order to obtain more accurate measurements for direction and distanced, improving the accuracy of positioning of the transmitter. Regarding claim 12, the same cited sections and rationale from claim 2 are applied . Allowable Subject Matter None of the prior art of record teach or suggest the subject matter of dependent claims 3-5 and claims 13-15 . The prior art of record does not anticipate or render fairly obvious in combination to teach all of the additional limitations of the claimed invention, such as a trustworthiness analysis including a spatial consistency analysis and a temporal consistency analysis, as best understood within the context of Applicant’s claimed invention as a whole. Accordingly, claims 3 and 13 are deemed to have allowable subject matter. Claims 4-5 and 14-15 could also be considered allowable subject matter by virtue of their dependence on allowable claims. 12-151-08 AIA 07-43 12-51-08 Claim s 3-5 and 13-15 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. Additional Relevant Art 07-96 AIA The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure and may be found on the accompanying PTO-892 Notice of References Cited: US 20180014151 A1 (Kratz) ; A method of determining a reference clock in a mesh network includes receiving multiple signals, correlating the multiple signals with a local signal generated by the first node to determine a coarse set of time differences, refining the coarse set of time differences using a phase of a carrier signal of the multiple signals to produce a refined set of time differences, and using the refined set of time differences to define a reference clock. A method of tracking transmitters includes receiving a signal from a transmitter, assigning an identifier to the transmitter, using radiolocation to track a location of the transmitter, recording the location and movement data of the transmitter, and releasing the identifier. A method of tracking a transmitter includes receiving a transmitted signal from the transmitter, demodulating the transmitted signal at the first node to produce a demodulated local signal, receiving a demodulated remote signal, autocorrelating the demodulated local signal and the demodulated remote signal to recover first timing differences between the demodulated remote signal and the demodulated local signal, and using the first timing difference to acquire a location of the third-party transmitter. US 20120319903 A1 (Huseth) ; A system includes a three dimensional antenna and mobile devices that wirelessly communicate with the antenna. A phase of arrival and a phase difference of arrival are calculated, and a distance between the three dimensional antenna and the mobile device is calculated. A direction between the three dimensional antenna and the mobile device is calculated. The direction calculation includes an angular spread function of multipath scattering in the communication between the three dimensional antenna and the mobile device. The direction calculation further includes an estimation of a propagation delay and an angle in the communication between the three dimensional antenna and the mobile device. US 20160334498 A1 (Jamieson) ; A method and apparatus are provided for determining the location of a mobile device using multiple wireless access points, each wireless access point comprising multiple antennas. The method comprises receiving a communication signal from the mobile device at said multiple antennas of said multiple wireless access points. For each wireless access point, angle-of-arrival information of the received communication signal at the wireless access point is determined, based on a difference in phase of the received signal between different antennas. The determined angle-of-arrival information for the received communication signal from the mobile device is then collected from each of the multiple wireless access points, and the location of the mobile device is estimated from the collected angle-of-arrival information. The determining of the angle-of-arrival information for a wireless access point includes compensating for a non-zero elevation of the mobile device with respect to the wireless access point. US 10921416 B1 (Wilden) ; Multivariate position estimation can be performed to provide a position estimate of a moving object. The multivariate position estimation approach can employ multiple types of information including time of arrival (or time difference of arrival), angle of arrival, Doppler, and/or prior location information in an iterative process to calculate a location estimate that is highly accurate. In particular, the multivariate position estimation approach can employ the statistical quality of each of these types of information to quickly arrive at a highly accurate position estimate within a 3D coordinate system. The multivariate position estimation approach can be implemented in environments where a single receiver is available as well as in environments where multiple receivers exist. CN 115436874 A (Wang) ; The invention claims a three-dimensional passive locating method, for locating the target by the N + 1 mixed base station locating system, comprising the following steps: S1, obtaining the target TDOA and AOA, and performing time alignment; S2, constructing a monitoring station, the geometric relation of the reference station and the target position, using the geometric relationship and the definition of the TDOA and AOA, establishing the linear equation of the TDOA and AOA about the target position, and obtaining the linear matrix equation of the target position in parallel, S3, solving the estimation value of the target position by weighted least square method, and analyzing the influence of the measured noise on the positioning result. The invention can locate the target at least only by two base stations, and only one base station for measuring the target TDOA can observe the AOA of the target to obtain the closed solution of the target position, the calculation complexity is low, the locating performance can reach the CRLB precision. CA 3107601 A1 (Wilson) ; A safety sensing system implements a method for a person in an industrial environment comprises providing a personnel locator device (10) for location on a person and a reference system comprising a plurality of nodes (20) located at predetermined locations in the industrial environment (100). Radio ranging signals are transmitted between the nodes (20) and the personnel locator device (10) and measurements of times of flight of the radio ranging signals are derived. The location of the personnel locator device (10) is calculated based on the measurements of the times of flight of the radio ranging signals and reference information representing the predetermined locations of the nodes (10). It is determined if the calculated location of the personnel locator device (10) is within one or more danger zones in the industrial environment (100) and a warning signal is output in response thereto. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ISABELLA A EDRADA whose telephone number is (571)272-4859. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri 9am-5pm EST. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, William Kelleher can be reached at (571) 272-7753. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /ISABELLA AMEYALI EDRADA/Examiner, Art Unit 3648 /TIMOTHY A BRAINARD/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3648 Application/Control Number: 18/778,064 Page 2 Art Unit: 3648 Application/Control Number: 18/778,064 Page 3 Art Unit: 3648 Application/Control Number: 18/778,064 Page 4 Art Unit: 3648 Application/Control Number: 18/778,064 Page 5 Art Unit: 3648 Application/Control Number: 18/778,064 Page 7 Art Unit: 3648 Application/Control Number: 18/778,064 Page 8 Art Unit: 3648 Application/Control Number: 18/778,064 Page 9 Art Unit: 3648 Application/Control Number: 18/778,064 Page 10 Art Unit: 3648 Application/Control Number: 18/778,064 Page 11 Art Unit: 3648 Application/Control Number: 18/778,064 Page 12 Art Unit: 3648 Application/Control Number: 18/778,064 Page 13 Art Unit: 3648 Application/Control Number: 18/778,064 Page 14 Art Unit: 3648 Application/Control Number: 18/778,064 Page 15 Art Unit: 3648 Application/Control Number: 18/778,064 Page 16 Art Unit: 3648 Application/Control Number: 18/778,064 Page 17 Art Unit: 3648
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