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 .
Status of the Claims
Claims 1 and 5-16 are pending. Claims 1, 5, 10, and 14-16 are amended. Claims 2-4 are canceled.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 08 August 2024 was filed before the mailing date of the first Office Action on the merits. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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 and 5-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ou (CN 113911181 A).
In regards to claim 1, Ou discloses an interconnection and intercommunication method for a virtual marshalling train control system in a heavy haul railway, comprising:
determining a switching area (see machine translation, para. [n0095], line 1, “execution point 1”) (as seen in Fig. 1, the circled intersections are switching areas 1-4) for switching ground equipment between an existing line (para. [n0069], “standard A, standard B, standard C”) and a virtual marshalling line (para. [n0069], “standard D”), wherein the step of determining said switching area comprises arranging a ground equipment switching balise group in an overlapped co-management area (as seen in Fig. 1, the circled intersection is an overlapped co-management area) of the virtual marshalling line and the existing line (para. [n0096]), and setting an area where the ground equipment switching balise group is located as the switching area for switching the ground equipment (as seen in Fig. 1, the circled intersections are switching areas 1-4);
switching a ground equipment control right when a train runs to within a range of the switching area (para. [n0095], lines 1-3), wherein the ground equipment control right is handed over and switched by the on-board equipment (102) (Fig. 2) of the train and wherein the step of handing over and switching the ground equipment control right by the on-board equipment of the train comprises:
when the train runs to the switching area (para. [n0095], lines 1-3), sending, by radio block center equipment in the existing line (para. [n0092], lines 1-2), a ground equipment switching command to the on-board equipment of the train (para. [n0095], lines 1-3);
receiving, by the on-board equipment, the ground equipment switching command, sending a communication session establishment request instruction to resource management equipment (para. [n0092], lines 3-10, “dispatch center D”) in the virtual marshalling line, and establishing, by the resource management equipment, a communication session with the on-board equipment after receiving the communication session establishment request instruction (para. [n0092], lines 11-15);
and when the train runs to completely pass through the switching area, performing interaction on ground equipment control right switching information by the established communication session (para. [n0095], lines 4-10); and
after switching of the ground equipment control right is completed, sending, by the ground equipment in the virtual marshalling line, a marshalling command to the on-board equipment of the train (para. [n0095], lines 4-10), and virtually marshalling, by the on-board equipment, the train corresponding to the on-board equipment and a front train (para. [n0095], lines 4-10) in a formation based on the marshalling command (as seen in Fig. 1, trains T-D, T-B, and T_C are in a formation).
In regards to claim 5, Ou discloses the interconnection and intercommunication method for a virtual marshalling train control system in a heavy haul railway according to claim 1, wherein after the ground equipment control right is handed over and switched, the method further comprises: terminating, by the on-board equipment, a communication connection with the radio block center equipment (para. [n0095], lines 1-3, “loses communication with dispatch center C”), and performing interaction on train operation safety data with the resource management equipment through the communication session, to complete the switching of the ground equipment (para. [n0095], lines 4-10).
In regards to claim 6, Ou discloses the interconnection and intercommunication method for a virtual marshalling train control system in a heavy haul railway according to claim 5, further comprising: when the train runs to a jurisdictional boundary of an existing management system corresponding to the existing line (para. [n0096]), causing the radio block center equipment to start to perform interaction on the ground equipment switching information with the resource management equipment (para. [n0092], lines 1-2).
In regards to claim 7, Ou discloses the interconnection and intercommunication method for a virtual marshalling train control system in a heavy haul railway according to claim 6, wherein after the switching of the ground equipment is completed, the method further comprises: sending, by the resource management equipment (para. [n0092]), line resource information; and receiving, by the on-board equipment, the line resource information, and monitoring an operating condition of the train based on the line resource information (para. [n0095], lines 4-10).
In regards to claim 8, Ou discloses the interconnection and intercommunication method for a virtual marshalling train control system in a heavy haul railway according to claim 7, wherein after the switching of the ground equipment is completed, and before the resource management equipment sends the marshalling command to the on-board equipment, the method further comprises: obtaining, by the resource management equipment, a train marshalling plan (para. [n0109]), checking a train operation line condition based on the train marshalling plan, and sending the marshalling command to the on-board equipment after checking that the train operation line condition meets a train marshalling condition (para. [n0101], “protects the speed and safety of train T_C during the virtual formation operation with corresponding strategies”).
In regards to claim 9, Ou discloses the interconnection and intercommunication method for a virtual marshalling train control system in a heavy haul railway according to claim 8, wherein before the on-board equipment virtually marshals the train corresponding to the on-board equipment and the front train in the formation based on the marshalling command, the method further comprises: determining, by the on-board equipment, whether the train meets a marshalling condition based on the marshalling command, and virtually marshalling the train (para. [n0101], “train T_C”) and the front train (para. [n0101], “train T_B”) in the formation when the train meets the marshalling condition (para. [n0101], “protects the speed and safety of train T_C during the virtual formation operation with corresponding strategies”).
In regards to claim 10, Ou discloses the interconnection and intercommunication method for a virtual marshalling train control system in a heavy haul railway according to claim 9, wherein the step of virtually marshalling, by the on-board equipment, the train corresponding to the on- board equipment and the front train in the formation based on the marshalling command comprises:
in the case where the on-board equipment is on-board equipment in a first one of a train set to be marshalled, determining, by the on-board equipment, that the train meets a formation establishment condition, and informing trains in the formation to prepare for marshalling (para. [n0092], lines 7-16, “lead vehicle T_D sends the grouping request information”);
establishing, by the on-board equipment, train-train communication between the train and the front train in the formation (para. [n0092], lines 7-16), and performing interaction on train operation information through the train-train communication (para. [n0095], lines 4-10); and
calculating, by the on-board equipment, a relative position-based end of movement authority based on operation information of the train and operation information of the front train, and virtually marshalling the train and the front train (para. [n0095], lines 4-10).
In regards to claim 11, Ou discloses the interconnection and intercommunication method for a virtual marshalling train control system in a heavy haul railway according to claim 10, wherein the on- board equipment completes virtual marshalling of the train and the front train in a manner that a tracking distance between the train and the front train is shortened and reaches a preset value (para. [n0097], “distance between train T_C and train T_B reaches the ideal interval for virtual formation”).
In regards to claim 12, Ou discloses the interconnection and intercommunication method for a virtual marshalling train control system in a heavy haul railway according to claim 10, wherein the train operation information comprises speed, acceleration and real-time position information of the train (para. [n0095], lines 4-10).
In regards to claim 13, Ou discloses the interconnection and intercommunication method for a virtual marshalling train control system in a heavy haul railway according to claim 9, wherein the on- board equipment for determining whether the train meets the marshalling condition based on the marshalling command is on-board equipment in a first one of a train set to be marshalled (para. [n0092], lines 4-13, “lead car T_D sends a grouping consent message”).
In regards to claim 14, An interconnection and intercommunication system for a virtual marshalling train control system in a heavy haul railway, comprising:
a determination module configured to determine a switching area (para. [n0095], line 1, “execution point 1”) (as seen in Fig. 1, the circled intersections are switching areas 1-4) for switching ground equipment between an existing line (para. [n0069], “standard A, standard B, standard C”) and a virtual marshalling line (para. [n0069], “standard D”), wherein the determination module determines an overlapped co-management area (as seen in Fig. 1, the circled intersection is an overlapped co-management area) of the virtual marshalling line and the existing line and, when a train in a train set runs to the switching area (para. [n0095], lines 1-3), sends a determination instruction that the train runs to the switching area;
a switching module operatively connected to the determination module and configured to switch a ground equipment control right (para. [n0092], lines 1-2) when the train runs to within a range of the switching area (para. [n0095], lines 1-3), wherein after receiving the determination instruction, the switching module confirms that the train runs to the switching area and then switches the ground equipment control right by an on- board equipment of the train (para. [n0092]), and sends a ground equipment switching completion instruction (para. [n0095], lines 1-3); and
a marshalling module operatively connected to the switching module and configured to receive a marshalling command after switching of the ground equipment control right is completed, and to virtually marshal the train and a front train in a formation based on the marshalling command (para. [n0095], lines 4-10), wherein the marshalling module confirms that the switching of the ground equipment control right is completed (para. [n0097], “officially joins virtual formation”) after receiving the ground equipment switching completion instruction and receives the marshalling command from a virtual marshalling resource management update (RMU) system (para. [n0092]).
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.
Claim(s) 15-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ou (CN 113911181 A) in view of Fiquet (US 20210016812 A1).
In regards to claim 15, Ou teaches a
Ou does not explicitly teach a computer readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, wherein the computer program is executed by a processor.
Fiquet teaches a computer readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, wherein the computer program is executed by a processor (para. [0047]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the interconnection and intercommunication method for a virtual marshalling train control system in a heavy haul railway of Ou to include a computer readable storage medium and a processor as taught by Fiquet with a reasonable expectation of success for the purpose of increasing the speed at which the method is executed since it has been held that broadly providing a mechanical or automatic means to replace manual activity which has accomplished the same result involves only routine skill in the art. In re Venner, 262 F.2d 91, 95, 120 USPQ 193, 194 (CCPA 1958). See MPEP § 2144.04(III).
In regards to claim 16, Ou teaches
Ou does not explicitly teach an electronic device, comprising a processor and a memory, wherein the memory has a computer program stored thereon, and when the computer program is executed by the processor.
Fiquet teaches an electronic device, comprising a processor and a memory, wherein the memory has a computer program stored thereon, and when the computer program is executed by the processor (para. [0047]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the interconnection and intercommunication method for a virtual marshalling train control system in a heavy haul railway of Ou to include an electronic device, comprising a processor and a memory, wherein the memory has a computer program stored thereon, and when the computer program is executed by the processor as taught by Fiquet with a reasonable expectation of success for the purpose of increasing the speed at which the method is executed since it has been held that broadly providing a mechanical or automatic means to replace manual activity which has accomplished the same result involves only routine skill in the art. In re Venner, 262 F.2d 91, 95, 120 USPQ 193, 194 (CCPA 1958). See MPEP § 2144.04(III).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Wu (US 20230013788 A1) discloses a method and apparatus for tracking and controlling virtual marshalling trains.
Zhang (CN 113247051 A1) discloses a train control method and system based on virtual grouping.
Song (CN 113247056 A) discloses a mobile authorization method and device.
Han (CN 113212495 A) discloses a switch resource control method of virtual marshalling.
Xia (CN 112519836 A) discloses an automatic switching method and system of train running modes.
Ren (US 10399585 B2) discloses a method of controlling hybrid operation of trains having different formation lengths.
Liu (CN 108791366 A) discloses a multi-train control method and system using virtual coupling.
Huang (CN 107685749 A) discloses a vehicle-vehicle communication based on a virtual coupling marshalling of train control systems.
Wang (CN 107554556 A) discloses heavy haul railway systems with wireless communications.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMES WILLIAM JONES whose telephone number is (571)270-7063. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 11am-7pm.
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/JAMES WILLIAM JONES/ Examiner, Art Unit 3615
/S. Joseph Morano/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3615
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