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 Claims
This communication is in response to application No 18/838,583 filed on 08/14/2024.
Claims 1-27 are currently pending and have been examined. Claims 1-27 have been rejected as
follows.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 08/14/2024 is being considered
by the examiner.
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. PCT/US2022/016496, filed on 02/15/2022.Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's amendment and/or arguments with respect to the rejections under 35 USC 112b, as set forth in the office action of 19 November 2025 have been considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the claim rejections under 35 USC 112b as set forth in the office action of 19 November 2025 have been withdrawn.
Applicant's amendment and/or arguments with respect to the rejection of claims
under 35 USC 101 and 35 USC 103 as set forth in the office action of 19 November 2025 have been considered and:
With regard to the rejection under 35 USC 101, the applicant respectfully disagrees. Claim 1 recites data gathering, a simple judgment capable of being made in the human mind, and displaying data. Data gathering and post solution displaying are considered insignificant; whereas the simple judgement is directed to an abstract idea. Therefore, applicant's amendment and/or arguments with respect to the 35 USC 101, as set forth in the office action of 19 November 2026 have been considered and are NOT persuasive.
The applicant further states that the rejection under 35 USC 103 is traversed due to Halsey not describing the performance metrics of onboard services and instead only outlines forecasting service ability.
Furthermore, Halsey does not disclose any collection, analysis, or display of actual performance metrics such as throughput, latency, or error rates from a network performance monitor onboard the vehicle. Instead, Halsey repeatedly references forecast tables and coverage maps for upcoming segments, stating that "a table of forecast coverage information 1507 for an upcoming segment... may be presented to the user."
Search has been updated and the addressed limitations are taught below.
Applicant’s amendments and/or arguments with respect to the rejection of claims 1-27 under 35 USC 103 as set forth in the office action of 19 November 2025 have been considered but are moot because the new ground(s) of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1-27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more.
101 Analysis – Step 1
Claim 1 is directed to a method of visualizing flight services (i.e., a process). Therefore, claim 1 is within at least one of the four statutory categories.
101 Analysis – Step 2A, Prong I
Regarding Prong I of the Step 2A analysis in the 2019 PEG, the claims are to be analyzed to determine whether they recite subject matter that falls within one of the follow groups of abstract ideas: a) mathematical concepts, b) certain methods of organizing human activity, and/or
mental processes.
Independent claim 1 includes limitations that recite an abstract idea (emphasized below) and will be used as a representative claim for the remainder of the 101 rejection.
Claim 1 recites:
A method for visualizing an interactive transport path with service performance dependent features in a graphical user interface displayed on a display device of a computing device, the method comprising
displaying, on a-thedisplay device of the computing device, a map viewer comprising a geographic area map
obtaining a transport path of a trip of a vehicle, wherein the transport path comprises one or more trip segments within the geographic area map,
each trip segment having a corresponding trip segment start location and a corresponding trip segment end location along the transport path;
measuring, using a network performance monitor unit, corresponding status of an onboard service provided by an onboard service management system in communication with the network performance monitor unit during each corresponding trip segment of the one or more trip segments of the trip of the vehicle,
the corresponding status being generated based on metrics data collected by the network performance monitor for the onboard service management system providing the onboard services provided during the trip of the vehicle;
obtaining a corresponding trip segment icon, of one or more trip segment icons, for each corresponding trip segment of the one or more trip segments, each trip segment icon having a feature that represents the corresponding status of the onboard service provided during the corresponding trip segment;
and displaying, in the map viewer on the display device, the one or more trip segment icons corresponding to the one or more trip segments, wherein each trip segment icon of the one or more trip segment icons is placed according to the corresponding trip segment start location and the corresponding trip segment end location of the corresponding trip segment.
The examiner submits that the foregoing bolded limitation(s) constitute a “mental
process” because under its broadest reasonable interpretation, the claim covers performance of the limitation in the human mind. For example, “obtaining...” in the context of this claim encompasses a person looking at data collected and forming a simple judgement. Accordingly, the claim recites at least one abstract idea.
Regarding Prong II of the Step 2A analysis in the 2019 PEG, the claims are to be analyzed to determine whether the claim, as a whole, integrates the abstract into a practical application. As noted in the 2019 PEG, it must be determined whether any additional elements in the claim beyond the abstract idea integrate the exception into a practical application in a manner that imposes a meaningful limit on the judicial exception. The courts have indicated that additional elements merely using a computer to implement an abstract idea, adding insignificant extra solution activity, or generally linking use of a judicial exception to a particular
technological environment or field of use do not integrate a judicial exception into a “practical application.”
In the present case, the additional limitations beyond the above-noted abstract idea are as follows (where the underlined portions are the “additional limitations” while the bolded portions continue to represent the “abstract idea”):
Claim 1 recites:
A method for visualizing an interactive transport path with service performance dependent features in a graphical user interface displayed on a display device of a computing device, the method comprising
displaying, on a-thedisplay device of the computing device, a map viewer comprising a geographic area map
obtaining a transport path of a trip of a vehicle, wherein the transport path comprises one or more trip segments within the geographic area map,
each trip segment having a corresponding trip segment start location and a corresponding trip segment end location along the transport path;
measuring, using a network performance monitor unit, corresponding status of an onboard service provided by an onboard service management system in communication with the network performance monitor unit during each corresponding trip segment of the one or more trip segments of the trip of the vehicle,
the corresponding status being generated based on metrics data collected by the network performance monitor for the onboard service management system providing the onboard services provided during the trip of the vehicle;
obtaining a corresponding trip segment icon, of one or more trip segment icons, for each corresponding trip segment of the one or more trip segments, each trip segment icon having a feature that represents the corresponding status of the onboard service provided during the corresponding trip segment;
and displaying, in the map viewer on the display device, the one or more trip segment icons corresponding to the one or more trip segments, wherein each trip segment icon of the one or more trip segment icons is placed according to the corresponding trip segment start location and the corresponding trip segment end location of the corresponding trip segment.
For the following reason(s), the examiner submits that the above identified additional limitations do not integrate the above-noted abstract idea into a practical application.
Regarding the additional limitations of “generating...” and “displaying...,” the examiner submits that these limitations are insignificant extra-solution activities that merely use a computer to perform the process. In particular, the receiving steps about the connectivity and location are recited at a high level of generality, and amounts to mere data gathering, which is a form of insignificant extra-solution activity. The displaying results step is also recited at a high level of generality, and amounts to mere post solution displaying, which is a form of insignificant extra-solution activity.
Thus, taken alone, the additional elements do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application. Further, looking at the additional limitation(s) as an ordered combination or as a whole, the limitation(s) add nothing that is not already present when looking at the elements taken individually. For instance, there is no indication that the additional elements, when considered as a whole, reflect an improvement in the functioning of a computer or an improvement to another technology or technical field, apply or use the above-noted judicial exception to effect a particular treatment or prophylaxis for a disease or medical condition, implement/use the above-noted judicial exception with a particular machine or manufacture that is integral to the claim, effect a transformation or reduction of a particular article to a different state or thing, or apply or use the judicial exception in some other meaningful way beyond generally linking the use of the judicial exception to a particular technological environment, such that the claim as a whole is not more than a drafting effort designed to monopolize the exception (MPEP § 2106.05). Accordingly, the additional limitation(s) do/does not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application because it does not impose any meaningful limits on practicing the abstract idea.
101 Analysis – Step 2B
Regarding Step 2B of the 2019 PEG, representative independent claim 1 does not include additional elements (considered both individually and as an ordered combination) that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception for the same reasons to those discussed above with respect to determining that the claim does not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application.
Further, a conclusion that an additional element is insignificant extra-solution activity in Step 2A should be re-evaluated in Step 2B to determine if they are more than what is well-understood, routine, conventional activity in the field. The additional limitations of “generating...” and “displaying” are well-understood, routine, and conventional activities. MPEP 2106.05(d)(II), and the cases cited therein, including Intellectual Ventures I, LLC v. Symantec Corp., 838 F.3d 1307, 1321 (Fed. Cir. 2016), TLI Communications LLC v. AV Auto. LLC, 823F.3d 607, 610 (Fed. Cir. 2016), and OIP Techs., Inc., v. Amazon.com, Inc., 788 F.3d 1359, 1363 (Fed. Cir. 2015), indicate that mere collection or receipt of data over a network is a well-understood, routine, and conventional function when it is claimed in a merely generic manner.
The additional limitation of “displaying...,” is a well-understood, routine, and conventional activity because the Federal Circuit in Trading Techs. Int’l v. IBG LLC, 921 F.3d 1084, 1093 (Fed. Cir. 2019), and Intellectual Ventures I LLC v. Erie Indemnity Co., 850 F.3d 1315, 1331 (Fed. Cir. 2017), for example, indicated that the mere displaying of data is a well understood, routine, and conventional function. Hence, the claim is not patent eligible.
Dependent claim(s) 2-7, 9-14, 16-27 do not recite any further limitations that cause the claim(s) to be patent eligible. Rather, the limitations of dependent claims are directed toward additional aspects of the judicial exception and/or well-understood, routine and conventional additional elements that do not integrate the judicial exception into a practical application because they amount to data processing and displaying. Therefore, dependent claims 2-7, 9-14, 16-27 are not patent eligible under the same rationale as provided for in the rejections of 1, 8 and 15.
Therefore, claim(s) 1-27 is/are ineligible under 35 USC §101.
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.
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 1-27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C 102 as being unpatentable over Halsey (US 20210183254 A1) in view of Walsh (US 20200005639 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Halsey discloses A method for visualizing an interactive transport path with service performance dependent features in a graphical user interface displayed on a display device of a computing device, the method comprising: (see at least [005]; "coupling the flight path with the service coverage data to generate an integrated flight path that indicates service available and unavailable portions of the flight path; providing the connectivity forecast display information of the system through a web portal such that a user having an electronic device may communicate with a processor of the system via the web portal, ") Halsey
displaying, on a-thedisplay device of the computing device, a map viewer comprising a geographic area map; (see at least [0012]; "Further, the system and method of the invention may operate to cause the aircraft flight path to be graphically displayed, or otherwise presented, as a series of segments superimposed on a map in which each segment represents a portion of the flight path,") Halsey
obtaining a transport path of a trip of a vehicle, wherein the transport path comprises one or more trip segments within the geographic area map, (see at least [0012]; "Further, the system and method of the invention may operate to cause the aircraft flight path to be graphically displayed, or otherwise presented, as a series of segments superimposed on a map in which each segment represents a portion of the flight path, indicating the highest priority service provider available, if any, for each segment. "
each trip segment having a corresponding trip segment start location and a corresponding trip segment end location along the transport path; (see at least [0033]; "With reference to FIG. 1, shown is a view of a flight plan visualized on a map. Before flight, flight operators, such as airliners, may provide flight plans so that the flight plans may be used in the aircraft during flight. These flight plans contain a starting point 101, an ending point 102, and waypoints 103 between the starting and ending points.")
obtaining a corresponding trip segment icon, of one or more trip segment icons, for each corresponding trip segment of the one or more trip segments, each trip segment icon having a feature that represents the corresponding status of the onboard service provided during the corresponding trip segment; and (see at least [0056]; "The information of the integrated flight path may include portions of the flight path in which the network service is unavailable. The information may be displayed in the display device 335 of the connectivity forecast system 330. The service available and unavailable portions of the flight path may be shown with different color code or with different visual representations such as solid lines and dotted lines.")
displaying, in the map viewer on the display device, the one or more trip segment icons corresponding to the one or more trip segments, wherein each trip segment icon of the one or more trip segment icons is placed according to the corresponding trip segment start location and the corresponding trip segment end location of the corresponding trip segment. (see at least [0033, 0056]; "With reference to FIG. 1, shown is a view of a flight plan visualized on a map. Before flight, flight operators, such as airliners, may provide flight plans so that the flight plans may be used in the aircraft during flight. These flight plans contain a starting point 101, an ending point 102, and waypoints 103 between the starting and ending points. These starting and ending points 101 and 102 and the waypoints 103 may be represented by latitude and longitude points (coordinates)…The information of the integrated flight path may include portions of the flight path in which the network service is unavailable. The information may be displayed in the display device 335 of the connectivity forecast system 330. The service available and unavailable portions of the flight path may be shown with different color code or with different visual representations such as solid lines and dotted lines.")
Halsey does not explicitly disclose measuring, using a network performance monitor unit, corresponding status of an onboard service provided by an onboard service management system in communication with the network performance monitor unit during each corresponding trip segment of the one or more trip segments of the trip of the vehicle, the corresponding status being generated based on metrics data collected by the network performance monitor for the onboard service management system providing the onboard services provided during the trip of the vehicle;
However, Welsh teaches provided by an onboard service management system in communication with the network performance monitor unit during each corresponding trip segment of the one or more trip segments of the trip of the vehicle, (see at least [0012, 0029]; "In some embodiments, at least one visual feature of the first vehicle icon may indicate a status level of the performance data. For example, the status level may be based on one or more of a data rate, a signal quality value, a latency, and a packet loss rate of the network communication service….In some embodiments, a respective network performance monitoring unit 120a-b may be positioned in a communication path between the vehicles 110a-b and the network 130, so as to monitor forward and/or return link performance of service provided to the vehicles 110a-b.") Walsh
the corresponding status being generated based on metrics data collected by the network performance monitor for the onboard service management system providing the onboard services provided during the trip of the vehicle; (see at least [0039]; "In some embodiments, the metrics aggregator 208 may include instructions that configure the control circuitry 202 to collect one or more performance metrics for a communication service provided to a monitored vehicle, such as an aircraft, and store the performance metric data 224 in the data storage 220. The metrics aggregator 208 may aggregate performance metrics for the communication service. For example, in some embodiments, the metrics aggregator 208 may generate an average, maximum, minimum, mean, and/or median of two or more communication service performance metrics for a communication service provided on a vehicle for at least one trip of the vehicle.")
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 Halsey to incorporate the teachings of Walsh which teaches a status of service provided by and the metric data of the service by a network monitor during a trip of the vehicle in order to be able to be aware of the current status of service to be able to tell if issues are related to the service or not.
Regarding claim 2, Halsey discloses The method of Claim 1, wherein the corresponding status of an onboard service provided during the corresponding trip segment, of the one or more trip segments, includes aggregated information about onboard services provided during the corresponding trip segment. (see at least [0063, 0073, Fig. 11, Fig. 15] ; "FIG. 11 shows a graph displayed at a bottom of a connectivity visualization map. The graph shows flight information and network service information. Users may choose which items to display on the graph by touching the color-coded legend above the graph. Selecting the protocol analysis section will present the user with examples of data traffic for each category of their data… Still referring to FIG. 15, in embodiments, a table of forecast coverage information 1507 for an upcoming, i.e. next, segment, such as time at which it is expected the flight will encounter the next segment, the distance expected to be covered over the next segment, the highest priority available service provider for the next segment, and the time at which it is expected the flight leave the next segment. Any or all of this information, in any combination, may be presented to the user, for example in table form, on a display of the system, or on page displayed via a web portal wherein a user of the system may use a computing device in wireless or wired communication with a processor of the system for
the purpose of retrieving the display information described herein from the processor to display on the user's computing device.)
Regarding claim 3, Halsey disclosesThe method of Claim 2, wherein the aggregated information about onboard services provided during the corresponding trip segment includes aggregated information about one or more of: an inflight entertainment (IFE) service, an inflight connectivity (IFC) service, an IFE session service, a Wi-Fi connectivity service, a Wi-Fi session service, a TV service, a TV session service, a data session service, a promotional session service, an email service, or a texting service. (see at least [0007, 0060]; "The connectivity forecast system may further include a display device, and the displaying the integrated flight path may include displaying the integrated flight path on the display device. In embodiments, the display device may be a display of an electronic device that is in communication with the one or more processors of the system directly or via any network or communication interface as is known in the art, such as, for example, through any Internet connection, wireless interface (such as IEEE 802.11, Bluetooth®, Zibgee® or any other wireless connection) or wired interface (such as, for example, Ethernet) or any combination of such networking and communication systems….Flight Monitoring Emails. Passengers can sign up to receive automated updates from the connectivity forecast system while the aircraft is in flight. Updates are delivered to the email inbox of passengers and include flight tracking, data usage, and protocol analysis.")
Regarding claim 4, Halsey discloses (Original) The method of Claim 1, wherein the feature is represented using one or more of: a shape, a color, a pattern, a shade, a dotted line, a broken line, or a color-pattern. (see at least [0035, 0040]; "Satellite Internet providers may supply coverage data for their partners in certain formats such as keyhole markup language (KML) files. These files provide shapes representing geographical areas…The
sub-coverage data may be represented on a map as coverage cells. FIG. 5 shows exemplary coverage cells 521 and 522 that are represented in oval shapes. FIG. 7 shows exemplary coverage cells 700 that are represented in honey-comb shapes (FIG. 5 actually shows a combination of oval-shaped and honey-comb shaped sub-coverage cells; the different shapes may represent Internet coverage data of different satellite Internet providers)… he flight path is coupled with the coverage map to visualize portions of the flight path in which the services are available. These portions of the flight path may be color coded according to the availability of Internet services along the flight path. Alternatively, these portions of the flight paths may be shown by other representations, such as but not limited to showing connectivity in solid lines, dotted lines, and the like. ")
Regarding claim 5, Halsey discloses The method of Claim 1, further comprising: obtaining a first indication of a first hovering event of a pointing device over a first trip segment icon of the one or more trip segment icons; (see at least [0063]; "FIG. 11 shows a graph displayed at a bottom of a connectivity visualization map. The graph shows flight information and network service information. Users may choose which items to display on the graph by touching the color-coded legend above the graph.")
in response to obtaining the first indication of the first hovering event: displaying at a first location nearby the first trip segment icon in the map viewer, (see at least [0063]; "FIG. 11 shows a graph displayed at a bottom of a connectivity visualization map. The graph shows flight information and network service information. Users may choose which items to
display on the graph by touching the color-coded legend above the graph…Selecting any point along the flight path or the usage graph will show the data for that given point in the flight. ")
a first message indicating a corresponding first status of onboard service provided during a first trip segment corresponding to the first trip segment icon; (see at least [0063]; "FIG. 11 shows a graph displayed at a bottom of a connectivity visualization map. The graph shows flight information and network service information. Users may choose which items to display on the graph by touching the color-coded legend above the graph…Selecting any point along the flight path or the usage graph will show the data for that given point in the flight. ")
and obtaining a second indication of a second hovering event of the pointing device over a second trip segment icon of the one or more trip segment icons:in response to obtaining the second indication of the second hovering event: (see at least [0063]; "FIG. 11 shows a graph displayed at a bottom of a connectivity visualization map. The graph shows flight information and network service information. Users may choose which items to display on the graph by touching the color-coded legend above the graph…Selecting any point along the flight path or the usage graph will show the data for that given point in the flight. ")
removing the first message from the map viewer, (see at least [0063]; "To return to the previous menu, simply touch the “Back to Flight List” shown under the tail number at the top of the page.")
and displaying at a second location nearby the second trip segment icon in the map viewer, a second message indicating a corresponding second status of onboard service provided during a second trip segment corresponding to the second trip segment icon. (see at least [0063]; "FIG. 11 shows a graph displayed at a bottom of a connectivity visualization map. The graph shows flight information and network service information. Users may choose which items to display on the graph by touching the color-coded legend above the graph…Selecting any point along the flight path or the usage graph will show the data for that given point in the flight. ")
Regarding claim 6, Halsey discloses The method of Claim 1, wherein each trip segment of the one or more trip segments is displayed as a segment overlay over the geographic area map. (see at least [0069]; "A user of the system and method of the invention need only observe the segments as displayed on a display of the their electronic device to gain a quick understanding of which service provider is the highest priority service provider for any segment, and to visually relate the segment to geopolitical boundaries and other features displayed on the underlying map.")
Regarding claim 7, Halsey discloses The method of Claim 1, wherein the transport path of the trip of the vehicle has a trip start location and a trip end location; (see at least [0033]; "These flight plans contain a starting point 101, an ending point 102, and waypoints 103 between the starting and ending points.")
the method further comprising: determining a trip start location icon corresponding to the trip start location of the trip, (see at least [0033]; "These starting and ending points 101 and 102 and the waypoints 103 may be represented by latitude and longitude points (coordinates). ")
and displaying, in the map viewer, the trip start location icon as a start overlay over the geographic area map at the trip start location along the transport path; (see at least [0038]; "The connectivity forecast system 330 may convert the retrieved flight plan data into coordinate data, or otherwise determine coordinate data from the retrieved flight plan, that allows the connectivity forecast system 330 to determine the geographic location of the beginning of the flight path, each waypoint on the flight path, and the end of the flight path.")
and determining a trip end location icon corresponding to the trip end location of the trip, (see at least [0038];" The connectivity forecast system 330 may convert the retrieved flight plan data into coordinate data, or otherwise determine coordinate data from the retrieved flight plan, that allows the connectivity forecast system 330 to determine the geographic location of the beginning of the flight path, each waypoint on the flight path, and the end of the flight path.")
anddisplaying, in the map viewer, the trip end location icon as an end overlay over the geographic area map at the trip end location along the transport path. (see at least [0038];" The connectivity forecast system 330 may convert the retrieved flight plan data into coordinate data, or otherwise determine coordinate data from the retrieved flight plan, that allows the connectivity forecast system 330 to determine the geographic location of the beginning of the flight path, each waypoint on the flight path, and the end of the flight path.")
Regarding claim 8, Halsey discloses An apparatus for visualizing an interactive transport path with service performance dependent features, the apparatus comprising: a processor, memory in electronic communications with the processor; and instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor to cause the processor to perform: (see at least [007]; “As a non-limiting example, a user's electronic device may comprise a display device, a processor, a physical media memory and a human user interface in communication with one another, the physical media memory containing non-transitory computer readable and executable instructions, and circuits, for receiving input data and commands from a user such as a keyboard, touchscreen, microphone for receiving voice commands, or other human interface elements as are known in the art, that is in communication with a processor of the system through any wired or wireless connection, such as, for example only, through a wireless router, or through any satellite, ground-to-air or other data link”)
displaying, in a graphical user interface displayed on a display deviceof a computing device, a map viewer comprising a geographic area map;(see at least [0012]; "Further, the system and method of the invention may operate to cause the aircraft flight path to be graphically displayed, or otherwise presented, as a series of segments superimposed on a map in which each segment represents a portion of the flight path,")
obtaining a transport path of a trip of a vehicle, wherein the transport path comprises one or more trip segments within the geographic area map, (see at least [0012]; "Further, the system and method of the invention may operate to cause the aircraft flight path to be graphically displayed, or otherwise presented, as a series of segments superimposed on a map in which each segment represents a portion of the flight path, indicating the highest priority service provider available, if any, for each segment. ")
each trip segment having a corresponding trip segment start location and a corresponding trip segment end location along the transport path; (see at least [0033]; "With reference to FIG. 1, shown is a view of a flight plan visualized on a map. Before flight, flight operators, such as airliners, may provide flight plans so that the flight plans may be used in the aircraft during flight. These flight plans contain a starting point 101, an ending point 102, and waypoints 103 between the starting and ending points.")
btaining a corresponding trip segment icon, of one or more trip segment icons, for each corresponding trip segment of the one or more trip segments, each trip segment icon having a feature that represents the corresponding status of the onboard service provided during the corresponding trip segment; (see at least [0056]; "The information of the integrated flight path may include portions of the flight path in which the network service is unavailable.
The information may be displayed in the display device 335 of the connectivity forecast system 330. The service available and unavailable portions of the flight path may be shown with different color code or with different visual representations such as solid lines and dotted lines.")
and displaying in the map viewer on the display device, the one or more trip segment icons corresponding to the one or more trip segments, wherein each trip segment icon of the one or more trip segment icons is placed according to the corresponding trip segment start location and the corresponding trip segment end location of the corresponding trip segment. (see at least [0033, 0056]; "With reference to FIG. 1, shown is a view of a flight plan visualized on a map. Before flight, flight operators, such as airliners, may provide flight plans so that the flight plans may be used in the aircraft during flight. These flight plans contain a starting point 101, an ending point 102, and waypoints 103 between the starting and ending points. These starting and ending points 101 and 102 and the waypoints 103 may be represented by latitude and longitude points (coordinates)…The information of the integrated flight path may include portions of the flight path in which the network service is unavailable. The information may be displayed in the display device 335 of the connectivity forecast system 330. The service available and unavailable portions of the flight path may be shown with different color code or with different visual representations such as solid lines and dotted lines.")
Halsey does not explicitly teach measuring, using a network performance monitor unit, corresponding status of an onboard service provided by an onboard service management system in communication with the network performance monitor unit during each corresponding trip segment of the one or more trip segments of the trip of the vehicle, the corresponding status being generated based on metrics data collected by the network performance monitor for the onboard service management system providing the onboard services provided during the trip of the vehicle.
However, Walsh teaches measuring, using a network performance monitor unit, corresponding status of an onboard service provided by an onboard service management system in communication with the network performance monitor unit during each corresponding trip segment of the one or more trip segments of the trip of the vehicle, (see at least [0012, 0029]; "In some embodiments, at least one visual feature of the first vehicle icon may indicate a status level of the performance data. For example, the status level may be based on one or more of a data rate, a signal quality value, a latency, and a packet loss rate of the network communication service….In some embodiments, a respective network performance monitoring unit 120a-b may be positioned in a communication path between the vehicles 110a-b and the network 130, so as to monitor forward and/or return link performance of service provided to the vehicles 110a-b.")
the corresponding status being generated based on metrics data collected by the network performance monitor for the onboard service management system providing the onboard services provided during the trip of the vehicle; (see at least [0039]; "In some embodiments, the metrics aggregator 208 may include instructions that configure the control circuitry 202 to collect one or more performance metrics for a communication service provided to a monitored vehicle, such as an aircraft, and store the performance metric data 224 in the data storage 220. The metrics aggregator 208 may aggregate performance metrics for the communication service. For example, in some embodiments, the metrics aggregator 208 may generate an average, maximum, minimum, mean, and/or median of two or more communication service performance metrics for a communication service provided on a vehicle for at least one trip of the vehicle.")
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 Halsey to incorporate the teachings of Walsh which teaches a status of service provided by and the metric data of the service by a network monitor during a trip of the vehicle in order to be able to be aware of the current status of service to be able to tell if issues are related to the service or not.
Regarding claim 9, Halsey discloses The apparatus of Claim 8, wherein the corresponding status of an onboard service provided during the corresponding trip segment, of the one or more trip segments, includes aggregated information about onboard services provided during the corresponding trip segment. (see at least [0063, 0073, Fig. 11, Fig. 15] ; "FIG. 11 shows a graph displayed at a bottom of a connectivity visualization map. The graph shows flight information and network service information. Users may choose which items to display on the graph by touching the color-coded legend above the graph. Selecting the protocol analysis section will present the user with examples of data traffic for each category of their data… Still referring to FIG. 15, in embodiments, a table of forecast coverage information 1507 for an upcoming, i.e. next, segment, such as time at which it is expected the flight will encounter the next segment, the distance expected to be covered over the next segment, the highest priority available service provider for the next segment, and the time at which it is expected the flight leave the next segment. Any or all of this information, in any combination, may be presented to the user, for example in table form, on a display of the system, or on page displayed via a web portal wherein a user of the system may use a computing device in wireless or wired communication with a processor of the system for the purpose of retrieving the display information described herein from the processor to display on the user's computing device.)
Regarding claim 10, Halsey discloses The apparatus of Claim 9, wherein the aggregated information about onboard services provided during the corresponding trip segment includes aggregated information about one or more of: an inflight entertainment (IFE) service, an inflight connectivity (IFC) service, an IFE session service, a Wi-Fi connectivity service, a Wi-Fi session service, a TV service, a TV session service, a data session service, a promotional session service, an email service, or a texting service. (see at least [0007, 0060]; "The connectivity forecast system may further include a display device, and the displaying the integrated flight path may include displaying the integrated flight path on the display device. In embodiments, the display device may be a display of an electronic device that is in communication with the one or more processors of the system directly or via any network or communication interface as is known in the art, such as, for example, through any Internet connection, wireless interface (such as IEEE 802.11, Bluetooth®, Zibgee® or any other wireless connection) or wired interface (such as, for example, Ethernet) or any combination of such networking and communication systems….Flight Monitoring Emails. Passengers can sign up to receive automated updates from the connectivity forecast system while the aircraft is in flight. Updates are delivered to the email inbox of passengers and include flight tracking, data usage, and protocol analysis.")
Regarding claim 11, Halsey discloses The apparatus of Claim 8, wherein the feature is represented using one or more of: a shape, a color, a pattern, a shade, a dotted line, a broken line, or a color-pattern. (see at least [0035, 0040]; "Satellite Internet providers may supply coverage data for their partners in certain formats such as keyhole markup language (KML) files. These files provide shapes representing geographical areas…The sub-coverage data may be represented on a map as coverage cells. FIG. 5 shows exemplary coverage cells 521 and 522 that are represented in oval shapes. FIG. 7 shows exemplary coverage cells 700 that are represented in honey-comb shapes (FIG. 5 actually shows a combination of oval-shaped and honey-comb shaped sub-coverage cells; the different shapes may represent Internet coverage data of different satellite Internet providers)… he flight path is coupled with the coverage map to visualize portions of the flight path in which the services are available. These portions of the flight path may be color coded according to the availability of Internet services along the flight path. Alternatively, these portions of the flight paths may be shown by other representations, such as but not limited to showing connectivity in solid lines, dotted lines, and the like. ")
Regarding claim 12, The apparatus of Claim 8, storing additional instructions for: obtaining a first indication of a first hovering event of a pointing device over a first trip segment icon of the one or more trip segment icons; (see at least [0063]; "FIG. 11 shows a graph displayed at a bottom of a connectivity visualization map. The graph shows flight information and network service information. Users may choose which items to display on the graph by touching the color-coded legend above the graph.")
in response to obtaining the first indication of the first hovering event: displaying at a first location nearby the first trip segment icon in the map viewer, (see at least [0063]; "FIG. 11 shows a graph displayed at a bottom of a connectivity visualization map. The graph shows flight information and network service information. Users may choose which items to display on the graph by touching the color-coded legend above the graph…Selecting any point along the flight path or the usage graph will show the data for that given point in the flight. ")
a first message indicating a corresponding first status of onboard service provided during a first trip segment corresponding to the first trip segment icon; and (see at least [0063]; "FIG. 11 shows a graph displayed at a bottom of a connectivity visualization map. The graph shows flight information and network service information. Users may choose which items to display on the graph by touching the color-coded legend above the graph…Selecting any point along the flight path or the usage graph will show the data for that given point in the flight. ")
Obtaining a second indication of a second hovering event of the pointing device over a second trip segment icon of the one or more trip segment icons:(see at least [0063]; "FIG. 11shows a graph displayed at a bottom of a connectivity visualization map. The graph shows flight information and network service information. Users may choose which items to display on the graph by touching the color-coded legend above the graph…Selecting any point along the flight path or the usage graph will show the data for that given point in the flight. ")
in response to obtaining the second indication of the second hovering event: removing the first message from the map viewer, (see at least [0063]; "To return to the previous menu, simply touch the “Back to Flight List” shown under the tail number at the top of the page.")
and displaying at a second location nearby the second trip segment icon in the map viewer, a second message indicating a corresponding second status of onboard service provided during a second trip segment corresponding to the second trip segment icon. (see at least [0063]; "FIG. 11 shows a graph displayed at a bottom of a connectivity visualization map. The graph shows flight information and network service information. Users may choose which items to display on the graph by touching the color-coded legend above the graph…Selecting any point along the flight path or the usage graph will show the data for that given point in the flight. ")
Regarding claim 13, Halsey discloses The apparatus of Claim 8, wherein each trip segment of the one or more trip segments is displayed as a segment overlay over the geographic area map. (see at least [0069]; "A user of the system and method of the invention need only observe the segments as displayed on a display of the their electronic device to gain a quick understanding of which service provider is the highest priority service provider for any segment, and to visually relate the segment to geopolitical boundaries and other features displayed on the underlying map.")
Regarding claim 14, Halsey discloses The apparatus of Claim 8, wherein the transport path of the trip of the vehicle has a trip start location and a trip end location; (see at least [0033]; "These flight plans contain a starting point 101, an ending point 102, and waypoints 103 between the starting and ending points.")
wherein the apparatus stores additional instructions for: determining a trip start location icon corresponding to the trip start location of the trip, (see at least [0033]; "These starting and ending points 101 and 102 and the waypoints 103 may be represented by latitude and longitude points (coordinates). ")
and displaying, in the map viewer, the trip start location icon as a start overlay over the geographic area map at the trip start location along the transport path; (see at least [0038]; "The connectivity forecast system 330 may convert the retrieved flight plan data into coordinate data, or otherwise determine coordinate data from the retrieved flight plan, that allows the connectivity forecast system 330 to determine the geographic location of the beginning of the flight path, each waypoint on the flight path, and the end of the flight path.")
and determining a trip end location icon corresponding to the trip end location of the trip, (see at least [0038]; "The connectivity forecast system 330 may convert the retrieved flight plan data into coordinate data, or otherwise determine coordinate data from the retrieved flight plan, that allows the connectivity forecast system 330 to determine the geographic location of the beginning of the flight path, each waypoint on the flight path, and the end of the flight path.")
and displaying, in the map viewer, the trip end location icon as an end overlay over the geographic area map at the trip end location along the transport path. (see at least [0038]; "The connectivity forecast system 330 may convert the retrieved flight plan data into coordinate data, or otherwise determine coordinate data from the retrieved flight plan, that allows the connectivity forecast system 330 to determine the geographic location of the beginning of the flight path, each waypoint on the flight path, and the end of the flight path.")
Regarding claim 15, Halsey discloses One or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media storing computer code for visualizing an interactive transport path with service performance dependent features in a graphical user interface displayed on a display device of a computing device,, the computer code comprising instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform: (see at least [0007]; "As a non-limiting example, a user's electronic device may comprise a display device, a processor, a physical media memory and a human user interface in communication with one another, the physical media memory containing non-transitory computer readable and executable instructions, and circuits, for receiving input data and commands from a user such as a keyboard, touchscreen, microphone for receiving voice commands, or other human interface elements as are known in the art, that is in communication with a processor of the system through any wired or wireless connection, such as, for example only, through a wireless router, or through any satellite, ground-to-air or other data link. ")
displaying, on a display device of the computing device, a map viewer comprising a geographic area map; (see at least [Fig. 6, Fig. 11, 55]; "The integrated flight path showing service availability is displayed on a map (e.g., on a visual display on flight deck of plane), block 1407.")
obtaining a transport path of a trip of a vehicle, wherein the transport path comprises one or more trip segments within the geographic area map, (see at least [0012]; "Further, the system and method of the invention may operate to cause the aircraft flight path to be graphically displayed, or otherwise presented, as a series of segments superimposed on a map in which each segment represents a portion of the flight path, indicating the highest priority service provider available, if any, for each segment. ")
each trip segment having a corresponding trip segment start location and a corresponding trip segment end location along the transport path; (see at least [0033]; "With reference to FIG. 1, shown is a view of a flight plan visualized on a map. Before flight, flight operators, such as airliners, may provide flight plans so that the flight plans may be used in the aircraft during flight. These flight plans contain a starting point 101, an ending point 102, and waypoints 103 between the starting and ending points.")
obtaining a corresponding trip segment icon, of one or more trip segment icons, for each corresponding trip segment of the one or more trip segments, each trip segment icon having a feature that represents the corresponding status of the onboard service provided during the corresponding trip segment; (see at least [0056]; "The information of the integrated flight path may include portions of the flight path in which the network service is unavailable. The information may be displayed in the display device 335 of the connectivity forecast system 330. The service available and unavailable portions of the flight path may be shown with different color code or with different visual representations such as solid lines and dotted lines.")
and displaying in the map viewer on the display device, the one or more trip segment icons corresponding to the one or more trip segments, wherein each trip segment icon of the one or more trip segment icons is placed according to the corresponding trip segment start location and the corresponding trip segment end location of the corresponding trip segment. (see at least [0033, 0056]; "With reference to FIG. 1, shown is a view of a flight plan visualized on a map. Before flight, flight operators, such as airliners, may provide flight plans so that the flight plans may be used in the aircraft during flight. These flight plans contain a starting point 101, an ending point 102, and waypoints 103 between the starting and ending points. These starting and ending points 101 and 102 and the waypoints 103 may be represented by latitude and longitude points (coordinates)…The information of the integrated flight path may include portions of the flight path in which the network service is unavailable. The information may be displayed in the display device 335 of the connectivity forecast system 330. The service available and unavailable portions of the flight path may be shown with different color code or with different visual representations such as solid lines and dotted lines.")
Halsey does not explicitly disclose measuring, using a network performance monitor unit, corresponding status of an onboard service provided by an onboard service management system in communication with the network performance monitor unit during each corresponding trip segment of the one or more trip segments of the trip of the vehicle, the corresponding status being generated based on metrics data collected by the network performance monitor for the onboard service management system providing the onboard services provided during the trip of the vehicle.
However, Walsh teaches measuring, using a network performance monitor unit, corresponding status of an onboard service provided by an onboard service management system in communication with the network performance monitor unit during each corresponding trip segment of the one or more trip segments of the trip of the vehicle,(see at least [0012, 0029]; "In some embodiments, at least one visual feature of the first vehicle icon may indicate a status level of the performance data. For example, the status level may be based on one or more of a data rate, a signal quality value, a latency, and a packet loss rate of the network communication service….In some embodiments, a respective network performance monitoring unit 120a-b may be positioned in a communication path between the vehicles 110a-b and the network 130, so as to monitor forward and/or return link performance of service provided to the vehicles 110a-b.")
the corresponding status being generated based on metrics data collected by the network performance monitor for the onboard service management system providing the onboard services provided during the trip of the vehicle; (see at least [0039]; "In some embodiments, the metrics aggregator 208 may include instructions that configure the control circuitry 202 to collect one or more performance metrics for a communication service provided to a monitored vehicle, such as an aircraft, and store the performance metric data 224 in the data storage 220. The metrics aggregator 208 may aggregate performance metrics for the communication service. For example, in some embodiments, the metrics aggregator 208 may generate an average, maximum, minimum, mean, and/or median of two or more communication service performance metrics for a communication service provided on a vehicle for at least one trip of the vehicle.")
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 Halsey to incorporate the teachings of Walsh which teaches a status of service provided by and the metric data of the service by a network monitor during a trip of the vehicle in order to be able to be aware of the current status of service to be able to tell if issues are related to the service or not.
Regarding claim 16, Halsey discloses The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media of Claim 15, wherein the corresponding status of an onboard service provided during the corresponding trip segment, of the one or more trip segments, includes aggregated information about onboard services provided during the corresponding trip segment. (see at least [claim 1, 0063, 0073, Fig. 11, Fig. 15] ; "a non-transitory storage medium to store executable instructions; and one or more processors to execute the executable instructions that cause the one or more processors to perform operations to provide the status of the network services,…FIG. 11 shows a graph displayed at a bottom of a connectivity visualization map. The graph shows flight information and network service information. Users may choose which items to display on the graph by touching the color-coded legend above the graph. Selecting the protocol analysis section will present the user with examples of data traffic for each category of their data… Still referring to FIG. 15, in embodiments, a table of forecast coverage information 1507 for an upcoming, i.e. next, segment, such as time at which it is expected the flight will encounter the next segment, the distance expected to be covered over the next segment, the highest priority available service provider for the next segment, and the time at which it is expected the flight leave the next segment. Any or all of this information, in any combination, may be presented to the user, for example in table form, on a display of the system, or on page displayed via a web portal wherein a user of the system may use a computing device in wireless or wired communication with a processor of the system for the purpose of retrieving the display information described herein from the processor to display on the user's computing device.)
Regarding claim 17, Halsey discloses The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media of Claim 16, wherein the aggregated information about onboard services provided during the corresponding trip segment includes aggregated information about one or more of: an inflight entertainment (IFE) service, an inflight connectivity (IFC) service, an IFE session service, a Wi- Fi connectivity service, a Wi-Fi session service, a TV service, a TV session service, a data session service, a promotional session service, an email service, or a texting service. (see at least [0005, 0007, 0060]; "The connectivity forecast system includes a non-transitory or other physical storage medium to store non-transitory computer readable and executable instructions in communication with one or more processors to execute the executable instructions, and to retrieve and store information, that cause the one or more processors to perform the functions of the system and method described herein, including operations to provide the status and connectivity forecast of the network services. …The connectivity forecast system may further include a display device, and the displaying the integrated flight path may include displaying the integrated flight path on the display device. In embodiments, the display device may be a display of an electronic device that is in communication with the one or more processors of the system directly or via any network or communication interface as is known in the art, such as, for example, through any Internet connection, wireless interface (such as IEEE 802.11, Bluetooth®, Zibgee® or any other wireless connection) or wired interface (such as, for example,
Ethernet) or any combination of such networking and communication systems….Flight
Monitoring Emails. Passengers can sign up to receive automated updates from the connectivity forecast system while the aircraft is in flight. Updates are delivered to the email inbox of passengers and include flight tracking, data usage, and protocol analysis.")
Regarding claim 18, Halsey discloses The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media of Claim 15, wherein the feature is represented using one or more of: a shape, a color, a pattern, a shade, a dotted line, a broken line, or a color-pattern. (see at least [0035, 0040]; "Satellite Internet providers may supply coverage data for their partners in certain formats such as keyhole markup language (KML) files. These files provide shapes representing geographical areas…The sub-coverage data may be represented on a map as coverage cells. FIG. 5 shows exemplary coverage cells 521 and 522 that are represented in oval shapes. FIG. 7 shows exemplary coverage cells 700 that are represented in honey-comb shapes (FIG. 5 actually shows a combination of oval-shaped and honey-comb shaped sub-coverage cells; the different shapes may represent Internet coverage data of different satellite Internet providers)… he flight path is coupled with the coverage map to visualize portions of the flight path in which the services are available. These portions of the flight path may be color coded according to the availability of Internet services along the flight path. Alternatively, these portions of the flight paths may be shown by other representations, such as but not limited to showing connectivity in solid lines, dotted lines, and the like. ")
Regarding claim 19, Halsey discloses The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media of Claim 15, storing additional instructions for: obtaining a first indication of a first hovering event of a pointing device over a first trip segment icon of the one or more trip segment icons; (see at least [0063]; "FIG. 11 shows a graph displayed at a bottom of a connectivity visualization map. The graph shows flight information and network service information. Users may choose which items to display on the graph by touching the color-coded legend above the graph.")
in response to obtaining the first indication of the first hovering event: displaying at a first location nearby the first trip segment icon in the map viewer, (see at least [0063]; "FIG. 11 shows a graph displayed at a bottom of a connectivity visualization map. The graph shows flight information and network service information. Users may choose which items to display on the graph by touching the color-coded legend above the graph…Selecting any point along the flight path or the usage graph will show the data for that given point in the flight. ")
a first message indicating a corresponding first status of onboard service provided during a first trip segment corresponding to the first trip segment icon; (see at least [0063]; "FIG. 11 shows a graph displayed at a bottom of a connectivity visualization map. The graph shows flight information and network service information. Users may choose which items to display on the graph by touching the color-coded legend above the graph…Selecting any point along the flight path or the usage graph will show the data for that given point in the flight. ")
and obtaining a second indication of a second hovering event of the pointing device over a second trip segment icon of the one or more trip segment icons:(see at least [0063]; "FIG. 11 shows a graph displayed at a bottom of a connectivity visualization map. The graph shows flight information and network service information. Users may choose which items to display on the graph by touching the color-coded legend above the graph…Selecting any
point along the flight path or the usage graph will show the data for that given point in the flight. ")
in response to obtaining the second indication of the second hovering event: removing the first message from the map viewer, (see at least [0063]; "To return to the previous menu, simply touch the “Back to Flight List” shown under the tail number at the top of the page.")
and displaying, at a second location nearby the second trip segment icon in the map viewer, a second message indicating a corresponding second status of onboard service provided during a second trip segment corresponding to the second trip segment icon. (see at least [0063]; "FIG. 11 shows a graph displayed at a bottom of a connectivity visualization map. The graph shows flight information and network service information. Users may choose which items to display on the graph by touching the color-coded legend above the
graph…Selecting any point along the flight path or the usage graph will show the data for that given point in the flight. ")
Regarding claim 20, Halsey discloses The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media of Claim 15, wherein each trip segment of the one or more trip segments is displayed as a segment overlay over the geographic area map. (see at least [0069]; "A user of the system and method of the invention need only observe the segments as displayed on a display of the their electronic device to gain a quick understanding of which service provider is the highest priority service provider for any segment, and to visually relate the segment to geopolitical boundaries and other features displayed on the underlying map.")
Regarding claim 21, Halsey discloses The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media of Claim 15, wherein the transport path of the trip of the vehicle has a trip start location and a trip end location; (see at least [0033]; "These flight plans contain a starting point 101, an ending point 102, and waypoints 103 between the starting and ending points.")
wherein the one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media stores additional instructions for: (see at least [0007]; "As a non-limiting example, a user's electronic device may comprise a display device, a processor, a physical media memory and a human user interface in communication with one another, the physical media memory containing non-transitory computer readable and executable instructions, and circuits, for receiving input data and commands from a user such as a keyboard, touchscreen, microphone for receiving voice commands, or other human interface elements as are known in the art,")
determining a trip start location icon corresponding to the trip start location of the trip, and (see at least [0033]; "These starting and ending points 101 and 102 and the waypoints 103 may be represented by latitude and longitude points (coordinates). ")
displaying, in the map viewer, the trip start location icon as a start overlay over the geographic area map at the trip start location along the transport path; (see at least [0038]; "The connectivity forecast system 330 may convert the retrieved flight plan data into coordinate data, or otherwise determine coordinate data from the retrieved flight plan, that allows the connectivity forecast system 330 to determine the geographic location of the beginning of the flight path, each waypoint on the flight path, and the end of the flight path.")
and determining a trip end location icon corresponding to the trip end location of the trip, (see at least [0038]; "The connectivity forecast system 330 may convert the retrieved flight plan data into coordinate data, or otherwise determine coordinate data from the retrieved flight plan, that allows the connectivity forecast system 330 to determine the geographic location of the beginning of the flight path, each waypoint on the flight path, and the end of the flight path.")
and displaying, in the map viewer, the trip end location icon as an end overlay over the geographic area map at the trip end location along the transport path. (see at least [0038]; "The connectivity forecast system 330 may convert the retrieved flight plan data into coordinate data, or otherwise determine coordinate data from the retrieved flight plan, that allows the connectivity forecast system 330 to determine the geographic location of the beginning of the flight path, each waypoint on the flight path, and the end of the flight path.")
Regarding claim 22, Halsey discloses The method of Claim 5, further comprising: determining, based on quality of onboard communications services delivered by the vehicle during the first trip segment corresponding to the first trip segment icon, whether an outage event occurred during at least the first trip segment of the trip;(see at least [0006]; "The coupling the flight path may include selecting sub-coverage data that cover regions in which the flight path is formed, determining sub-coverage data, among the selected sub-coverage data, which indicate unavailability of the network services, and determining portions of the flight path in which the network service is unavailable. The determining portions of the flight path may include finding new or more waypoints that are not covered by any of sub-coverage data indicating network service availability. The operations may further include checking changes of the one or more service coverage data periodically or upon receiving information from the service providers during flight, checking changes of the flight plan during flight, updating the one or more service coverage data and the flight plan based on the changes during flight, and updating the integrated flight path based on the updated one or more service coverage data and flight plan.")
and in response to determining that the outage event occurred during at least the first trip segment of the trip:determining a time interval during which the outage event occurred; (see at least [0073]; "Alternatively, the times indicated in table 1507 may be any relative or absolute time, such as Zulu time, or time in any time zone. The time of travel in a segment may be calculated by the system and method of the invention using average aircraft performance information for the specific aircraft type, which may be derived from the flight plan information or provided directly by a user using a human user interface such as a keyboard and monitor, touchscreen or other human interface that is in communication with a processor of the system. ")
and including information about the outage event and the time interval of the outage event in the first message. (see at least [0056]; "The information of the integrated flight path may include portions of the flight path in which the network service is unavailable. The information may be displayed in the display device 335 of the connectivity forecast system 330. The service available and unavailable portions of the flight path may be shown with different color code or with different visual representations such as solid lines and dotted lines. The information may be sent to the users through emails at a predetermined time period.")
Regarding claim 23, Halsey discloses The method of Claim 22, wherein the event comprises one of an out-of- coverage, blockage, transmit inhibit, and no aircraft data bus. (see at least [0036]; "FIG. 2B shows an exemplary outage map where outage data, which indicate no coverage, are transformed into a visualization of outage data which is stored in a database as spatial data and the spatial outage data is visualized on a map. This spatial outage data map signifies the areas that are known to have no service coverage.")
Regarding claim 24, Halsey discloses The apparatus of Claim 12, storing additional instructions for: determining, based on quality of onboard communications services delivered by the vehicle during the first trip segment corresponding to the first trip segment icon, whether an outage event occurred during at least the first trip segment of the trip; (see at least [0006]; "The coupling the flight path may include selecting sub-coverage data that cover regions in which the flight path is formed, determining sub-coverage data, among the selected sub-coverage data, which indicate unavailability of the network services, and determining portions of the flight path in which the network service is unavailable. The determining portions of the flight path may include finding new or more waypoints that are not covered by any of sub-coverage data indicating network service availability. The operations may further include checking changes of the one or more service coverage data periodically or upon receiving information from the service providers during flight, checking changes of the flight plan during flight, updating the one or more service coverage data and the flight plan based on the changes during flight, and updating the integrated flight path based on the updated one or more service coverage data and flight plan.")
in response to determining that the outage event occurred during at least the first trip segment of the trip: determining a time interval during which the outage event occurred; (see at least [0073]; "Alternatively, the times indicated in table 1507 may be any relative or absolute time, such as Zulu time, or time in any time zone. The time of travel in a segment may be calculated by the system and method of the invention using average aircraft performance information for the specific aircraft type, which may be derived from the flight plan information or provided directly by a user using a human user interface such as a keyboard and monitor, touchscreen or other human interface that is in communication with a processor of the system. ")
and including information about the outage event and the time interval of the outage event in the first message. (see at least [0056]; "The information of the integrated flight path may include portions of the flight path in which the network service is unavailable. The information may be displayed in the display device 335 of the connectivity forecast system 330. The service available and unavailable portions of the flight path may be shown with different color code or with different visual representations such as solid lines and dotted lines. The information may be sent to the users through emails at a predetermined time period.")
Regarding claim 25, Halsey discloses The apparatus of Claim 24, wherein the event comprises one of an out-of- coverage, blockage, transmit inhibit, and no aircraft data bus. (see at least [0036]; "FIG. 2B shows an exemplary outage map where outage data, which indicate no coverage, are transformed into a visualization of outage data which is stored in a database as spatial data and the spatial outage data is visualized on a map. This spatial outage data map signifies the areas that are known to have no service coverage.")
Regarding claim 26, Halsey discloses The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media of Claim 19, storing additional instructions for: determining, based on quality of onboard communications services delivered by the vehicle during the first trip segment corresponding to the first trip segment icon, whether an outage event occurred during at least the first trip segment of the trip;(see at least [0006]; "The coupling the flight path may include selecting sub-coverage data that cover regions in which the flight path is formed, determining sub-coverage data, among the selected sub-coverage data, which indicate unavailability of the network services, and determining portions of the flight path in which the network service is unavailable. The determining portions of the flight path may include finding new or more waypoints that are not covered by any of sub-coverage data indicating network service availability. The operations may further include checking changes of the one or more service coverage data periodically or upon receiving information from the service providers during flight, checking changes of the flight plan during flight, updating the one or more service coverage data and the flight plan based on the changes during flight, and updating the integrated flight path based on the updated one or more service coverage data and flight plan.")
in response to determining that the outage event occurred during at least the first trip segment of the trip: determining a time interval during which the outage event occurred; (see at least [0073]; "Alternatively, the times indicated in table 1507 may be any relative or absolute time, such as Zulu time, or time in any time zone. The time of travel in a segment may be calculated by the system and method of the invention using average aircraft performance information for the specific aircraft type, which may be derived from the flight plan information or provided directly by a user using a human user interface such as a keyboard and monitor, touchscreen or other human interface that is in communication with a processor of the system. ")
and including information about the outage event and the time interval of the outage event in the first message. (see at least [0056]; "The information of the integrated flight path may include portions of the flight path in which the network service is unavailable. The information may be displayed in the display device 335 of the connectivity forecast system 330. The service available and unavailable portions of the flight path may be shown with different color code or with different visual representations such as solid lines and dotted lines. The information may be sent to the users through emails at a predetermined time period.")
Regarding claim 27, Halsey discloses The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media of Claim 26, wherein the outage event comprises one of an out-of-coverage, blockage, transmit inhibit, and no aircraft data bus.(see at least [0036]; "FIG. 2B shows an exemplary outage map where outage data, which indicate no coverage, are transformed into a visualization of outage data which is stored in a database as spatial data and the spatial outage data is visualized on a map. This spatial outage data map signifies the areas that are known to have no service coverage.")
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the
examiner should be directed to HANA VICTORIA HALL whose telephone number is (571)272-5289. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5.
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, Rachid Bendidi can be reached at 5712724896. 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.
/HANA VICTORIA HALL/
Examiner, Art Unit 3664
/RACHID BENDIDI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3664
Prosecution Insights