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 .
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.
the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more. The claim(s) recite(s) 1,7 ,8 “arranging a plurality of terminal positions” “calculating received power between each of the terminal positions” “first selecting” “second selecting” “determining arrangement”. This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because the claim limitations can be performed by a person on a piece of paper. The claim(s) does/do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because the claim recites a generic processor and memory performing the method.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1,7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
The claim 1 phrase in line 13 “each of other candidate positions” is not clear
Claims 2-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph for depending of a rejected base claim 1.
The claim 1 phrase in line 12 “each of other candidate positions” is not clear
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) 1,7-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kasch to (US 20180060476 A1)
Regarding claims 1,7,8 Kasch teaches a station placement design device that designs arrangement of a base station and a reflector for constructing a radio area,
the station placement design device comprising:( [0029] the system determines recommended access point and/or sensor placements for the initial signal measurements. If the deployment environment has access points already deployed, these locations may be used as-is for the initial signal measurements)
a processor; and a memory that includes instructions, which when executed, cause the processor to execute ([0049] discloses controller 500 comprises processor 502, memory 504, communications interface 506, and display 508. Processor 502 may be any type of processor, as described above with respect to processor 106. Similarly, memory 504 is similar to memory modules 108 and/or data store 122 and may be transitory (e.g., RAM) or non-transitory (e.g. flash) memory and may be used for temporary storage of data during operation of controller)
arranging a plurality of terminal positions that are evaluation points and a plurality of candidate positions that are candidates for an installation position of the base station or the reflector in the radio area including a shielding object; :( [0029] the system determines recommended access point and/or sensor placements for the initial signal measurements. If the deployment environment has access points already deployed, these locations may be used as-is for the initial signal measurements)
calculating received power between each of the terminal positions and each of the candidate positions and received power between each of the candidate positions and each of other candidate positions; ( [0031] a preliminary set of initial access point locations are selected. These preliminary initial locations may be randomly chosen or evenly distributed throughout the deployment location. Next, the signal strength throughout the deployment area for each access point based at least in part on the preliminary initial deployments can be estimated. If the entire deployment area has a high-enough signal strength for at least one access point, then processing can proceed to operation 306, otherwise the preliminary initial access point locations are perturbed until either adequate coverage is achieved or peak coverage is reached without the coverage being adequate. In the latter case, another access point can be added and the process restarted) first selecting, for each of different numbers of base stations, a candidate position for the base station of the number of base stations from among the plurality of candidate positions; ([0031] a preliminary set of initial access point locations are selected. These preliminary initial locations may be randomly chosen or evenly distributed throughout the deployment location.)
second selecting, in a case where there is a
terminal position that is not able to be accommodated by the candidate position for the base
station among the plurality of terminal positions, a candidate position for the reflector capable
of accommodating, in combination with the candidate position for the base station, the
terminal position that is not able to be accommodated, and an orientation of the reflector([0031] If the entire deployment area has a high-enough signal strength for at least one access point, then processing can proceed to operation 306, otherwise the preliminary initial access point locations are perturbed until either adequate coverage is achieved or peak coverage is reached without the coverage being adequate. In the latter case, another access point can be added and the process restarted) determining arrangement of the base station and the reflector in which a cost of the radio area is minimized from among candidate positions of the base station, or combinations of the candidate position for the base station, the candidate position for the reflector, and the orientation of the reflector([0033] discloses the deployment area has been estimated, the access point locations can be perturbed to determine the best coverage for the given number of access points. The access point locations can be varied slightly and the signal strengths throughout the deployment area re-measured. For example, the access point locations can be varied using a hill-climbing algorithm with the total area with adequate signal strength for at least one access point coverage as the objective function. To avoid settling on a local maximum, a Monte Carlo algorithm can be used to restart the hill-climbing algorithm from a variety of initial conditions until a maximal coverage for two access points is reached. Depending on the deployment environment, additional access points may be added and the process repeated until adequate coverage is achieved throughout the deployment environment)
Regarding claim 5, Kasch teaches wherein the first selection unit selecting divides the plurality of terminal
positions into clusters of the number of base stations, and selects, for each of the clusters, the
candidate position for the base station such that more terminal positions satisfy a
predetermined communication quality([0033] The access point locations can be varied slightly and the signal strengths throughout the deployment area re-measured. For example, the access point locations can be varied using a hill-climbing algorithm with the total area with adequate signal strength for at least one access point coverage as the objective function. To avoid settling on a local maximum, a Monte Carlo algorithm can be used to restart the hill-climbing algorithm from a variety of initial conditions until a maximal coverage for two access points is reached. Depending on the deployment environment, additional access points may be added and the process repeated until adequate coverage is achieved throughout the deployment environment).
Regarding claim 6, Kasch teaches wherein the first selection unit selecting selects the candidate position
for the base station in order from the candidate position for the base station such that more
terminal positions satisfy a predetermined communication quality until the number of base
stations is reached([0033] The access point locations can be varied slightly and the signal strengths throughout the deployment area re-measured. For example, the access point locations can be varied using a hill-climbing algorithm with the total area with adequate signal strength for at least one access point coverage as the objective function. To avoid settling on a local maximum, a Monte Carlo algorithm can be used to restart the hill-climbing algorithm from a variety of initial conditions until a maximal coverage for two access points is reached. Depending on the deployment environment, additional access points may be added and the process repeated until adequate coverage is achieved throughout the deployment environment).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 2,3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kasch to (US 20180060476 A1) in view of Zohoorian to (US 12652546 B1)
Regarding claim 2, Kasch does not explicitly teach the orientation of the reflector includes an installation direction of the reflector, and the second selection unit selecting sets, as the installation direction of the reflector, a bisector direction of an angle between a radio wave arrival direction vector with maximum power in a direction of the candidate position for the base station and a radio wave arrival direction vector with maximum power in a direction of the terminal position that is not able to be accommodated, as viewed from the candidate position for the reflector
However, Zohoorian teaches the orientation of the reflector includes an installation direction of the reflector, and the second selection unit selecting sets, as the installation direction of the reflector, a bisector direction of an angle between a radio wave arrival direction vector with maximum power in a direction of the candidate position for the base station and a radio wave arrival direction vector with maximum power in a direction of the terminal position that is not able to be accommodated, as viewed from the candidate position for the reflector(clol.16, lines 40-50 discloses AP orientation module 350, when executed by one or more processor(s) of NMS 300, enables NMS 300 to automatically determine the orientation of deployed APs in the global coordinate system for the site. For purposes of the present disclosure, the orientation angle of an AP is referred to as an angle, B, at which a fixed point on the AP is rotated with respect to the y-axis of the global coordinate system for the site. Example techniques for automatic determination of the orientation of one or more APs in a wireless network)
Therefore it would have been obvious to one ordinarily skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to enable the system of Kasch include the orientation of the reflector includes an installation direction of the reflector, and the second selection unit selecting sets, as the installation direction of the reflector, a bisector direction of an angle between a radio wave arrival direction vector with maximum power in a direction of the candidate position for the base station and a radio wave arrival direction vector with maximum power in a direction of the terminal position that is not able to be accommodated, as viewed from the candidate position for the reflector, as suggested by Zohoorian . This modification would benefit the system to handle more communication devices in limited area.
Regarding claim 3, Kasch does not explicitly teach the orientation of the reflector includes an installation direction or a reflection direction of the reflector, and
the second selection unit selecting performs evaluation in a plurality of installation directions or reflection directions of the reflector installed at the candidate position for the reflector, and sets, as an orientation of the reflector, an installation direction or a reflection direction in which received power from the reflector is maximized at the terminal position that is not able to be accommodated
However, Zohoorian teaches the orientation of the reflector includes an installation direction or a reflection direction of the reflector, and the second selection unit selecting performs evaluation in a plurality of installation directions or reflection directions of the reflector installed at the candidate position for the reflector, and sets, as an orientation of the reflector, an installation direction or a reflection direction in which received power from the reflector is maximized at the terminal position that is not able to be accommodated(clol.16, lines 40-50 discloses AP orientation module 350, when executed by one or more processor(s) of NMS 300, enables NMS 300 to automatically determine the orientation of deployed APs in the global coordinate system for the site. For purposes of the present disclosure, the orientation angle of an AP is referred to as an angle, B, at which a fixed point on the AP is rotated with respect to the y-axis of the global coordinate system for the site. Example techniques for automatic determination of the orientation of one or more APs in a wireless network)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one ordinarily skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to enable the system of Kasch include the orientation of the reflector includes an installation direction or a reflection direction of the reflector, and
the second selection unit selecting performs evaluation in a plurality of installation directions or reflection directions of the reflector installed at the candidate position for the reflector, and sets, as an orientation of the reflector, an installation direction or a reflection direction in which received power from the reflector is maximized at the terminal position that is not able to be accommodated, as suggested by Zohoorian. This modification would benefit the system to handle more communication devices in limited area.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ZEWDU A BEYEN whose telephone number is (571)270-7157. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00-6:00.
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/ZEWDU A BEYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2461
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