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 § 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) 1-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Sleator (US 2014/0270801 A1).
Regarding claim 1, 15, Sleator teaches a Method for transmitting a binary data sequence comprising at least two binary values from an information source to an information destination, the method comprising the following steps: 1) determining a line code representation based on the binary data sequence, wherein the line code representation is such that a clock used for determining the line code representation based on the binary data sequence is recoverable from the line code representation (e.g. “transmission of encoded and/or modulated signals” as in paragraph [0048]); “wireless and/or wire line digital” as in paragraph [0049]; “alphabet consisting of only two symbols, a symbol represents one bit of information” as in paragraph [0065]; “line code with high clock content, such as, Manchester encoding can be used” as in paragraph [0066]), 2) optically transmitting the line code representation using a light source (reference numeral 211 in Figure 4A) by modulating emitted light intensity of the light source based on the line code representation (e.g. “transmission of encoded and/or modulated signals” as in paragraph [0048]; “modulation in intensity” as in paragraph [0070]), 3) capturing the optically transmitted line code representation using an event camera (reference numeral 317, 120 in Figure 4A), wherein the event camera is configured to generate events based on intensity changes in the captured optically transmitted line code representation (e.g. “capture a sequence of video frames containing the modulated light signal” to “detect a modulated light transmitted from the light source, and image processing software on the phone or tablet can extract the relevant pixels from the detected light image and demodulate the data stream” as in paragraph [0042]), and 4) determining a recovered binary data sequence based on the generated events (e.g. “detecting and demodulating optically-transmitted data” “decoded by image processing software in the camera or phone to recover the original data” as in paragraph [0042]), wherein the determining of the recovered binary data sequence comprises recovering the clock based on the generated events and measuring at least one time difference between generated events using the recovered clock, wherein the at least one time difference is used for recovering the binary data sequence (e.g. through transmission and reception of “line code with high clock content, such as, Manchester encoding” as in paragraph [0066] used to synchronize “the modulation rate and the video frame rate” of the transmitter and receiver then “compare pixel values associated with light source unit 211 between the two or more video frames, and demodulate the light signal using the comparison data” as in paragraph [0061] to “recover the original data” as in paragraph [0042]).
Regarding claim 2, Sleator teaches the Method according to claim 1, wherein the binary data sequence is modified using an error correction code prior to determining the line code representation based on the binary data sequence (e.g. “error correction coding” as in paragraph [0067]).
Regarding claim 3, Sleator teaches the Method according to claim 1, wherein the determined line code representation based on the binary data sequence is a Manchester code representation (e.g. “line code with high clock content, such as, Manchester encoding can be used” as in paragraph [0066]).
Regarding claim 4, Sleator teaches the Method according to claim 1, wherein the determined line code representation based on the binary data sequence maps at least one group of binary values of the binary data sequence onto a respective at least one group of transmission binary values (e.g. “act of sending a signal entails selecting one symbol from an alphabet of two or more symbols and transmitting the selected symbol, where `transmitting" means setting the state of the channel to a representation of that symbol” as in paragraph [0065]).
Regarding claim 5, Sleator teaches the Method according to claim 1, wherein a prefix binary data sequence is prepended to the binary data sequence (e.g. “fixed preamble” as in paragraph [0066]).
Regarding claim 6, Sleator teaches the Method according to claim 1, wherein the line code representation comprises at least one fundamental frequency at which information related to the binary data sequence is transmitted (e.g. “light source can be modulated in a continuously repeating cycle with the data to be transmitted” as in paragraph [0042]), and wherein the determining of the recovered binary data sequence comprises frequency filtering the generated events to determine events temporally separated from one another at at least one fundamental period corresponding to the at least one fundamental frequency (e.g. by virtue of “the video frame rate may be set such that it is at least twice the modulation symbol rate” as in paragraph [0061] to “determine which portions of the image contain the modulated or encoded information and to apply the appropriate decoding scheme to that portion of the image which was determined to contain the encoded information” as in paragraph [0078] thereby “framing’ the appropriate information as in paragraph [0068] from “a series of video image frames” for the purpose of “sense multiple uncommissioned nodes at the same time, and can be operable to concurrently receive, demodulate, and commission multiple nodes at once” as in paragraph [0071]).
Regarding claim 7, Sleator teaches the Method according to claim 1, wherein the binary data sequence is an identifier sequence encoding identity information about the information source (e.g. “generate a random number” as in paragraph [0081] used to “identify the randomly-generated number” as in paragraph [0027]).
Regarding claim 8, Sleator teaches the Method according to claim 1, wherein a second binary data sequence is transmitted from the information source to the information destination at least partly in parallel to the transmitting of the binary data sequence (e.g. as illustrated in Figure 1 where multiple parallel binary data sequences are transmitted).
Regarding claim 9, Sleator teaches the Method according to claim 8, wherein a second line code representation based on the binary data sequence is determined, wherein the second line code representation is such that a second clock used for determining the second line code representation based on the second binary data sequence is recoverable from the second line code representation (e.g. “transmission of encoded and/or modulated signals” as in paragraph [0048]); “wireless and/or wire line digital” as in paragraph [0049]; “alphabet consisting of only two symbols, a symbol represents one bit of information” as in paragraph [0065]; “line code with high clock content, such as, Manchester encoding can be used” as in paragraph [0066]), and wherein the second line code representation is optically transmitted using the light source or using a second light source (reference numeral 211b in Figure 5A) , and wherein the optically transmitted second line code representation is captured by the event camera (reference numeral 120, 317 in Figure 5A).
Regarding claim 10, Sleator teaches the Method according to claim 8, wherein the second line code representation comprises at least one second fundamental frequency which at least partly differs from the at least one fundamental frequency (e.g. “modulation in wavelength” as in paragraph [0070]; “multiple co-located light source units 210 of different wavelength can allow higher data rates to be transmitted by processing each wavelength as an independent channel” as in paragraph [0073]; “frequency-shift keying (FSK) in which a finite number of frequencies are used” as in paragraph [0068]).
Regarding claim 11, Sleator teaches an Assembly comprising an information source (reference numeral 110 in Figure 4A), a light source (reference numeral 211 in Figure 4A), an event camera (reference numeral 317 in Figure 4A) and an information destination (reference numeral 120 in Figure 4A) wherein the assembly is configured to carry out the method according to any of claim 1.
Regarding claim 12, Sleator teaches an Assembly according to claim 11, wherein the information destination is embodied as a computing device (reference numeral 120 in Figure 4A), in particular as a microprocessor (e.g. as illustrated in Figure 3), and wherein the information source is embodied as one of: 1) a traffic light control unit, or 2) a car lighting control unit, or 3) an active marker control unit for robot tracking, or 4) a docking station control unit for space application and/or logistics applications and/or robotics applications, or 5) an aircraft and/or drone landing control unit, or 6) a calibration system for surveying, in particular using a total station, or 7) wearable or portable devices attached to humans or animals (e.g. “computers, laptops, routers, hubs, personal digital assistants, cameras, printers, copiers, scanners, projectors, alarms, lights, home entertainment systems, audio/visual systems, home security devices, intercoms, domestic robots, appliances, HVAC systems” as in paragraph [0046]).
Regarding claim 13, Sleator teaches an Assembly according to claim 11, wherein the light source is embodied as a light-emitting diode (LED) (e.g. “light emitting diode” as in paragraph [0058]), and/or wherein the light source is an infrared (IR) and/or visible and/or ultraviolet light source (as in paragraph [0058]), and/or wherein color filters or polarization filters are attached to the light source (as in paragraph [0058]) and/or to the event camera (3), and/or wherein the assembly is configured to carry out multispectral sensing (e.g. “process different wavelengths through a color sensor” as in paragraph [0073]).
Regarding claim 14, Sleator teaches an Assembly according to any one of claim 11, wherein the light source is shaped in such a way that based on events generated by the event camera capturing the light source during optical transmitting of the line code representation distance and orientation of the light source with respect to the event camera may be estimated (e.g. “two independent linear arrays of light source units 210 that are spatially separated and oriented along perpendicular axes can be employed such that, for any likely camera subsystem 317 trajectory, the individual elements of one array or the other are distinguishable in the image. Two perpendicular linear arrays, each emitting a different wavelength, could also be co-located without interference” as in paragraph [0074]; “light source can be positioned so as to maximize its visibility when the network node is installed in its normal location” as in paragraph [0042] and/or “the direction of motion” as in paragraph [0066]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AGUSTIN BELLO whose telephone number is (571)272-3026. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday, 9 AM - 5 PM.
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/AGUSTIN BELLO/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2635
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