DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
The instant application having Application No. 18/678,807 has a total of 20 claim pending in the application, there are 3 independent claims and 17 dependent claims, all of which are ready for examination by the examiner.
Oath/Declaration
The applicant’s oath/declaration has been reviewed by the examiner and is found to conform to the requirements prescribed in 37 C.F.R. 1.63.
Drawings
The applicant’s drawings submitted are acceptable for examination purposes.
Specification
The applicant’s specification submitted is acceptable for examination purposes.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 21, 27, 30-32, 36-37 and 39-40 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being unpatentable over Schwartz et al. (US 2023/0003548 A1).
For claim 21, Schwartz et al. teaches:
A method, comprising:
obtaining a compatibility representation corresponding to a map tile associated with a
first subregion of an area at which a machine is located [machine location used for tile section identification, 0435: Schwartz], the compatibility representation
identifying one or more versions of a neighboring map tile that are consistent with the map tile, the neighboring map tile associated with a second subregion of the area that neighbors the first subregion [regions of map tiles linked based on association with neighbors, 0443: Schwartz];
determining, using the map tile and a version of the neighboring map tile selected from
the one or more versions using the compatibility representation, a path for the machine from the first subregion to the second subregion [sparse mapping of versions of road map data used to check for compatibility from one region to the next with navigation, 0183-0189:Schwartz]; and
performing one or more navigation, localization, or control operations for maneuvering
the machine based at least on the path as determined [navigating vehicle through associated path, 0164: Schwartz].
For claim 27, Schwartz et al. teaches:
The method of claim 21, wherein the map tile is obtained at least by
obtaining a binary large object (BLOB) corresponding to the map tile [Mapbox tiles inherently having BLOBs, 0362: Schwartz].
For claim 30, Schwartz et al. teaches:
The method of claim 21, wherein the machine includes an autonomous
machine or a semi-autonomous machine [used for autonomous vehicle, 0075: Schwartz].
For claim 31, Schwartz et al. teaches:
A system comprising:
at least one processor to perform or control performance of operations comprising:
determining, using a tile compatibility matrix corresponding to a particular map
tile of a map of an area, a path for a machine from a first subregion of the area to a
second subregion of the area, the first subregion corresponding to the particular map tile and the second subregion corresponding to a particular neighbor map tile of one or more neighbor map tiles of the particular map tile [sparse mapping of versions of road map data used to check for compatibility from one region to the next with navigation, 0183-0189:Schwartz]; and
performing one or more navigation, localization, or control operations for
maneuvering the machine based at least on the path as determined [navigating vehicle through associated path, 0164: Schwartz].
For claim 32, Schwartz et al. teaches:
The system of claim 31, wherein the tile compatibility matrix identifies
one or more versions of the one or more neighbor map tiles of the map that are consistent with the particular map tile [various types of tiles based on use connecting neighbor tiles, 0435: Schwartz].
For claim 36, Schwartz et al. teaches:
The system of claim 31, wherein the machine includes an autonomous
machine or a semi-autonomous machine [used for autonomous vehicle, 0075: Schwartz].
For claim 37, Schwartz et al. teaches:
An autonomous or semi-autonomous machine [autonomous vehicle, 0075: Schwartz] comprising:
one or more central processing units (CPUs);
one or more graphics processing units (GPUs);
one or more hardware accelerators;
one or more external sensors including one or more fields of view or sensory fields external to the autonomous or semi-autonomous machine;
one or more internal sensors including one or more fields of view or sensory fields internal to the autonomous or semi-autonomous machine [CPU, GPU and other accelerator hardware and sensors, 0079-0080: Schwartz];
wherein the autonomous or semi-autonomous machine performs operations comprising:
selecting, based at least on a first tile of a map associated with a first subregion at
which the autonomous or semi-autonomous machine is located [machine location used for tile section identification, 0435: Schwartz], a second tile of the map corresponding to a second subregion that neighbors the first subregion, the second tile selected based at least on compatibility of the second tile with the first tile [regions of map tiles linked based on association with neighbors, 0443: Schwartz];
determining a path for the autonomous or semi-autonomous machine from the
first subregion to the second subregion using the first map tile and the second map tile sparse mapping of versions of road map data used to check for compatibility from one region to the next with navigation, 0183-0189:Schwartz; and
performing one or more navigation, localization, or control operations for
maneuvering the autonomous or semi-autonomous machine according to the path [navigating vehicle through associated path, 0164: Schwartz].
For claim 39, Schwartz et al. teaches:
The autonomous or semi-autonomous machine of claim 37, further
comprising one or more systems on a chip (SoCs) [application of autonomous on chip with Mobileye, 0080: Schwartz].
For claim 40, Schwartz et al. teaches:
The autonomous or semi-autonomous machine of claim 37, wherein the one
or more hardware accelerators include at least one of a programmable vision accelerator (PVA), a deep learning accelerator (DLA), or a ray-tracing hardware accelerator [programmable vision based, 0080: Schwartz].
Conclusion
The Examiner requests, in response to this Office action, that support be shown for language added to any original claims on amendment and any new claims. That is, indicate support for newly added claim language by specifically pointing to page(s) and line no(s) in the specification and/or drawing figure(s). This will assist the Examiner in prosecuting the application.
When responding to this Office action, Applicant is advised to clearly point out the patentable novelty which he or she thinks the claims present, in view of the state of the art disclosed by the references cited or the objections made. He or she must also show how the amendments avoid such references or objections See 37 CFR 1.111(c).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AJITH M JACOB whose telephone number is (571)270-1763. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday: Flexible Hours.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Apu Mofiz can be reached on 571-272-4080. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/AJITH JACOB/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2161
8/22/2026
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