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
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.
(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 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and (a)(2) as being anticipated by Plantinga et al. (US 20210271382 A1), hereinafter Plantinga.
Regarding claims 1, 8, and 15, Plantinga teaches a computer-implemented method and a computing system comprising a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium communicably coupled to one or more processors of the computing system (para. 30, “The computer 22 can include memory 26, the memory 26 can include Random Access Memory [RAM], Read-Only Memory [ROM], flash memory, or one or more different types of portable electronic memory, such as discs, Digital Versatile disks [DVD], Compact Disc-Read-Only Memory [CD-ROMs], etc., or any suitable combination of these types of memory. The computer 22 can include one or more controller modules or processors 28, which can be running any suitable programs.”) and which comprises instructions, that when executed by the one or more processors of the computing system, cause the one or more processors to perform the method comprising:
receiving, from a flight recorder of an aircraft and by a computing device executing a flight analytics system, flight data corresponding to one or more routes flown by the aircraft, obtaining, by the computing device executing the flight analytics system and based on a downlink message sent by the aircraft while in-flight, version information of a first navigation database (NavDB) used in-flight by a flight management system of the aircraft while flying the one or more routes (para. 17, “An aircraft's navigation system, which may be referred to as its Flight Management System (FMS), stores several databases. A static database used for flight planning and trajectory prediction is the Navigation Database (NDB), which is stored in the FMS and can be updated by the various sources of aviation data, each in its respective aviation data format.”; para. 32, “As illustrated, the computer 22 can communicate with a first remote server 30, which can be located anywhere. The communication between the first remote server 30 and the computer 22 can be via an external data storage device 31.”; computer 22 of an aircraft communication with first remote server 30 which contains first controller module 36; para. 74, “The set of navigational databases received by the first controller module 36 can include multiple disparate navigation databases. The multiple disparate navigation databases can by way of non-limiting example include at least two cycles of information for the FMS of the aircraft 10. That is, the set of navigational databases received at 302 can include one or more of the previous cycles or versions of the navigational database as well as the current cycle or newest version of the navigational database. Alternatively, the set of navigational databases received at 302 can include only the current cycle or newest version of the navigational database, while the one or more of the previous cycles or versions of the navigational database can be stored in the first remote server 30 and accessed by the first controller module 36.”; Examiner is construing a previous version of a NavDB as corresponding to “flight data” as claimed, and a current version of a NavDB as a first navigation database as claimed),
determining, by the computing device executing the flight analytics system and based on the version information of the first NavDB, a second NavDB that matches the first NavDB (para. 75, “Optionally at 308, a gold standard database or reference database is created. By way of non-limiting example, the reference database created at 308 is the current cycle or newest version of the reference database. Previous cycles or versions of the reference database can contain validated fields, records, or data from previously created reference databases. A reference database can be created for each navigational database of the set of navigational databases.”),
performing, by the computing device executing the flight analytics system and using the second NavDB, flight data analysis on the flight data (para. 76, “Optionally at 310, one of sameness or differentness can be determined between fields, records, or data of the current cycle or newest version of the reference database and one or more of the previous cycles or versions of the reference database. By way of non-limiting example, if the fields, records, or data in the current cycle or newest version of the reference database are the same as the previous cycle or within a predetermined range, then the fields, records, or data in the current or newest version of the reference database are designated with an indication of sameness. If the fields, records, or data in the current cycle or newest version of the reference database are different or outside a predetermined range from the fields, records, or data in the one or more of the previous cycles or versions, then the fields, records, or data in the current or newest version of the reference database is designated with an indication of differentness. The determination of the sameness or the differentness between the fields, records, or data can include determining an overall change statistic between the current cycle or newest version of the reference database and the one or more of the previous cycles or versions of the reference database.”), and
outputting, by the computing device executing the flight analytics system and based on the flight data analysis, flight analytics data for the one or more routes flown by the aircraft (para. 77, “An overall change statistic can be illustrated or communicated audially, graphically, or numerically on or by the first display 38. Additionally, or alternatively, the first display 38 can display or provide a side-by-side comparison of the fields, records, or data of the two or more cycles of the reference database with sameness or differentness indicated by highlighted fields, records, or data.”; para. 86, “At 314, the first controller module 36 can create aircraft loadable media for the FMS based on the set of navigation databases. Optionally, the aircraft loadable media for the FMS can be based, at least in part, on one or more reference databases. The aircraft loadable media can be in the format required by a specific FMS. It is contemplated that more than one format of aircraft loadable media can be created based on the same navigational database or reference database. The aircraft loadable media can be loaded to the external data storage device 31 for communication with the computer 22 of the aircraft 10.”).
Regarding claims 2, 9 and 16, Plantinga teaches the method of claim 1, the computing system of claim 8, and the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 respectively,
wherein the version information of the first NavDB includes a version number associated with the first NavDB and an Aeronautical Information Regulation And Control (AIRAC) cycle associated with the first NavDB (para. 2, “A database used for flight planning, navigation, and trajectory prediction is the Navigation Database [NDB], which is stored in the FMS. The NDB is a static database that is updated per the 28-day Aeronautical Information Regulation and Control [AIRAC] cycle.”; all AIRAC cycle data is associated with a number version).
Regarding claims 3, 10, and 17, Plantinga teaches the method of claim 2, the computing system of claim 9, and the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16 respectively, wherein determining the second NavDB that matches the first NavDB further comprises:
querying, by the computing device executing the flight analytics system, a navigation database repository for a NavDB stored by the navigation database repository that matches the version number associated with the first NavDB and the AIRAC cycle associated with the first NavDB, and in response to querying the navigation database repository, receiving, by the computing device executing the flight analytics system and from the navigation database repository, the second NavDB, that matches the first NavDB (para. 67, “At 304, the first controller module 36 can verify the digital signature for the binary data or for each navigation database of the set of navigational databases. The authentication or validity of the digital signature can be determined automatically by the first controller module 36. Alternatively, a user of the first remote server 30 can request the first controller module 36 to authenticate or verify the digital signatures. If the digital signature is not verified or is missing, the first controller module 36 will not open the data in the set of navigation databases.”; para. 75, “Optionally at 308, a gold standard database or reference database is created. By way of non-limiting example, the reference database created at 308 is the current cycle or newest version of the reference database. Previous cycles or versions of the reference database can contain validated fields, records, or data from previously created reference databases. A reference database can be created for each navigational database of the set of navigational databases.”).
Regarding claims 4, 11, and 18, Plantinga teaches the method of claim 2, the computing system of claim 9, and the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16 respectively,
wherein a version number associated with the second NavDB matches the version number associated with the first NavDB and an AIRAC cycle associated with the second NavDB matches the AIRAC cycle associated with the first NavDB (para. 75, “Optionally at 308, a gold standard database or reference database is created. By way of non-limiting example, the reference database created at 308 is the current cycle or newest version of the reference database. Previous cycles or versions of the reference database can contain validated fields, records, or data from previously created reference databases. A reference database can be created for each navigational database of the set of navigational databases.”; all AIRAC cycle data is associated with a number version, of which a reference database implicitly shares).
Regarding claims 5, 12, and 19, Plantinga teaches the method of claim 1, the computing system of claim 8, and the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 respectively, wherein obtaining the version information of the first NavDB further comprises:
obtaining, by the computing device executing the flight analytics system and from a ground communication station that receives, while the aircraft is flying the one or more routes, the downlink message that specifies the version information of the first NavDB (para. 86, “It is contemplated that more than one format of aircraft loadable media can be created based on the same navigational database or reference database. The aircraft loadable media can be loaded to the external data storage device 31 for communication with the computer 22 of the aircraft 10. Alternatively, the aircraft loadable media can be communicated to the computer 22 via the ground station 32. By way of non-limiting example, the aircraft loadable media can update the FMS NDB housed in the computer 22 [FIG. 1].”).
Regarding claims 6, 13, and 20, Plantinga teaches the method of claim 5, the computing system of claim 12, and the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 19 respectively,
wherein the ground communication station is an airline operations and control center (para. 33, “Additionally, or alternatively, the computer 22 can communicate with a first remote server 30 located at or communicatively coupled to a designated ground station 32. Communication can be sent or received between the ground station 32 and the computer 22 via the communication link 24. The ground station 32 can be any type of communicating ground station 32 such as one operated by an Air Navigation Service Provider [ANSP]/Air Traffic Control [ATC].”; Fig. 1, aircraft 10 is in flight while communicating).
Regarding claims 7 and 14, Plantinga teaches the method of claim 1 and the computing system of claim 8 respectively, wherein the flight data analysis comprises one or more of:
Standard Instrument Departure/Standard Terminal Arrival Routes (SID/STAR) analysis, runway detection analysis (para. 51, “At 210, the second controller module 46 extracts a subset of the incoming data based on a set of predetermined parameters. […] Non-limiting examples of predetermined parameters can include […] runway surface types, standard instrument departures, terminal non-directional beacons, and terminal waypoints.”; Fig. 5, data relating to runways, SIDs, and STARs),
Required Navigation Performance (RNP) analysis (para. 106, “Some other added benefits of this system are the capability of tailoring the data and validating required navigation performance [RNP] with authorization required (AR) procedures, simple monitoring of navigation data, enabling efficient procedure validation, and the ability to maintain a detailed history of every record.”), or
analysis of shortcut flight plans (FPLNs).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ERIC K HODAC whose telephone number is (571) 270-0123. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 8-6.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, VLADIMIR MAGLOIRE can be reached at (571) 270-5144. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ERIC K HODAC/Examiner, Art Unit 3648
/VLADIMIR MAGLOIRE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3648
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