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 .
Specification
The abstract should be in narrative form and generally limited to a single paragraph on a separate sheet within the range of 50 to 150 words. It is important that the abstract not exceed 150 words in length since the space provided for the abstract on the computer tape used by the printer is limited. The form and legal phraseology often used in patent claims, such as "means" and "said," should be avoided. The abstract should describe the disclosure sufficiently to assist readers in deciding whether there is a need for consulting the full patent text for details. The language should be clear and concise and should not repeat information given in the title. It should avoid using phrases which can be implied, such as, "The disclosure concerns," "The disclosure defined by this invention," "The disclosure describes," etc. See MPEP § 608.01(b).
The abstract of the disclosure is objected to because it is not written in narrative form. Instead, the abstract has been written as a run-on sentence that generally mimics the claim. The abstract should be in narrative form, which should include a series of complete sentences. Correction is required.
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.
Claim(s) 1-6, 11-16, and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Sujan (U.S. Patent Application Publication 2019/0171227).
Regarding claim 1, Sujan teaches a method for controlling a vehicle platoon, performed by a computer device, comprising: establishing a communication connection with a first vehicle, wherein the first vehicle is a free vehicle (Paragraph 0026 Referring to FIG. 2, an embodiment of an optimization network, denoted by numeral 120, comprises an optimization controller 122 communicatively coupled by a satellite network 124 to a pair of vehicle controllers 132 and 136 which gather position data relative to the positions, respectively, of vehicles 102 and 106, which include transceivers to communicate the vehicle data to optimization controller 122.); obtaining vehicle status information of the first vehicle (Paragraph 0027 ...determining, based on a present location and a target destination of target vehicle 104,...); obtaining at least one platoon status information of at least one vehicle platoon (Paragraph 0027 Vehicle 104 comprising a vehicle controller 160 is operable to perform a method including receiving a first platoon dataset from a first vehicle controller (vehicle controller 132 in FIG. 3) of a first platoon of vehicles and a second platoon dataset from a second vehicle controller (vehicle controller 136 in FIG. 3) of a second platoon of vehicles travelling on a roadway;...); matching a first target vehicle platoon of the at least one vehicle platoon with the first vehicle based on the vehicle status information and the at least one platoon status information (Paragraph 0027 …determining, based on a present location and a target destination of target vehicle 104, a first expected fuel consumption value of the target vehicle based on the target vehicle joining the first platoon and a second expected fuel consumption value of the target vehicle based on the target vehicle joining the second platoon; and transmitting instructions (to and thereby from transceivers 162, 164) for the target vehicle to join the first platoon if the second expected fuel consumption value is greater than the first expected fuel consumption value.); generating a first platoon control instruction based on a first distance between the first vehicle and the first target vehicle platoon, the vehicle status information, and platoon status information of the first target vehicle platoon (Paragraph 0027 The joining instructions may include instructions for vehicle controller 160 to plot a joining speed profile and for vehicle controller 132 to recognize a new member of the first platoon. After vehicle 104 becomes a member of the first platoon, vehicle controllers 132 and 160 cooperate to maintain a calculated separation distance, as described below.); and instructing the first vehicle to join the first target vehicle platoon based on transmitting the first platoon control instruction to at least one of the first target vehicle platoon or the first vehicle (Paragraph 0027 The joining instructions may include instructions for vehicle controller 160 to plot a joining speed profile and for vehicle controller 132 to recognize a new member of the first platoon. After vehicle 104 becomes a member of the first platoon, vehicle controllers 132 and 160 cooperate to maintain a calculated separation distance, as described below.).
Regarding claims 11 and 20, the claims are commensurate in scope with claim 1 with the exception that claims 11 and 20 are directed to an apparatus comprising at least one memory and at least one processor and a non-transitory computer-readable medium respectively. Sujan teaches that the method for controlling a vehicle platoon may be implemented by a processor with computer program code stored on a non-transitory computer-readable medium (Paragraph 0060 The term "logic" as used herein includes software and/or firmware executing on one or more programmable processors, application-specific integrated circuits, field-programmable gate arrays, digital signal processors, hardwired logic, or combinations thereof. Therefore, in accordance with the embodiments, various logic may be implemented in any appropriate fashion and would remain in accordance with the embodiments herein disclosed. A non-transitory machine-readable medium comprising logic can additionally be considered to be embodied within any tangible form of a computer-readable carrier, such as solid-state memory, magnetic disk, and optical disk containing an appropriate set of computer instructions and data structures that would cause a processor to carry out the techniques described herein.). Therefore, the same prior art can be applied to claims 11 and 20 as was applied to claim 1.
Regarding claims 2 and 12, Sujan teaches the method/system of claims 1 and 11 as set forth above. Sujan further teaches wherein the vehicle status information includes vehicle configuration information, vehicle traveling status information, and vehicle location information (Paragraph 0035 In some embodiments, vehicles broadcast information descriptive of their characteristics (the "vehicle datasets") in sufficient detail to enable the foregoing determinations to join, form new, or separate. Exemplary information includes location (e.g. current GPS coordinates or road/mile indicator or triangulated position based on cell towers), heading (e.g. N/S/E/W, or compass direction to within some prescribed resolution), average velocity, current velocity, average fuel consumption, mass, propulsion power of powertrains, current route, and current health.), wherein the platoon status information includes platoon configuration information, platoon traveling status information, and platoon location information (Paragraph 0036 In some embodiments, platoons broadcast information descriptive of their characteristics (the "platoon datasets") in sufficient detail to enable the foregoing determinations to join, form new, or separate. Exemplary information includes lead vehicle identification (e.g. license plate number or VIN), location (e.g. current GPS coordinates or road/mile indicator or triangulated position based on cell towers), heading (e.g. N/S/E/W, or compass direction to within some prescribed resolution), average current group velocity, average group mass, average group inter-vehicle separation distance, last vehicle expected distance till breakaway from platoon, average propulsion power of platoon powertrains, number of vehicles in platoon, average effectiveness (e.g. average increase in fuel economy, or CdxA of each vehicle in platoon, or CdxA of platoon, which may be determined by the optimization controller (onboard or offboard), current route, and current health of the platoon.); and wherein, based on the at least one vehicle platoon including a plurality of vehicle platoons, the matching the first target vehicle platoon comprises: determining a plurality of distances between the plurality of vehicle platoons and the first vehicle based on the vehicle location information and first platoon location information of the plurality of vehicle platoons (Paragraph 0043 The optimization controller may perform computations of various complexity, including low, medium and high complexity computations, to determine a velocity profile, target platoon (leading, trailing, or new), and, optionally, intra-platoon separation distance. In one example, low complexity computations comprise mission route horizon, distance to forward platoon, speed of forward platoon, distance to rear platoon, speed of rear platoon, maximum velocity, road speed limit, forward road grade profile, fuel map, vehicle mass, and vehicle dynamic parameters.); determining a second target vehicle platoon including at least one candidate vehicle platoon from the plurality of vehicle platoons based on a second distance between the second target vehicle platoon and the first vehicle being less than a first distance threshold (Paragraph 0046 At 220, a determination is made regarding the relative position of the target vehicle, as whether to join the leading or trailing platoon.); and matching the first target vehicle platoon with the first vehicle based on second platoon configuration information of the second target vehicle platoon, second platoon traveling status information of the second target vehicle platoon, the vehicle configuration information, and the vehicle traveling status information (Paragraph 0036 In some embodiments, platoons broadcast information descriptive of their characteristics (the "platoon datasets") in sufficient detail to enable the foregoing determinations to join, form new, or separate. Exemplary information includes lead vehicle identification (e.g. license plate number or VIN), location (e.g. current GPS coordinates or road/mile indicator or triangulated position based on cell towers), heading (e.g. N/S/E/W, or compass direction to within some prescribed resolution), average current group velocity, average group mass, average group inter-vehicle separation distance, last vehicle expected distance till breakaway from platoon, average propulsion power of platoon powertrains, number of vehicles in platoon, average effectiveness (e.g. average increase in fuel economy, or CdxA of each vehicle in platoon, or CdxA of platoon, which may be determined by the optimization controller (onboard or offboard), current route, and current health of the platoon.).
Regarding claims 3 and 13, Sujan teaches the method/system of claims 2 and 12 as set forth above. Sujan further teaches wherein the matching the first target vehicle platoon with the first vehicle comprises: determining a first candidate vehicle platoon of the at least one candidate vehicle platoon as the first target vehicle platoon based on matching the vehicle configuration information with third platoon configuration information of the first candidate vehicle platoon, and matching the vehicle traveling status information with third platoon traveling status information of the first candidate vehicle platoon (Paragraph 0043 The optimization controller may perform computations of various complexity, including low, medium and high complexity computations, to determine a velocity profile, target platoon (leading, trailing, or new), and, optionally, intra-platoon separation distance.).
Regarding claims 4 and 14, Sujan teaches the method/system of claims 3 and 13 as set forth above. Sujan further teaches determining, based on a plurality of candidate vehicle platoons of the at least one candidate vehicle platoon matching the first vehicle, a second candidate vehicle platoon of the plurality of candidate vehicle platoons based on a shortest distance from the first vehicle as the first target vehicle platoon (Paragraph 0046 At 220, a determination is made regarding the relative position of the target vehicle, as whether to join the leading or trailing platoon.).
Regarding claims 5 and 15, Sujan teaches the method/system of claims 2 and 12 as set forth above. Sujan further teaches wherein the vehicle traveling status information includes a first traveling speed of the first vehicle (Paragraph 0035 In some embodiments, vehicles broadcast information descriptive of their characteristics (the "vehicle datasets") in sufficient detail to enable the foregoing determinations to join, form new, or separate. Exemplary information includes location (e.g. current GPS coordinates or road/mile indicator or triangulated position based on cell towers), heading (e.g. N/S/E/W, or compass direction to within some prescribed resolution), average velocity, current velocity, average fuel consumption, mass, propulsion power of powertrains, current route, and current health.), wherein first platoon traveling status information of the first target vehicle platoon includes a second traveling speed of the first target vehicle platoon (Paragraph 0036 In some embodiments, platoons broadcast information descriptive of their characteristics (the "platoon datasets") in sufficient detail to enable the foregoing determinations to join, form new, or separate. Exemplary information includes lead vehicle identification (e.g. license plate number or VIN), location (e.g. current GPS coordinates or road/mile indicator or triangulated position based on cell towers), heading (e.g. N/S/E/W, or compass direction to within some prescribed resolution), average current group velocity, average group mass, average group inter-vehicle separation distance, last vehicle expected distance till breakaway from platoon, average propulsion power of platoon powertrains, number of vehicles in platoon, average effectiveness (e.g. average increase in fuel economy, or CdxA of each vehicle in platoon, or CdxA of platoon, which may be determined by the optimization controller (onboard or offboard), current route, and current health of the platoon.), wherein the generating the first platoon control instruction comprises generating a second platoon control instruction based on the first distance, the first traveling speed, and the second traveling speed (Paragraph 0027 The joining instructions may include instructions for vehicle controller 160 to plot a joining speed profile and for vehicle controller 132 to recognize a new member of the first platoon. After vehicle 104 becomes a member of the first platoon, vehicle controllers 132 and 160 cooperate to maintain a calculated separation distance, as described below.), wherein the second platoon control instruction instructs at least one of the first vehicle to adjust the first traveling speed or the first target vehicle platoon to adjust the second traveling speed, such that the first distance is less than a second distance threshold, and wherein the second distance threshold is less than the first distance threshold (Paragraph 0047 Responsive to the relative position determination, at 222, a separation distance determination is made. The separation distance may be based on vehicle mass. If joining the leading platoon, the controller uses the masses of the last vehicles in the platoon and the target vehicle to determine the maximum braking stopping distance for each vehicle and then computes the minimum separation distance as the difference in maximum braking stopping distances.).
Regarding claims 6 and 16, Sujan teaches the method/system of claims 5 and 15 as set forth above. Sujan further teaches wherein the platoon status information includes spacing information between two adjacent vehicles of the first target vehicle platoon (Paragraph 0036 In some embodiments, platoons broadcast information descriptive of their characteristics (the "platoon datasets") in sufficient detail to enable the foregoing determinations to join, form new, or separate. Exemplary information includes lead vehicle identification (e.g. license plate number or VIN), location (e.g. current GPS coordinates or road/mile indicator or triangulated position based on cell towers), heading (e.g. N/S/E/W, or compass direction to within some prescribed resolution), average current group velocity, average group mass, average group inter-vehicle separation distance, last vehicle expected distance till breakaway from platoon, average propulsion power of platoon powertrains, number of vehicles in platoon, average effectiveness (e.g. average increase in fuel economy, or CdxA of each vehicle in platoon, or CdxA of platoon, which may be determined by the optimization controller (onboard or offboard), current route, and current health of the platoon.), and second destination information of a second plurality of vehicles of the first target vehicle platoon (Paragraph 0021 The optimization controller might also factor the health of the vehicles ( described below) and the routes of the vehicle (described below). Routes determine when vehicles will leave a platoon, either because they reached their destinations or because their destinations require a route different than the route being followed by the platoon.), wherein the generating the first platoon control instruction further comprises: determining a target location for the first vehicle to join the first target vehicle platoon based on the spacing information and the second destination information (Paragraph 0050 The analysis includes determining the number of neighboring vehicles requiring a platoon (n), determining the average time to destination for a new platoon (n vehicles plus target vehicle) based on an average speed of the new platoon, determination of fuel consumption for each vehicle of the new, leading, and trailing platoons, determining which option results in lowest fuel consumption for the target vehicle, determining a target platoon and position (leading/trailing/new and trailing/leading/either).); and generating a third platoon control instruction based on the target location, and wherein the third platoon control instruction instructs the first vehicle to join the first target vehicle platoon based on the target location (Paragraph 0050 Then, based on the target platoon and position, generating a target velocity profile, determining separation distance, and potentially informing the neighboring vehicles requiring a platoon that a new platoon is being formed. For the new platoon the separation distance is determined as above, based on the relative positions of the n vehicles and the target vehicle.).
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.
Claim(s) 7, 8, 10, 17, and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sujan in view of Tang (Chinese Patent Publication CN106600952).
Regarding claims 7 and 17, Sujan teaches the method/system of claims 6 and 16 as set forth above. However, Sujan does not teach wherein the determining the target location comprises determining a tail of the first target vehicle platoon as the target location based on the spacing information being less than a third distance threshold.
Tang, in the same field of endeavor, teaches a system for controlling platooning of vehicles. The system determines a position for a vehicle to enqueue itself at the end of a platoon if the distance between vehicles in a platoon is less than a switching distance when it is practical to switch the order of the platoon (Page 3 line 1 step S204: judging the distance between vehicles is less than the switching distance, if it is less than the switching distance, executing step S205, if greater than the switching distance, returning to execute the step S203;
step S205, checking whether it satisfies condition of adding, to the queuing vehicle side enough long lanes can enqueue action, not vehicle changing lane in the vehicle formation, adjustment of the distance between the vehicle, maintained at a relatively fixed distance between adjacent two vehicles of vehicle, if not satisfying the condition of adding, waiting for adding time;).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention and with a reasonable expectation of success, to have modified Sujan with the teachings of Tang which teaches determining a position for a vehicle to enqueue itself at the end of a platoon if the distance between vehicles in a platoon is less than a switching distance when it is practical to switch the order of the platoon in order to reduce the time it would take for a vehicle to add itself to a platoon if the spacing between vehicles is already small (See Tang Page 3 line 9 wherein, the switching distance is 2-4 times of the length, to effectively reduce the time required for vehicle queuing to ensure vehicle safety adding vehicle formation.).
Regarding claims 8 and 18, Sujan in view of Tang teaches the method/system of claims 7 and 17 as set forth above. Sujan further teaches determining the target location based on the second destination information and first destination information of the first vehicle based on the spacing information being greater than or equal to the third distance threshold (Paragraph 0021 The optimization controller might also factor the health of the vehicles ( described below) and the routes of the vehicle (described below). Routes determine when vehicles will leave a platoon, either because they reached their destinations or because their destinations require a route different than the route being followed by the platoon. Every instance of a departing vehicle is a disruption that may result in reorganization of the platoon... The disruptions of the platoon can also impact whether the joining vehicle will be able to remain in a drafting position or will have to lead.).
Regarding claim 10, Sujan in view of Tang teaches the method of claim 7 as set forth above. Sujan further teaches wherein based on the target location being the tail, the third platoon control instruction instructs at least one of: the first vehicle to adjust the first traveling speed, or the first target vehicle platoon to adjust the second traveling speed, and the third platoon control instruction instructs the first vehicle to join the first target vehicle platoon at the tail (Paragraph 0049 Traffic may be impacted by average traffic speed, number of vehicles, and the increase or decrease of vehicles in traffic within the zone of interest, which is delimited by the distance between the target vehicle and the platoon, said distance decreasing over time until the target vehicle joins the platoon, at which time said distance is the separation distance.).
Claim(s) 9 and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sujan in view of Tang and Okamoto (U.S. Patent Application Publication 2014/0316865).
Regarding claims 9 and 19, Sujan in view of Tang teaches the method/system of claims 8 and 18 as set forth above. However, Sujan in view of Tang does not teach wherein the determining the target location comprises: determining a first leaving time of the first vehicle and a plurality of third leaving times of a third plurality of vehicles of the at least one vehicle platoon based on third destination information of the third plurality of vehicles and the first destination information; and determining the target location based on the first leaving time and the plurality of third leaving times.
Okamoto, in the same field of endeavor, teaches a system for controlling platooning of vehicles. The system determines a position for a vehicle to join a platoon based on the time at which the vehicle will depart from the platoon compared to the time at which other vehicles in the platoon will depart from the platoon (Paragraph 0095 In Step S34, the process performs a depart-point-specific join position determination process. Here, the depart-point-specific join position determination process is explained with reference to FIG. 7. The depart-point-specific join position determination process is a processing which compares a depart point of the joining vehicle with a depart point of each of the vehicles contained in the join-in group, and determines a join position of the joining vehicle in the join-in group. Therefore, a join position is eventually determined by this depart-point-specific join position determination process.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention and with a reasonable expectation of success, to have modified Sujan in view of Tang with the teachings of Okamoto which teaches determining a position for a vehicle to join a platoon based on the time at which the vehicle will depart from the platoon compared to the time at which other vehicles in the platoon will depart from the platoon in order to minimize occurrences of vehicles departing from the middle of the platoon, which can disrupt the efficiency of the platoon while it closes the gap left by the departing vehicle (See Okamoto Paragraph 0011 Further, by positioning the vehicles in an ascending order of depart point distances in the lead group and by positioning the vehicles in a descending order of depart point distances in the follow group (i.e., in the lead group, a vehicle order from a top of the platoon is a near depart point vehicle to a far depart point vehicle, and, in the follow group, a vehicle order from a tail end toward the top of the platoon is a near depart point vehicle to a far depart point vehicle), the deterioration of whole platoon energy consumption is prevented. In other words, the platoon organization/re-organization in the above-described manner always makes the departing vehicle depart either from a top of the platoon or a tail end of the platoon. In such manner, the platoon will be less frequently collapsed.).
Conclusion
The prior art made of the record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to
applicant’s disclosure.
Alden – U.S. Patent Application Publication 2017/0349176
Behringer – U.S. Patent Application Publication 2023/0311871
Hong – U.S. Patent Application Publication 2023/0230487
Kim – U.S. Patent Application Publication 2020/0300649
Kumar – U.S. Patent Application Publication 2022/0108618
McLaine – U.S. Patent Application Publication 2023/0316914
Okuda – U.S. Patent Application Publication 2023/0311876
Park – U.S. Patent Application Publication 2021/0382492
Schubert – U.S. Patent 9,940,840
Song – U.S. Patent Application Publication 2023/0297122
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/PATRICK DANIEL MOHL/Examiner, Art Unit 3666
/ANNE MARIE ANTONUCCI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3666