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.
Claims 1-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter. The claim(s) does/do not fall within at least one of the four categories of patent eligible subject matter because claim 1 recites “A communication device, comprising a grouping unit, a message generation unit, and a message transmission unit, the said units are configured to perform a series of steps. Under the BRI, all the recited units can be implemented by computer-executable/application programs which are directed to software embodiment. In addition, applicant disclose in [0129] of the Specification that “The controller 23 includes a message acquisition unit 30, a grouping unit 31, a message generation unit 32, and a message transmission unit 33 as functional blocks implemented by the processor 24 b that executes a program.” Same rationales apply to independent claim 16. The dependent claims 2-15 have been reviewed and do not cure the deficiency. Therefore, claims 1-16 are rejected as being directed to software per se.
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)(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.
Claim(s) 1-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Jha (US 20220343241 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Jha teaches a communication device configured to communicate a message including object information, the device comprising: (Figure. 13 and 14. [0002]: communication system implementations, and in particular, to connected and computer-assisted and/or autonomous driving vehicles, Internet of Vehicles (IoV), Intelligent Transportation System (ITS), and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies.)
a grouping unit configured to determine whether to perform grouping of a plurality of objects perceived by a sensor; (Fig. 8. [0019]: CPS involves different ITS-Ss actively exchanging locally perceived objects (e.g., other road participants, obstacles, and the like) detected by local perception sensors by means of one or more V2X RATs. [0200]: Enabling a provision to report these objects as a group with proper group information in the CPM can significantly reduce CPM overhead and improve CPS efficiency. [0214]: the CPS element proceeds to operation 802 to determine whether any perceived objects should be grouped or clustered into an Object Cluster.)
a message generation unit configured to generate the message including aggregation information in which the plurality of objects are aggregated into an object group based on the grouping; and (Fig. 8. [0216]-[0217]: If the perceived objects should be clustered, then the CPS entity proceeds to operation 804 to trigger CPM perceivedObjectClusterContainer Generation, and then proceeds to the perceivedObjectClusterContainer Generation, Transmission, and Reception subprocess 805.)
a message transmission unit configured to transmit the message including the aggregation information. (Fig. 8 and [0217]: At operation 808, the CPS entity transmits or broadcasts the generated CPM. [0056]: CPMs are broadcast in the ITS network between ITS-Ss to share the presence of road users (e.g., VRUs) and other objects that have been detected and recognized by ITS-Ss.)
Regarding claim 2, Jha teach the communication device according to claim 1.
Jha teaches wherein the grouping unit is configured to perform the grouping of the plurality of objects of a same type. ([0021]: objects belonging to a same class may be reported as a single entity/object when their locations within some predefined or configured distance from one another and/or when these objects move in a same or similar direction.)
Regarding claim 3, Jha teach the communication device according to claim 2.
Jha teaches wherein the grouping unit is configured to perform the grouping of the plurality of objects of the same type, the plurality of objects having been perceived by the same sensor. ([0021]: objects belonging to a same class may be reported as a single entity/object when their locations within some predefined or configured distance from one another and/or when these objects move in a same or similar direction. [0271]-[0272]: Table 4: the objectcluster may be reported directly by a sensor (e.g., same sensor) or a sensor fusion system.)
Regarding claim 4, Jha teach the communication device according to claim 1.
Jha teaches wherein the grouping unit is configured to determine whether to perform the grouping of the plurality of objects depending on a position of the plurality of objects. ([0021]: objects belonging to a same class may be reported as a single entity/object when their locations within some predefined or configured distance (e.g., position) from one another and/or when these objects move in a same or similar direction.)
Regarding claim 5, Jha teach the communication device according to claim 1.
Jha teaches wherein the grouping unit is configured to determine whether to perform the grouping of the plurality of objects in accordance with a similarity in behavior between the plurality of objects. ([0021]: objects belonging to a same class may be reported as a single entity/object when their locations within some predefined or configured distance from one another and/or when these objects move in a same or similar direction.)
Regarding claim 6, Jha teach the communication device according to claim 1.
Jha teaches wherein the grouping unit is configured to determine whether to perform the grouping of the plurality of objects depending on a confidence of perception of the sensor. ([0103]: 1) If the assigned object class of highest confidence does not correspond to either the person or animal class or 2) If the assigned object class of highest confidence corresponds to either the person or animal class. [0240]: Aggregated confidence level of the objectcluster detection.)
Regarding claim 7, Jha teach the communication device according to claim 1.
Jha teaches wherein the grouping unit is configured to determine whether to perform the grouping of the plurality of objects depending on a confidence of perception of the sensor. ([0165]-[0166]: Event-Triggered CPMs (ET_CPMs) may be transmitted in response to detection of an event, such as detection of safety critical scenario or object. Safety critical events may include, for example, detection of objects next to a lane with the ability to move (e.g., dustbin, skateboard, lost cargo, etc.), high risk/relevance VRUs (e.g., road workers, police agents, emergency personnel, fire brigade, etc.), animal suddenly jumping/entering road, kids coming near road, etc. can be considered as events triggering immediate transmission of ET_CPM.)
Regarding claim 8, Jha teach the communication device according to claim 1.
Jha teaches wherein the grouping unit is configured to determine whether to perform the grouping of the plurality of objects depending on a lane of a road on which the plurality of objects exist. ([0165]-[0166]: Event-Triggered CPMs (ET_CPMs) may be transmitted in response to detection of an event, such as detection of safety critical scenario or object. Safety critical events may include, for example, detection of objects next to a lane with the ability to move (e.g., dustbin, skateboard, lost cargo, etc.), high risk/relevance VRUs (e.g., road workers, police agents, emergency personnel, fire brigade, etc.), animal suddenly jumping/entering road, kids coming near road, etc. can be considered as events triggering immediate transmission of ET_CPM. [0247]: machedPosition - Lane IDs)
Regarding claim 9, Jha teach the communication device according to claim 1.
Jha teaches wherein the grouping unit is configured to determine whether to group the plurality of objects depending on prediction of a future behavior of the plurality of objects. ([0025]: the “costs” of the costmap can be a cost as perceived by the station at a current time and/or a cost predicted at a specific future time (e.g., at a future time when the station intends to move to a new lane under a lane change maneuver). [0104]: objects that are not selected for transmission in the currently generated CP message are predicted to the next CP message generation event (e.g., after T_GenCpm), for example assuming a constant velocity model (e.g., future behavior). Following this prediction, all objects that would then need to be included in a CPM in the next generation event should also be selected for inclusion in the currently generated CPM.)
Regarding claim 10, Jha teach the communication device according to claim 1.
Jha teaches wherein the grouping unit is configured to determine whether to group the plurality of objects depending on a communication congestion state in a periphery of the communication device. ([0155]: TCPM can be determined based on network congestion levels/measurements (or channel congestion levels/measurements), quality (confidence) levels/measurements of perceived object(s), safety relevant of perceived objects (e.g., detection of pedestrian, moving things/organism needs more frequent transmission), geolocation (e.g., more frequent on Intersection, wild-animal prone area), node density in neighbor table, resource selection scheme at communication-Layer (L2), and/or other like parameters. [0200]: Enabling a provision to report these objects as a group with proper group information in the CPM can significantly reduce CPM overhead and improve CPS efficiency.)
Regarding claim 11, Jha teach the communication device according to claim 1.
Jha teaches determine whether to perform the grouping of the plurality of objects based on an initial grouping condition; modify the grouping condition according to a total number of the plurality of objects and the object group after aggregation by the grouping based on the initial grouping condition or a message size after the aggregation; and determine whether to perform the grouping of the plurality of objects based on the modified grouping condition. ([0266]-[0267]: In case the size of an encoded CPM including all perceived objects and Object Cluster candidates selected for transmission exceeds MTU_CPM. Each message segment can be interpreted without the need to receive all segments. Currently, selected perceived object candidates are included in a CPM segment in a descending order of the product of an object's confidence (if available) and speed. For an Object Cluster, a priority value for ordering objects and Object Clusters in descending in a current CPM is calculated as the product of an Object Cluster's aggregate confidence (if available), the Object Cluster's average speed, and size of the Object Cluster. In case the Object Cluster's aggregate confidence is unavailable, the product of only the ObjectCluster speed and size should be used for sorting in a descending fashion. It will provide higher priority to include ObjectCluster minimizing CPM size further in proximity.)
Regarding claim 12, Jha teach the communication device according to claim 1.
Jha teaches wherein the message generation unit is configured to represent a dimension of the object group included in the aggregation information by a dimension of a rectangular parallelepiped that includes all of the objects aggregated in the object group. ([0075]: Several other fields are also available to provide a more detailed description of a perceived object. For example, Distance, Speed and Acceleration values may be provided in three dimensions along with a yaw angle of the object. [0086]: Each ITS-S prepares a costmap for a rectangular size of specified dimensions in its FoV (and/or in the FoV of various sensors implemented by the ITS-S) where the area (e.g., rectangular area) is further divided into smaller (e.g., rectangular) cells.)
Regarding claim 13, Jha teach the communication device according to claim 12.
Jha teaches wherein under a transmission condition where the message transmission unit transmits the message at a predetermined first interval, when the dimension of the object group aggregated in the previously transmitted message is determined to have changed by a predetermined threshold or more, the message transmission unit changes a transmission interval of the message to a second interval shorter than the first interval. ([0155]: a periodic CPM is generated (or pushed for transmission to the Network and Transport layer and/or the access layer (see e.g., Figure [R01])) with a periodicity TCPM, where TCPM is selected between two Minimum and Maximum periodicity parameters (e.g., TCPM_Min=100 ms, and TCPM_Max=1 s) provided by CPM management Entity. [0132]: the Rectangular Cost Map Grid Area to be reported and the Euclidian distance of the NodeCenterPoint of the same reported Rectangular Cost Map Grid Area and lastly included in a CPM exceeds a threshold amount/value (e.g., 4 meters (m) or the like). [0221]: an updated object cluster can be added to the current CPM if the difference between the current Radius or SemiRangeLength of the ObjectClusterArea and the Radius or SemiRangeLength of the same ObjectClusterArea included in a previous CPM exceeds a threshold (e.g., 4 m).)
Regarding claim 14, Jha teach the communication device according to claim 1.
Jha teaches wherein the message generation unit is configured to generate a message including information indicating a grouping condition determined in the grouping. (Table 5: ObjectClassDescription.)
Regarding claim 15, Jha teach the communication device according to claim 1.
Jha teaches wherein when the plurality of objects of a same type are not grouped in the grouping, the message generation unit generates a message including information indicating whether the plurality of objects that are not grouped are vulnerable or a road user. ([0103]: 2) If the assigned object class of highest confidence corresponds to either the person or animal class: a) A new object (of class person or animal) is detected after the last CPM generation event. b) If the object list contains at least one object of class person or animal which has not been included in a CPM in the past 500 ms, all objects of class person or animal should be included in the currently generated CPM. [0271]: if objectReportType indicates individual perceived object, data elements of the ‘PerceivedObject’ in existing CPM will be included.)
Regarding claim 16, Jha teaches a communication device configured to communicate a message including object information, the device comprising: (Figure. 13 and 14. [0002]: communication system implementations, and in particular, to connected and computer-assisted and/or autonomous driving vehicles, Internet of Vehicles (IoV), Intelligent Transportation System (ITS), and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies.)
a grouping unit configured to determine whether to perform grouping of a plurality of objects perceived by a sensor; (Fig. 8. [0019]: CPS involves different ITS-Ss actively exchanging locally perceived objects (e.g., other road participants, obstacles, and the like) detected by local perception sensors by means of one or more V2X RATs. [0200]: Enabling a provision to report these objects as a group with proper group information in the CPM can significantly reduce CPM overhead and improve CPS efficiency. [0214]: the CPS element proceeds to operation 802 to determine whether any perceived objects should be grouped or clustered into an Object Cluster.)
a message generation unit configured to determine whether information of each object and each object group after aggregation based on the grouping is to be included in a message, (Fig. 8. [0216]-[0217]: If the perceived objects should be clustered, then the CPS entity proceeds to operation 804 to trigger CPM perceivedObjectClusterContainer Generation, and then proceeds to the perceivedObjectClusterContainer Generation, Transmission, and Reception subprocess 805.)
exclude the object and the object group that are determined not to be included in the message, and ([0231]: one or more existing objects may be removed from (e.g., disqualified to remain in) an ObjectCluster. [0251]: When one or more existing perceived objects in an existing Object Cluster move away from the Object Cluster (e.g., more than Dmin_objectcluster) and/or violate other constraints (e.g., Vmaxdiff_objectcluster, etc.), these objects are excluded from the updated Object Cluster.)
generate the message including information of the object and the object group that are determined to be included in the message; (Fig. 8. [0216]-[0217]: If the perceived objects should be clustered, then the CPS entity proceeds to operation 804 to trigger CPM perceivedObjectClusterContainer Generation, and then proceeds to the perceivedObjectClusterContainer Generation, Transmission, and Reception subprocess 805.)
a message transmission unit configured to transmit the message including the aggregation information. (Fig. 8 and [0217]: At operation 808, the CPS entity transmits or broadcasts the generated CPM. [0056]: CPMs are broadcast in the ITS network between ITS-Ss to share the presence of road users (e.g., VRUs) and other objects that have been detected and recognized by ITS-Ss.)
Same rationales apply to claim 17 (method) because it is substantially similar to claim 1 (communication device).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ZI YE whose telephone number is (571)270-1039. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:00pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Emmanuel Moise can be reached at 5712723865. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ZI YE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2455
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