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) 1-10, 12-17, 19, 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ghabra (US 2015/0296348).
Claim 1: Ghabra discloses a system and method for remote keyless entry to a vehicle including a method comprising:
receiving, by a first device, a first signal from a second device (para 0035, 0041 signals transmitted from remote device to main base station are used to determine a ToF distance therebetween);
receiving, by the first device, a second signal from a third device (para 0037, 0038 discloses auxiliary station generating ToF data between itself and remote device, para 0040 discloses auxiliary base stations transmitting signals to main base station via UWB transmission)
and computing a value indicative of a distance between the second and third devices based on the first and second signals received by the first device (para 0040 main base station determines distances between the remote device and itself and one or more auxiliary base stations from the signals received via remote device 12 and auxiliary base stations 16)
Claim 2: Ghabra discloses the first signal is a header-only packet (para 0047, fig 6 elements 616)
Claim 3: Ghabra discloses the second signal is an acknowledge packet (para 0047, 0049)
Claim 4: Ghabra discloses the first signal comprises a packet comprising a timestamp (para 0035)
Claim 5: Ghabra discloses computing the value comprises computing the value by the first device (para 0040 main base station determines distances between the remote device and itself and one or more auxiliary base stations from the signals received via remote device 12 and auxiliary base stations 16)
Claim 6: Ghabra discloses computing the value comprises computing a time-of-flight value (para 0035, 0037, 0038, 0040, 0041)
Claim 7: Ghabra discloses computing the value comprises computing the value based on times in which the first device receives the first and second signals (para 0035, 0037, 0038, 0040, 0041)
Claim 8: Ghabra discloses transmitting, by the first device, a third signal; receiving, by the first device, a fourth signal from the third device, wherein computing the value comprises computing the value based on the fourth signal received by the first device (para 0035, 0037, 0038, 0040, 0041)
Claim 9: Ghabra discloses the third signal comprises a broadcast packet (para 0035, 0047, 0049)
Claim 10: Ghabra discloses computing the value comprises: computing a first time-of-flight based on the first and second signals; computing a second time-of-flight based on the third and fourth signals; and computing the value based on the first and second times-of-flight (para 0035, 0037, 0038, 0040, 0041)
Claim 12: Ghabra discloses transmitting the third signal comprises operating the first device in a transmit mode, and wherein receiving the fourth signal comprises operating the first device in a receive mode (para 0035, 0037, 0038, 0040, 0041)
Claim 13: Ghabra discloses transmitting the third signal comprises transmitting the third signal after reception, by the first device, of the second signal, the method further comprising transitioning the first device from the receive mode to the transmit mode prior to transmission of the third signal (para 0035, 0037, 0038, 0040, 0041)
Claim 14: Ghabra discloses the third signal is a repeat of the first signal transmitted by the second device (para 0035, 0037, 0038, 0040, 0041)
Claim 15: Ghabra discloses computing the value comprises computing the value by the second device (para 0035, 0037, 0038, 0040, 0041)
Claim 16: Ghabra discloses computing the value comprises computing the value by the third device (para 0035, 0037, 0038, 0040, 0041)
Claim 17: Ghabra discloses the first signal comprises a broadcast packet.
Claim 19: Ghabra discloses drawing power, by the first and second devices, from a battery of a car (para 0026, fig 2 element Vbatt)
Claim 20: Ghabra discloses the third device comprises a keyfob (para 0017)
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 11 and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ghabra (US 2015/0296348) as applied to claims 1 and 10 above, and further in view of Ahmed (US 2021/0061225).
Claim 11: Ghabra does not specifically disclose computing the value comprises averaging the first and second times-of-flight.
In the same field of endeavor, Ahmed discloses a vehicular keyless access system in which time of flight measurements are averaged (para 0102).
It would have been obvious to modify the invention such that it comprised the above limitations, as taught by Ahmed, in order to improve the accuracy of the ToF measurements (Ahmed para 0102)
Claim 18: Ghabra does not specifically disclose the first device is a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) device.
In the same field of endeavor, Ahmed discloses a vehicular keyless access system in which the first device is a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) device (para 0037)
It would have been obvious to modify the invention such that it comprised the above limitations, as taught by Ahmed, in order to utilize known communications protocols (Ahmed para 0037)
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The additionally cited prior art comprises embodiments for determination of relative positional information between three devices.
Poegel (US 2009/0191894) teaches all of the limitations of at least claim 1. Poegel teaches a central unit receiving signals from plural devices and determining the distances between said devices (para 0040)
Bird (US 2007/0052534) teaches all of the limitations of at least claim 1. Bird teaches a positioning method for locating the position of a mobile device relative to other devices in which each device transmits signals to a central device and distances between the mobile device and each stationary device are there determined (para 0053-0063)
Rackley (US 4742357) teaches all of the limitations of at least claim 1. Rackley teaches a system for detecting the position of an object in which ToF signals are made between plural known receivers and the object, these signals are each then received at a base station which uses known ToF solutions to calculate the distances between each of the known receivers and the object (col 4 lines 32-61)
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PETER M BYTHROW whose telephone number is (571)270-1468. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 830am-5pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Resha Desai can be reached at (571) 270-7792. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/PETER M BYTHROW/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3648
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