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 § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 7 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
(1) Regarding claim 7:
Claim 7 recites the limitation "the number of hops" in line 2-3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
(2) Regarding claim 16:
Claim 16 recites the limitation "the number of hops" in line 2-3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
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.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wright et al. (US 2024/0323660 A1) in view of Melum et al. (US 2011/0273322 A1) and Wu (CN 117423456 A published on 1/19/2024).
(1) Regarding claim 1:
Wright discloses a vehicle emergency message delivery system, comprising:
a first network access device of a first vehicle configured to transmit and receive a vehicle emergency message (To provide occupants with telecommunications and informatics functionality, many vehicle passenger compartments are now furnished with a center-stack telematics unit that enables the sending, receiving, and storing of information using wireless connectivity. The telematics unit may wirelessly connect to a cellular network for such purposes as real-time navigation, customer support, vehicle tracking, system monitoring, traffic data, and fleet management, para. 0003, 0015, 0024, mobile vehicle communications (MVC) system 82 that enables wireless communications with remotely located computing nodes for one or more travelling and stationary vehicles 10. MVC system 82 is represented herein by a constellation of GPS satellites 84, a wireless services satellite 86, an uplink transmitting station 88, a cellular (cell) transceiver tower 90, and a mobile switching center (MSC) 92, 0027);
a second network access device of a second vehicle (a receiving WMN-connected device, para. 0004) configured to transmit and receive the vehicle emergency message (To provide occupants with telecommunications and informatics functionality, many vehicle passenger compartments are now furnished with a center-stack telematics unit that enables the sending, receiving, and storing of information using wireless connectivity. The telematics unit may wirelessly connect to a cellular network for such purposes as real-time navigation, customer support, vehicle tracking, system monitoring, traffic data, and fleet management, para. 0003, 0015, 0024, mobile vehicle communications (MVC) system 82 that enables wireless communications with remotely located computing nodes for one or more travelling and stationary vehicles 10. MVC system 82 is represented herein by a constellation of GPS satellites 84, a wireless services satellite 86, an uplink transmitting station 88, a cellular (cell) transceiver tower 90, and a mobile switching center (MSC) 92, 0027); and
an electronic control unit (ECU) (vehicle controller, para. 0006) electrically connected to the first network access device and configured to:
receive a triggering signal indicating an emergency has occurred (via the vehicle controller from an occupant interface or vehicle interface module, a vehicle disabled signal indicating the host vehicle is incapacitated due to an incapacitating vehicle event (e.g., powertrain fault or collision event); detecting, e.g., via the vehicle controller responsive to receiving the vehicle disabled signal, para. 0006, 0024);
in response to receiving the triggering signal, generate a vehicle emergency message having information about the first vehicle and passengers including a location of the first vehicle, current status of the vehicle emergency message, and vehicle identification data about the first vehicle (When unable to establish a direct cellular connection with a centralized back-office (BO) vehicle services system, a disabled host vehicle may generate and broadcast across an ad-hoc mesh network a distress message (eCall) with a unique reference number, real-time vehicle geolocation data, event specifics and severity data, vehicle-specific data (make/model/trim/color), para. 0004; The distress message may contain vehicle-specific data exclusive to the host vehicle (e.g., unique reference number, real-time vehicle geolocation data, vehicle-specific data (make/model/trim/color), owner/driver information, etc.) and incident-specific data unique to the incapacitating event that rendered the host disabled (e.g., event specifics, severity data, etc.), para. 0033);
when both transmissions have failed, transmit the vehicle emergency message to the second network access device of the second vehicle via the first network access device to allow the second network access device to deliver the vehicle emergency message to emergency services using satellite or cellular connectivity (via the vehicle controller from an occupant interface or vehicle interface module, a vehicle disabled signal indicating the host vehicle is incapacitated due to an incapacitating vehicle event (e.g., powertrain fault or collision event); detecting, e.g., via the vehicle controller responsive to receiving the vehicle disabled signal, insufficient connectivity rendering the host vehicle's wireless comm device unable to wirelessly connect to a cellular or satellite communications system; broadcasting, e.g., over a WMN via the host vehicle's controller responsive to detecting insufficient connectivity, a distress message containing data specific to the host vehicle and data specific to the incapacitating vehicle event; determining, e.g., via a resident controller of a WMN-connected recipient vehicle using the vehicle data, if a prior distress message for the incapacitating vehicle event was previously received (e.g., crosscheck Unique ID code against cache-memory stored codes); determining, e.g., via the recipient vehicle's resident controller using the incident data, if the distress message exceeds a preset multi-hop restriction (e.g., calling up event-calibrated messaging thresholds); and disabling, e.g., via the resident controller responsive to either the prior distress message being received or the distress message exceeding a predefined multi-hop restriction, retransmission of the distress message from the recipient vehicle to another recipient node over the WMN, para. 0006; broadcast a V2X eCall distress message over the WMN 11, para. 0033; another WMN-connected recipient vehicle may have been able to successfully connect to the BO system via cellular or satellite service and notify them of the disabled host vehicle 10′, para. 0034); and
receive confirmation of delivery of the vehicle emergency message to emergency services from the second vehicle (It may be desirable, for at least some implementations, that block 207 include processor-executable instructions for continually broadcasting the distress message over the WMN 11, e.g., until the host receives a hop interrupt message or a return message denoting the distress message was successfully transmitted to the BO system/first responder, para. 0033).
Wright fails to disclose (a) transmit the vehicle emergency message to emergency services via cellular connectivity; transmit the vehicle emergency message to emergency services via satellite connectivity when the transmission of the vehicle emergency message via cellular connectivity fails; and (b) the emergency message additional comprising passengers information.
With respect to (a), in the same field of endeavor, Melum discloses a method for transferring vehicle information over wireless communication (ALAS link) using cellular communication as a primary communication type and satellite communication as a backup (para. 0026).
It is desirable to transmit the vehicle emergency message to emergency services via cellular connectivity; transmit the vehicle emergency message to emergency services via satellite connectivity when the transmission of the vehicle emergency message via cellular connectivity fails because the coverage of the cellular connectivity is higher than satellite connectivity. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to employ the teaching of Melum in the system of Wright for the benefit of providing higher coverage of cellular connectivity as primary communication type to improve the reliability of transferring vehicle information.
With respect to (b), Wu discloses a preferred embodiment of the control system and method for intelligent driving according to the present invention, the control system further comprises: the first aid module sends a distress signal to a nearby hospital and sends received vehicle position information and real-time blood pressure, respiratory frequency, electrocardiogram, myocardial zymogram and heart sound information of a heart disease patient (abstract, page 1, page 6, 1st paragraph).
It is desirable for the emergency message additional comprising passengers information because it improves the efficiency of emergency treatment of patient. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to employ the teaching of Wu in the system of Wright and Melum for the benefit of providing higher coverage of cellular connectivity as primary communication type to improve the reliability of transferring vehicle information.
(2) Regarding claim 10:
Wright discloses a method for generating and transmitting a vehicle emergency message, the method comprising:
receiving a triggering signal indicating an emergency has occurred (via the vehicle controller from an occupant interface or vehicle interface module, a vehicle disabled signal indicating the host vehicle is incapacitated due to an incapacitating vehicle event (e.g., powertrain fault or collision event); detecting, e.g., via the vehicle controller responsive to receiving the vehicle disabled signal, para. 0006, 0024);
in response to receiving the triggering signal, generating a vehicle emergency message having information about a first vehicle and passengers including a location of the first vehicle, current status of the vehicle emergency message, and vehicle identification data about the first vehicle (When unable to establish a direct cellular connection with a centralized back-office (BO) vehicle services system, a disabled host vehicle may generate and broadcast across an ad-hoc mesh network a distress message (eCall) with a unique reference number, real-time vehicle geolocation data, event specifics and severity data, vehicle-specific data (make/model/trim/color), para. 0004; The distress message may contain vehicle-specific data exclusive to the host vehicle (e.g., unique reference number, real-time vehicle geolocation data, vehicle-specific data (make/model/trim/color), owner/driver information, etc.) and incident-specific data unique to the incapacitating event that rendered the host disabled (e.g., event specifics, severity data, etc.), para. 0033);
transmitting the vehicle emergency message to emergency services via cellular connectivity; and satellite connectivity (via the vehicle controller responsive to receiving the vehicle disabled signal, insufficient connectivity rendering the host vehicle's wireless comm device unable to wirelessly connect to a cellular or satellite communications system, para. 0006);
when both transmissions have failed, transmitting the vehicle emergency message to a second network access device of a second vehicle via a first network access device to allow the second network access device to deliver the vehicle emergency message to emergency services using satellite or cellular connectivity (via the vehicle controller from an occupant interface or vehicle interface module, a vehicle disabled signal indicating the host vehicle is incapacitated due to an incapacitating vehicle event (e.g., powertrain fault or collision event); detecting, e.g., via the vehicle controller responsive to receiving the vehicle disabled signal, insufficient connectivity rendering the host vehicle's wireless comm device unable to wirelessly connect to a cellular or satellite communications system; broadcasting, e.g., over a WMN via the host vehicle's controller responsive to detecting insufficient connectivity, a distress message containing data specific to the host vehicle and data specific to the incapacitating vehicle event; determining, e.g., via a resident controller of a WMN-connected recipient vehicle using the vehicle data, if a prior distress message for the incapacitating vehicle event was previously received (e.g., crosscheck Unique ID code against cache-memory stored codes); determining, e.g., via the recipient vehicle's resident controller using the incident data, if the distress message exceeds a preset multi-hop restriction (e.g., calling up event-calibrated messaging thresholds); and disabling, e.g., via the resident controller responsive to either the prior distress message being received or the distress message exceeding a predefined multi-hop restriction, retransmission of the distress message from the recipient vehicle to another recipient node over the WMN, para. 0006; broadcast a V2X eCall distress message over the WMN 11, para. 0033; another WMN-connected recipient vehicle may have been able to successfully connect to the BO system via cellular or satellite service and notify them of the disabled host vehicle 10′, para. 0034); and
receiving confirmation of delivery of the vehicle emergency message to emergency services from the second vehicle (It may be desirable, for at least some implementations, that block 207 include processor-executable instructions for continually broadcasting the distress message over the WMN 11, e.g., until the host receives a hop interrupt message or a return message denoting the distress message was successfully transmitted to the BO system/first responder, para. 0033).
Wright fails to disclose transmitting the vehicle emergency message to emergency services via cellular connectivity; and transmitting the vehicle emergency message to emergency services via satellite connectivity when the transmission of the vehicle emergency message via cellular connectivity fails; and (b) the emergency message additional comprising passengers information..
With respect to (a), in the same field of endeavor, Melum discloses a method for transferring vehicle information over wireless communication (ALAS link) using cellular communication as a primary communication type and satellite communication as a backup (abstract, page 1, para. 0026).
It is desirable transmit the vehicle emergency message to emergency services via cellular connectivity; and transmitting the vehicle emergency message to emergency services via satellite connectivity when the transmission of the vehicle emergency message via cellular connectivity fails because the coverage of the cellular connectivity is higher than satellite connectivity. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to employ the teaching of Melum in the system of Wright for the benefit of providing higher coverage of cellular connectivity as primary communication type to improve the reliability of transferring vehicle information.
With respect to (b), Wu discloses a preferred embodiment of the control system and method for intelligent driving according to the present invention, the control system further comprises: the first aid module sends a distress signal to a nearby hospital and sends received vehicle position information and real-time blood pressure, respiratory frequency, electrocardiogram, myocardial zymogram and heart sound information of a heart disease patient (page 6, 1st paragraph).
It is desirable for the emergency message additional comprising passengers information because it improves the efficiency of emergency treatment of patient. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to employ the teaching of Wu in the system of Wright and Melum for the benefit of providing higher coverage of cellular connectivity as primary communication type to improve the reliability of transferring vehicle information.
(3) Regarding claim 19:
Wright discloses a vehicle including a system for generating and transmitting a vehicle emergency message, the vehicle comprising:
a first network access device configured to transmit and receive a vehicle emergency message (To provide occupants with telecommunications and informatics functionality, many vehicle passenger compartments are now furnished with a center-stack telematics unit that enables the sending, receiving, and storing of information using wireless connectivity. The telematics unit may wirelessly connect to a cellular network for such purposes as real-time navigation, customer support, vehicle tracking, system monitoring, traffic data, and fleet management, para. 0003-0004, 0015, 0024, mobile vehicle communications (MVC) system 82 that enables wireless communications with remotely located computing nodes for one or more travelling and stationary vehicles 10. MVC system 82 is represented herein by a constellation of GPS satellites 84, a wireless services satellite 86, an uplink transmitting station 88, a cellular (cell) transceiver tower 90, and a mobile switching center (MSC) 92, 0027); and
an electronic control unit (ECU) (vehicle controller, para. 0006) electrically connected to the first network access device and configured to:
receive a triggering signal indicating an emergency has occurred (via the vehicle controller from an occupant interface or vehicle interface module, a vehicle disabled signal indicating the host vehicle is incapacitated due to an incapacitating vehicle event (e.g., powertrain fault or collision event); detecting, e.g., via the vehicle controller responsive to receiving the vehicle disabled signal, para. 0006, 0024);
in response to receiving the triggering signal, generate the vehicle emergency message having information about the vehicle and passengers including a location of the vehicle, current status of the vehicle emergency message, and vehicle identification data about the vehicle (When unable to establish a direct cellular connection with a centralized back-office (BO) vehicle services system, a disabled host vehicle may generate and broadcast across an ad-hoc mesh network a distress message (eCall) with a unique reference number, real-time vehicle geolocation data, event specifics and severity data, vehicle-specific data (make/model/trim/color), para. 0004; The distress message may contain vehicle-specific data exclusive to the host vehicle (e.g., unique reference number, real-time vehicle geolocation data, vehicle-specific data (make/model/trim/color), owner/driver information, etc.) and incident-specific data unique to the incapacitating event that rendered the host disabled (e.g., event specifics, severity data, etc.), para. 0033);
transmit the vehicle emergency message to emergency services via cellular connectivity and satellite connectivity (via the vehicle controller responsive to receiving the vehicle disabled signal, insufficient connectivity rendering the host vehicle's wireless comm device unable to wirelessly connect to a cellular or satellite communications system, para. 0006);
when both transmissions have failed, transmit the vehicle emergency message to a second network access device of a second vehicle via the first network access device to allow the second network access device to deliver the vehicle emergency message to emergency services using satellite or cellular connectivity (via the vehicle controller from an occupant interface or vehicle interface module, a vehicle disabled signal indicating the host vehicle is incapacitated due to an incapacitating vehicle event (e.g., powertrain fault or collision event); detecting, e.g., via the vehicle controller responsive to receiving the vehicle disabled signal, insufficient connectivity rendering the host vehicle's wireless comm device unable to wirelessly connect to a cellular or satellite communications system; broadcasting, e.g., over a WMN via the host vehicle's controller responsive to detecting insufficient connectivity, a distress message containing data specific to the host vehicle and data specific to the incapacitating vehicle event; determining, e.g., via a resident controller of a WMN-connected recipient vehicle using the vehicle data, if a prior distress message for the incapacitating vehicle event was previously received (e.g., crosscheck Unique ID code against cache-memory stored codes); determining, e.g., via the recipient vehicle's resident controller using the incident data, if the distress message exceeds a preset multi-hop restriction (e.g., calling up event-calibrated messaging thresholds); and disabling, e.g., via the resident controller responsive to either the prior distress message being received or the distress message exceeding a predefined multi-hop restriction, retransmission of the distress message from the recipient vehicle to another recipient node over the WMN, para. 0006; broadcast a V2X eCall distress message over the WMN 11, para. 0033; another WMN-connected recipient vehicle may have been able to successfully connect to the BO system via cellular or satellite service and notify them of the disabled host vehicle 10′, para. 0034); and
receive confirmation of delivery of the vehicle emergency message to emergency services from the second vehicle (It may be desirable, for at least some implementations, that block 207 include processor-executable instructions for continually broadcasting the distress message over the WMN 11, e.g., until the host receives a hop interrupt message or a return message denoting the distress message was successfully transmitted to the BO system/first responder, para. 0033).
Wright fails to disclose (a) transmitting the vehicle emergency message to emergency services via cellular connectivity; and transmitting the vehicle emergency message to emergency services via satellite connectivity when the transmission of the vehicle emergency message via cellular connectivity fails; and (b) the emergency message additional comprising passengers information..
With respect to (a), in the same field of endeavor, Melum discloses a method for transferring vehicle information over wireless communication (ALAS link) using cellular communication as a primary communication type and satellite communication as a backup (para. 0026).
It is desirable transmit the vehicle emergency message to emergency services via cellular connectivity; and transmitting the vehicle emergency message to emergency services via satellite connectivity when the transmission of the vehicle emergency message via cellular connectivity fails because the coverage of the cellular connectivity is higher than satellite connectivity. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to employ the teaching of Melum in the system of Wright for the benefit of providing higher coverage of cellular connectivity as primary communication type to improve the reliability of transferring vehicle information.
With respect to (b), Wu discloses a preferred embodiment of the control system and method for intelligent driving according to the present invention, the control system further comprises: the first aid module sends a distress signal to a nearby hospital and sends received vehicle position information and real-time blood pressure, respiratory frequency, electrocardiogram, myocardial zymogram and heart sound information of a heart disease patient (abstract, page 1, page 6, 1st paragraph).
It is desirable for the emergency message additional comprising passengers information because it improves the efficiency of emergency treatment of patient. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to employ the teaching of Wu in the system of Wright and Melum for the benefit of providing higher coverage of cellular connectivity as primary communication type to improve the reliability of transferring vehicle information.
(4) Regarding claims 3, 12, and 20:
Wright, Melum, and Wu together disclose subject matter of claims 1, 10, and 19, and Melum further discloses the second network access device transmits the vehicle emergency message to a third network access device of a third vehicle via the second network access device when transmission using satellite or cellular connectivity has failed (receiving, via the recipient vehicle's controller using a wireless comm device of the recipient vehicle, the distress message over the WMN; determining, via the recipient vehicle's controller using the vehicle data, if a prior distress message for the incapacitating vehicle event was previously received; determining, via the recipient vehicle's controller using the incident data, if the distress message exceeds a preset multi-hop restriction; and transmitting, via the recipient vehicle's controller responsive to either the prior distress message being previously received or the distress message exceeding the predefined multi-hop restriction, a disable command signal to a resident subsystem of the recipient vehicle disabling retransmission of the distress message to another recipient node over the WMN, para. 0007).
(5) Regarding claims 4 and 13:
Wright, Melum, and Wu together disclose subject matter of claims 1 and 10, and Wright further discloses the emergency comprises one or more of burglary, medical, breaking and entering, hijacking, vehicle malfunction (When unable to establish a direct cellular connection with a centralized back-office (BO) vehicle services system, a disabled host vehicle may generate and broadcast across an ad-hoc mesh network a distress message (eCall) with a unique reference number, real-time vehicle geolocation data, event specifics and severity data, vehicle-specific data (make/model/trim/color0, para. 0004, This representative method includes, in any order and in any combination with any of the above and below disclosed options and features: receiving, e.g., via the vehicle controller from an occupant interface or vehicle interface module, a vehicle disabled signal indicating the host vehicle is incapacitated due to an incapacitating vehicle event (e.g., powertrain fault or collision event); detecting, e.g., via the vehicle controller responsive to receiving the vehicle disabled signal, insufficient connectivity rendering the host vehicle's wireless comm device unable to wirelessly connect to a cellular or satellite communications system; broadcasting, e.g., over a WMN via the host vehicle's controller responsive to detecting insufficient connectivity, a distress message containing data specific to the host vehicle and data specific to the incapacitating vehicle event, para. 0006), or flat tire.
(6) Regarding claims 6 and 15:
Wright, Melum, and Wu together disclose subject matter of claims 1 and 10, and Wright further discloses the information about the first vehicle and passengers comprises one or more of location of the first vehicle, current driving mode of the first vehicle, type of emergency occurring, current range, current miles per gallon, state of vehicle charge, is the first vehicle stopping, is the first vehicle en route to a destination, first vehicle identification number (When unable to establish a direct cellular connection with a centralized back-office (BO) vehicle services system, a disabled host vehicle may generate and broadcast across an ad-hoc mesh network a distress message (eCall) with a unique reference number, real-time vehicle geolocation data, event specifics and severity data, vehicle-specific data (make/model/trim/color0, para. 0004), supported connectivity capabilities of the first vehicle, number of passengers, medical data of passengers, or number of passenger cell phone.
(7) Regarding claims 8 and 17:
Wright, Melum, and Wu together disclose subject matter of claims 1 and 10, and Wright further discloses the vehicle identification data about the first vehicle comprises one or more of first vehicle brand, first vehicle model, first vehicle color, first vehicle identification number, or automated driving capability (When unable to establish a direct cellular connection with a centralized back-office (BO) vehicle services system, a disabled host vehicle may generate and broadcast across an ad-hoc mesh network a distress message (eCall) with a unique reference number, real-time vehicle geolocation data, event specifics and severity data, vehicle-specific data (make/model/trim/color), para. 0004).
(8) Regarding claims 9 and 18:
Wright, Melum, and Wu together disclose subject matter of claims 1 and 10, and Melum further discloses transmission via cellular connectivity is performed prior to transmission via satellite connectivity (transferring vehicle information over wireless communication (ALAS link) using cellular communication as a primary communication type and satellite communication as a backup, para. 0026; the examiner interprets the primary communication type is used first and the backup communication type is used when the primary communication type failed).
(9) Regarding claims 5 and 14:
Wright, Melum, and Wu together disclose subject matter of claims 1 and 10, and Wright further discloses one or more sensors coupled to the first vehicle configured to detect the information about the first vehicle and passengers (CPU 36 receives sensor data from one or more sensing devices that use, for example, photo detection, radar, laser, ultrasonic, optical, infrared, or other suitable technology, including short range communications technologies (e.g., DSRC) or Ultra-Wide Band (UWB) radio technologies, e.g., for executing an automated vehicle operation or a vehicle navigation service, para. 0024), wherein to generate the vehicle emergency message, the ECU is further configured to:
identify, via the one or more sensors, the information about the first vehicle and passengers (the method 200 may automatically initialize in response to a vehicle interface micro control unit (MCU) detecting a collision event, a powertrain fault, or other incapacitating event that renders disabled the host vehicle 10′. The MCU responsively transmits one or more “vehicle disabled” signals to the CPU 36 notifying the telematics unit 14 that the host vehicle 10′ is incapacitated, para. 0030); and
embed the information about the first vehicle and passengers in the vehicle emergency message (a disabled host vehicle may generate and broadcast across an ad-hoc mesh network a distress message (eCall) with a unique reference number, real-time vehicle geolocation data, event specifics and severity data, vehicle-specific data (make/model/trim/color), para. 0004; via the vehicle controller responsive to receiving the vehicle disabled signal, insufficient connectivity rendering the host vehicle's wireless comm device unable to wirelessly connect to a cellular or satellite communications system; broadcasting, e.g., over a WMN via the host vehicle's controller responsive to detecting insufficient connectivity, a distress message containing data specific to the host vehicle and data specific to the incapacitating vehicle event; determining, e.g., via a resident controller of a WMN-connected recipient vehicle using the vehicle data, para. 0006).
(10) Regarding claims 7 and 16:
Wright, Melum, and Wu together disclose subject matter of claims 1 and 10, and Wright further discloses the current status of the vehicle emergency message comprises an indication that the vehicle emergency message is from the first vehicle (a distress message containing data specific to the host vehicle and data specific to the incapacitating vehicle event; determining, e.g., via a resident controller of a WMN-connected recipient vehicle using the vehicle data, para. 0006) and the number of hops from the first vehicle (In particular, process block 227 includes comparing the hop count of the received distress message (e.g., Hop_count=4) against a maximum allowable hop count threshold (e.g., Hop_Cthresh=20), para. 0038).
(11) Regarding claims 2 and 11:
Wright, Melum, and Wu together disclose subject matter of claims 1 and 10, and Wu further discloses the ECU is further configured to control the first vehicle to autonomously come to a stop when the triggering signal indicating an emergency has occurred is received (the data storage module stores the real-time physical state of the heart disease patient and the physical state corresponding to the real-time physical data into a log file; according to the invention, the physical state of the heart disease patient is judged through the data analysis model, the vehicle is automatically parked and the distress signal is sent when an emergency occurs. page 1, abstract).
It is desirable to have the ECU is further configured to control the first vehicle to autonomously come to a stop when the triggering signal indicating an emergency has occurred is received because it reduces the risk of accident occurrence (abstract). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to employ the teaching of Wu in the system of Wright and Melum for the benefit of reducing the risk of accident occurrence.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Rodriguez (US 12,744,724 B2) discloses communication path finding.
Rao et al. (US 2026/0136266 A1) discloses emergency message location determination for non-terrestrial networks.
Kim et al. (US 11,981,333 B2) discloses method and device for transmitting abnormal operation information.
Han (US 2024/0144741 A1) discloses electronic device and method for managing event in vehicle communication system.
Saito et al. (US 2025/0193792 A1) discloses terminal device and communication control method.
Elgee et al. (US 2022/0377513 A1) discloses vehicle-to-vehicle communication system.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SIU M LEE whose telephone number is (571)270-1083. The examiner can normally be reached M-T 8:30-7:00.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Chieh M Fan can be reached at 571-272-3042. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/SIU M LEE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2632 10/5/2026
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