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 . Claims 1-20 have been examined.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d).
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities: Paragraph 73, line 3 of the Specification recites “A/C specification unit 260” should be corrected to “A/C specification unit 270”.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claims 1-3, 8-11, 16-17, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Shyman et al. (US 2023/0076554 A1) (Shyman hereinafter).
Regarding claim 1, Shyman discloses a method, comprising:
determining, by at least one processor, a target destination at an airside at an airport and of an aircraft ([0032], in block 202, the path planning system 112 acquires data for generating the taxiing plan. Example input data for the path planning system 112 may include, but is not limited to, a starting location of the aircraft 108, a starting orientation/heading for the aircraft 108, an airport map, ATC instructions, a destination location for the aircraft 108, and a destination orientation/heading for the aircraft 108);
receiving aircraft operating context data indicating a current state of the aircraft and including at least a current position of the aircraft ([0057], the “ATC instructions” field accepts a list of instructions provided by the ATC 110. The “Destination Alias” may include a drop-down list of aliases for the airport 100. The “Generate Taxi Plan From Current Location” button may cause the path planning system 112 to take the current aircraft location as the start point and build a new plan according to user requirements);
receiving real-time ground operations data for the airport and from at least one real-time data source including instructions to move the aircraft to the target destination (Abstract);
determining, by at least one processor, ground navigation instructions by using both the real-time ground operations data and the aircraft operating context data, wherein the ground navigation instructions recite a planned state of one or more engines of the aircraft ([0077], the flight control system 1404 may generate commands that control the actuators 1416 and the engines (e.g., via an engine controller). The flight control system 1404 may control the aircraft 108-1 according to remote operator inputs from the GCS operator controls and/or commands generated by the FMS 1414 (e.g., autopilot commands)); and
providing the ground navigation instructions in time to implement the ground navigation instructions so that the one or more engines of the aircraft are in the planned state at or before reaching the target destination as instructed by the ground navigation instructions ([0079], the autopilot system 1406 may output control signals/commands that control actuators 1416 (e.g., power lever actuators for one or more engines, one or more actuators, brake actuators, steering actuators, etc.). In some implementations, the aircraft 108-1 may include an engine controller that controls one or more engines, such as turboprop engines or other engine types. The engine controller may control the engine(s) based on received engine commands, such as a power lever position command).
Regarding claims 2-3, Shyman discloses the method of claim 1, as stated above, wherein the planned state is an idle thrust to be initially implemented a planned distance along a route before the target destination and maintained along a distance to cause the aircraft to roll to a stop to the target destination; and comprising computing the planned distance comprising using at least a speed of the aircraft and a weight of the aircraft ([0068], the taxiing control system 1400 may include taxi speed control. Taxi speed control may actuate the power lever and the brakes to cause the aircraft 108 to track the speed setpoints and stop at the stop waypoints. The taxi speed control may enforce acceleration and jerk limits for safety and ride comfort. Taxi speed control may be implemented in a variety of ways. In some implements, the taxi speed control may have an outer loop that computes an acceleration setpoint based on the speed error and distance to the stop waypoint. In some implements, the taxi speed control may have an inner loop that uses the power lever and brake to track the acceleration setpoint. The taxi speed control may have logic to determine when to use throttle vs brake. In some cases, the taxi speed control may use model predictive control to compute the power lever and brake commands directly from speed setpoints , aircraft speed, and distance to the stop waypoint without computing an explicit acceleration setpoint).
Regarding claim 8, Shyman discloses the method of claim 1, as stated above, comprising displaying at least part of the ground navigation instructions on an avionics display viewable by an operator of the aircraft and indicating which ground navigation instruction to implement and when to implement the ground navigation instructions ([0043], in some implementations, the operator may view the taxiing plan, stop points, and optional stop points in a GUI (e.g., on a display at the GCS 106)).
Regarding claim 9, Shyman discloses the method of claim 1, as stated above, comprising displaying at least a part of the ground navigation instructions at a time the part of the ground navigation instructions is to be implemented ([0047], while the aircraft 108 is taxiing, a GUI may indicate to the operator that an optional stop is coming up ahead. In a specific example, a notification may be displayed on the GUI indicating that the operator has the option of stopping the aircraft at an upcoming optional stop point).
Regarding claim 10, Shyman discloses the method of claim 1, as stated above, comprising providing the ground navigation instructions to at least one avionics system on the aircraft to be implemented autonomously ([0025], the aircraft 108 may include an aircraft control system (e.g., a taxiing control system 114) that controls the aircraft 108 according to the generated taxiing path plan, such that the aircraft 108 may automatically traverse the generated taxiing path plan without additional operator intervention).
Regarding claim 11, the elements contained in claim 11 are substantially similar to elements presented in claim 1, except that it set forth the claimed invention as a system rather than a method and is rejected for the same reasons as applied above.
Regarding claim 16, the elements contained in claim 16 are substantially similar to elements presented in claim 1, except that it set forth the claimed invention as a non-transitory computer-readable medium rather than a method and is rejected for the same reasons as applied above.
Regarding claim 17, Shyman discloses the medium of claim 16, as stated above, wherein the instructions cause the computing device to operate by providing multiple ground navigation instructions each to move the aircraft to a different one of multiple target destinations, wherein each target destination is a holding point along an airside route of the aircraft, and determining an estimated time of arrival (ETA) at each target destination ([0074], the aircraft 108-1 may include a flight management system 1414 (FMS) that may receive and/or generate one or more flight plan data structures (i.e., flight plan data) that the aircraft 108-1 may use for navigation during flight. A flight plan data structure may include a sequence of waypoints that each indicate a target location for the aircraft 108-1 over time. A waypoint may indicate a three-dimensional location in space, such as a latitude, longitude, and altitude (e.g., in meters). Each of the waypoints in the flight plan data structure may also be associated with additional waypoint data, such as a waypoint time (e.g., a target time of arrival at the waypoint) and/or a waypoint speed (e.g., a target airspeed in knots or kilometers per hour).
Regarding claim 20, the elements contained in claim 20 are substantially similar to elements presented in claim 8, except that it set forth the claimed invention as a non-transitory computer-readable medium rather than a method and is rejected for the same reasons as applied above.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-7, 12-15, and 18-19 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure. See attached form PTO-892.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Luke Huynh whose telephone number is 571-270-5746. The examiner can normally be reached Mon 8-5, Tues 8-12, Thurs & Fri 8-2.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Hitesh Patel can be reached at 571-270-5442. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/LUKE HUYNH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3667
07/23/2026
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