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 .
2. This Office Action is sent in response to Applicant's Communication received on March 05, 2025 for application number 19/109,056. This Office hereby acknowledges receipt of the following and placed of record in file: Specification, Drawings, Abstract, Oath/Declaration, and Claims.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on March 05, 2025 was submitted in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Priority
4. Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. CN 202310973574.6 filed on August 03, 2023.
Disposition of Claims
Claims 1-12 are pending in this application.
Claims 1-12 are rejected.
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.
(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.
Claims 1-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by (Strub – US 2024/0067243 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Strub discloses:
A network automatic train supervision (NATS) system for urban rail transit based on a cloud platform (Abstract: “A method for operating rail vehicles in a traffic network, which includes a reserved operating area that is reserved for the rail vehicles and a shared operating area which is shared with traffic participants other than the rail vehicles. A computer-assisted method for train control is performed automatically in the reserved operating area. The method for automatic train control is also performed in a computer-assisted manner in the shared operating area, wherein automatic train protection does not take place but automatic operation and supervision do take place. Using a range of functions modified thus, continuous train tracking is advantageously realized. There are also described a traffic network for operating rail vehicles, a rail vehicle for operation in a traffic network, and a computer program and an associated delivery device”), wherein the NATS system is disposed:
in a network center cloud platform to collect line ATS data for analysis and provide a network operation management function ([0064]: “The delivery device, by way of example, is a memory or storage unit which stores and/or delivers the computer program. Alternatively, and/or additionally, the delivery device is e.g., a network service, a computer system, a server system, in particular a distributed, e.g., {{{cloud-based computer system}}} and/or virtual processing system, which stores and/or delivers the computer program, preferably in the form of a non-transitory data stream”); and
the NATS system has functions of running command, operation index analysis, fully automated mapping, network and line collaborative command, transport organization, and aided decision ([0077]: “The rail vehicle FZ communicates via a sixth interface S6 with the operations control center LZ. Further interfaces may be provided, even if this is not illustrated in FIG. 1. For example, the rail vehicle FZ communicates with antennas AT in the tunnel TL via interfaces that are not shown, so that a connection can be established via the interface S5 to the CBTC unit CBTC-U. It is however important that the train protection mode in the tunnel TL is based on CBTC, and the running on sight whereby a driver (not shown) drives the rail vehicle FZ is based on a service which has a modified range of functions in comparison with the automatic traffic management, said service allowing automatic operation and supervision of the rail vehicle to be performed. This service preferentially makes use of the V2X standard for the purpose of communication”).
Regarding claim 2, Strub disclose the NATS system for urban rail transit based on a cloud platform according to claim 1, and further on Strub also discloses:
wherein a cloud platform is designed for the NATS system, a virtual data center (VDC) and virtual private cloud (VPC) are designed, the cloud platform transforms physical resources into a virtual pool through the VDC, and flexibly allocates a data center in different logical isolation manners, and a resource pool in the VDC is divided into the VPC, thereby achieving unified deployment of system resources ([0022, 0064]: “the system inventively offers digital space-saving functions which are easy to realize, in particular also for tram systems, without costly installation of devices under the vehicle floor and in the track bed. Therefore the digital or virtual functions can preferentially also be deployed in low-floor vehicles with limited space (e.g., trams)” and “The delivery device, by way of example, is a memory or storage unit which stores and/or delivers the computer program. Alternatively, and/or additionally, the delivery device is e.g., a network service, a computer system, a server system, in particular a distributed, e.g., {{{cloud-based computer system}}} and/or virtual processing system, which stores and/or delivers the computer program, preferably in the form of a non-transitory data stream”).
Regarding claim 3, Strub disclose the NATS system for urban rail transit based on a cloud platform according to claim 2, and further on Strub also discloses:
wherein the VDC is divided based on specialties or urban lines ([0072]: “FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a traffic network which by way of example is provided by a track GL, of the line (or track) forming part of the traffic network, for a vehicle FZ which is moving in a direction of travel FR. The line has a reserved operating area RBB in which only rail vehicles FZ are allowed to move. This is the case in a tunnel TL. There is also a shared operating area GBB, as is customary e.g., in the case of trams. In this shared operating area GBB, other traffic participants (pedestrians, cyclists, motor vehicles) who are not shown in detail in FIG. 1 can cross over the track GL or travel within the area of the track GL”).
Regarding claim 4, Strub disclose the NATS system for urban rail transit based on a cloud platform according to claim 1, and further on Strub also discloses:
wherein a full-line data center is designed for the NATS system, to bear computing and storage resources required by center-level hardware of each specialized system, and the capacity of a data sharing center meets requirements for subsequent line expansion ([0073]: “The track GL can have trackside devices such as, for example, a balise BL and a further open-line element IMU, this taking the form of an inductive electrical loop. The open-line element IMU is embedded in the substrate bearing the track GL and is not illustrated in greater detail. Also illustrated are controlled elements W1, W2 in the form of switches (or points). These determine the path of the rail vehicle FZ in the traffic network. The controlled elements W1, W2 are activated by controllers CL1, CL2, which implement corresponding control commands”).
Regarding claim 5, Strub disclose the NATS system for urban rail transit based on a cloud platform according to claim 1, and further on Strub also discloses:
wherein a workstation is disposed for the NATS system, a desktop cloud is used for the workstation, all software runs on a cloud desktop server, a result is displayed on a desktop cloud workstation, the desktop cloud is divided into a service network, a storage network, and a management network as needed, and the networks are logically isolated ([0074]: “In the case of the first controlled element W1, a control command is forwarded from the open-line element IMU via a third interface S3 to the first controller CL1, which implements said control command via a thirteenth interface S13 in order to set the first controlled element W1. In the case of the second controlled element W2, a control command is initiated e.g., via a tenth interface S10, said tenth interface S10 being a radio interface between two antennas AT which are situated respectively in the rail vehicle FZ and in a processing unit (e.g., a converter) CV. According to the invention, this can be, for example, a V2X interface. The processing unit CV converts the signal that is received via the tenth interface S10 and sends it via a fourth interface S4 to the second controller CL2. In this case, the signal that is converted by the processing unit CV is available in the same format as the signal that is generated by the open-line element IMU and transferred via the third interface S3 to the first controller CL1. Therefore the second controller CL2 can give a control command to the second controlled element W2 via a twelfth interface S12”).
Regarding claim 6, Strub disclose the NATS system for urban rail transit based on a cloud platform according to claim 1, and further on Strub also discloses:
wherein configuration of the NATS system accessing to a cloud platform network meets the following requirements: the NATS system is born in a safety production network; NATS networks are redundant and logically isolated from each other, and the bandwidth of a single network is not less than 100M; the NATS networks are in a ring network, and a single point of failure in the networks does 19 not affect system running; and end-to-end maximum network delay is less than 50 ms, and maximum switch handover delay is less than 50 ms ([0023, 0031, 0040, 0044]).
Regarding claim 7, Strub disclose the NATS system for urban rail transit based on a cloud platform according to claim 1, and further on Strub also discloses:
wherein devices of the NATS system deployed in the cloud platform comprise: a virtual NATS interface server, a virtual NATS application server, a virtual NATS database server, a virtual switch, and a virtual Ethernet, wherein the virtual NATS interface server, the virtual NATS application server, the virtual NATS database server, and the virtual switch are all configured with dual-machine hot standby redundancy ([0058-0078]).
Regarding claim 8, Strub disclose the NATS system for urban rail transit based on a cloud platform according to claim 1, and further on Strub also discloses:
wherein the NATS system is logically divided into an interface layer, a platform layer, and an application layer ([0058-0078]).
Regarding claim 9, Strub disclose the NATS system for urban rail transit based on a cloud platform according to claim 8, and further on Strub also discloses:
wherein the interface layer comprises: interfacing with a network center/line CATS system to process and upload information of all specialties integrated and interconnected in the network center/line based on an access standard of the NATS system; and interfacing with a data sharing center to upload all line CATS information data collected by the NATS system to the data sharing center, and upload processed running graph data and running index data in the format required by the data sharing center ([0058-0078]).
Regarding claim 10, Strub disclose the NATS system for urban rail transit based on a cloud platform according to claim 8, and further on Strub also discloses:
wherein the platform layer is a service logic processing layer, comprising a real-time database, a historical database, a logical processing engine, and an intelligent analysis engine, and configured to perform specific logic analysis and processing on collected line-side ATS data and send a result to the application layer ([0058-0078]).
Regarding claim 11, Strub disclose the NATS system for urban rail transit based on a cloud platform according to claim 8, and further on Strub also discloses:
wherein the application layer comprises: a full-road network graph display module, configured to display all rail transit lines planned locally in one window, which is implemented in the form of a vector graph; a station-yard graph display module, configured to display tracks, turnouts, signals, static 20 position information, and other information that needs to be displayed on a station-yard graph interface, so that a dispatcher can understand a real-time signal device status on site; a train running information display module, configured to display train running information, comprising a train identification number, a train destination number, a train arrival status, a train detaining status, a train tripping status, train location information, a train tracking mode, a train driving mode, and a train door status; a running graph display module, configured to display a running graph in a graphic interface, where data of a planned running graph and an actual running graph uploaded by lines are stored by the NATS system and displayed on a running graph interface for the dispatcher to view a running condition of a train, and the actual running graph is refreshed in real time as the train runs; an alarm event display module, configured to view, in real time in an alarm graph of a system, an alarm occurring in the lines; an operation index analysis and display module, configured to analyze and calculate running-related operation indexes based on the data of the planned running graph and actual running graph collected from the lines, and then display operation indexes on a user interface; a statistical report query module, configured to query and display commonly used statistical information and alarm event information for the dispatcher to view the statistical information and analyze historical data; and a playback module, configured to play back historical operation information of the system for historical running condition viewing or troubleshooting analysis ([0058-0078]).
Regarding claim 12, Strub disclose the NATS system for urban rail transit based on a cloud platform according to claim 11, and further on Strub also discloses:
wherein the playback module during running directly reads a playback data file recorded by an application server software during running, is capable of switching the lines to view playback information of different lines, and allows a user to control a playback speed and quickly locate time needed for playback by dragging a time scrollbar ([0058-0078]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Ruben Picon-Feliciano whose telephone number is (571)-272-4938. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Thursday within 11:30 am-7:30 pm ET.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Lindsay M. Low can be reached on (571)272-1196. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free).
If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/RUBEN PICON-FELICIANO/Examiner, Art Unit 3747
/GRANT MOUBRY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3747
Prosecution Insights