RADIATING CABLE POSITIONING METHOD WITHOUT MEASUREMENT BIAS

§102 §112

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 . Status of Claims Claims 1-11 are currently pending and have been examined. Priority Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55. Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 03/11/2025 has been considered by the examiner and an initialed copy of the IDS is hereby attached. Claim Objections Claims 1 and 5 objected to because of the following informalities: Claim 1 recites “thus generated into the radiating cable;”, which is grammatically incorrect in combination with the rest of the claim language. Claim 1 recites “thus obtained and a georeferenced curve describing the radiating cable.”, which is grammatically incorrect in combination with the rest of the claim language. Claim 5 recites the limitations, “thus generated into the first radiating cable;”, “thus generated into the second radiating cable;” and “thus obtained and georeferenced curves respectively describing the first and second radiating cables” which are grammatically incorrect with the rest of the claim language. Appropriate correction is required. 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 1-11 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. Claims 1 and 5 lack a conjunction between the last and second to last limitations which render the claims as indefinite. Claim 5 recites, “is generated by the third, the fourth reference point,” which is indefinite as there needs to be a conjunction between “third” and “fourth”. Claim 5 recites, “- for each synthetic GNSS signal of the first, or the second, third, fourth subset, a deviation between the pseudo-distance measured by the GNSS receiver and a reference pseudo- distance calculated for the first, or the second, third, fourth reference point is determined” which is indefinite as the conjunction “or” should be after instances of the word “fourth” and not the instance “first”. All dependent claims are also rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) due to their dependency on a claim rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b). 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. (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) 1-2,5-6 and 10-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Gernot et al. (US 20190179035 A1). Regarding claim 1, Gernot discloses A method for positioning a mobile terminal in an indoor environment wherein at least one first radiating cable having a first end and a second end is located (see Fig. 1, positioning system 100), wherein: - at least a part of a satellite constellation is partitioned into a first and a second separate subsets of satellites, which would be respectively visible from a first reference point and a second reference point, in an open-sky configuration (see paragraphs 0053-0054, “The first GNSS signals are generated such that, at the time at which they are injected into the first end of the cable, they are identical to those received at a virtual first end (defined below), under open sky conditions, from a first set of satellites. The first set of satellites is chosen from among the satellites in the constellation(s) identified in the configuration file belonging to a first visibility cone defined by an angular interval in elevation [α.sub.min,α.sub.max] and an angular interval in azimuth [β.sub.min,β.sub.max], in this case the angles being defined from an axis in the direction from the second end towards the first end of the cable. The first set of satellites comprises at least one such satellite… The second generated GNSS signals are such that, at the time at which they are injected into the second end of the cable, they are identical to those that would have been received at the position of a second end (as defined below), under open sky conditions, from a second set of satellites. The second set of satellites is chosen from among the satellites in the constellation identified in the configuration file belonging to a second visibility cone defined by an angular interval in elevation [α.sub.min,α.sub.max] and an angular interval in azimuth [β.sub.min,β.sub.max], in this case the angles being defined from an axis in the direction from the first end towards the second end of the cable. The second set of satellites comprises at least one such satellite”); - for the first, or the second end, a first or a second subset of synthetic GNSS signals corresponding to those which would be received, in an open-sky configuration, is generated by the first, or the second reference point, from satellites belonging to the first, or the second subset, the first or the second end injecting the first or the second subset of synthetic GNSS signals thus generated into the radiating cable (see Figs. 2 and 6, further see paragraphs 0053-0054); - the GNSS receiver of the mobile terminal measures the pseudo-distances corresponding to the synthetic GNSS signals received from the radiating cable (see Figs. 2 and 6, further see paragraph 0067, “In a first embodiment, the receiver does not have an application layer above the GPS layer. The calculation of the position made by the receiver is then identical to an outdoor position calculation (that then requires at least four satellites). This calculation will provide an estimate of the position X of the point M along the cable by elimination of the offset δ between the pseudo-distances. This estimate is exact when the point M is located at the mid-point (x=1/2, see equations (7-1) and (7-2)).”); - for each synthetic GNSS signal of the first, or the second subset, a deviation between the pseudo-distance measured by the GNSS receiver and a reference pseudo-distance calculated for the first or the second reference point is determined (see paragraph 0067, “In a first embodiment, the receiver does not have an application layer above the GPS layer. The calculation of the position made by the receiver is then identical to an outdoor position calculation (that then requires at least four satellites). This calculation will provide an estimate of the position X of the point M along the cable by elimination of the offset δ between the pseudo-distances.”, further see Figs. 2 and 6); - the position of the mobile terminal along the cable is estimated from the pseudo- distance deviations thus obtained and a georeferenced curve describing the radiating cable (see paragraph 0100, “The position estimated by the GNSS receiver then corresponds to the projection H of the point M at which the GNSS receiver is located onto the curve formed by the cable. More precisely, the receiver can determine the curved abscissa from H using expressions (8-1), (8-2), starting from the pseudo-distances {circumflex over (ρ)}.sub.M.sup.1 and {circumflex over (ρ)}.sub.M.sup.2…”). Regarding claim 2, Gernot further discloses The method for positioning a mobile terminal according to claim 1, wherein the position of the mobile terminal along the radiating cable is obtained by solving a system of equations giving the deviations of the pseudo- distances as a function of said position (see paragraph 0100, “The position estimated by the GNSS receiver then corresponds to the projection H of the point M at which the GNSS receiver is located onto the curve formed by the cable. More precisely, the receiver can determine the curved abscissa from H using expressions (8-1), (8-2), starting from the pseudo-distances {circumflex over (ρ)}.sub.M.sup.1 and {circumflex over (ρ)}.sub.M.sup.2…”). Regarding claim 10, Gernot further discloses The method for positioning a mobile terminal according to claim 1, wherein the synthetic GNSS signals are generated by means of a simulator receiving at least one actual satellite signal from a satellite of the constellation, via an antenna located in an outdoor environment (see paragraphs 0050- 0052, “The navigation data Nav_data comprise in particular ephemeris parameters, almanach data, propagation conditions in the ionosphere and clock correction data for the different satellites. These navigation data can be supplied either by a remote GNSS receiver that will have itself extracted them from the navigation messages that it will have received, or downloaded through Internet. Finally, the external synchronisation signal GPS_sync can be input through the local network using a Precision Time Protocol (PTP) defined in standard IEEE 1588. Alternatively, the signal GPS_sync can be a clock signal tied to the GNSS time and supplied by a remote GNSS receiver. The generation means 120 supply the first GNSS signals and the second GNSS signals. It is important to understand that the first and the second GNSS signals are generated locally by simulation of propagation and not real signals received from satellites.”), the synthetic GNSS signals being synchronized with respect to the actual satellite signal (see paragraph 0051, “Finally, the external synchronisation signal GPS_sync can be input through the local network using a Precision Time Protocol (PTP) defined in standard IEEE 1588. Alternatively, the signal GPS_sync can be a clock signal tied to the GNSS time and supplied by a remote GNSS receiver.”). Regarding claim 5, the same cited section and rationale as claim 1 is applied. Regarding claim 6, the same cited section and rationale as claim 2 is applied. Regarding claim 11, the same cited section and rationale as claim 10 is applied. Allowable Subject Matter Claims 3-4 and 7-9 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. In reference to claims 3-4 and 7-9, the prior arts made of record individually or in any combination, failed to teach, render obvious, or fairly suggest to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing the combination of the claimed features of claims 3-4 and 7-9. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NAZRA N. WAHEED whose telephone number is (571)272-6713. The examiner can normally be reached M-F (8 AM - 4:30 PM). 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, Vladimir Magloire can be reached at (571)270-5144. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /NAZRA NUR WAHEED/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3648