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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
This Office Action is in response to the application filed on 03/27/25. Examiner acknowledged that claims 1-11 are canceled; claims 12-31 are new.
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 03/27/25 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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.
Claim(s) 12-13, 15-23, 25-31 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim (US 2019/0306956).
Regarding Claim 12, Kim teaches a method for situation-based activation of lighting along a road ([0024] “street lighting of the roadway environment”), comprising: receiving (Fig. 2: 304), by at least one street lighting device (Fig. 1: 111) equipped with a V2i module within a group of street lighting devices along the road, information from at least one approaching vehicle (Fig. 2: 123) equipped with a V2i module (Fig. 1: 145A); transmitting (Fig. 2: 303), by the at least one approaching vehicle, information detected by a surroundings monitoring system (Fig. 1: GPS) of the at least one approaching vehicle to the at least one street lighting device equipped with the V2i module; and adapting, based on the information received from the at least one approaching vehicle, the lighting (Fig. 2: 304, 305 (e.g., brightness, color, etc…)) of each street lighting device in the group individually to road users or objects not equipped with V2i modules.
Kim does not explicitly teach in Fig. 1 a plurality of V2i modules configured to be coupled to respective street lighting devices; Car2X modules. However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Kim in order to understand that V2i modules are couple to the respective lighting device so wireless communication/control and that Car2x is a version within the V2i platform since this would allow the vehicle to communication and control the roadway lighting as necessary.
Regarding Claim 13, Kim teaches the method of claim 12, further comprising: detecting, by the surroundings monitoring system of the at least one approaching vehicle ([0080] “at least one of these channels is reserved for sending and receiving Pedestrian Safety Messages”), particularly vulnerable road users; and adapting the lighting of street lighting devices in the group, whose illuminated areas contain or intersect with the presence or movement of the particularly vulnerable road users, to enhance visibility of the particularly vulnerable road users ([0002] “Studies have shown that proper street lighting can substantially reduce fatalities and crashes with pedestrians and lighted intersections and highways have fewer crashes”).
Regarding Claims 15 and 25, Kim teaches the method/lighting control system of claim 12, further comprising: transmitting, by a stationary road user equipped with a Car2X module ([0071] “the user 104 uses the user interface device 145 or a smartphone app on their smartphone (not pictured) to input and transmit the subscription data 194 to the cloud server 109”; user can be stationary using his/her phone), information detected by a surroundings monitoring system of the stationary road user to the at least one street lighting device equipped with the Car2X module; and adapting the lighting of the street lighting devices in the group based on the information received from the stationary road user ([0074] “the light system 199 of the cloud server 109 updates the lighting policy for the edge server 107”).
Regarding Claims 16 and 26, Kim teaches the method/lighting control system of claim 12, wherein: the information detected by the surroundings monitoring system includes surroundings information comprising presence or intensity of precipitation or ambient lighting conditions ([0071] “the user 104 uses the user interface device 145 or a smartphone app on their smartphone (not pictured) to input and transmit the subscription data 194 to the cloud server 109”); and adapting the lighting comprises adjusting the lighting of the street lighting devices in the group to reduce or prevent blinding of road users based on the surroundings information ([0074] “the light system 199 of the cloud server 109 updates the lighting policy for the edge server 107”).
Regarding Claims 17 and 27, Kim teaches the method/lighting control system of claim 12, further comprising: identifying, based on the information detected by the surroundings monitoring system, a hazard area along the road ([0092] “local data 170 is digital data that describes local information such as weather conditions or road conditions (e.g., obstacles or construction or accident events)”); and adapting the lighting of the street lighting devices in the group, whose illuminated areas contain the hazard area, to highlight the hazard area ([0095] “light system 199 of the cloud server 109 includes software that is operable, when executed by a processor of the cloud server 109, to cause the processor to generate policy data 171 describing a lighting policy based on one or more of the following: the local data 170”).
Regarding Claims 18 and 28, Kim teaches the method/lighting control system of claim 12, further comprising: relaying, by the at least one street lighting device equipped with the Car2X module ([0098] “edge server 107 is communicatively coupled to the street light 111 via a wired or wireless communication channel and operable to control the operation of the street light 111 based on messages provided to the street light 111 via the communication channel.”), the received information to an evaluation unit (Fig. 1: 125); statistically evaluating, by the evaluation unit, the relayed information; and optimizing the adaptation of the lighting of the street lighting devices in the group based on the statistical evaluation ([0095] “light system 199 of the cloud server 109 includes software that is operable, when executed by a processor of the cloud server 109, to cause the processor to generate policy data 171 describing a lighting policy based on one or more of the following: the local data 170”).
Regarding Claims 19 and 29, Kim teaches the method/lighting control system of claim 12, further comprising: receiving, by the at least one street lighting device equipped with the Car2X module ([0098] “edge server 107 is communicatively coupled to the street light 111 via a wired or wireless communication channel and operable to control the operation of the street light 111 based on messages provided to the street light 111 via the communication channel.”), additional traffic-related information from an external data source ([0092] “the local data 170 is digital data that describes local information such as weather conditions or road conditions (e.g., obstacles or construction or accident events)”); and adapting the lighting of the street lighting devices in the group based on the additional traffic-related information ([0095] “light system 199 of the cloud server 109 includes software that is operable, when executed by a processor of the cloud server 109, to cause the processor to generate policy data 171 describing a lighting policy based on one or more of the following: the local data 170”).
Regarding Claims 20 and 30, Kim teaches the method/lighting control system of claim 12, wherein: the information received from the at least one approaching vehicle includes data regarding lighting characteristics ([0067] “the edge server 107 may identify or estimate the oncoming presence of the vehicle 123 at a location that is proximate to the street light 111 or the edge server 107”) or geometry of the at least one approaching vehicle; and adapting the lighting comprises adjusting the lighting of the street lighting devices in the group based on the lighting characteristics or geometry of the at least one approaching vehicle ([0095] “light system 199 of the cloud server 109 includes software that is operable, when executed by a processor of the cloud server 109, to cause the processor to generate policy data 171 describing a lighting policy based on one or more of the following: the local data 170”).
Regarding Claims 21 and 31, Kim teaches the method/lighting control system of claim 12, further comprising: transmitting, by the at least one street lighting device equipped with the Car2X module, the received information to one or more other vehicles equipped with Car2X modules or to a street lighting device equipped with a Car2X module in another group of street lighting devices ([0145] “light system 199 of the cloud server 109 then causes the communication unit 145B of the cloud server 109 to wirelessly transmit policy data 171 describing the lighting policy to the edge server 107 (or the group of edge servers 107 for a geographic region). The policy data 171 is digital data that describes the lighting policy.”; NOTE: it’s obvious that there are lighting groups since it’s for roadway maybe)
Regarding Claim 22, Kim teaches a lighting control system (Fig. 1: 100) for situation-based activation of lighting, comprising: street lighting devices (Fig. 1: 111) that illuminate a traffic space ([0024] “street lighting of the roadway environment”), wherein at least one V2i module of the plurality of V2i modules is configured to receive information (Fig. 2: 304) from at least one approaching vehicle (Fig. 2: 123) equipped with a V2i module (Fig. 1: 145A), the information comprising data detected by a surroundings monitoring system (Fig. 1: GPS data) of the at least one approaching vehicle ; and a control unit (Fig. 1; 125) communicatively coupled to the plurality of V2i modules and configured to individually adapt, based on the information received by the at least one V2i module, the lighting (Fig. 2: 304, 305 (e.g., brightness, color, etc…)) of each respective street lighting device to road users or objects not equipped with V2i modules.
Kim does not explicitly teach in Fig. 1 a plurality of V2i modules configured to be coupled to respective street lighting devices; Car2X modules. However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Kim in order to understand that V2i modules are couple to the respective lighting device so wireless communication/control and that Car2x is a version within the V2i platform since this would allow the vehicle to communication and control the roadway lighting as necessary.
Regarding Claim 23, Kim teaches the lighting control system of claim 22, wherein the control unit is configured to: receive, via the at least one Car2X module, information identifying particularly vulnerable road users detected by the surroundings monitoring system of the at least one approaching vehicle ([0080] “In some embodiments, at least one of these channels is reserved for sending and receiving Pedestrian Safety Messages”; ); and adapt the lighting of the respective street lighting devices, whose illuminated areas contain or intersect with the presence or movement of the particularly vulnerable road users, to enhance visibility of the particularly vulnerable road users ([0002] “Proper street lighting can substantially reduce fatalities and crashes with pedestrians and other vehicles. Studies have shown that proper street lighting can substantially reduce fatalities and crashes with pedestrians and lighted intersections and highways have fewer crashes than their unit counterparts”).
Claim(s) 14, 24 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim as applied to claims 12 and 24 in view of Mirsky (US 2020/0170093).
Regarding Claims 14 and 24, Kim teaches the method/lighting control system of claims 12 and 24 except estimating, based on the information detected by the surroundings monitoring system of the at least one approaching vehicle, a likely movement direction or a likely movement speed of a road user or object not equipped with a Car2X module; and adapting the lighting of the street lighting devices in the group based on the estimated likely movement direction or likely movement speed.
Mirsky is in the field of vehicle communication (abstract) and teaches estimating, based on the information detected by the surroundings monitoring system ([0109] “evolving sensors for autonomous vehicles may be optimally working with different ambient or road lighting or background conditions”) of the at least one approaching vehicle, a likely movement direction or a likely movement speed of a road user ([0109] “the streetlight may illuminate the road sides in different power light or…identified potholes or bumps or other road obstacles or identified pedestrians or animals in the relevant vicinity of the road lane or other objects that may be of interest or of assistance to the sensors and processors of the autonomous vehicles driving systems”) or object not equipped with a Car2X module; and adapting the lighting of the street lighting devices in the group based on the estimated likely movement direction or likely movement speed.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling of the claimed invention to modify the device of Kim with adaptive lighting as taught by Mirsky in order to create multi-wavelength or strength scenario sensory information for autonomous vehicle since they use these information to adaptive driving.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HENRY T LUONG whose telephone number is (571)270-7008. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday: 8:00-6:00.
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/Henry Luong/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2845
