Appeal No. 2005-2712
Application No. 10/408,302
We also note that the claims on appeal do not require that the apparatus and method
determine an area containing the entire mission route, or that the entire mission route
be divided into a plurality of regions, with a resolution being determined for all regions
along the entire mission route. Nor do the claims on appeal necessarily require that the
resolutions determined for each region be different from one another. Thus, evaluation
of a mission route or flight path in Tang which traverses both an area where
“overmountain driftdown” and “overwater driftdown” are safety concerns would involve
or require automated flight simulation mission profiling wherein the processing element
of the system automatically determines an area at least partially containing the mission
route for which terrain data is required, automatically divides the area into a plurality of
regions based upon the mission route (i.e., one where “overmountain driftdown” is an
issue and one where “overwater driftdown” is an issue), and subsequently determines a
respective resolution of the terrain source data for each such region.
In light of the foregoing, the examiner’s rejection of independent claims 32 and 36
under 35 U.S.C. § 102(e) as being anticipated by Tang will be sustained.
Like the examiner, we also find that Tang discloses using data defining an aircraft
platform (e.g., aircraft performance data (col. 5, line 15 and col. 8, line 66 thru col. 9,
line 3)) and uses that information in the processing function to determine the area and
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