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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 09/03/2026 has been entered.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 10, 11, 19 and 20 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.
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 12-20 are 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.
Claim 12 recites "obtain Channel State Information (CSI) data, the CSI data associated with a plurality of links between a plurality of Access Points (APs)" and subsequently recites "for each data link of the plurality of data links." There is insufficient antecedent basis for the limitation "the plurality of data links" in the claim. It is unclear whether "the plurality of data links" refers to the previously recited "plurality of links" or to a further plurality of links not previously recited. For purposes of examination, "the plurality of data links" is interpreted as referring to the previously recited plurality of links. Claims 13-16 are rejected as depending from a rejected claim.
Claim 17 recites "obtain Channel State Information (CSI) data, the CSI data associated with a plurality of links between a plurality of Access Points (APs)" and subsequently recites "for each data link of the plurality of data links." There is insufficient antecedent basis for the limitation "the plurality of data links" in the claim. It is unclear whether "the plurality of data links" refers to the previously recited "plurality of links" or to a further plurality of links not previously recited. For purposes of examination, "the plurality of data links" is interpreted as referring to the previously recited plurality of links. Claims 18-20 are rejected as depending from a rejected claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1-5, 9 and 12-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2022/0299619 A1 herein Hu in view of US 2018/0365975 A1 herein Xu.
Claim 1, Hu discloses a method (Title, Method), the method comprising: obtaining Channel State Information (CSI) data, the CSI data associated with a plurality of data links between a plurality of Access Points (APs) that provide coverage to an area (0054, determining a plurality of device-links each comprising two heterogeneous wireless devices, one functioning as a transmitter and the other as a receiver, and obtaining a respective time series of channel information for each device-link; 0252, pairwise wireless links established between many pairs of devices; 0082, the device may comprise an access point, router, mesh router; 0156, the channel information comprises channel state information (CSI));
extracting a plurality of features from the CSI data (0194, a quantity/feature from a TSCI may be computed);
converting the plurality of features to a plurality of scores (0280, the MS may be averaged/smoothed over a sliding time window, the link-MS being the smoothed MS);
aggregating the plurality of features across antennas of the plurality of APs, wherein each of the plurality of APs comprises a plurality of antennas (0324, a particular Type1 device and a particular Type2 device associated with a particular device-link comprise more than one antennas);
determining a feature per antenna per data link (0270, the Type1 device has M1 antennas and the Type2 device has M2 antennas, each of the M3=M1*M2 time series of channel information being associated with an antenna-link between a transmit antenna and a receive antenna; 0279, for each antenna-link a respective TSCI is obtained);
for each data link of the plurality of data links: aggregating, prior to converting to a score for the data link, features determined for a plurality of antennas for the data link to create an aggregated feature for the data link (0279, the link-MS is a sum, weighted sum, average and/or weighted average of the component-wise values, maximum ratio combining being applied; 0324, aggregating the more than one candidate link-MS to compute a particular link-MS associated with the particular device-link);
converting the aggregated feature per data link to a respective score for the data link (0280, the MS is averaged/smoothed over a sliding time window, the link-MS being the smoothed MS); and
classifying motion in sub-areas of the area based on a comparison of the plurality of scores to a threshold for the area (0271, the venue is partitioned into a number of regions and motion localization determines the region associated with the motion; 0369, if MS(t,i) is greater than or equal to ThO for at least one bot i, the person is decided to be in the region associated with bot i*; 0385, the location is selected if the respective link-MS is greater than a second threshold).
Hu may not explicitly disclose wherein the threshold is determined based upon data collected when no motion occurred in the area.
Xu discloses wherein the threshold is determined based upon data collected when no motion occurred in the area (0194, the indoor environment is divided into two classes, SO in which the environment is static and S1 in which there is at least one human moving in the monitoring area; 0198, threshold learning, collections of different variance values for both states SO and S1 are obtained and the threshold is determined therefrom). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Hu to include determining the motion threshold from the variance values collected while the environment is static, as taught by Xu, so as to differentiate the dynamics caused by human motions from those brought by channel fading and noise (0192).
Claim 2, Hu in view of Xu discloses the method of claim 1.
Hu discloses wherein extracting the plurality of features comprises determining the plurality of features on a per antenna, per link basis (0270, each time series of channel information is associated with an antenna-link between a transmit antenna of the Type1 device and a receive antenna of the Type2 device).
Claim 3, Hu in view of Xu discloses the method of claim 1.
Hu discloses wherein extracting the plurality of features comprises smoothing the plurality of features (0280, the MS may be averaged/smoothed over a sliding time window).
Claim 4, Hu in view of Xu discloses the method of claim 1.
Hu discloses wherein extracting the plurality of features comprises calibrating the plurality of features (0291, a correction is applied for heterogeneous device-links; 0320, perform correction to a link-MS, adding an offset of the link-MS or scaling the link-MS by a multiplying factor).
Claim 5, Hu in view of Xu discloses the method of claim 1.
Hu discloses wherein extracting the plurality of features comprises aggregating the plurality of features across antennas (0324, aggregating the more than one candidate link-MS to compute a particular link-MS associated with the particular device-link).
Claim 9, Hu in view of Xu discloses the method of claim 1.
Hu discloses wherein the plurality of features comprises correlations between consecutive subcarrier vectors per antenna over time (0279, the link-MS is a temporal correlation of two Cl vectors, the Cl vector comprising the subcarriers of the CFR, the two Cl being two temporally adjacent Cl, a respective TSCI being obtained for each antenna-link).
Claim 12, as analyzed with respect to the limitations as discussed in claim 1. Hu discloses a system (Title, System), and comprising: a memory storage (0306, the Origin includes a housing containing a processor, a memory); and
a processing unit coupled to the memory storage (0306, the Origin includes a housing containing a processor, a memory).
Claim 13, as analyzed with respect to the limitations as discussed in claim 2.
Claim 14, as analyzed with respect to the limitations as discussed in claim 3.
Claim 15, as analyzed with respect to the limitations as discussed in claim 4.
Claim 16, as analyzed with respect to the limitations as discussed in claim 5.
Claim 17, as analyzed with respect to the limitations as discussed in claim 1.
Hu discloses a non-transitory computer-readable medium that stores a set of instructions which when executed perform a method (0185, other form of non-transitory storage medium known in the art, the set of instructions corresponding to the method steps being stored in the memory and executed by the processor).
Claim 18, as analyzed with respect to the limitations as discussed in claim 9.
Claims 6 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hu in view of Xu and further in view of Wilson et al., "Through-Wall Motion Tracking Using Variance-Based Radio Tomography Networks," arXiv:0909.5417v2, October 1, 2009, herein Wilson.
Claim 6, Hu in view of Xu discloses the method of claim 1.
Hu may not explicitly disclose generating a heatmap, wherein generating the heatmap comprises projecting the plurality of scores on a two-dimensional image.
Wilson discloses generating a heatmap, wherein generating the heatmap comprises projecting the plurality of scores on a two-dimensional image (Section 111-E, RSS variance measurements on M links are used to determine an image vector x describing motion within N voxels of a physical space; Section 11I-G, the short-term unbiased sample variance is computed for each link; Section 111-H, the regularized image solution is a linear transformation of the variance vector). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Hu to include estimating an image of the space from the variance values of the individual links, as taught by Wilson, so as to localize the detected motion rather than only detect it (Section Ill-A).
Claim 7, Hu in view of Xu and further in view of Wilson discloses the method of claim 6.
Hu may not explicitly disclose wherein the heatmap comprises pixel values that indicate a likelihood of movement at each pixel location.
Wilson discloses wherein the heatmap comprises pixel values that indicate a likelihood of movement at each pixel location (Section 11I-E, the image vector is a representation of motion occurring within each spatial voxel, the voxel value being 1 if motion occurs in that voxel and 0 otherwise; Section 111-E, voxel locations are known, so the system allows one to know where the moving objects are most likely located). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Hu to include estimating an image of the space from the variance values of the individual links, as taught by Wilson, so as to localize the detected motion rather than only detect it (Section Ill-A).
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hu in view of Xu and further in view of US 2021/0288779 A1 herein Oa Silva.
Claim 8, Hu in view of Xu discloses the method of claim 1.
Hu may not explicitly disclose wherein obtaining the CSI data comprises obtaining the CSI data during Neighbor Discovery Protocol (NOP) exchanges.
Da Silva discloses wherein obtaining the CSI data comprises obtaining the CSI data during NOP exchanges (0054, the AP and the user devices exchange packets comprising Sensing NOP requests and responses, NOP announcements and NOPs over communication links, and determine the CSI variance of a link over time; 0031, the sensing station sends a frame requesting that the other station transmits an NOP, the NOP being sent by the beamformee; 0024, channel estimates may be obtained opportunistically from PPOUs sent by the second station, including data and management frames). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Hu to include sounding the channel with null data packets sent in response to a sensing request, as taught by Da Silva, so as to obtain measurements with a regular periodicity without the loss in performance resultant from the use of compressed beamforming feedback (0031).
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US 20200271747 A1 - Methods, apparatus and systems for wireless inertial measurement are described. In one embodiment, a described system comprises a transmitter transmitting a wireless signal, a receiver, and a processor. The receiver is configured for: receiving the wireless signal through a wireless multipath channel, and extracting a plurality of time series of channel information (TSCI) of the wireless multipath channel from the wireless signal. One of the transmitter and the receiver is a stationary device, and the other one is a moving device moving with an object. The processor is configured for: determining that a first channel information (CI) at a first time of a first TSCI associated with a first antenna of the moving device matches a second CI at a second time of a second TSCI associated with a second antenna of the moving device, wherein both the first TSCI and the second TSCI are associated with a same antenna of the stationary device; computing at least one movement parameter and a spatial-temporal information (STI) of the moving device; and tracking at least one of the object and the moving device based on the STI.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Mehmood B. Khan whose telephone number is (571)272-9277. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:30 am-6:30 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, Asad Nawaz can be reached at (571) 272-3988. 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.
/Mehmood B. Khan/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2419
Prosecution Insights