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 .
Response to Amendment
The amended abstract (filed on 9/2/2025) has been accepted and entered into the record.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-10 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
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.
Claims 7 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b), as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, regards as the invention.
Claim 7 recites, “selectively merging adjacent “ones” of the normalized captured spectral density measurements” in lines 1-2. It is unclear whether the adjacent “ones” are either:
a first portion and a second portion (as recited in claim 1),
a first frequency width and a second frequency width (as recited in claim 6), or
the combination thereof.
Claim 8 recites, “using a second threshold to identify which of the alternating segments are used portions, and which of the segments are unused portions” in line 5-6. First, there is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Second, it is unclear whether (1) segments are alternating, (2) portions are alternating, (3) combinations are alternating.
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.
Claims 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over McHenry (US 20100173586) in view of Shima (US 20180324595).
Regarding Claim 1, McHenry discloses a method (see FIG. 1A, 2, process/method performed by DSA-enable device 100) comprising:
receiving measurements comprising RF power measured over a contiguous range of frequencies (see FIG. 1A, 2; sensing module 110 receiving/detecting sensing/measuring spectrum/RF power/energy over a band1/contiguous/range of spectrum/frequencies (see FIG. 7, 8-11): see ¶¶ 114, 119, 124-126, 131, 132; also see FIG. 3, Step 310; ¶141 ),
where at least a first portion of the contiguous range is used to transmit signals (see FIG. 7, 8-11, 14, first portion/part of band/contiguous/range of spectrum/frequencies is active/use/occupied to transmit signals; see ¶¶ 39, 92-94, 166, 167, 169, 171, 174, ) and at least a second portion of the contiguous range is unused (see FIG. 7, 8-11, 14: second portion/part of band/contiguous range of spectrum/frequencies is available/unused (e.g. candidate, backup, possible, or empty,); see ¶¶ 39, 92-94, 109, 110, 114, 121, 128, 155, 158, 164, 171, 174; also see FIG. 13)
identifying respective boundaries of the at least a second portion of the contiguous range (see FIG. 1, 2, DSA Engine 120; FIG. 3, Step 310, 320, 330; FIG. 5, DSA Engine 120 detects/identify spectrum area/boundary (e.g. public safety, cellular, DoD, TV, etc.) of second portion/part of band/contiguous/range of spectrum/frequencies: see ¶¶ 92-94, 109, 110, 114, 121, 128, 141 155, 158, 163, 164, 171, 174; also see FIG. 13) ,
infilling the at least a second portion of the continuous range with RF power to provide modified measurements (see FIG. 1, 2, DSA Engine 120; FIG. 3, Step 340; FIG. 13, assign/infilling second portion/part of band/contiguous/range of spectrum/frequencies as active or use with spectrum/RF power/energy in order to provide selected/modified sensed/measured bands/spectrum: see ¶¶ 114, 115, 141, 203-208,; also see FIG. 20, ¶¶206-208) ; and
analyzing the modified measurements to identify at least one abnormality in a signal within the at least a first portion of the contiguous range (see FIG. 1, 2, DSA Engine 120; FIG. 3, Steps 360; determining/analyzing the selected/modified sensed/measurement bands/spectrum to detect an adverse condition within the first portion/part of band/contiguous range of spectrum/frequencies : see ¶¶ 141, 196, 210, 211; also see FIG. 21C, ¶220-221).
Although McHenry discloses analyzing the modified measurements to identify at least one abnormality in a signal within the at least a first portion of the contiguous range as set forth above, McHenry does not explicitly disclose “automatically” analyzing.
However, Shima teaches a method receiving measurements (see FIG. 4, Wideband spectral sensing 400) comprising RF power measured over a frequencies (see FIG. 4, Wideband spectral sensing 404 sensing RF power over spectrum of large frequencies/band X(n): see ¶¶ 35, 36, 39, 41, 63, 68,72; also see FIG. 9,Steps 906, 9082, FIG. 10, Steps 1006, 1008)
where at least a first portion of the range is used to transmit signals (see FIG. 9, first part/portion of frequencies/band is occupied/used to transmit signals: see ¶¶ 72, 75, 77, 78) and at least a second portion of the range is unused (see FIG. 9, second part/portion of frequencies/band is “not” occupied (i.e. unused); see ¶¶ 72, 75, 77, 78; also see FIG. 10, ¶77);
identifying respective boundaries of the at least a second portion (see FIG. 9, Step 910, FIG. 10, Step 1010: determine/identify areas/boundaries of second part/portion of frequencies/band which are not” occupied (i.e. unused); see ¶¶ 72, 75, 77, 78)
infilling the at least a second portion with RF power to provide modified measurements (see FIG. 9, Steps 934, 936; FIG. 10, Steps 1034, 1036; assigning/allocation second part/portion of frequencies/band which are not” occupied (i.e. unused) with RF power (by turning active or ON) to provide decided sensed signals; see ¶¶ 72, 75, 77, 78 ); and
automatically analyzing the modified measurements to identify at least one abnormality in a signal within the at least a first portion (see FIG. 10, Step 1038, ACAR3 automatically analyze the decided sensed signals to identify weak or interferences in a signal within the first part/portion of frequencies/band is occupied/used to transmit signals; see ¶¶ 72, 75, 77, 78).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide “automatically” analyzing as taught by Shima in the system of McHenry, so that it would enable detection of low energy and low probability detection and analytical function by using deep learning or deep neural network systems; see Shima ¶7.
Regarding Claim 2, McHenry discloses the step of analyzing the modified measurements is performed by an algorithm (see FIG. 1, 2, DSA Engine 120 uses various algorithms for determination/analyzing selected/modified sensed/measurement bands/spectrum (e.g. generic algorithm (see ¶160), signal classification algorithm (see ¶163, 193,300, FFT), schedule/time algorithm (see ¶¶250, 267)).
McHenry does not explicitly disclose “automatically” analyzing.
Shima discloses the step of automatically analyzing the modified measurements is performed by a Machine Learning (ML) algorithm (see ¶41, ACAR uses machine learning techniques to automatically analyze the decided sensed signals ).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide “automatically” analyzing as taught by Shima in the system of McHenry, so that it would enable detection of low energy and low probability detection and analytical function by using deep learning or deep neural network systems; see Shima ¶7.
Regarding Claim 3, McHenry discloses the step of analyzing the modified measurements is performed by a signal processing (SP) algorithm (see FIG. 1, 2, DSA Engine 120 uses signal classification/processing algorithms for determination/analyzing selected/modified sensed/measurement bands/spectrum [e.g. signal classification algorithm (see ¶¶163, 193,300, FFT), schedule/time algorithm (see ¶¶250, 267]).
McHenry does not explicitly disclose “automatically” analyzing.
Shima discloses the step of automatically analyzing the modified measurements is performed by a signal processing (SP) algorithm [see FIG. 4, Wideband spectral sensing 400: automatically analyze the decided sensed signals using signal detector algorithm (e.g. using spectrum analysis (see ¶27,29), Masking (see ¶29), Filtering/FFT (see ¶43, 50), efficient channelization algorithm (see ¶62), liner processing algorithm (see ¶63)].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide “automatically” analyzing as taught by Shima in the system of McHenry, so that it would enable detection of low energy and low probability detection and analytical function by using deep learning or deep neural network systems; see Shima ¶7.
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over McHenry in view of Shima as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Zhu et. al. (Proactive Network Maintenance using Fast Accurate Anomaly Localization and Classification on 1-D Data Series4).
Regarding Claim 4, McHenry discloses identifying at least one abnormality (see FIG. 1, 2, DSA Engine 120 identify/detecting an adverse condition; see ¶¶ 141, 210, 220, 221). Shima discloses capable of identifying at least one abnormality (see FIG. 4, Wideband spectral sensing 400 identify weak or interferences signal; ¶25, 31, 32-33, 40).
Although the combined system of McHenry and Shima discloses capable of identifying at least one abnormality as set forth above, the combined system of McHenry and Shima does not explicitly disclose “suck-out” abnormalities.
However, Zhu discloses identifying at least one abnormality in the group consisting of suck-out abnormalities and roll-off abnormalities (see page 2, right column, third paragraph – page 3, left column, bullet points 1-4: abnormalities include suck-out, roll-off).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide “suck-out” abnormalities as taught by Zhu, in the combined system of McHenry and Shima, so that it would provide efficiently and accurately classify abnormalities (see Zhu page 1, Abstract).
Claim 5 and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over McHenry in view of Shima as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Weng et. al. (US 20120270537 A1).
Regarding claim 5, the combined system of McHenry and Shima discloses identifying respective boundaries of the at least a second portion of the contiguous range as set forth above in claim 1.
McHenry further discloses capturing spectral measurements over successive intervals of a first frequency width (see FIG. 8, 10, 11, 14, 30: classifying/capturing sensed/measured bands/spectrum over range/successive time/interval (e.g. FIG. 8 Time T0-T4, or FIG. 30, t1-t2) of a first frequency/band width/spectrum [e.g. FIG. 9, Wide Band 1 (WB-1) for public safety/DoD band spectrum, or FIG. 30, classifying first frequency bandwidth BW over t1-t2 (e.g. BWC or smaller frequency): see ¶¶ 168-174, 306-308].
Shima further discloses capturing spectral measurements over successive intervals of a first frequency width ( FIG. 9, Step 906 and 908; see FIG. 10, Step 1006 and 1008; determine/identify detected/capture spectral sensed/measured over time-series data of first frequency/channel per Fourier transform width/period; see ¶¶ 62-65; 68, 69, 74; also see FIG. 5, time series, FIG. 2, CNN5 and DNN processes: see ¶¶ 42-43).
Although the combined system of McHenry and Shima discloses capturing spectral measurements over successive intervals of a first frequency width as set forth above, the combined system of McHenry and Shima does not explicitly disclose power spectral “density”.
However, Weng discloses a system capturing spectral density measurements over successive intervals of a first frequency width (see ¶ 93: the power spectral density is a power normalized according to a number of frequency bins/first frequency widths over which the power was measured).
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide power spectral “density” as taught by Weng in the combined system of McHenry and Shima so that it would improve power consumption (see Weng ¶ 2).
Regarding claim 6, the combined system of McHenry , Shima and Weng discloses captured spectral density measurements over a frequency width as set forth above.
McHenry discloses normalizing captured spectral density measurements over a second frequency width larger than the first frequency width [see FIG. 29 and 30, normalizing classified/captured spectral sensed/measurement over second frequency bandwidth (e.g. FIG. 30, BWD or larger frequency) larger than smaller first frequency bandwidth (e.g. BWC ); see ¶¶ 299, 306-308].
Weng discloses a system normalizing captured spectral density measurements over a second frequency width larger than the first frequency width (see FIG. 5-6, see ¶¶ 80, 93, 94, 100, 141-143,147; the power spectral density is a power normalized according to a number of frequency bins where larger/second frequency bandwidths which is larger than smaller/first frequency bandwidth over which the power was measured).
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide power spectral “density” as taught by Weng in the combined system of McHenry and Shima so that it would improve power consumption (see Weng ¶ 2).
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over McHenry in view of Shima and Weng as applied to claim 6 above, and further in view of Rao et. al. (US 20130254212 A1).
Regarding claim 7, the combined system of McHenry, Shima and Weng discloses all aspect of the claim. McHenry discloses the step of selectively performing normalized spectral measurements based on a threshold (see ¶¶ 114, 197, 218, 253, 284, 299, 308; choosing/selecting data normalizing classified/captured spectral sensed/measured based on threshold). Weng also discloses selectively adjacent normalized spectral density measurements (see ¶ 93: the power spectral density is a power normalized according to a number of frequency bins/first frequency widths over which the power was measured).
Although the combined system of McHenry, Shima and Weng discloses the step of selectively performing normalized captured spectral density measurements based on a threshold as set forth above, the combined system of McHenry, Shima and Weng does not explicitly disclose selectively “merging adjacent ones”.
However, Rao discloses selectively merging adjacent ones based on a threshold (see ¶ 53: if the amount of data in an interval is too small it is combined with its adjacent interval).
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide selectively “merging adjacent ones” as taught by Rao in the combined system of McHenry, Shima and Weng so that it would achieve high throughput operations (see Rao ¶9).
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over McHenry in view of Shima as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Qiu (US 20140024405 A1)
Regarding claim 8, the combined system of McHenry and Shima discloses a step of identifying respective boundaries of a second portion of a continuous range as set forth in claim 1 above.
McHenry further discloses using a first threshold to segment the contiguous range of frequencies into segments of used portions and unused portions (see FIG. 3, step 320; see FIG. 21A Step 3404; see FIG. 21D Step 2442; using signal mask to classify/filter/segment band/contiguous range of spectrum/frequencies into specific type/segment of signals/channel of occupied/used portions/parts and available/unused portions/parts: see ¶¶ 126, 215, 224, 264, 268, 282, 285; also see FIG. 27-28 for signal mask; see ¶¶ 287-290)
using a second threshold to identify which of the segments are used portions, and which of the segments are unused portions (see FIG. 3, step 320; see FIG. 21A Step 3404; see FIG. 21D Step 2442; using threshold to classify/identify specific type/segment of masked spectrum/frequencies as occupied/used portions/parts and available/unused portions/parts; see ¶¶ 114, 197, 215, 253, 284; also see FIG. 26, Steps 6710, 6715, 6720, 6730, see ¶¶ 284).
Although the combined system of McHenry and Shima discloses using a second threshold to identify which of the segments are used portions, and which of the segments are unused portions as set forth above, the combined system of McHenry and Shima does not explicitly disclose identify “the alternating segments”.
However, Qiu discloses using a second threshold to identify which of the alternating segments are used portions, and which of the segments are unused portions (see FIG. 3, step 303, FIG. 4, Step 402; see ¶ 54: by using sensing threshold to determine/identify which strength differentiated/alternative (e.g., f1 vs f2) segment/part/portion of frequency are used frequencies and which are unused frequencies; see ¶¶ 54-59, 71-77).
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide identify “the alternating segments” as taught by Qiu in the combined system of McHenry and Shima so that it would dynamically detect and efficiently utilize resources (see Qiu ¶ 3).
Claims 9 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over McHenry in view of Shima as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Persson et. al. (US 20190280783 A1).
Regarding claim 9, McHenry discloses infilling the at least a second portion of the continuous range with RF power to provide modified measurements based on predetermined parameter [see FIG. 1, 2, DSA Engine 120; FIG. 3, Step 340, 350; FIG. 13, assign/infilling second portion/part of band/contiguous range of spectrum/frequencies as active or use with spectrum/RF power/energy in order to provide selected/modified sensed/measured bands/spectrum based on predetermined/acceptable parameter (e.g. adverse condition, acceptable condition, candidate list, etc.): see ¶¶ 114, 115, 141, 203-208,; also see FIG. 20, ¶206-208].
Shima also discloses infilling the second portion of the range with RF power based on a predetermined parameter [see FIG. 9, Steps 934, 936; FIG. 10, Steps 1034, 1036; assigning/allocation second part/portion of frequencies/band which are not” occupied (i.e. unused) with RF power (by turning active or ON) to provide decided sensed signals based on predetermined/favorable parameter (e.g. channel quality, SNR, power, interference, ); see ¶¶ 72, 75, 77, 78 ].
Although the combined system of McHenry and Shima discloses infilling the second portion of the continuous range with values based on a predetermined parameter as set forth above, the combined system of McHenry and Shima does not explicitly disclose a predetermined “infill value”.
However, Persson discloses infilling the second portion of the continuous range with RF power values based on a predetermined infill value (see ¶ 49-50: receiving determined/measured access point (AP) comprising imputation/infilling radio access point data set/continuous portion with RSSI/RF power values based on predetermined/measured data set values (which are missing)).
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide a predetermined “infill value” as taught by Persson in combined system of McHenry and Shima so that it would achieve high accuracy (see Persson ¶ 59).
Regarding claim 10, the combined system of McHenry, Shima and Persson discloses all aspect of claim 10.
McHenry discloses a magnitude of power less than what is used to transmit signals in the contiguous range of frequencies (see ¶¶ 114, 130,132, 291, 350; sensing/determining different power levels/magnitude of structure of bands is not maximum allowable transit power (i.e. less than what is used to transmit signal) in band/contiguous range of spectrum/frequencies: also see FIG. 26-27).
Shima also discloses a magnitude of power less than what is used to transmit signals in the range of frequencies (see FIG. 6, detecting low power level/magnitude compare to acceptable power to transmit signals in the band/range of frequencies/band; see ¶¶ 25, 63, 66).
Persson also discloses infilling with a value selected to be of a magnitude of power less than what is used to transmit signals in the contiguous range of frequencies (see ¶¶ 30, 48, 49,57: missing values are assigned a very low RSSI value/power magnitude corresponding to zero or close to zero signal strength (i.e., less than the signal strength used to transmit signals)).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Yates (US 20240005234): FIG. 2, FIG. 6
Poletti (US 10218409): FIG. 3, 4, 6, 16
Jin (US 20170019242): FIG. 2-3, FIG. 17
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Ian N Moore whose telephone number is (571)272-3085. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 9 AM - 5:30 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, Deborah J Reynolds can be reached at 571-272-0734. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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IAN N. MOORE
Supervisory Patent Examiner
Art Unit 2469
/Ian N Moore/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2469
1 A radio band is a small frequency band (a contiguous section of the range of the radio spectrum) in which channels are usually used or set aside for the same purpose. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_spectrum#Bands
2 Utilizing DNN (Deep Neural Network)
3 ACAR=Automated Channel Access Recognition
4 2020 IEEE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON PROGNOSTICS AND HEALTH MANAGEMENT (ICPHM), IEEE, 8 JUNE 2020 (2020-06-08), pages 1-11,
5 CNN= Convolutional neural network