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 Arguments
Applicant’s remarks filed 3/9/2026, see pages 3-7 concerning claims 1 and 10
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1 and 10 under 35 USC 103 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 § 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.
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
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.
Claims 1-6 and 9-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ids Lien et al (WO 2018222268 A1), hereinafter Lien in view of Wuntenberger et al (US 10117248 B1), hereinafter Wuntenberger
Regarding claim 1, Lien discloses:
A terminal communicating with a first communication apparatus and a second communication apparatus via radio communication (Lien, para [0015], FIG. 1 is an illustration of an example environment 100 in which techniques using, and an apparatus including, radar sensing using a wireless communication chipset may be embodied. Environment 100 includes a computing device 102, which includes a wireless communication chipset 104 to communicate with a base station 106 through a wireless communication link 108 (wireless link 108). In this example, the computing device 102 is implemented as a smart phone. However, the computing device 102 may be implemented as any suitable computing or electronic device, as described in further detail with respect to FIGs. 2 and 3) Examiner interprets computing device as the terminal,
the terminal, comprising (Lien, para [0016], The base station 106 communicates with the computing device 102 via the wireless link 108, which may be implemented as any suitable type of wireless link. Although depicted as a tower of a cellular network, the base station 106 may represent or be implemented as another device, such as a satellite, cable television head-end, terrestrial television broadcast tower, access point, peer-to-peer device, mesh network node, Internet-of- Things (IoT) device, and so forth. Therefore, the computing device 102 may communicate with the base station 106 or another device via the wireless link 108):
a transmitter that transmits request information for requesting sensing of a target to the first communication apparatus via the second communication apparatus ((Lien, para [0010], ] A computing device may, however, include a wireless communication chipset, which can enable a user to talk with friends, download information, share pictures, remotely control household devices, receive global positioning information, or listen to radio stations. Although used for transmitting and receiving wireless communication signals, the wireless communication chipset includes many similar components as a radar sensor, such as an antenna, a transceiver, and a processor. Furthermore, frequencies used for wireless communication may be similar to those used for radar sensing (e.g., S-band, C-band, X-band, millimeter-wave frequencies, and so forth) and (further reference paras[0028] and [0074]);
a receiver that receives result information indicating a sensing result from the first communication apparatus, in which the sensing of the target has been performed in accordance with the request information, via the second communication apparatus (Lien, para [0024], In more detail, consider FIG. 3, which illustrates the wireless communication chipset 104 as part of the computing device 102. The computing device 102 is illustrated with various non-limiting example devices including a desktop computer 102-1, a tablet 102-2, a laptop 102-3, a television 102-4, a computing watch 102-5, computing glasses 102-6, a gaming system 102-7, a microwave 102-8, and a vehicle 102-9. Other devices may also be used, such as wireless routers, drones, track pads, drawing pads, netbooks, e-readers, home-automation and control systems, and other home appliances. Note that computing device 102 can be wearable, non-wearable but mobile, or relatively immobile (e.g., desktops and appliances)) and (further reference para [0028] regarding request information);
and a controller that determines a state of the target based on the sensing result indicated in the result information and a sensing result of sensing of the target that has been performed in the terminal (Lien, para [0026], In more detail, consider FIG. 3, which illustrates the wireless communication chipset 104 as part of the computing device 102. The computing device 102 is illustrated with various non-limiting example devices including a desktop computer 102-1, a tablet 102-2, a laptop 102-3, a television 102-4, a computing watch 102-5, computing glasses 102-6, a gaming system 102-7, a microwave 102-8, and a vehicle 102-9. Other devices may also be used, such as wireless routers, drones, track pads, drawing pads, netbooks, e-readers, home-automation and control systems, and other home appliances. Note that computing device 102 can be wearable, non-wearable but mobile, or relatively immobile (e.g., desktops and appliances)),
Wuntenberger discloses:
wherein a frequency band used in a communication between the terminal and the first communication apparatus is higher than a frequency band used in a communication between the terminal and the second communication apparatus (Wuntenberger, col. 5, lines 51-56: A telecommunications network might include an array of devices or components, some of which are not shown so as to not obscure more relevant aspects of the invention. Components such as terminals, links, and nodes (as well as other components) can provide connectivity in some embodiments) and (col. 11, lines 10-26: In some aspects, the adjustments comprises the first base station turning off or ceasing use of channels for a portion of first base station antennas that are using the same frequencies as a portion of the second base station antennas. In another aspect, the first base station may disable or cease use of a first predetermined set of channels while the second base station may disable or cease use of a second predetermined set of channels. For example, prior to entering ducting mitigation mode, first base station antennas and second base station antennas may both be operating channels having frequencies of 700 megahertz, 800 megahertz, 1700 megahertz, and 1900 megahertz. Using ducting mitigation mode, the first base station antennas may use only channels with frequencies of 700 megahertz and 1700 megahertz while second base station antennas may use channels with frequencies 800 megahertz and 1900 megahertz),
and the first communication apparatus and the second communication apparatus are base stations configured such that frequency allocation of sensing resources is changeable over time (Wuntunberger, col. 11, lines 10-26)
It would have been obvious to someone in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Lien with Wuntunberger to incorporate the features of: wherein a frequency band used in a communication between the terminal and the first communication apparatus is higher than a frequency band used in a communication between the terminal and the second communication apparatus, and the first communication apparatus and the second communication apparatus are base stations configured such that frequency allocation of sensing resources is changeable over time. Both arts are considered analogous arts as they both disclose communication between multiple devices; however, Lien fails to disclose wherein a frequency band used in a communication between the terminal and the first communication apparatus is higher than a frequency band used in a communication between the terminal and the second communication apparatus, and the first communication apparatus and the second communication apparatus are base stations configured such that frequency allocation of sensing resources is changeable over time as disclosed by Wuntunberger. The modification would render the predictable results of improved sensing accuracy, improved reduction with interference, and improved communication between multiple apparatuses.
Regarding claim 2, Lien discloses:
the terminal according to claim 1 (Lien, paras [0015-0016]),
wherein the controller determines at least one of a position of the target (Lien, para [0010], The wireless communication chipset, however, is typically designed for wireless communication, not radar sensing. For example, the wireless communication chipset may be set-up to use time-division duplexing techniques to switch between transmitting and receiving communication signals, which may not facilitate detection of close-range targets for radar sensing. Additionally, the wireless communication chipset may be set-up to utilize a single transmit or receive chain, which may not facilitate determining angular positions of targets for radar sensing. Furthermore, the wireless communication chipset may set-up to utilize communication modulations, which may not facilitate determining ranges and Dopplers of targets for radar sensing. [0012] As such, this document describes techniques and devices for using the wireless communication chipset to implement radar sensing techniques. The techniques utilize a controller that enables the wireless communication chipset to transmit and receive radar signals in addition to, or in lieu of, wireless communication signals. In particular, the controller can cause the wireless communication chipset to perform full- duplex operations, support digital beamforming, or produce radar modulations),
presence or absence of the target (Lien, para [0022], In some cases, radar sensing operations can be assigned amongst the computing devices 102 according to each device's capability and location. For example, a device with a highest transmit power or a wider field-of-view, for example, can be used to transmit the radar signal. Radar data that is collected through cooperative or non- cooperative techniques can also be shared across all of the computing devices 102, which can improve probability of detection, target location accuracy, target tracking, and target orientation and shape estimation. The radar data provided by multiple computing device 102 can also be used to reduce false alarms, perform triangulations, or support interferometry),
an outer shape of the target (Lien, para [0022]),
and/or movement of the target (Lien, para [0022]).
Regarding claim 3, Lien discloses:
the terminal according to claim 1 (Lien, paras [0015-0016]),
wherein the receiver receives a response to the request information from the first communication apparatus and then receives the result information (Lien, para [0059], To avoid interference between the multiple signals 1000, the controller 310 can cause the I/Q modulator 902 to make the signals 1000 orthogonal to each another. In other aspects, the signals 1000-1, 1000-2, and 1000-3 can be transmitted using disjoint wireless communication channels. Different wireless communication channels can also be used for different radar modulations, enabling different radar signals 602 to be transmitted simultaneously. If timing, antenna, or transceiver resources are limited in the wireless communication chipset 104, the controller 310 can schedule the wireless communication and radar sensing to occur at different times based on priority, a predetermined update rate, or a request from another application.).
Regarding claim 4, Lien discloses:
the terminal according to claim 1 (Lien, paras [0015-0016]),
wherein the transmitter transmits a determination result of a position of the target to the first communication apparatus (Lien, para [0074], At 1308, another signal is modulated via the wireless communication chipset based on the second modulation type to produce a communication signal. For example, the controller 130 can cause, via the modulation operation signal 906, the I/Q modulator 902 to use the communication modulation to produce the signal 1000-2 or the signal 1000-N. [0075] At 1310, the transmission of the radar signal and the communication signal is controlled to enable radar sensing and wireless communication via the wireless communication chipset. For example, the controller 310 can cause the wireless communication chipset 104 to transmit the radar signal 1000-1 and the communication signal 1000-2 at different times if the wireless communication chipset 104 has limited resources (e.g., a limited number of transceivers 406 and antennas 404). Alternatively, the controller 310 can cause the wireless communication chipset 104 to transmit the radar signal 1000-1 and the communication signal 1000-2 simultaneously, such as in cases that the wireless communication chipset 104 supports MIMO. In some cases, the transmission of the radar signal 1000-1 and the communication signal 1000-2 can be based on respective priorities, a pre-determined update rate of the radar sensing, or per a request by an application associated with the wireless communication chipset 104, such as the radar-based application 308).
Regarding claim 5, Lien discloses:
the terminal according to claim 1 (Lien, paras [0015-0016]),
wherein the receiver receives capability information on sensing capability from the first communication apparatus (Lien, para [0078]).
Regarding claim 6, Lien discloses:
the terminal according to claim 1 (Lien, paras [0015-0016]),
wherein the controller performs the sensing of the target by using an antenna port different from an antenna port that is used in data communication (Lien, para [0062], At 1104, a receiver of the wireless communication chipset is caused to be connected to a second antenna. For example, the controller 310 can cause the wireless communication chipset 104 to connect the receiver 504 to at least one other antenna 404 in the antenna array 802. The transmitter 502 and the receiver 504 may be associated with a same transceiver 406 or different transceivers 406 in the wireless communication chipset 104).
Regarding claim 9, Lien discloses:
the terminal according to claim 1, wherein (Lien, paras [0015-0016]):
the transmitter transmits, by using beamforming (Lien, para [0013], Full-duplex operation enables transmission and reception to occur over a same portion of time, thereby enabling the use of continuous-wave radar or pulse- Doppler radar techniques. Digital beamforming enables custom beamsteering and shaping for determining an angular position of the target. Using digital beamforming techniques, a variety of radar fields can be transmitted or received by the wireless communication chipset. Radar modulations enable a radar signal to be transmitted and received by the wireless communication chipset, thereby supporting frequency modulation (FM) ranging or doppler sensing techniques for radar sensing),
a signal used in the sensing (Lien, para [0013]),
the receiver receives directivity information on directivity of the beamforming from the first communication apparatus (Lien, para [0051], FIG. 8-1 illustrates an example configuration of the wireless communication chipset 104 for digital beamforming. The wireless communication chipset 104 includes an antenna array 802 having multiple antennas 404. In the depicted configuration, the antenna array 802 is a planar array having a two-dimensional arrangement of the antennas 404 (e.g., a triangular, rectangular, circular, or hexagonal arrangement), which enables a two-dimensional vector associated with an angle of arrival of the reflected radar signal 602-2 to be determined (e.g., enables determination of both an azimuth and elevation angle of the target 604). The antenna array 802 can include two of the antennas 404 positioned along one dimension of angular space (e.g., an azimuth or horizontal dimension) and another antenna 404 positioned along another dimension of the antenna space with respect to one of the two antennas 404 (e.g., an elevation or vertical dimension). Other implementations of the antenna array 802 can include a linear array (e.g., one-dimensional arrangement) such that either the azimuth or the elevation of the target 604 can be determined. In general, a two-dimensional antenna array enables beam steering in two planes (e.g., azimuth and elevation) and higher directivity compared to a one-dimensional antenna array with a same number of antennas and antenna spacing),
and the controller determines a direction of the target based on the directivity information (Lien, para [0051]).
Claim 10 is rejected under the same analysis as claim 1.
References Cited But Not Relied Upon
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure as thus:
Murakami US 20180205590 A1 discloses a communication apparatus and communication method between a base station and multiple terminals wherein beams are transmitted
Murukami et al US 10707941 B2 discloses a plurality of terminals in communication in frequency bandwidth of 6 GHz or higher such as millimeter wave with frequency bandwidth 60 GHz wherein requests are received from the AP
Murakami US 20210044346 A1 discloses a communication device that relays between multiple devices that are connect to first apparatus, also discloses request signals (para [0336], [23-1] To begin with, the terminal makes a “request for multicast transmission of stream 1” to the base station), and responses to the request (para [0370], [28-2] In response to the request indicated at above [28-1], the base station indicates to terminal 2202-2 that “multicast stream 1 is being transmitted.” The indication “multicast stream 1 is being transmitted” is transmitted in one of the unicast transmission sections illustrated in FIG. 25)
Wu et al US 20200191943 A1 discloses system, method and apparatus for wireless object tracking that may comprise multiple communication modalities such (para [0055], The wireless multipath channel may comprise: a communication channel, analog frequency channel (e.g. with analog carrier frequency near 700/800/900 MHz, 1.8/1.8/2.4/3/5/6/27/60 GHz), coded channel (e.g. in CDMA), and/or channel of a wireless network/system (e.g. WLAN, WiFi, mesh, LTE, 4G/5G, Bluetooth, Zigbee, UWB, RFID, microwave). It may comprise more than one channel. The channels may be consecutive (e.g. with adjacent/overlapping bands) or non-consecutive channels (e.g. non-overlapping WiFi channels, one at 2.4 GHz and one at 5 GHz) wherein a terminal is in communication with at least one communication apparatus
Sanderovich et al US 20180199377 A1 discloses co-existence of millimeter wave communication and radar between multiple communication apparatuses via beamforming communication (Fig. 1)
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KIMBERLY JENKINS whose telephone number is (571)272-0404. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8a-5p EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Vladimir Magloire can be reached at 517.270.5144. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/KIMBERLY JENKINS/Examiner, Art Unit 3648
/VLADIMIR MAGLOIRE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3648
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