DETAILED ACTION
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.
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 06/05/2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filled 06/05/2026 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
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.
Claims 1, 6, 10-12, 14-15, 18-22, and 24-27are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Podkamien(US20230168364A1) in view of FENG(CN113534141A).
Regarding claim 1, Podkamien discloses
A method for identification of a vehicle occupant within a vehicle cabin, the method comprising the steps of: identifying a vehicle occupant within a vehicle using electromagnetic signals (“ Aspects of the present disclosure relate to systems and methods for determining seat occupancy information in a vehicle using a radar sensor.”[0087]) by detecting a vital sign of the vehicle occupant, wherein the vital sign comprises a breathing rate of the vehicle occupant (“Various systems and methods may be used for monitoring vital signs, such as breathing rates and heart-rates of passengers.”[0116]),[…]; assigning the vehicle occupant to a location within the vehicle by processing electromagnetic signals (“The processing unit may be coupled to an indicator for indicating to a driver that a seat is occupied”[0166]); and extracting one or more features about the vehicle occupant by processing electromagnetic signals, wherein the one or more features comprise the estimated breathing rat (“The movements, breathing and heart-rate of each passenger may also be monitored”[0153]) […] and classifying the vehicle occupant by processing electromagnetic signals based at least in part on the estimated breathing rate (FIG.13, FIG.22 & “Additionally or alternatively, a neural network may be trained to identify and categorize passengers, mapping them to classifications such as age category and in-position/out-of position states.”[0111] & “This classification is done by examining both the spatial pattern and the temporal displacement data for each element within the target.” [0268]).
Podkamien does not explicitly disclose nor limit wherein the method includes range doppler processing. FENG discloses the method comprising, wherein the breathing rate is calculated by: identifying a repeating pattern of Doppler spectrum peaks in a RADAR signal (“The target velocity is obtained by peak search on the Doppler spectrum. “ [n0016]) using at least one target range bin associated with a detected signal from the […] occupant, wherein the repeating pattern comprises a plurality of Doppler spectrum peaks at different Doppler-frequency bins (“Then, a second FFT is performed on the one-dimensional array sample after phase unwinding information processing to obtain the spectral information of x(t). In fact, x(t) is a function that simulates the displacement of the chest wall. Since it depends on the vibration of the heartbeat and breathing, it is a periodic function. Therefore, the spectrum of x(t) contains peaks distributed with heartbeat and breathing” [n0087])within the at least one target range bin (“the one-dimensional phase array of the echo of each human body is extracted from the range bin of each human target.” [n0023]); identifying an estimated frequency distance between adjacent peaks of the repeating pattern of Doppler spectrum peaks (“Let R(t) = R0 + x(t) represent the distance, where x(t) is the change in distance around R0” [n0076] & “Therefore, the spectrum of x(t) contains peaks distributed with heartbeat and breathing.” [n0087])); and calculating an estimated breathing rate using the estimated frequency distance (“Finally, digital filters are used for filtering, noise reduction, and fast Fourier transform to obtain respiratory feature signals” [n0087]).
FENG teaches in the same field of endeavor of radar based breath rate detection. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Podkamien with the teachings of FENG to incorporate the features of Doppler Range processing the received radar signal in order to identify breathing rate so as to gain the advantage of increasing radar vital sign detection reliability. Also, since it has been held that if a technique has been used to improve one device, and a person of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that it would improve similar devices in the same way, using the technique is obvious unless its actual application is beyond his or her skill (MPEP 2143).
Regarding claim 6, Podkamien as modified by FENG teaches all of the limitations of claim 1. Podkamien discloses the method further comprising, identifying a scene change within the vehicle (“ The central radar sensor can also determine changes to the cabin apart from the position of passengers. For example, if a door is opened.”[0167]).
Regarding claim 10, Podkamien discloses
A method for classification of an object within a vehicle using RADAR signal processing, the method comprising the steps of: identifying an object within a vehicle using RADAR signals (“Aspects of the present disclosure relate to systems and methods for determining seat occupancy information in a vehicle using a radar sensor.”[0087]); assigning the object to a location within the vehicle by processing RADAR signals(“The processing unit may be coupled to an indicator for indicating to a driver that a seat is occupied”[0166]); […] identifying a scene change within the vehicle (“ The central radar sensor can also determine changes to the cabin apart from the position of passengers. For example, if a door is opened.”[0167]); and in response to identifying the scene change, changing one or more processing parameters associated with extracting the one or more features about the object or associated with classification processing for the object. (“The sensor chip 160 and processing may be operated only for short periods following an event, such as a door closing, the vehicle accelerating or stopping, etc. Where applicable, the system may operate in pulsed mode in spurts”[0120]).
Podkamien does not explicitly disclose nor limit wherein the method includes range doppler processing. FENG discloses the method comprising, extracting one or more features about the object by processing RADAR signals by identifying a repeating pattern of Doppler spectrum peaks in a RADAR signal (“The target velocity is obtained by peak search on the Doppler spectrum. “ [n0016]) using at least one target range bin associated with the location assigned to the object (“the one-dimensional phase array of the echo of each human body is extracted from the range bin of each human target.” [n0023]), wherein the repeating pattern comprises a plurality of Doppler spectrum peaks at different Doppler-frequency bins within the at least one target range bin(“Then, a second FFT is performed on the one-dimensional array sample after phase unwinding information processing to obtain the spectral information of x(t). In fact, x(t) is a function that simulates the displacement of the chest wall. Since it depends on the vibration of the heartbeat and breathing, it is a periodic function. Therefore, the spectrum of x(t) contains peaks distributed with heartbeat and breathing” [n0087]); identifying an estimated frequency distance between adjacent peaks of the repeating pattern of Doppler spectrum peaks identified during the step of extracting the one or more features (“Let R(t) = R0 + x(t) represent the distance, where x(t) is the change in distance around R0” [n0076] & “Therefore, the spectrum of x(t) contains peaks distributed with heartbeat and breathing.” [n0087])).
FENG teaches in the same field of endeavor of radar based breath rate detection. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Podkamien with the teachings of FENG to incorporate the features of Doppler Range processing the received radar signal in order to identify breathing rate so as to gain the advantage of increasing radar vital sign detection reliability. Also, since it has been held that if a technique has been used to improve one device, and a person of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that it would improve similar devices in the same way, using the technique is obvious unless its actual application is beyond his or her skill (MPEP 2143).
Regarding claim 11, Podkamien as modified by FENG teaches all of the limitations of claim 10. Podkamien discloses the method further comprising, classifying the object by processing RADAR signals (FIG.13, FIG.22 & “Additionally or alternatively, a neural network may be trained to identify and categorize passengers, mapping them to classifications such as age category and in-position/out-of position states.”[0111]).
Regarding claim 12, Podkamien as modified by FENG teaches all of the limitations of claim 10. Podkamien discloses the method wherein, the object comprises a human (“FIG. 10A is a plot of radial displacement as a function of time, as measured for a human subject, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;”[0064]), and wherein the step of extracting one or more features about the object by processing RADAR signals comprises estimating a rate associated with a vital sign of the human within the vehicle (“Various systems and methods may be used for monitoring vital signs, such as breathing rates and heart-rates of passengers.”[0116]).
Regarding claim 14, Podkamien as modified by Zeng teaches all of the limitations of claim 12. Podkamien discloses the method wherein, the object comprises an occupant of the vehicle, and wherein the step of extracting one or more features about the object by processing RADAR signals comprises: identifying a repeating pattern (“Identify oscillating patterns within a target region such as the vehicle cabin indicative of the vital signs”[0016]) […] and calculating an estimated rate of a repeating vital sign of the occupant within a cabin of the vehicle using the estimated frequency distance(“and process the oscillating signals to isolate breathing signals, heart rate signals and the like”[0116]).
Podkamien does not explicitly disclose nor limit wherein the method includes range doppler processing. FENG discloses the method comprising, Doppler spectrum peaks in a RADAR signal (“The target velocity is obtained by peak search on the Doppler spectrum. “ [n0016]) using one or more range bins (“the one-dimensional phase array of the echo of each human body is extracted from the range bin of each human target.” [n0023]); identifying an estimated frequency distance between adjacent peaks of the repeating pattern (“Let R(t) = R0 + x(t) represent the distance, where x(t) is the change in distance around R0” [n0076] & “Therefore, the spectrum of x(t) contains peaks distributed with heartbeat and breathing.” [n0087]).
FENG teaches in the same field of endeavor of radar based breath rate detection. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Podkamien with the teachings of FENG to incorporate the features of Doppler Range processing the received radar signal in order to identify breathing rate so as to gain the advantage of increasing radar vital sign detection reliability. Also, since it has been held that if a technique has been used to improve one device, and a person of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that it would improve similar devices in the same way, using the technique is obvious unless its actual application is beyond his or her skill (MPEP 2143).
Regarding claim 15, Podkamien discloses
A system for classification of a vehicle occupant using electromagnetic signal processing, comprising: an electromagnetic sensor positioned within a cabin of a vehicle (“For monitoring passengers within a vehicle cabin by a single sensor, a possible position for the sensor may be central to the cabin such that as much as possible of the cabin is within the target range of the sensor.”[0084]);a location detection module configured to process reflected electromagnetic signals to estimate a location of a vehicle occupant within the cabin of the vehicle (“The processing unit 212 is thus able to determine the presence of passengers in each direction”[0105]); and a feature extraction module configured to extract one or more features about the vehicle occupant by processing reflected electromagnetic signals (“The pre-processing unit 312 is thus able to determine the presence of passengers in each direction and to differentiate between adults, children and babies, pets and inanimate objects by determining the size of the occupant, the height, whether the occupant is breathing or displaying a heartbeat and so on”[0112]), wherein the feature extraction module is configured to identify a vital sign associated with the vehicle occupant (“Various systems and methods may be used for monitoring vital signs, such as breathing rates and heart-rates of passengers.”[0116]),
Podkamien does not explicitly disclose nor limit wherein the method includes range doppler processing. FENG discloses the system wherein, the Doppler signal repetition frequency comprises an estimated frequency distance between adjacent peaks of a repeating pattern of Doppler spectrum peaks (“The target velocity is obtained by peak search on the Doppler spectrum. “ [n0016]) identified using at least one target range bin, wherein the at least one target range bin is associated with the location of the […] occupant estimated by the location detection module (“the one-dimensional phase array of the echo of each human body is extracted from the range bin of each human target.” [n0023]), and wherein the repeating pattern comprises a plurality of Doppler spectrum peaks at different Doppler-frequency bins within the at least one target range bin (“Then, a second FFT is performed on the one-dimensional array sample after phase unwinding information processing to obtain the spectral information of x(t). In fact, x(t) is a function that simulates the displacement of the chest wall. Since it depends on the vibration of the heartbeat and breathing, it is a periodic function. Therefore, the spectrum of x(t) contains peaks distributed with heartbeat and breathing” [n0087])
FENG teaches in the same field of endeavor of radar based breath rate detection. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Podkamien with the teachings of FENG to incorporate the features of Doppler Range processing the received radar signal in order to identify breathing rate so as to gain the advantage of increasing radar vital sign detection reliability. Also, since it has been held that if a technique has been used to improve one device, and a person of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that it would improve similar devices in the same way, using the technique is obvious unless its actual application is beyond his or her skill (MPEP 2143).
Regarding claim 18, Podkamien as modified by FENG teaches all of the limitations of claim 15. Podkamien discloses the system wherein, the rate comprises at least one of a breathing rate and a heart rate (“Various systems and methods may be used for monitoring vital signs, such as breathing rates and heart-rates of passengers.”[0116]).
Regarding claim 19, Podkamien as modified by FENG teaches all of the limitations of claim 15. Podkamien discloses the system wherein, the electromagnetic sensor comprises a RADAR sensor (“Aspects of the present disclosure relate to systems and methods for determining seat occupancy information in a vehicle using a radar sensor.”[0087]).
Regarding claim 20, Podkamien as modified by FENG teaches all of the limitations of claim 15. Podkamien discloses the system wherein, a classification module configured to classify the vehicle occupant using features extracted using the feature extraction module (FIG.13, FIG.22 & “Additionally or alternatively, a neural network may be trained to identify and categorize passengers, mapping them to classifications such as age category and in-position/out-of position states.”[0111]), wherein the classification module is configured to classify the vehicle occupant according to an estimated age group using a rate associated with a vital sign of the vehicle occupant obtained from the electromagnetic sensor (“This classification is done by examining both the spatial pattern and the temporal displacement data for each element within the target.”[0268] & “The separated components characterize the spatial movement modes associated with each type of movement, e.g. the spatial movement mode associated with respiration and the spatial movement mode associated with heartbeat.”[0283]).
Regarding claim 21, Podkamien as modified by FENG teaches all of the limitations of claim 1. Podkamien does not explicitly disclose nor limit range doppler processing. FENG discloses wherein, the at least one target range bin is identified from a detection data set by identifying a range bin associated with a strongest signal associated with the vehicle occupant and having the repeating pattern indicative of the vital sign (“Specifically, in the range bin of each human target, the one-dimensional phase array of the echo of each human target is extracted, and each extracted one-dimensional phase array of the echo is independent of each other.” [n0086]).
FENG teaches in the same field of endeavor of radar based breath rate detection. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Podkamien with the teachings of FENG to incorporate the features of identifying a range bin associated with a strongest signal associated with the vehicle occupant and having the repeating pattern indicative of the vital sign in order to identify breathing rate so as to gain the advantage of increasing radar vital sign detection reliability. Also, since it has been held that if a technique has been used to improve one device, and a person of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that it would improve similar devices in the same way, using the technique is obvious unless its actual application is beyond his or her skill (MPEP 2143).
Regarding claim 22, Podkamien as modified by FENG teaches all of the limitations of claim 1. Podkamien does not explicitly disclose nor limit wherein breathing rate is calculated using Doppler spectrum peaks. FENG discloses wherein, the breathing rate is calculated using Doppler spectrum peaks from the at least one target range bin (“the one-dimensional phase array of the echo of each human body is extracted from the range bin of each human target.” [n0023]) and from one or more additional range bins adjacent to, within a predetermined number of range bins of, or within a threshold signal strength of the at least one target range bin (“In the range bin of each human target, the one-dimensional phase array of the echo of each human target is extracted. After extracting the one-dimensional phase array of each human target,” [n0060]).
FENG teaches in the same field of endeavor of radar based breath rate detection. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Podkamien with the teachings of FENG to incorporate the features of using one or more additional range bins to calculate breathing rate so as to gain the advantage of increasing radar vital sign detection reliability. Also, since it has been held that if a technique has been used to improve one device, and a person of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that it would improve similar devices in the same way, using the technique is obvious unless its actual application is beyond his or her skill (MPEP 2143).
Regarding claim 24, Podkamien as modified by FENG teaches all of the limitations of claim 10. Podkamien does not explicitly disclose nor limit range doppler processing. FENG discloses wherein, the at least one target range bin is identified from a detection data set by identifying a range bin associated with a strongest signal associated with the object and having the repeating pattern indicative of a vital sign (“Specifically, in the range bin of each human target, the one-dimensional phase array of the echo of each human target is extracted, and each extracted one-dimensional phase array of the echo is independent of each other.” [n0086]).
FENG teaches in the same field of endeavor of radar based breath rate detection. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Podkamien with the teachings of FENG to incorporate the features of identifying a range bin associated with a strongest signal associated with the vehicle occupant and having the repeating pattern indicative of the vital sign in order to identify breathing rate so as to gain the advantage of increasing radar vital sign detection reliability. Also, since it has been held that if a technique has been used to improve one device, and a person of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that it would improve similar devices in the same way, using the technique is obvious unless its actual application is beyond his or her skill (MPEP 2143).
Regarding claim 25, Podkamien as modified by FENG teaches all of the limitations of claim 10. Podkamien discloses wherein, the one or more processing parameters changed in response to identifying the scene change comprise one or more classification parameters selected based at least in part on the location assigned to the object (“In addition to tracking location and height of passengers, preferred embodiments are configured to track posture, movements, particularly breathing of occupants and heart beats. This can be of value if an occupant gets into some sort of trouble. It can warn a driver to stop, for example.” [0183]).
Regarding claim 26, Podkamien as modified by FENG teaches all of the limitations of claim 15. Podkamien does not explicitly disclose nor limit wherein breathing rate is calculated using Doppler spectrum peaks. FENG discloses wherein, the feature extraction module is configured to perform Doppler FFT processing for the at least one target range bin and for one or more additional range bins adjacent to or otherwise related to the at least one target range bin (“In the range bin of each human target, the one-dimensional phase array of the echo of each human target is extracted. After extracting the one-dimensional phase array of each human target,” [n0060]).
FENG teaches in the same field of endeavor of radar based breath rate detection. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Podkamien with the teachings of FENG to incorporate the features of using one or more additional range bins to calculate breathing rate so as to gain the advantage of increasing radar vital sign detection reliability. Also, since it has been held that if a technique has been used to improve one device, and a person of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that it would improve similar devices in the same way, using the technique is obvious unless its actual application is beyond his or her skill (MPEP 2143).
Regarding claim 27, Podkamien as modified by FENG teaches all of the limitations of claim 15. Podkamien does not explicitly disclose nor limit cross-channel processing or beamforming. FENG discloses wherein, the feature extraction module is configured to perform cross-channel processing or beamforming using electromagnetic signals associated with the at least one target range bin before estimating the rate associated with the vital sign of the vehicle occupant (“radar beamforming in the transmission and reception radio frequency channels according to the position and direction of the target human body in the space to be measured” [n0093]).
FENG teaches in the same field of endeavor of radar based breath rate detection. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Podkamien with the teachings of FENG to incorporate the features of cross-channel processing or beamforming so as to gain the advantage of increasing radar vital sign detection reliability [n0090, FENG]. Also, since it has been held that if a technique has been used to improve one device, and a person of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that it would improve similar devices in the same way, using the technique is obvious unless its actual application is beyond his or her skill (MPEP 2143).
Claims 7 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Podkamien(US20230168364A1) as modified by FENG(CN113534141A) in view of Han(US20220113371A1).
Regarding claim 7, Podkamien as modified by FENG teaches all of the limitations of claim 6. Podkamien discloses the method wherein, the scene change comprises at least one of:
identifying a change in a number of vehicle occupants within the vehicle using electromagnetic signals (“This data may be used by fleet operators to monitor the number of passengers in a vehicle,”[0114]); identifying a change in a location of vehicle occupants within the vehicle using electromagnetic signals (“The memory 326 also stores the previous readings and the spatial components of the detected signals, and changes over time, i.e. their temporal components, and/or possibly also includes a library of standard responses indicative of drivers and passengers of various sizes sitting in the various seats.”[0111]); identifying movement in a door of the vehicle (“The central radar sensor can also determine changes to the cabin apart from the position of passengers. For example, if a door is opened.”[0167])
Podkamien as modified by FENG does not explicitly disclose nor limit wherein the method includes threshold vehicle velocity detection. Han discloses the method comprising identifying a threshold change in velocity of the vehicle (“event-triggered measurement (for example, performing measurement based on a specified event, where the event may be, for example, that a vehicle speed change exceeds a specified threshold)”[0081])
Han teaches in the same field of endeavor of vehicle sensor systems including vehicle radar detection. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Podkamien as modified by FENG with the teachings of Han to incorporate the features of threshold vehicle velocity detection so as to gain the advantage of improving event based processing and implementing vehicle safety features. Also, since it has been held that if a technique has been used to improve one device, and a person of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that it would improve similar devices in the same way, using the technique is obvious unless its actual application is beyond his or her skill (MPEP 2143).
Regarding claim 9, Podkamien as modified by FENG and further modified by Han teaches all of the limitations of claim 7. Podkamien discloses the method further comprising, in response to identifying the scene change, changing at least one processing parameter associated with at least one of the steps of extracting one or more features about the vehicle occupant and classifying the vehicle occupant (“The sensor chip 160 and processing may be operated only for short periods following an event, such as a door closing, the vehicle accelerating or stopping, etc.”[0120] & “he information of occupancy, age class and out-of-position thus determined may be transferred to the rules database 320 which determine actions for each seat based on the received information.”[0212])
Claims 13 and 23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Podkamien(US20230168364A1) as modified by FENG(CN113534141A) in view of DIEWALD(US20160200276A1).
Regarding claim 13, Podkamien as modified by FENG teaches all of the limitations of claim 10. Podkamien discloses wherein, the step of extracting one or more features about the object by processing RADAR signals (“The movements, breathing and heart-rate of each passenger may also be monitored”[0153])
Podkamien does not explicitly disclose nor limit wherein the method includes range doppler processing. DIEWALD discloses the method comprising calculating a variance of a frequency difference between Doppler peaks associated with the RADAR signals (“ The variance of the Doppler signals is a quantity for the trustworthiness of the measured signal.” [0121]).
DIEWALD teaches in the same field of endeavor of vehicle sensor systems including vehicle radar detection. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Podkamien as modified by FENG with the teachings of DIEWALD to incorporate the features of calculating a variance of a frequency difference between Doppler peaks associated with the RADAR signals so as to gain the advantage of improving measurement trustworthiness [0121, DIEWALD]. Also, since it has been held that if a technique has been used to improve one device, and a person of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that it would improve similar devices in the same way, using the technique is obvious unless its actual application is beyond his or her skill (MPEP 2143).
Regarding claim 23, Podkamien as modified by FENG teaches all of the limitations of claim 1. Podkamien as modified by FENG does not explicitly disclose nor limit using a smoothing filter before the vehicle occupant is classified. DIEWALD discloses wherein filtering the estimated breathing rate using a smoothing filter before the vehicle occupant is classified (FIG.3, Steps.22,24,& 30)
DIEWALD teaches in the same field of endeavor of vehicle sensor systems including vehicle radar detection. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Podkamien as modified by FENG with the teachings of DIEWALD to incorporate the features of filtering the estimated breathing rate using a smoothing filter before the vehicle occupant is classified so as to gain the advantage of reducing noise [0081, DIEWALD]. Also, since it has been held that if a technique has been used to improve one device, and a person of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that it would improve similar devices in the same way, using the technique is obvious unless its actual application is beyond his or her skill (MPEP 2143).
For applicant’s benefit portions of the cited reference(s) have been cited to aid in the review of
the rejection(s). While every attempt has been made to be thorough and consistent within the rejection
it is noted that the PRIOR ART MUST BE CONSIDERED IN ITS ENTIRETY, INCLUDING DISCLOSURES THAT
TEACH AWAY FROM THE CLAIMS. See MPEP 2141.02 VI.
Documents Considered but not Relied Upon
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to the applicant’s Disclosure.
Santra (US 20190227156 A1)is considered analogous art to the instant application as it discloses in [0005] “activating at least one range bin of a plurality of range bins in response to a determination that at least one of the macro-Doppler signal or the micro-Doppler signal is present.”
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CLAYTON PAUL RIDDER whose telephone number is (571)272-2771. The examiner can normally be reached Monday thru Friday ET.
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/C.P.R./Examiner, Art Unit 3646
/JACK W KEITH/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3646
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