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 Amendments
The amendment filed 22 July 2025 is entered.
Claims 1-4, 6-9, and 12-15 are amended.
Claims 5 and 10-11 are cancelled.
Claims 1-4, 6-9, and 12-15 are pending.
Claim Objections
Claim 13 is objected to because of the following informalities:
In Claim 13, line 3, the word “on” should be “of” so that the claim reads “where decoded signals are analyzed based on a Fast Fourier Transform, FFT, of the decoded signals.”
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the
basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in
public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing
date of the claimed invention.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or
in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b),
in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and
was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 6-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Uysal ‘751 (WO 2020/162751).
Regarding Claim 6, Uysal ‘751 discloses:
A method of detecting an object with a phase-coded frequency-modulated continuous wave (PC-FMCW) radar system ([p. 3]: “a method of detecting an object with a phase-coded frequency-modulated continuous wave (PC-FMCW) radar system”), the method comprising:
generating an initial signal in a synthesizer ([p. 3]: “generating an initial signal in a signal generator”; Fig. 3);
phase-coding the initial signal in an encoder to provide a coded signal ([p. 3]: “generating a coded signal by modulating the initial signal”; Fig. 3);
generating a transmission signal by modulating a carrier signal with the coded signal ([p. 3]: “generating a transmission signal by modulating a carrier signal with the coded signal”);
transmitting the coded signal ([p. 3]: “transmitting the transmission signal”);
receiving a reflected signal resulting from the transmitted signal reflecting off an object ([p. 3]: “receiving a reflected signal, the reflected signal having been reflected from the object”);
receiving a first beat signal based on the reflected signal received ([p. 7]: “means of extracting a beat component signal from the uncoded modulated signal and a received return signal.”);
upon receiving the first beat signal, decoding the reflected signal ([p. 4]: “generating a decoded signal by modulating the corrected received signal with a decoding signal”; [p. 10]: “Firstly, the received signal is preferably mixed with uncoded transmit signal which preserves original phase coding for each beat frequencies after dechirping. Secondly and more importantly, the system according to the invention uses a time domain group delay filter to align the envelope of each beat frequency which allows to successfully decode received signal”); and
determining a range of the object from the decoded signal ([p. 4]: “determining a range of the object from the decoded signal”);
wherein the step of decoding the reflected signal further comprises performing phase-code alignment of the reflected signal ([p. 10]: “align the envelope of each beat frequency”; [p. 13]: “the decoding signal should preferably be perfectly aligned with the received signal.”; Fig. 3).
Regarding Claim 7, Uysal ‘751 discloses: wherein the PC-FMCW radar system comprises an aircraft radar system ([p. 6]: “aircraft”).
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.
Claims 1-2, 4, and 12-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Uysal ‘751 (WO 2020/162751) in view of Turner (US 5,305,008).
Regarding Claim 1, Uysal ‘751 teaches:
A method of phase-code alignment, the method comprising:
receiving one or more phase-coded frequency modulated continuous wave (PC-FMCW) signals from a PC-FMCW radar system ([p. 3]: “a method of detecting an object with a phase-coded frequency-modulated continuous wave (PC-FMCW) radar system”; “receiving a reflected signal, the reflected signal having been reflected from the object”);
receiving a first beat signal based on a first received signal of the one or more PC-FMCW signals received ([p. 7]: “means of extracting a beat component signal from the uncoded modulated signal and a received return signal.”);
upon receiving the first beat signal, sampling the first beat signal using an analog-to-digital converter ([p. 9]: “beat signal is then low-pass filtered to eliminate the high frequency (sum) components before digitized by an analog-to-digital converter”);
… wherein the square amplitude is based on a squared function of the amplitude of the one or more PC- FMCW received signals ([p. 9]: equation 8; Fig. 2), multiplying the one or more PC-FMCW received signals by a delayed version of a phase code of the one or more PC-FMCW received signals, using a decoder, to generate an uncoded signal ([p. 4]: “generating a decoded signal by modulating the corrected received signal with a decoding signal”; [p. 10]: “Firstly, the received signal is preferably mixed with uncoded transmit signal which preserves original phase coding for each beat frequencies after dechirping. Secondly and more importantly, the system according to the invention uses a time domain group delay filter to align the envelope of each beat frequency which allows to successfully decode received signal”; Fig. 3).
Uysal ‘751 does not explicitly teach – but Turner teaches:
monitoring an amplitude of the one or more … received signals using an amplitude detector (Turner [col. 16, lines 28-29]: “signal amplitude detectors 57”; “amplitude comparator 59”); and
upon detecting a change in a … amplitude of the one or more … received signals using the amplitude detector, … using a decoder, to generate an uncoded signal (Turner [col. 16, lines 23-31]: “The digital outputs of signal amplitude detectors 57 are combined in OR gate 58, the resulting reply threshold exceeded signal RTE being fed to micro processor (uP) 60 which controls operations within the base band processor decoder. The analog outputs of signal amplitude detectors 57 are compared in amplitude comparator 59, the resulting strong reply channel signal SRC being also fed to microprocessor (uP) 60.”; [col. 16, lines 46-48]: “Decoding operations performed within this base band processor and decoder are performed by software, within micro processor 60”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Uysal ‘751 to monitor an amplitude of the received signal and, upon detecting a change in the amplitude, to decode the signal, as taught by Turner. Using a change in amplitude to trigger a decoding process is considered ordinary and well-known for use in radar and radio systems. Additionally, using a change in amplitude to trigger the decoding process would be beneficial for reducing the complexity of the system by only decoding the signal when an object is detected, thereby reducing computational cost.
Regarding Claim 2, Uysal ‘751 teaches: the method further comprising:
… the first received signal having a first frequency at a first time delay with respect to a transmitted signal ([p. 10]: “the transmitted … and the received … signal envelopes do not match with each other due to the round-trip time delay”; “each beat frequency is delayed differently in time.”), and
multiplying the first signal by the delayed version of the phase code ([p. 4]: “generating a decoded signal by modulating the corrected received signal with a decoding signal”; [p. 10]: “Firstly, the received signal is preferably mixed with uncoded transmit signal which preserves original phase coding for each beat frequencies after dechirping.”), and
… receipt of subsequent received signals having respective subsequent time delays with respect to the transmitted signal and subsequent frequencies ([p. 10]: “each beat frequency is delayed differently in time.”).
Uysal ‘751 does not explicitly teach – but Turner teaches: detecting a first change in the … amplitude of the first received signal … (Turner [col. 16, lines 23-31]) and
wherein subsequent changes in the … amplitude represent receipt of subsequent received signals (Turner [col. 16, lines 23-31]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Uysal ‘751 use changes in signal amplitude to detect first and subsequent received signals, as taught by Turner. Using a change in amplitude to trigger a decoding process is considered ordinary and well-known for use in radar and radio systems. Additionally, using a change in amplitude to trigger the decoding process would be beneficial for reducing the complexity of the system by only decoding the signal when an object is detected, thereby reducing computational cost.
Regarding Claim 4, Uysal ‘751 teaches: wherein the phase code is a code at least one of a Hadamard-Welsch code type, a Zadoff-Chu code type, a Kasami code type, or a Gold code type ([p. 1]; [p. 14]).
Regarding Claim 12, Uysal ‘751 discloses:
A phase-coded frequency-modulated continuous wave (PC-FMCW) radar system ([p. 3]: “(PC-FMCW) radar system”) comprising:
a synthesizer for generating an initial signal ([p. 3]: “generating an initial signal in a signal generator”; Fig. 3);
an encoder for phase-coding the initial signal to generate a phase-coded signal ([p. 3]: “generating a coded signal by modulating the initial signal”; Fig. 3);
a local oscillator configured for modulating the phase-coded signal to provide a PC-FMCW signal ([p. 3]: “generating a transmission signal by modulating a carrier signal with the coded signal”; Fig. 3);
a transmitter antenna configured for transmitting the PC-FMCW signal as a transmitted signal ([p. 3]: “transmitting the transmission signal”; Fig. 3);
a receiver for receiving a reflected phase-coded signal resulting from the transmitted signal reflecting from an object ([p. 3]: “receiving a reflected signal, the reflected signal having been reflected from the object”; Fig. 3);
a system configured for aligning a phase code of the reflected phase-coded signal to generate code-aligned signals, …, a decoder to decode the code-aligned signals to generate decoded signals upon receipt of a first beat signal being received based on the reflected phase-coded signal received via the receiver ([p. 4]: “generating a decoded signal by modulating the corrected received signal with a decoding signal”; Fig. 3; [p. 10]: “align the envelope of each beat frequency which allows to successfully decode received signal”; Fig. 3); and
a decoder for decoding the code-aligned signals ([p. 4]: “generating a decoded signal by modulating the corrected received signal with a decoding signal”; Fig. 3)
wherein the decoded signals are analyzed to determine a range of the object ([p. 4]: “determining a range of the object from the decoded signal”).
Uysal ‘751 does not explicitly teach – but Turner teaches: wherein the system comprises an amplitude detector, wherein the amplitude detector triggers a decoder to decode the code-aligned signals to generate decoded signals (Turner [col. 16, lines 23-31]: “The digital outputs of signal amplitude detectors 57 are combined in OR gate 58, the resulting reply threshold exceeded signal RTE being fed to micro processor (uP) 60 which controls operations within the base band processor decoder. The analog outputs of signal amplitude detectors 57 are compared in amplitude comparator 59, the resulting strong reply channel signal SRC being also fed to microprocessor (uP) 60.”; [col. 16, lines 46-48]: “Decoding operations performed within this base band processor and decoder are performed by software, within micro processor 60”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Uysal ‘751 to monitor an amplitude of the received signal and, upon detecting a change in the amplitude, to decode the signal, as taught by Turner. Using a change in amplitude to trigger a decoding process is considered ordinary and well-known for use in radar and radio systems. Additionally, using a change in amplitude to trigger the decoding process would be beneficial for reducing the complexity of the system by only decoding the signal when an object is detected, thereby reducing computational cost.
Regarding Claim 13, Uysal ‘751 teaches: where decoded signals are analyzed based on a Fast Fourier Transform, FFT, on the decoded signals ([p. 14]: “2D-FFT”).
Regarding Claim 14, Uysal ‘751 teaches: wherein the system comprises an aircraft radar system ([p. 6]: “aircraft”).
Regarding Claim 15, Uysal ‘751 discloses: wherein the decoder operates using an algorithm implemented in software ([p. 3]: “software”).
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Uysal ‘751 (WO 2020/162751) and Turner (US 5,305,008), as applied to Claim 1 above, and further in view of Uysal (F. Uysal, “Phase-Coded FMCW Automotive Radar: System Design and Interference Mitigation,” in IEEE Transaction on Vehicular Technology, vol. 69, no. 1, pp. 270-281, Jan. 2020).
Regarding Claim 3, Uysal ‘751 does not explicitly teach – but Uysal teaches: wherein the multiplication of the one or more PC-FMCW received signals by a delayed version of the phase code is according to the equation:
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(Uysal [p. 274]: Equations 22, 23).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Uysal ‘751 and multiply the PC-FMCW received signals by a delayed version of the phase code is according to the equation taught by Uysal. Using the equation of Uysal would be beneficial for preserving phase codes and for achieving correct range information (Uysal [p. 274, Section C]).
Claims 8 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Uysal ‘751 (WO 2020/162751), as applied to Claim 6 above, and further in view of Wikipedia (Wikipedia Contributors. “Flight Number.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 20 Jan. 2022, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Flight_number&oldid=1066908855.).
Regarding Claim 8, Uysal ‘751 does not explicitly teach – but Wikipedia teaches: wherein the coded signal is selected to identify a particular aircraft (Wikipedia [p. 1]: “airline designator”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Uysal ‘751 and use the coded signal to identify a particular aircraft, as taught by Wikipedia. Using coded radar signals to identify aircrafts is well-known in the art and is beneficial for managing air traffic.
Regarding Claim 9, Uysal ‘751 does not explicitly teach - but Wikipedia teaches: wherein the coded signal is selected to identify a particular airline (Wikipedia [p. 1]: “specific airplane”; [p. 3]: “Aircraft Type”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Uysal ‘751 and use the coded signal to identify a particular airline, as taught by Wikipedia. Using coded radar signals to identify airlines is well-known in the art and is beneficial for managing air traffic.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 6-7, filed 22 July 2025, with respect to Claim Objections, Claim Rejections under 35 U.S.C. 112, and Claim Rejections under 35 U.S.C. 101 have been fully considered and are persuasive. The objections and rejections have been overcome.
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 7-14, filed 22 July 2025, with respect to Claim Rejections under 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant appears to argue that Uysal ‘751 does not teach “receiving a first beat signal based on the reflected signal received [and] upon receiving the first beat signal, decoding the reflected signal.” Examiner respectfully disagrees and asserts that the limitations are broad and Uysal ‘751’s disclosure of aligning the envelopes of beat frequencies ([p. 10]) is tantamount to the claimed “decoding.” Additionally, Claim 6 of the instant application states that phase-code alignment is part of the decoding process (Claim 6, lines 14-15).
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 NOAH Y. ZHU whose telephone number is (571)270-0170. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 8AM-4PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, William J. Kelleher can be reached on (571) 272-7753. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/NOAH YI MIN ZHU/Examiner, Art Unit 3648 /William Kelleher/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3648