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 amendment filed January 2, 2026 has been entered. Claims 1-30 remain pending in this application. Claims 1, 14-15, and 28 have been amended. Applicant’s amendments to the claims and arguments have overcome all rejections under 35 U.S.C. 112 set forth in the Non-Final Rejection filed October 1, 2025.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see page 10-15, filed January 2, 2026, with respect to the rejections of claims 1, 15, and 29-30 under 35 U.S.C. 102 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejections have been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, new grounds of rejection are made in view of Crouch et al. (US 20220099837 A1). The Non-Final Rejection filed October 1, 2025 has been retracted.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 1-2, 5-7, 10, 15-19, 21-23, 25, and 29-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and (a)(2) as being anticipated by Crouch et al. (US 20220099837 A1), hereinafter Crouch.
Regarding claims 1 and 29, Crouch teaches an apparatus for wireless communications at a first node and a method thereof respectively, comprising:
memory, and at least one processor coupled to the memory and, based at least in part on information stored in the memory (para. 33, “In the illustrated implementation, full or semi-autonomous control over vehicle 100 is implemented in a vehicle control system 120, which may include one or more processors 122 and one or more memories 124, with each processor 122 configured to execute program code instructions 126 stored in a memory 124. The processor(s) 122 may include, for example, one or more graphics processing units [GPUs], one or more central processing units [CPUs], or a combination thereof.”), the at least one processor is configured to:
obtain a set of phase-coded frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) signals, wherein the set of phase-coded FMCW signals is phase-coded based on a scrambling identifier (ID) associated with at least one of the first node or a second node, descramble the set of phase-coded FMCW signals based on the scrambling ID, wherein the set of phase-coded FMCW signals is descrambled to obtain a set of descrambled FMCW signals (para. 6, “Further, in some implementations, the radar signals generated by the plurality of MIMO transmitters include a plurality of frequency modulated continuous wave [FMCW] chirps, and the control logic is configured to, for a first MIMO receiver in the one or more MIMO receivers, perform range transformation over a plurality of chirps received by the first MIMO receiver to generate slow time radar data, demodulate the slow time radar data using sub-set digital codes associated with the plurality of sub-sets of MIMO transmitters to generate sub-set partitioned slow time radar data, perform Doppler transformation on the sub-set partitioned slow time radar data to generate sub-set partitioned Doppler radar data, and demodulate the sub-set partitioned Doppler radar data using Doppler-division codes for the transmitters within each of the plurality of sub-sets of MIMO transmitters.”; paras. 78-79, “With a CDM approach, multiple transmitters transmit simultaneously and within the same frequency band, with unique digital codes assigned to each transmitter to encode waveform phases. The transmitters' signals are then separated within a receiver by decoding the digital codes. […] Another type of digital code is referred to as a pseudo-random code, which generally relies on a pseudo-random sequence having a very large period that makes the pseudo-random code appear to be a random sequence. The starting phase of each transmitter is updated per chirp with its own unique random phase code, and cross-correlation performance is generally determined by the code length.”), and
perform at least one of a sensing function (para. 14, “Consistent with another aspect of the invention, a method of sensing with a radar sensor that includes […] receiving a reflected signal caused by reflection of the first radar signal by a target using a first MIMO receiver from the plurality of MIMO receivers, decoding the reflected signal using the sub-set digital code and the Doppler-division code, and identifying the target based upon decoding of the reflected signal.”), a communication function, or a joint sensing-communication function based on the set of descrambled FMCW signals.
Regarding claim 2, Crouch teaches the apparatus of claim 1, wherein to descramble the set of phase-coded FMCW signals based on the scrambling ID, the at least one processor is configured to perform at least one of:
mix an un-coded FMCW signal generated by the first node with the set of phase-coded FMCW signals to obtain a set of mixed FMCW signals,
process the set of mixed FMCW signals through at least one of a low pass filter (LPF) or an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) to obtain a set of processed FMCW signals,
adjust the set of processed FMCW signals with a group delay adjustment to obtain a set of aligned FMCW signals, or
apply a decoding waveform based on the scrambling ID to the set of aligned FMCW signals to obtain the set of descrambled FMCW signals (para. 5, “Therefore, consistent with one aspect of the invention, a radar sensor may include one or more multiple input multiple output (MIMO) receivers configured to receive radar signals generated by a plurality of MIMO transmitters, and control logic coupled to the one or more MIMO receivers, the control logic configured to decode the received radar signals using a mixture of sub-set digital codes that discriminate between a plurality of sub-sets of MIMO transmitters of the plurality of MIMO transmitters and Doppler-division codes that discriminate between different MIMO transmitters within each of the plurality of sub-sets of MIMO transmitters.”).
Regarding claim 5, Crouch teaches the apparatus of claim 1,
wherein at least one of the sensing function, the communication function, or the joint sensing-communication function is associated with monostatic sensing or bi-static sensing (Figs. 1-3, multiple transceivers are collocated and as such are associated with monostatic sensing).
Regarding claim 6, Crouch teaches the apparatus of claim 5,
wherein at least one of the sensing function, the communication function, or the joint sensing-communication function is associated with the monostatic sensing, wherein the first node and the second node are a same node (Figs. 1-3, multiple transceivers are collocated on vehicle 100).
Regarding claim 7, Crouch teaches the apparatus of claim 6, further including
at least one of a transceiver or an antenna coupled to the at least one processor (Fig. 1, radar sensor 132 is coupled to processor 122; para. 50, “In some implementations, sensor 200 includes one or more MIMO radar transceivers [e.g., transceivers 202A and 202B] coupled to a controller 204, with each MIMO radar transceiver generally including multiple transmit [Tx] antennas [e.g., transmit antennas 206A, 206B] and multiple receive [Rx] antennas [e.g., receive antennas 208A, 208B] to implement a phased antenna array.”), wherein to obtain the set of phase-coded FMCW signals, the at least one processor is configured to:
transmit, via at least one of the transceiver or the antenna, the set of phase-coded FMCW signals, and receive, via at least one of the transceiver or the antenna, the set of phase-coded FMCW signals (para. 78, “With a CDM approach, multiple transmitters transmit simultaneously and within the same frequency band, with unique digital codes assigned to each transmitter to encode waveform phases. The transmitters' signals are then separated within a receiver by decoding the digital codes.”).
Regarding claim 10, Crouch teaches the apparatus of claim 5, wherein the at least one processor is configured to perform at least one of:
obtain, from a network node, an ID indication, wherein the ID indication indicates the scrambling ID is a node-specific ID for at least one of the monostatic sensing or the bi-static sensing (para. 14, “Consistent with another aspect of the invention, a method of sensing with a radar sensor that includes a plurality of multiple input multiple output [MIMO] transmitters and a plurality of MIMO receivers may include determining a phase shift for a first MIMO transmitter from the plurality of MIMO transmitters, where the phase shift is determined using a sub-set digital code that identifies the first MIMO transmitter as being within a first sub-set of MIMO transmitters from a plurality of sub-sets of MIMO transmitters for the plurality of MIMO transmitters and a Doppler-division code that identifies the first MIMO transmitter within the first sub-set of MIMO transmitters, transmitting a first radar signal with the first MIMO transmitter using the determined phase shift, receiving a reflected signal caused by reflection of the first radar signal by a target using a first MIMO receiver from the plurality of MIMO receivers, decoding the reflected signal using the sub-set digital code and the Doppler-division code, and identifying the target based upon decoding of the reflected signal.”; Figs. 1-3, multiple transceivers are collocated and as such are associated with monostatic sensing), or
receive, from the second node, an indication of the scrambling ID for at least one of the sensing function, the communication function, or the joint sensing-communication function (para. 99, “Doing so generates ranges/chirps for each Rx channel and for each sub-set digital code [block 330], which is also referred to herein as sub-set partitioned slow time radar data. It will be appreciated that the sub-set digital codes, as well as the Doppler-division codes, used to generate each chirp by each transmitter are generally provided to or otherwise known by the receiver(s) of the radar sensor, and that control logic may be provided in some implementations to coordinate the exchange of codes to enable the chirps generated by each transmitter to be appropriately identified when performing signal processing on the Rx channels.”; reception of a sub-set digital code inherently includes some kind of indication thereof such as a signal formatting).
Regarding claims 15 and 30, Crouch teaches an apparatus for wireless communications at a first node and a method thereof respectively, comprising:
memory, and at least one processor coupled to the memory (para. 33, “In the illustrated implementation, full or semi-autonomous control over vehicle 100 is implemented in a vehicle control system 120, which may include one or more processors 122 and one or more memories 124, with each processor 122 configured to execute program code instructions 126 stored in a memory 124. The processor(s) 122 may include, for example, one or more graphics processing units [GPUs], one or more central processing units [CPUs], or a combination thereof.”) and, based at least in part on information stored in the memory, the at least one processor is configured to:
configure a set of frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) signals, scramble the set of FMCW signals based on a scrambling identifier (ID) associated with at least one of the first node or a second node, wherein the set of FMCW signals is scrambled to obtain a set of phase-coded FMCW signals (para. 6, “Further, in some implementations, the radar signals generated by the plurality of MIMO transmitters include a plurality of frequency modulated continuous wave [FMCW] chirps, and the control logic is configured to, for a first MIMO receiver in the one or more MIMO receivers, perform range transformation over a plurality of chirps received by the first MIMO receiver to generate slow time radar data, demodulate the slow time radar data using sub-set digital codes associated with the plurality of sub-sets of MIMO transmitters to generate sub-set partitioned slow time radar data, perform Doppler transformation on the sub-set partitioned slow time radar data to generate sub-set partitioned Doppler radar data, and demodulate the sub-set partitioned Doppler radar data using Doppler-division codes for the transmitters within each of the plurality of sub-sets of MIMO transmitters.”; paras. 78-79, “With a CDM approach, multiple transmitters transmit simultaneously and within the same frequency band, with unique digital codes assigned to each transmitter to encode waveform phases. The transmitters' signals are then separated within a receiver by decoding the digital codes. […] Another type of digital code is referred to as a pseudo-random code, which generally relies on a pseudo-random sequence having a very large period that makes the pseudo-random code appear to be a random sequence. The starting phase of each transmitter is updated per chirp with its own unique random phase code, and cross-correlation performance is generally determined by the code length.”), and
transmit, for the second node, the set of phase-coded FMCW signals (para. 85, “In particular, in some implementations, different Doppler-division codes may be applied to different transmitters in various sub-sets of transmitters among the multiple transmitters in a MIMO radar sensor, and then a different pseudo-random code sequence may be applied to all of the transmitters within each sub-set of transmitters. In one implementation, for example, sub-sets may be defined for different MIMO radar transceiver devices, such that different transmitters from the same MIMO radar transceiver device [e.g., a radar monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) chip] may be coded by different Doppler-division codes. Then, a pseudo-random code sequence may be applied on all of the transmitters from the same MIMO radar transceiver device, with different pseudo-random sequences used for different MIMO radar transceiver devices.”; Examiner is construing each transceiver to be separate nodes with separate identities, where a given transceiver may receive signals transmitted from a different transceiver).
Regarding claim 16, Crouch teaches the apparatus of claim 15, wherein the at least one processor is configured further to:
obtain the scrambling ID prior to scrambling the set of FMCW signals, wherein to scramble the set of FMCW signals, the at least one processor is configured to scramble the set of FMCW signals based on the obtained scrambling ID (para. 13, “Consistent with another aspect of the invention, a radar sensor may include a plurality of multiple input multiple output [MIMO] radar transceiver devices, each MIMO radar transceiver device including a plurality of MIMO receivers and a plurality of MIMO transmitters, first control logic coupled to a first MIMO transmitter of the plurality of MIMO transmitters that is disposed in a first MIMO radar transceiver device from the plurality of MIMO radar transceiver devices, the first control logic configured to, for each of a plurality of frequency modulated continuous wave [FMCW] chirps transmitted by the first MIMO transmitter determine a sub-set digital code that identifies the first MIMO radar transceiver device, determine a Doppler-division code that identifies the first MIMO transmitter, and determine a phase shift for the chirp by combining the sub-set digital code and the Doppler-division code […]”).
Regarding claim 17, Crouch teaches the apparatus of claim 16, wherein to obtain the scrambling ID, the at least one processor is configured to:
receive an indication of the scrambling ID prior to scrambling the set of FMCW signals (para. 13, “Consistent with another aspect of the invention, a radar sensor may include a plurality of multiple input multiple output [MIMO] radar transceiver devices, each MIMO radar transceiver device including a plurality of MIMO receivers and a plurality of MIMO transmitters, first control logic coupled to a first MIMO transmitter of the plurality of MIMO transmitters that is disposed in a first MIMO radar transceiver device from the plurality of MIMO radar transceiver devices, the first control logic configured to, for each of a plurality of frequency modulated continuous wave [FMCW] chirps transmitted by the first MIMO transmitter determine a sub-set digital code that identifies the first MIMO radar transceiver device, determine a Doppler-division code that identifies the first MIMO transmitter, and determine a phase shift for the chirp by combining the sub-set digital code and the Doppler-division code […]”; reception of a sub-set digital code inherently includes some kind of indication thereof such as a signal formatting).
Regarding claim 18, Crouch teaches the apparatus of claim 16, wherein to obtain the scrambling ID, the at least one processor is configured to:
configure the scrambling ID prior to scrambling the set of FMCW signals (para. 13, “Consistent with another aspect of the invention, a radar sensor may include a plurality of multiple input multiple output [MIMO] radar transceiver devices, each MIMO radar transceiver device including a plurality of MIMO receivers and a plurality of MIMO transmitters, first control logic coupled to a first MIMO transmitter of the plurality of MIMO transmitters that is disposed in a first MIMO radar transceiver device from the plurality of MIMO radar transceiver devices, the first control logic configured to, for each of a plurality of frequency modulated continuous wave [FMCW] chirps transmitted by the first MIMO transmitter determine a sub-set digital code that identifies the first MIMO radar transceiver device, determine a Doppler-division code that identifies the first MIMO transmitter, and determine a phase shift for the chirp by combining the sub-set digital code and the Doppler-division code […]”).
Regarding claim 19, Crouch teaches the apparatus of claim 16, further including at least one of a transceiver or an antenna coupled to the at least one processor, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
transmit, to the second node via at least one of the transceiver or the antenna, an indication of the scrambling ID based on the obtained scrambling ID (para. 85, “In particular, in some implementations, different Doppler-division codes may be applied to different transmitters in various sub-sets of transmitters among the multiple transmitters in a MIMO radar sensor, and then a different pseudo-random code sequence may be applied to all of the transmitters within each sub-set of transmitters. In one implementation, for example, sub-sets may be defined for different MIMO radar transceiver devices, such that different transmitters from the same MIMO radar transceiver device [e.g., a radar monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) chip] may be coded by different Doppler-division codes. Then, a pseudo-random code sequence may be applied on all of the transmitters from the same MIMO radar transceiver device, with different pseudo-random sequences used for different MIMO radar transceiver devices.”; Examiner is construing each transceiver to be separate nodes with separate identities, where a given transceiver may receive signals transmitted from a different transceiver; reception of a sub-set digital code inherently includes some kind of indication thereof such as a signal formatting).
Regarding claim 21, Crouch teaches the apparatus of claim 15, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
perform at least one of a sensing function (para. 14, “Consistent with another aspect of the invention, a method of sensing with a radar sensor that includes […] receiving a reflected signal caused by reflection of the first radar signal by a target using a first MIMO receiver from the plurality of MIMO receivers, decoding the reflected signal using the sub-set digital code and the Doppler-division code, and identifying the target based upon decoding of the reflected signal.”), a communication function, or a joint sensing-communication function associated with the set of phase-coded FMCW signals.
Regarding claim 22, Crouch teaches the apparatus of claim 21,
wherein at least one of the sensing function, the communication function, or the joint sensing-communication function is associated with monostatic sensing or bi-static sensing (Figs. 1-3, multiple transceivers are collocated and as such are associated with monostatic sensing).
Regarding claim 23, Crouch teaches the apparatus of claim 22,
wherein at least one of the sensing function, the communication function, or the joint sensing-communication function is associated with the monostatic sensing (Figs. 1-3, multiple transceivers are collocated and as such are associated with monostatic sensing),
wherein the first node and the second node are a same node (Figs. 1-3, multiple transceivers are collocated on vehicle 100), wherein to transmit the set of phase-coded FMCW signals, the at least one processor is configured to:
receive the set of phase-coded FMCW signals (para. 5, “Therefore, consistent with one aspect of the invention, a radar sensor may include one or more multiple input multiple output [MIMO] receivers configured to receive radar signals generated by a plurality of MIMO transmitters, and control logic coupled to the one or more MIMO receivers, the control logic configured to decode the received radar signals using a mixture of sub-set digital codes that discriminate between a plurality of sub-sets of MIMO transmitters of the plurality of MIMO transmitters and Doppler-division codes that discriminate between different MIMO transmitters within each of the plurality of sub-sets of MIMO transmitters.”).
Regarding claim 25, Crouch teaches the apparatus of claim 22, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to perform at least one of:
obtain an ID indication, wherein the ID indication indicates the scrambling ID is a node-specific ID for at least one of the monostatic sensing or the bi-static sensing (para. 14, “Consistent with another aspect of the invention, a method of sensing with a radar sensor that includes a plurality of multiple input multiple output [MIMO] transmitters and a plurality of MIMO receivers may include determining a phase shift for a first MIMO transmitter from the plurality of MIMO transmitters, where the phase shift is determined using a sub-set digital code that identifies the first MIMO transmitter as being within a first sub-set of MIMO transmitters from a plurality of sub-sets of MIMO transmitters for the plurality of MIMO transmitters and a Doppler-division code that identifies the first MIMO transmitter within the first sub-set of MIMO transmitters, transmitting a first radar signal with the first MIMO transmitter using the determined phase shift, receiving a reflected signal caused by reflection of the first radar signal by a target using a first MIMO receiver from the plurality of MIMO receivers, decoding the reflected signal using the sub-set digital code and the Doppler-division code, and identifying the target based upon decoding of the reflected signal.”; Figs. 1-3, multiple transceivers are collocated and as such are associated with monostatic sensing), or
transmit, for the second node, an indication of the scrambling ID for at least one of the sensing function, the communication function, or the joint sensing-communication function (para. 99, “Doing so generates ranges/chirps for each Rx channel and for each sub-set digital code [block 330], which is also referred to herein as sub-set partitioned slow time radar data. It will be appreciated that the sub-set digital codes, as well as the Doppler-division codes, used to generate each chirp by each transmitter are generally provided to or otherwise known by the receiver(s) of the radar sensor, and that control logic may be provided in some implementations to coordinate the exchange of codes to enable the chirps generated by each transmitter to be appropriately identified when performing signal processing on the Rx channels.”; transmission of a sub-set digital code inherently includes some kind of indication thereof such as a signal formatting).
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, notwithtanding 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 3-4 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Crouch in view of Gulati et al. (US 20210096234 A1), hereinafter Gulati.
Regarding claim 3, Crouch teaches the apparatus of claim 2,
wherein the set of phase-coded FMCW signals is phase-coded according to a coding waveform that is based on the scrambling ID, but fails to teach
wherein the decoding waveform is a complex conjugate of the coding waveform.
However, Gulati teaches
wherein the decoding waveform is a complex conjugate of the coding waveform (para. 7, “In an aspect, a method of receiving a plurality of encoded information bits on a radar signal performed by a receiver radar includes […] decoding the plurality of encoded information bits based on the phase code of the first set of PSK modulated phase-coded symbols.”; PSK demodulation involves the multiplication of an incoming signal by a reference signal that is a complex conjugate of the coding waveform).
Crouch and Gulati are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of phase-encryption in radar systems. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Crouch with the teachings of Gulati through the simple substitution of Crouch’s decoding scheme with Gulati’s complex conjugate-based decoding.
Regarding claim 4, Crouch teaches the apparatus of claim 3,
wherein the scrambling ID corresponds to a sequence of elements associated with the coding waveform (para. 79, “Another type of digital code is referred to as a pseudo-random code, which generally relies on a pseudo-random sequence having a very large period that makes the pseudo-random code appear to be a random sequence. The starting phase of each transmitter is updated per chirp with its own unique random phase code, and cross-correlation performance is generally determined by the code length.”), but fails to teach wherein the at least one processor is further configured to perform at least one of:
transmit, for the second node, a maximum modulated order capability for modulating the sequence of elements, receive, from the second node, an indication of a modulated order of the coding waveform, wherein the modulated order of the coding waveform is less than or equal to the maximum modulated order capability, modulate the sequence of elements according to the modulated order of the coding waveform to generate a modulated sequence of elements, and
generate the decoding waveform based on the modulated sequence of elements, or
receive, from the second node, the maximum modulated order capability for modulating the sequence of elements, and
transmit, for the second node, the indication of the modulated order of the coding waveform, wherein the modulated order of the coding waveform is less than or equal to the maximum modulated order capability.
However, Gulati teaches wherein the at least one processor is further configured to perform at least one of:
transmit, for the second node, a maximum modulated order capability for modulating the sequence of elements, receive, from the second node, an indication of a modulated order of the coding waveform, wherein the modulated order of the coding waveform is less than or equal to the maximum modulated order capability, modulate the sequence of elements according to the modulated order of the coding waveform to generate a modulated sequence of elements (para. 104, “In FIGS. 9A and 9B, Q is the PSK modulation order [e.g., 2, 4, 8] […] In FIG. 9A, Øm(1) is the phase noise at the transmitter [Tx] at the mth chirp. In FIG. 9B, Øm(2) is the phase noise at the receiver [Rx] at the mth chirp.”; implementing a modulation order requires an upper limit of complexity), and
generate the decoding waveform based on the modulated sequence of elements (para. 7, “In an aspect, a method of receiving a plurality of encoded information bits on a radar signal performed by a receiver radar includes […] decoding the plurality of encoded information bits based on the phase code of the first set of PSK modulated phase-coded symbols.”), or
receive, from the second node, the maximum modulated order capability for modulating the sequence of elements, and
transmit, for the second node, the indication of the modulated order of the coding waveform, wherein the modulated order of the coding waveform is less than or equal to the maximum modulated order capability.
Crouch and Gulati are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of phase-encryption in radar systems. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Crouch with the teachings of Gulati with the motivation of increasing spectral efficiency.
Regarding claim 20, Crouch teaches the apparatus of claim 15,
wherein the set of phase-coded FMCW signals is phase-coded according to a coding waveform that is based on the scrambling ID, wherein the scrambling ID corresponds to a sequence of elements associated with the coding waveform (para. 79, “Another type of digital code is referred to as a pseudo-random code, which generally relies on a pseudo-random sequence having a very large period that makes the pseudo-random code appear to be a random sequence. The starting phase of each transmitter is updated per chirp with its own unique random phase code, and cross-correlation performance is generally determined by the code length.”), but fails to teach wherein the at least one processor is further configured to perform at least one of:
receive, from the second node, a maximum modulated order capability for modulating the sequence of elements,
transmit, for the second node, an indication of a modulated order of the coding waveform, wherein the modulated order of the coding waveform is less than or equal to the maximum modulated order capability,
modulate the sequence of elements according to the modulated order of the coding waveform to generate a modulated sequence of elements, and
generate the coding waveform based on the modulated sequence of elements, or
transmit, for the second node, the maximum modulated order capability for modulating the sequence of elements, and
receive, from the second node, the indication of the modulated order of the coding waveform, wherein the modulated order of the coding waveform is less than or equal to the maximum modulated order capability.
However, Gulati teaches wherein the at least one processor is further configured to perform at least one of:
receive, from the second node, a maximum modulated order capability for modulating the sequence of elements, transmit, for the second node, an indication of a modulated order of the coding waveform, wherein the modulated order of the coding waveform is less than or equal to the maximum modulated order capability, modulate the sequence of elements according to the modulated order of the coding waveform to generate a modulated sequence of elements (para. 104, “In FIGS. 9A and 9B, Q is the PSK modulation order [e.g., 2, 4, 8] […] In FIG. 9A, Øm(1) is the phase noise at the transmitter [Tx] at the mth chirp. In FIG. 9B, Øm(2) is the phase noise at the receiver [Rx] at the mth chirp.”; implementing a modulation order requires an upper limit of complexity), and
generate the coding waveform based on the modulated sequence of elements (para. 7, “In an aspect, a method of receiving a plurality of encoded information bits on a radar signal performed by a receiver radar includes […] decoding the plurality of encoded information bits based on the phase code of the first set of PSK modulated phase-coded symbols.”), or
transmit, for the second node, the maximum modulated order capability for modulating the sequence of elements, and receive, from the second node, the indication of the modulated order of the coding waveform, wherein the modulated order of the coding waveform is less than or equal to the maximum modulated order capability.
Crouch and Gulati are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of phase-encryption in radar systems. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Crouch with the teachings of Gulati with the motivation of increasing spectral efficiency.
Claims 8-9 and 24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Crouch in view of Liu et al. (US 20240298279 A1), hereinafter Liu.
Regarding claim 8, Crouch teaches the apparatus of claim 5, but fails to teach
wherein at least one of the sensing function, the communication function, or the joint sensing-communication function is associated with the bi-static sensing, wherein the first node is different from the second node.
However, Liu teaches
wherein at least one of the sensing function, the communication function, or the joint sensing-communication function is associated with the bi-static sensing, wherein the first node is different from the second node (para. 191, “In one or more aspects, the wideband SSB can be reused for sensing purposes. Previously [e.g., in the description of the operation of the system 1500 of FIG. 15], the decoding of the wideband SSB for communication purposes was described. In one or more aspects, a network device [e.g., network device 1220 of FIG. 12 in the form of a base station, such as a gNB] may use one or more wideband SSSs for monostatic and/or bistatic sensing.”; Fig. 2, Examiner is construing the UE 221 and the distributed unit 231 of Liu as a first and second node as claimed, respectively).
Crouch and Liu are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of phase-encryption in radar systems. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Crouch with the teachings of Liu with the motivation of increasing sensing performance of low-observable targets.
Regarding claim 9, Crouch in view of Liu teaches the apparatus of claim 8, wherein to obtain the set of phase-coded FMCW signals, the at least one processor is configured to:
receive, from the second node, the set of phase-coded FMCW signals (para. 5, “Therefore, consistent with one aspect of the invention, a radar sensor may include one or more multiple input multiple output [MIMO] receivers configured to receive radar signals generated by a plurality of MIMO transmitters, and control logic coupled to the one or more MIMO receivers, the control logic configured to decode the received radar signals using a mixture of sub-set digital codes that discriminate between a plurality of sub-sets of MIMO transmitters of the plurality of MIMO transmitters and Doppler-division codes that discriminate between different MIMO transmitters within each of the plurality of sub-sets of MIMO transmitters.”; Fig. 2, a transmitted of a given transceiver may receive a reflected signal that was transmitted from another transceiver).
Regarding claim 24, Crouch teaches the apparatus of claim 22, but fails to teach
wherein at least one of the sensing function, the communication function, or the joint sensing-communication function is associated with the bi- static sensing, wherein the first node is different from the second node.
However, Liu teaches
wherein at least one of the sensing function, the communication function, or the joint sensing-communication function is associated with the bi-static sensing, wherein the first node is different from the second node (para. 191, “In one or more aspects, the wideband SSB can be reused for sensing purposes. Previously [e.g., in the description of the operation of the system 1500 of FIG. 15], the decoding of the wideband SSB for communication purposes was described. In one or more aspects, a network device [e.g., network device 1220 of FIG. 12 in the form of a base station, such as a gNB] may use one or more wideband SSSs for monostatic and/or bistatic sensing.”; Fig. 2, Examiner is construing the UE 221 and the distributed unit 231 of Liu as a first and second node as claimed, respectively).
Crouch and Liu are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of phase-encryption in radar systems. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Crouch with the teachings of Liu with the motivation of increasing sensing performance of low-observable targets.
Claims 11-13 and 26-27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Crouch in view of Bayesteh et al. (US 20210076367 A1), hereinafter Bayesteh.
Regarding claim 11, Crouch teaches the apparatus of claim 1, but fails to teach
wherein at least one of the sensing function, the communication function, or the joint sensing-communication function is associated with a downlink (DL) channel measurement or an uplink (UL) channel measurement.
However, Bayesteh teaches
wherein at least one of the sensing function, the communication function, or the joint sensing-communication function is associated with a downlink (DL) channel measurement or an uplink (UL) channel measurement (para. 87, “Additionally, the frame structure component 310 may further specify the transmission state and/or direction for each symbol in a frame. For example, each symbol may independently be configured as a downlink symbol, an uplink symbol, a flexible symbol or a sensing symbol. A sensing signal may be transmitted or received in a sensing symbol. An example is shown in FIG. 3B, which illustrates a transmission frame 350 including uplink (U), sensing (S) and downlink (D) symbols. Note that the sensing symbols can be configured to have a different numerology than the uplink and/or downlink symbols. For example, the sensing symbols can be configured to have a shorter length than the uplink/downlink symbols. This is shown in FIG. 3C, which illustrates a transmission frame 360 including uplink (U), sensing (S) and downlink (D) symbols. The sensing symbols in the transmission frame 360 are configured to have a shorter length than the sensing symbols in the transmission frame 350.”).
Crouch and Bayesteh are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of phase-encryption in radar systems. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Crouch with the teachings of Bayesteh with the motivation of quantifying radar signal quality in order to optimize it.
Regarding claim 12, Crouch in view of Bayesteh teaches the apparatus of claim 11,
including a scrambling ID (paras. 78-79, “With a CDM approach, multiple transmitters transmit simultaneously and within the same frequency band, with unique digital codes assigned to each transmitter to encode waveform phases. The transmitters' signals are then separated within a receiver by decoding the digital codes. […] Another type of digital code is referred to as a pseudo-random code, which generally relies on a pseudo-random sequence having a very large period that makes the pseudo-random code appear to be a random sequence. The starting phase of each transmitter is updated per chirp with its own unique random phase code, and cross-correlation performance is generally determined by the code length.”), but Crouch fails to teach wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
obtain an ID indication, wherein the ID indication indicates the scrambling ID is at least one of
a first cell ID for the DL channel measurement in a cell-common operation,
a first user equipment (UE) ID for the DL channel measurement in a UE-dedicated operation, or
the first UE ID for the UL channel measurement.
However, Bayesteh teaches wherein the at least one processor is further configured to obtain an ID indication, wherein the ID indication indicates a node identifier is at least one of
a first cell ID for the DL channel measurement in a cell-common operation,
a first user equipment (UE) ID for the DL channel measurement in a UE-dedicated operation (para. 5, “The sensing signal configuration includes a resource configuration that is selected from a set of physical resources associated with the wireless communication network, and a symbol sequence that is based on the sensing node ID and is specific to the network entity in the wireless communication network.”; para. 87, “Additionally, the frame structure component 310 may further specify the transmission state and/or direction for each symbol in a frame. For example, each symbol may independently be configured as a downlink symbol, an uplink symbol, a flexible symbol or a sensing symbol. A sensing signal may be transmitted or received in a sensing symbol. An example is shown in FIG. 3B, which illustrates a transmission frame 350 including uplink (U), sensing (S) and downlink (D) symbols.”; para. 94, “Alternatively, the multiple sub-band signals may be transmitted from separate transmitters, for example for uplink transmissions from multiple electronic devices [EDs], which may be user equipments [UEs].”; para. 96, “Furthermore, the multiple access technique options may include scheduled access, non-scheduled access, also known as grant-free access, non-orthogonal multiple access, orthogonal multiple access, e.g., via a dedicated channel resource [i.e., no sharing between multiple EDs], contention-based shared channel resource, non-contention-based shared channel resource, and cognitive radio-based access.”; para. 125, “Sensing node IDs could be the same as, or at least be associated with, other network IDs such as cell IDs and UE IDs.”), or
the first UE ID for the UL channel measurement (para. 5, “The sensing signal configuration includes a resource configuration that is selected from a set of physical resources associated with the wireless communication network, and a symbol sequence that is based on the sensing node ID and is specific to the network entity in the wireless communication network.”; para. 87, “Additionally, the frame structure component 310 may further specify the transmission state and/or direction for each symbol in a frame. For example, each symbol may independently be configured as a downlink symbol, an uplink symbol, a flexible symbol or a sensing symbol. A sensing signal may be transmitted or received in a sensing symbol. An example is shown in FIG. 3B, which illustrates a transmission frame 350 including uplink (U), sensing (S) and downlink (D) symbols.”; para. 125, “Sensing node IDs could be the same as, or at least be associated with, other network IDs such as cell IDs and UE IDs.”; para. 144, “In some embodiments, the configuration of sensing signal symbol sequences is based on techniques used for configuring other types of reference signals including channel state information reference signals [CSI-RSs], DMRSs, and positioning reference signals [PRSs], for example.”).
Crouch and Bayesteh are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of phase-encryption in radar systems. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Crouch with the teachings of Bayesteh with the motivation of quantifying radar signal quality in order to optimize it.
Regarding claim 13, Crouch in view of Bayesteh teaches the apparatus of claim 12, but Crouch fails to teach
wherein the first cell ID for the DL channel measurement in the cell-common operation is different from a second cell ID associated with orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM)-based operations,
wherein the first UE ID for the DL channel measurement in the UE-dedicated operation is different from a second UE ID associated with the OFDM-based operations, or
wherein the first UE ID for the UL channel measurement is different from the second UE ID associated with the OFDM-based operations.
However, Bayesteh teaches
wherein the first cell ID for the DL channel measurement in the cell-common operation is different from a second cell ID associated with orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) based operations,
wherein the first UE ID for the DL channel measurement in the UE-dedicated operation is different from a second UE ID associated with the OFDM-based operations (Fig. 4, multiple UEs are shown; para. 87, “Additionally, the frame structure component 310 may further specify the transmission state and/or direction for each symbol in a frame. For example, each symbol may independently be configured as a downlink symbol, an uplink symbol, a flexible symbol or a sensing symbol. A sensing signal may be transmitted or received in a sensing symbol. An example is shown in FIG. 3B, which illustrates a transmission frame 350 including uplink (U), sensing (S) and downlink (D) symbols.”; para. 96, “Furthermore, the multiple access technique options may include scheduled access, non-scheduled access, also known as grant-free access, non-orthogonal multiple access, orthogonal multiple access, e.g., via a dedicated channel resource [i.e., no sharing between multiple EDs], contention-based shared channel resource, non-contention-based shared channel resource, and cognitive radio-based access.”; para. 125, “Some sensing node-specific sensing signal configurations are based on, and possibly include, unique identifiers that are specific to the transmitter of the sensing signal. The unique identifiers could allow the transmitter of a sensing signal to be determined by other network entities that receive the sensing signal. For example, in some embodiments, any or all sensing nodes in a network are assigned a respective sensing node identifier [ID]. The sensing node ID is an example of a unique identifier that is specific to the transmitter of a sensing signal.”; para. 135, “OFDM may be a suitable choice of waveform for in-band sensing and/or out-of-band sensing. In some embodiments, OFDM waveforms are used for communication signals and for sensing signals to allow for the joint detection and processing of sensing signals and communication signals.”), or
wherein the first UE ID for the UL channel measurement is different from the second UE ID associated with the OFDM-based operations (Fig. 4, multiple UEs are shown; para. 87, “Additionally, the frame structure component 310 may further specify the transmission state and/or direction for each symbol in a frame. For example, each symbol may independently be configured as a downlink symbol, an uplink symbol, a flexible symbol or a sensing symbol. A sensing signal may be transmitted or received in a sensing symbol. An example is shown in FIG. 3B, which illustrates a transmission frame 350 including uplink (U), sensing (S) and downlink (D) symbols.”; para. 125, “Some sensing node-specific sensing signal configurations are based on, and possibly include, unique identifiers that are specific to the transmitter of the sensing signal. The unique identifiers could allow the transmitter of a sensing signal to be determined by other network entities that receive the sensing signal. For example, in some embodiments, any or all sensing nodes in a network are assigned a respective sensing node identifier [ID]. The sensing node ID is an example of a unique identifier that is specific to the transmitter of a sensing signal.”; para. 135, “OFDM may be a suitable choice of waveform for in-band sensing and/or out-of-band sensing. In some embodiments, OFDM waveforms are used for communication signals and for sensing signals to allow for the joint detection and processing of sensing signals and communication signals.”; para. 144, “In some embodiments, the configuration of sensing signal symbol sequences is based on techniques used for configuring other types of reference signals including channel state information reference signals [CSI-RSs], DMRSs, and positioning reference signals [PRSs], for example.”).
Crouch and Bayesteh are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of phase-encryption in radar systems. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Crouch with the teachings of Bayesteh with the motivation of quantifying radar signal quality in order to optimize it.
Regarding claim 26, Crouch teaches the apparatus of claim 21,
including a scrambling ID (paras. 78-79, “With a CDM approach, multiple transmitters transmit simultaneously and within the same frequency band, with unique digital codes assigned to each transmitter to encode waveform phases. The transmitters' signals are then separated within a receiver by decoding the digital codes. […] Another type of digital code is referred to as a pseudo-random code, which generally relies on a pseudo-random sequence having a very large period that makes the pseudo-random code appear to be a random sequence. The starting phase of each transmitter is updated per chirp with its own unique random phase code, and cross-correlation performance is generally determined by the code length.”), but fails to teach wherein at least one of the sensing function, the communication function, or the joint sensing-communication function is associated with a downlink (DL) channel measurement or an uplink (UL) channel measurement, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: obtain an ID indication, wherein the ID indication indicates the scrambling ID is at least one of
a first cell ID for the DL channel measurement in a cell-common operation,
a first user equipment (UE) ID for the DL channel measurement in a UE-dedicated operation, or
the first UE ID for the UL channel measurement.
However, Bayesteh teaches
wherein at least one of the sensing function, the communication function, or the joint sensing-communication function is associated with a downlink (DL) channel measurement or an uplink (UL) channel measurement (para. 87, “Additionally, the frame structure component 310 may further specify the transmission state and/or direction for each symbol in a frame. For example, each symbol may independently be configured as a downlink symbol, an uplink symbol, a flexible symbol or a sensing symbol. A sensing signal may be transmitted or received in a sensing symbol. An example is shown in FIG. 3B, which illustrates a transmission frame 350 including uplink (U), sensing (S) and downlink (D) symbols. Note that the sensing symbols can be configured to have a different numerology than the uplink and/or downlink symbols. For example, the sensing symbols can be configured to have a shorter length than the uplink/downlink symbols. This is shown in FIG. 3C, which illustrates a transmission frame 360 including uplink (U), sensing (S) and downlink (D) symbols. The sensing symbols in the transmission frame 360 are configured to have a shorter length than the sensing symbols in the transmission frame 350.”), wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: obtain an ID indication, wherein the ID indication indicates the scrambling ID is at least one of
a first cell ID for the DL channel measurement in a cell-common operation,
a first user equipment (UE) ID for the DL channel measurement in a UE- dedicated operation (para. 5, “The sensing signal configuration includes a resource configuration that is selected from a set of physical resources associated with the wireless communication network, and a symbol sequence that is based on the sensing node ID and is specific to the network entity in the wireless communication network.”; para. 87, “Additionally, the frame structure component 310 may further specify the transmission state and/or direction for each symbol in a frame. For example, each symbol may independently be configured as a downlink symbol, an uplink symbol, a flexible symbol or a sensing symbol. A sensing signal may be transmitted or received in a sensing symbol. An example is shown in FIG. 3B, which illustrates a transmission frame 350 including uplink (U), sensing (S) and downlink (D) symbols.”; para. 94, “Alternatively, the multiple sub-band signals may be transmitted from separate transmitters, for example for uplink transmissions from multiple electronic devices [EDs], which may be user equipments [UEs].”; para. 96, “Furthermore, the multiple access technique options may include scheduled access, non-scheduled access, also known as grant-free access, non-orthogonal multiple access, orthogonal multiple access, e.g., via a dedicated channel resource [i.e., no sharing between multiple EDs], contention-based shared channel resource, non-contention-based shared channel resource, and cognitive radio-based access.”; para. 125, “Sensing node IDs could be the same as, or at least be associated with, other network IDs such as cell IDs and UE IDs.”), or
the first UE ID for the UL channel measurement (para. 5, “The sensing signal configuration includes a resource configuration that is selected from a set of physical resources associated with the wireless communication network, and a symbol sequence that is based on the sensing node ID and is specific to the network entity in the wireless communication network.”; para. 87, “Additionally, the frame structure component 310 may further specify the transmission state and/or direction for each symbol in a frame. For example, each symbol may independently be configured as a downlink symbol, an uplink symbol, a flexible symbol or a sensing symbol. A sensing signal may be transmitted or received in a sensing symbol. An example is shown in FIG. 3B, which illustrates a transmission frame 350 including uplink (U), sensing (S) and downlink (D) symbols.”; para. 125, “Sensing node IDs could be the same as, or at least be associated with, other network IDs such as cell IDs and UE IDs.”; para. 144, “In some embodiments, the configuration of sensing signal symbol sequences is based on techniques used for configuring other types of reference signals including channel state information reference signals [CSI-RSs], DMRSs, and positioning reference signals [PRSs], for example.”).
Crouch and Bayesteh are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of phase-encryption in radar systems. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Crouch with the teachings of Bayesteh with the motivation of quantifying radar signal quality in order to optimize it.
Regarding claim 27, Crouch in view of Bayesteh teaches the apparatus of claim 26, but Crouch fails to teach
wherein the first cell ID for the DL channel measurement in the cell-common operation is different from a second cell ID associated with orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM)-based operations,
wherein the first UE ID for the DL channel measurement in the UE-dedicated operation is different from a second UE ID associated with the OFDM-based operations, or
wherein the first UE ID for the UL channel measurement is different from the second UE ID associated with the OFDM-based operations.
However, Bayesteh teaches
wherein the first cell ID for the DL channel measurement in the cell-common operation is different from a second cell ID associated with orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM)-based operations,
wherein the first UE ID for the DL channel measurement in the UE-dedicated operation is different from a second UE ID associated with the OFDM-based operations (Fig. 4, multiple UEs are shown; para. 87, “Additionally, the frame structure component 310 may further specify the transmission state and/or direction for each symbol in a frame. For example, each symbol may independently be configured as a downlink symbol, an uplink symbol, a flexible symbol or a sensing symbol. A sensing signal may be transmitted or received in a sensing symbol. An example is shown in FIG. 3B, which illustrates a transmission frame 350 including uplink (U), sensing (S) and downlink (D) symbols.”; para. 96, “Furthermore, the multiple access technique options may include scheduled access, non-scheduled access, also known as grant-free access, non-orthogonal multiple access, orthogonal multiple access, e.g., via a dedicated channel resource [i.e., no sharing between multiple EDs], contention-based shared channel resource, non-contention-based shared channel resource, and cognitive radio-based access.”; para. 125, “Some sensing node-specific sensing signal configurations are based on, and possibly include, unique identifiers that are specific to the transmitter of the sensing signal. The unique identifiers could allow the transmitter of a sensing signal to be determined by other network entities that receive the sensing signal. For example, in some embodiments, any or all sensing nodes in a network are assigned a respective sensing node identifier [ID]. The sensing node ID is an example of a unique identifier that is specific to the transmitter of a sensing signal.”; para. 135, “OFDM may be a suitable choice of waveform for in-band sensing and/or out-of-band sensing. In some embodiments, OFDM waveforms are used for communication signals and for sensing signals to allow for the joint detection and processing of sensing signals and communication signals.”), or
wherein the first UE ID for the UL channel measurement is different from the second UE ID associated with the OFDM-based operations (Fig. 4, multiple UEs are shown; para. 87, “Additionally, the frame structure component 310 may further specify the transmission state and/or direction for each symbol in a frame. For example, each symbol may independently be configured as a downlink symbol, an uplink symbol, a flexible symbol or a sensing symbol. A sensing signal may be transmitted or received in a sensing symbol. An example is shown in FIG. 3B, which illustrates a transmission frame 350 including uplink (U), sensing (S) and downlink (D) symbols.”; para. 125, “Some sensing node-specific sensing signal configurations are based on, and possibly include, unique identifiers that are specific to the transmitter of the sensing signal. The unique identifiers could allow the transmitter of a sensing signal to be determined by other network entities that receive the sensing signal. For example, in some embodiments, any or all sensing nodes in a network are assigned a respective sensing node identifier [ID]. The sensing node ID is an example of a unique identifier that is specific to the transmitter of a sensing signal.”; para. 135, “OFDM may be a suitable choice of waveform for in-band sensing and/or out-of-band sensing. In some embodiments, OFDM waveforms are used for communication signals and for sensing signals to allow for the joint detection and processing of sensing signals and communication signals.”; para. 144, “In some embodiments, the configuration of sensing signal symbol sequences is based on techniques used for configuring other types of reference signals including channel state information reference signals [CSI-RSs], DMRSs, and positioning reference signals [PRSs], for example.”).
Crouch and Bayesteh are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of phase-encryption in radar systems. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Crouch with the teachings of Bayesteh with the motivation of quantifying radar signal quality in order to optimize it.
Claims 14 and 28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Crouch in view of Hwang (US 20230367005 A1).
Regarding claim 14, Crouch teaches the apparatus of claim 1, but fails to teach
wherein at least one orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) numerology is associated with slots and a subcarrier spacing (SCS) for the set of phase-coded FMCW signals, and
wherein a single FMCW slope is associated with each configured orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) numerology, or
wherein multiple FMCW slopes are associated with each configured OFDM numerology, wherein to obtain the set of phase-coded FMCW signals, the at least one processor is configured to obtain a FMCW slope of the multiple FMCW slopes associated with the set of phase-coded FMCW signals, and wherein to descramble the set of phase-coded FMCW signals, the at least one processor is configured to descramble the set of phase-coded FMCW signals further based on the FMCW slope.
However, Hwang teaches
wherein at least one orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) numerology is associated with slots and a subcarrier spacing (SCS) for the set of phase-coded FMCW signals (para. 110, “Referring to FIG. 4, in the NR, a radio frame may be used for performing uplink and downlink transmission. A radio frame has a length of 10 ms and may be defined to be configured of two half-frames [HFs]. A half-frame may include five 1 ms subframes [SFs]. A subframe [SF] may be divided into one or more slots, and the number of slots within a subframe may be determined in accordance with subcarrier spacing [SCS]. Each slot may include 12 or 14 OFDM(A) symbols according to a cyclic prefix [CP].”; para. 113, “In an NR system, OFDM(A) numerologies [e.g., SCS, CP length, and so on] between multiple cells being integrate to one UE may be differently configured. Accordingly, a [absolute time] duration [or section] of a time resource [e.g., subframe, slot or TTI] [collectively referred to as a time unit (TU) for simplicity] being configured of the same number of symbols may be differently configured in the integrated cells.”), and
wherein a single FMCW slope is associated with each configured orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) numerology (para. 212, “According to the various embodiments described above, a terminal may estimate a position of a neighbor vehicle by employing OFDM-based chirp signals and effectively perform beam alignment. Herein, when including a chirp signal in an OFDM symbol, various RE allocations are possible. For example, as in FIG. 16, a slope of a chirp signal may be implemented in various ways. In addition, as in FIG. 17, the number of REs for a chirp signal [e.g., the number of REs per RB] may be selected in various ways.”), or
wherein multiple FMCW slopes are associated with each configured OFDM numerology, wherein to obtain the set of phase-coded FMCW signals, the at least one processor is configured to obtain a FMCW slope of the multiple FMCW slopes associated with the set of phase-coded FMCW signals, and wherein to descramble the set of phase-coded FMCW signals, the at least one processor is configured to descramble the set of phase-coded FMCW signals further based on the FMCW slope.
Crouch and Hwang are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of phase-encryption in radar systems. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Crouch with the teachings of Hwang with the motivation that OFDM provides high spectral efficiency.
Regarding claim 28, Crouch teaches the apparatus of claim 15, but fails to teach
wherein at least one orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) numerology is associated with slots and a subcarrier spacing (SCS) for the set of phase-coded FMCW signals, and
wherein a single FMCW slope is associated with each configured orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) numerology, or
wherein multiple FMCW slopes are associated with each configured OFDM numerology, wherein to scramble the set of FMCW signals, the at least one processor is configured to scramble the set of FMCW signals further based on a FMCW slope of the multiple FMCW slopes associated with the set of phase-coded FMCW signals, and wherein to transmit the set of phase-coded FMCW signals, the at least one processor is configured to transmit the FMCW slope.
However, Hwang teaches
wherein at least one orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) numerology is associated with slots and a subcarrier spacing (SCS) for the set of phase-coded FMCW signals (para. 110, “Referring to FIG. 4, in the NR, a radio frame may be used for performing uplink and downlink transmission. A radio frame has a length of 10 ms and may be defined to be configured of two half-frames [HFs]. A half-frame may include five 1 ms subframes [SFs]. A subframe [SF] may be divided into one or more slots, and the number of slots within a subframe may be determined in accordance with subcarrier spacing [SCS]. Each slot may include 12 or 14 OFDM(A) symbols according to a cyclic prefix [CP].”; para. 113, “In an NR system, OFDM(A) numerologies [e.g., SCS, CP length, and so on] between multiple cells being integrate to one UE may be differently configured. Accordingly, a [absolute time] duration [or section] of a time resource [e.g., subframe, slot or TTI] [collectively referred to as a time unit (TU) for simplicity] being configured of the same number of symbols may be differently configured in the integrated cells.”), and
wherein a single FMCW slope is associated with each configured orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) numerology (para. 212, “According to the various embodiments described above, a terminal may estimate a position of a neighbor vehicle by employing OFDM-based chirp signals and effectively perform beam alignment. Herein, when including a chirp signal in an OFDM symbol, various RE allocations are possible. For example, as in FIG. 16, a slope of a chirp signal may be implemented in various ways. In addition, as in FIG. 17, the number of REs for a chirp signal [e.g., the number of REs per RB] may be selected in various ways.”), or
wherein multiple FMCW slopes are associated with each configured OFDM numerology, wherein to scramble the set of FMCW signals, the at least one processor is configured to scramble the set of FMCW signals further based on a FMCW slope of the multiple FMCW slopes associated with the set of phase-coded FMCW signals, and wherein to transmit the set of phase-coded FMCW signals, the at least one processor is configured to transmit the FMCW slope.
Crouch and Hwang are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of phase-encryption in radar systems. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Crouch with the teachings of Hwang with the motivation that OFDM provides high spectral efficiency.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ERIC K HODAC whose telephone number is (571) 270-0123. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 8-6.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, VLADIMIR MAGLOIRE can be reached at (571) 270-5144. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ERIC K HODAC/Examiner, Art Unit 3648
/VLADIMIR MAGLOIRE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3648
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