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 .
Continued Examination
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 January 23, 2026 has been entered.
This Office Action is in response to RCE filed on January 23, 2026 and wherein claims 1, 3, 8, 11-12 and 14-15 being currently amended.
In virtue of this communication, claims 1, 3-12 and 14-19 are currently pending in this Office Action.
The Office appreciates the explanation of the amendment and analyses of the prior arts, and however, although the claims are interpreted in light of the specification, limitations from the specification are not read into the claims. See In re Van Geuns, 988 F.2d 1181, 26 USPQ2d 1057 (Fed. Cir. 1993) and MPEP 2145.
Response to Arguments
Applicant argue that Alex's "orthogonal-to-transmit vectors" are defined with respect to the precoding matrix V, not with respect to the channel-estimation matrix H that is allegedly mapped to the claimed first matrix (Remarks, paragraph 3 of page 8) have been fully considered and it is persuasive, but it is necessitated in view of the new ground(s) of rejection by the applicant amendment. The Office has thoroughly reviewed Applicants' arguments but firmly believes that the cited references to reasonably and properly meet the claimed limitations.
Applicant argue that neither Alex nor Shany, alone or in combination, teaches that the superimposing of the interference signal and the modulated to-be-sent signal comprises performing a sum operation on the interference signal and the modulated to-be-sent signal mapped to a data field of a frame format of a communication protocol (Remarks, pages 7-8) have been fully considered and it is not persuasive.
Shany disclose a sum operation on the interference signal and the modulated to-be-sent signal mapped to a data field of a frame format of a communication protocol, see Fig. 2, element “spatial mapping”, and paragraph [0097], “ When the data transmission comprises a communication packet, for example, the AP may transmit one jamming stream configuration during the packet payload”, wherein jamming stream is reading as interference signal, and is injected during packet payload, and a packet is reading as a frame. Shany further teaches the jamming stream is inserted during several suitable subsets of a packet, see paragraph [0098], “the AP may transmit jamming streams only during the packet payload transmission, only during transmission of the payload and training sequence, or only during transmission of the payload, the training sequence and the synchronization sequence. In another example, the AP may transmit jamming streams only during the payload and the packet part used for indicating the signal parameters. Further alternatively, the AP may apply jamming selectively during any other suitable subset of the packet parts”.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The 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, 3-12,14-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shany et al. (US 20120214404 A1, hereinafter Shany) in view of Alex et al. (US 20150036821 A1, hereinafter Alex).
Claim 1: Shany teaches a wireless communication method comprising:
obtaining, by a sending device, one or more first matrices, wherein each of the one or more first matrices is generated based on channel estimation of a communication channel between the sending device and a signal receiving device (Fig. 7, element 150, Fig.8, element 170, 174, [0113], “The method begins with AP 24 determining the aggregated channel
matrix HU, at a channel estimation step 150”, [0174], “The method begins with AP 24 receiving training signals over the uplink from legitimate STAs 28, at an uplink reception step 170. AP 24 estimates the downlink channel responses, from the AP to the legitimate STAs, based on the training signals received over the uplink, at a channel estimation step 174”, Fig. 5, element 130, [0078], “AP 24 estimating the CSI for the channels to the legitimate STAs, at a CSI estimation step 130. The AP allocates the power fraction a for the jamming streams based on the estimated CSI, at an α allocation step 134”);
generating, by the sending device, an interference signal (Fig.6, element 140, 144, Fig.8, element 178, Fig.2, element 86,82, [0052], “Spatial mapping unit 82 applies suitable beamforming vectors to the jamming streams, in a similar manner to the mapping of the data streams”) based on a product of interference information and one or more second matrices, wherein each of the one or more second matrices matrix is an orthogonal matrix of one of the one or more first matrices (Fig. 7, elements 154, 158, 162, [0113-0114], disclose the steps to derive beamforming vector base on channel matrix. [0100], “the AP may configure the jamming streams differently during LTF transmission and during payload transmission. During LTFs, …, the jamming stream beamforming vectors should be orthogonal to the channels of all receive antennas of all legitimate STAs. During payload transmission, on the other hand, the STAs typically apply receive-side beamforming, and the jamming stream beamforming vectors may be orthogonal only to the effective, post-receive-side beamforming channels”, [0016], “beamforming vectors are calculated for the jamming streams by applying QR factorization to a conjugate of an aggregate matrix of communication channels between the transmit antennas and receive antennas of all the target receivers … , to produce a Q matrix; extracting a subset of columns of the Q matrix to serve as a basis for a vector subspace that is orthogonal to the aggregate matrix of the communication channels; and calculating the beamforming vectors for the jamming streams from the basis”, [0061], “the beamforming vectors applied to the jamming streams to be (at least approximately) orthogonal to the rows of the channel matrix between AP 24 and all receive antennas of all legitimate STAs. (Alternatively, the beamforming vectors applied to the jamming streams are chosen to be approximately orthogonal to the rows of the effective channel matrix, which considers the channels after receive-side beamforming in the legitimate STAs”, [0080], “ that the beamforming vectors of the jamming streams are orthogonal to the channel of the legitimate STA, so that the STA is not subject to interference”, wherein beamforming vector is reading as second matrix, and channel matrix is reading as the first matrix);
superimposing, by the sending device, the interference signal and a modulated to-be-sent signal to generate a superimposed signal (Fig. 2, element 82, [0006], “selected from a group of parameters consisting of power ratios for allocation to the jamming streams and Modulation and Coding Schemes (MCSs) for assigning to the data streams, is calculated based on a criterion that is set to reduce a probability of the data streams being decoded by at least one eavesdropping receiver. The data streams and the
jamming streams are transmitted using an antenna array while applying the at least one parameter”, [0055], “unit 96 may set parameters such as the fractions of transmit power to be allocated to the jamming streams, the Modulation and Coding Schemes (MCSs) to be assigned to the data streams, and/or any other suitable transmission parameter”, [0052], “ Each output of unit 82 comprises a stream of samples made-up of weighted components of each of the two data streams and each of the two jamming streams, in accordance with the beamforming vectors set for the streams”);
and sending, by the sending device, the superimposed signal to the signal receiving device (Fig. 2, element 98, [0053], “respective analog&RF module 98 converts the sample stream into an analog signal, up-converts the analog signal to RF, amplifies the RF signal and transmits the RF signal via the respective transmit antenna”)
wherein the superimposing, by the sending device, the interference signal and a modulated to-be-sent signal comprises: performing, by the sending device, a sum operation on (i) the interference signal and (ii) the modulated to-be-sent signal mapped to a data field of a frame format of a communication protocol to generate the superimposed signal that is carried in the data field ([0097], “When the data transmission comprises a communication packet, for example, the AP may transmit one jamming stream configuration during the packet payload”, [0098], “the AP may transmit jamming streams only during the packet payload transmission, only during transmission of the payload and training sequence, or only during transmission of the payload, the training sequence and the synchronization sequence. In another example, the AP may transmit jamming streams only during the payload and the packet part used for indicating the signal parameters. Further alternatively, the AP may apply jamming selectively during any other suitable subset of the packet parts”).
However, Shany does not explicitly teach interference signal is based on a product of interference information and one or more second matrices.
Alex, from the same or similar field of endeavor, teaches generating interference signal based on a product of interference information and one or more second matrices (Fig. 3, element 302, [0029], “multiplying a plurality of data symbols with a plurality of first vectors, the first vectors being beamforming vectors for the UE, to generate a plurality of first symbols”).
Shany and Alex are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of wireless communication. Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to understand the spatial mapping operation with beamforming vector, wherein multiplying a data symbol with beamforming vectors to generate final mapped data.
Claim 12 is analyzed and rejected according to claim 1 and Shany further teach processor (Fig.2, element 96, [0064], “the functions of control unit 96, may be carried out using a general-purpose processor, which is programmed in software to carry out the functions described herein”) and a radio transmitter (Fig. 2, element 98, [0053], “A respective analog&RF module 98 converts the sample stream into an analog signal, up-converts the analog signal to RF, amplifies the RF signal and transmits the RF signal via the respective transmit antenna”).
Claim 11: is analyzed and rejected according to Claim 1, and Shany further teaches and demodulating, by the receiving device, the superimposed signal based on the one or more first matrices, to obtain the to-be-sent signal ([0047], “the beamforming vector used for the jamming stream causes a spatial null in a direction 44 from AP 24 to STA 28, meaning that STA 28 will receive the jamming stream at a low power level that will cause little or no degradation to the decoding of the data stream carried on beam 36”, [0077], “unit 96 in AP 24 modifies the power fraction α allocated to the jamming streams based on the channel type between the AP and the legitimate STAs. In accordance with an example criterion, based on the Channel State Information (CSI) for the channels between the AP and the legitimate STAs, AP 24 chooses α such that (i) the SNR at eavesdropper 32 will prevent successful decoding of the data streams with high probability but (ii) the SNR at the legitimate STA will enable successful decoding”, [0108], “The disclosed technique can be used in a similar manner to calculate jamming stream beamforming vectors that are orthogonal to the effective channels following receive-side beamforming at the STAs.”, [0111-0112], disclose the k-th legitimate STA 28 performs a Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) of its channel matrix Hk to obtain Hk=Uk.Dk.Vk* …, where ( )* denotes matrix conjugation and transposition, Uk and Vk have orthonormal columns, and Dk is diagonal, and sends the AP only Vk, thus, the AP may derive the orthonormal basis from (V1|V2 . . . |VK)* instead of from HU).
Claim 4: The combination of Shany and Alex teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein each of the one or more first matrices is an orthogonal matrix (Shany, [0108],
disclose vector subspace ker(HU)={x|HUx=0}, a subspace that is orthogonal to the aggregate channel matrix HU, [0109], disclose orthonormal basis Q is selected from full rank channel matrix Hu, [0111], disclose the method to derive Uk and Vk from channel matrix Hk, wherein Uk and Vk have orthonormal columns.), and each of the one or more second matrices is a matrix constituted by at least one column of vectors selected from one of the one or more first matrices (Shany, Fig. 7, element 158, [0114], “AP 24 forms an orthonormal basis for ker(HU) by taking the last N-NU rows of Q, at a basis formation step 158”, [0109], “AP 24 finds the orthonormal basis using LQ factorization of HU … the conjugate transpose of the last N-NU rows of Q may serve as the desired orthonormal basis”).
Claim 5: The combination of Shany and Alex teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein the to-be-sent signal is generated by the sending device from information provided by a to-be-sent information source (Shany, Fig. 2, element 66, 82, [0051], “A spatial mapping unit 82 maps each data stream onto the multiple antennas while applying the appropriate beamforming vector to the data stream”, [0054], “the data streams comprise
Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplex (OFDM) signals that are multiplexed in the frequency domain. Note that, even in an OFDM-based system, addition of the jamming streams may alternatively be performed in the time domain” ), by mapping the information onto N subcarriers, and generating the to-be-sent signal based on a mapping result of the N subcarriers, wherein N is an integer greater than 1 (Alex, Fig. 3, element 302, [0029], “multiplying a plurality of data symbols with a plurality of first vectors, the first vectors being beamforming vectors for the UE, to generate a plurality of first symbols”).
The motivation for combining Shany and Alex regarding to the claim 1 is also applied to claim 5.
Claim 15 is analyzed and rejected according to claim 12 and claim 5.
Claim 6: Shany teaches the method according to claim 5, wherein each of the N subcarriers corresponds to N channels between the sending device and the signal receiving device, the one or more first matrices comprise N first matrices, and each of the N first matrices is generated by performing channel estimation on each of the N channels by the sending device ([0051], “A spatial mapping unit 82 maps each data stream onto the multiple antennas while applying the appropriate beamforming vector to the data stream”, [0016], “for transmission from multiple transmit antennas …Respective beamforming vectors are calculated for the jamming streams by applying QR factorization to a conjugate of an aggregate matrix of communication channels between the transmit antennas and receive antennas of all the target receivers … extracting a subset of columns of the Q matrix to serve as a basis for a vector subspace that is orthogonal to the aggregate matrix of the communication channels”),
and the one or more second matrices comprise N second matrices, and each of the N second matrices is an orthogonal matrix of a corresponding first matrix ([0016], “for transmission from multiple transmit antennas …Respective beamforming vectors are calculated for the jamming streams by applying QR factorization to a conjugate of an aggregate matrix of communication channels between the transmit antennas and receive antennas of all the target receivers … extracting a subset of columns of the Q matrix to serve as a basis for a vector subspace that is orthogonal to the aggregate matrix of the communication channels”).
Claim 16 is analyzed and rejected according to claim 15 and claim 6.
Claim 7: Shany teaches the method according to claim 6, wherein the generating, by the sending device, an interference signal based on interference information and one or more second matrices comprises: mapping, by the sending device, the interference information on the N subcarriers to obtain N mapped signals; and generating, by the sending device, the interference signal based on the N second matrices and the N mapped signals ([0016], “for transmission from multiple transmit antennas, one or more data streams for transmission to respective target receivers and one or more jamming streams. Respective beamforming vectors are calculated for the jamming streams by applying QR factorization to a conjugate of an aggregate matrix of communication channels between the transmit antennas and receive antennas of all the target receivers, to produce a Q matrix; extracting a subset of columns of the Q matrix to serve as a basis for a
vector subspace that is orthogonal to the aggregate matrix of the communication
channels; and calculating the beamforming vectors for the jamming streams from the basis. The jamming streams are beam-formed using the calculated beamforming vectors. The data streams are transmitted to the target receivers using the multiple transmit
antennas, and the jamming streams are simultaneously transmitted using the multiple transmit antennas”, [0017], “ extracting the subset of the columns includes extracting last N-NU columns of the Q matrix, N denoting a total number of the transmit antennas, and NU denoting a total number of the receive antennas of all the target receivers. In an embodiment, the aggregate matrix of communication channels is replaced by a matrix obtained from one or more Singular Value Decompositions (SVD) of matrices of the communication channels, which are produced by the target receivers”).
Claim 17 is analyzed and rejected according to claim 16 and claim 7.
Claim 8: Shany teaches the method according to claim 7, wherein the superimposing, by the sending device, the interference signal and a to-be-sent signal comprises: separately superimposing, by the sending device, an interference signal corresponding to each of the N subcarriers and the to-be-sent signal to generate the superimposed signal ( [0021], “ based on the estimated downlink communication channels, one or more data streams for transmission using an antenna array to the communication stations and one or more jamming streams for transmission using the antenna array”, Fig.6, element 140, Fig. 1, [0044], “the AP generates the signal to be transmitted, and transmits the signal simultaneously via multiple antennas 34 while applying a respective (complex) weight to each antenna. The set of weights, referred to as a beamforming vector, is selected so as to produce a directional beam that is directed toward the given STA. In the present example, AP 24 transmits a data stream to STA 28 using a beamforming vector that produces a beam 36”, Fig. 2, [0052], “82 produces four outputs corresponding to four transmit antennas. Each output of unit 82 comprises a stream of samples made-up of weighted components of each of the two data streams and each of the two jamming streams, in accordance with the beamforming vectors set for the streams”).
Claim 18 is analyzed and rejected according to claim 17 and claim 8.
Claim 10: Shany teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein each of the one or more first matrices is generated based on a channel estimation result that is obtained by estimating, by the sending device, a channel based on channel measurement information sent by the signal receiving device (Fig. 5, element 130, [0078], “AP 24 estimating the CSI for the channels to the legitimate STAs, at a CSI estimation step 130. The AP allocates the power fraction a for the jamming streams based on the estimated CSI, at an .alpha. allocation step 134”).
Claim 3: Shany teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein the sending device communicates with the signal receiving device based on a Wi-Fi communication technology ([0041], “system 20 comprises a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) that operates in accordance with IEEE Standard 802.11n”).
and the superimposing, by the sending device, the interference signal and a to-be-sent signal comprises carrying, by the sending device, the interference signal and the to-be-sent signal in a data field in a Wi-Fi frame format and at least one of the following fields at least one of the following fields: a field indicating signal detection (alternative), a field indicating to perform automatic gain control (AGC) (alternative), a field indicating signal synchronization ([0095], “a packet comprises a synchronization sequence, a training sequence used for channel estimation, a part that defines the signal parameters (e.g., MCS) and a payload that carries the packet data”), a field indicating signal frequency offset estimation (alternative), a field indicating a signal length (alternative), a field indicating to perform channel estimation ([0095], “a packet comprises a synchronization sequence, a training sequence used for channel estimation, a part that defines the signal parameters (e.g., MCS) and a payload that carries the packet data”), a field indicating a frame format used for detection(alternative), a field indicating that configuration information is carried by a frame format ([0015], “The jamming generation circuitry is configured to generate at least one jamming transmission having a configuration that varies over the respective time intervals corresponding to the parts of the data transmission”, [0095], “a packet comprises a synchronization sequence, a training sequence used for channel estimation, a part that defines the signal parameters (e.g., MCS) and a payload that carries the packet data”), a field indicating to perform automatic gain control in a multiple-input multiple- output (MIMO) receiving process (alternative), a field indicating to perform MIMO channel estimation (alternative), or afield indicating resource allocation information of orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) and multi-user MIMO(alternative).
Claim 14 is analyzed and rejected according to claim 12 and claim 3.
Claim 9: Shany teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein each of the one or more first matrices is generated based on a channel estimation result (Fig. 7, element 150, Fig.8, element 170, 174, [0113], “The method begins with AP 24 determining the aggregated channel matrix HU, at a channel estimation step 150”, [0174], “The method begins with AP 24 receiving training signals over the uplink from legitimate STAs 28, at an uplink reception step 170. AP 24 estimates the downlink channel responses, from the AP to the legitimate STAs, based on the training signals received over the uplink, at a channel estimation step 174”, Fig. 5, element 130, [0078], “AP 24 estimating the CSI for the channels to the legitimate STAs, at a CSI estimation step 130. The AP allocates the power fraction a for the jamming streams based on the estimated CSI, at an α allocation step 134) that is obtained by performing channel estimation on a long training field in a received sounding response frame by the signal receiving device ([0095], “a packet comprises a synchronization sequence, a training sequence used for channel estimation, a part that defines the signal parameters (e.g., MCS) and a payload that carries the packet data … training sequences that are referred to as Short training Fields (STFs) and Long Training Fields (LTFs)”).
Claim 19: Shany teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein each of the one or more first matrices is derivable from a spatial channel mapping matrix that is representable as a product of at least a unitary matrix, a diagonal matrix, and a weighting matrix, wherein the weight matrix is the respective first matrix ([0109], “AP 24 finds the orthonormal basis using LQ factorization of HU. In such a process HU is written as HU=LQ, wherein Q is a unitary matrix QϵCNxN, and L is a lower-triangular matrix LϵCNuxN. Assuming that HU is of full rank, the conjugate transpose of the last N-NU rows of Q may serve as the desired orthonormal basis”, [0044], “ the AP generates the signal to be transmitted, and transmits the signal simultaneously via multiple antennas 34 while applying a respective (complex) weight to each antenna. The set of weights, referred to as a beamforming
vector, is selected so as to produce a directional beam that is directed toward the given STA”, [0052], “Each output of unit 82 comprises a stream of samples made-up of weighted components of each of the two data streams and each of the two jamming streams, in accordance with the beamforming vectors set for the stream”), an encoding matrix is selected such that a product of the encoding matrix and the weighting matrix is zero, and the encoding matrix is a second matrix that is an orthogonal matrix of the respective first matrix ([0062], “The beamforming matrix BDϵCNxND of the jamming streams is typically constrained to satisfy the condition HU.BD≈0. … jamming streams whose beamforming vectors are orthogonal to the physical or effective channels of the data streams”).
Conclusion
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/Y.Z./Examiner, Art Unit 2472
/NICHOLAS A JENSEN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2472