DETAILED ACTION
Status of Claims
Claims 1-2 are canceled.
Claims 3-20 are pending.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 3-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Wu (US 20220026531).
Regarding Claim 3, Wu discloses the following limitations:
A method of operating a wireless device, the method comprising: (Wu – [0059] In one embodiment, the present teaching discloses a method, apparatus, device, system, and/or software (method/apparatus/device/system/software) of a wireless monitoring system. A time series of channel information (CI) of a wireless multipath channel (channel) may be obtained (e.g. dynamically) using a processor, a memory communicatively coupled with the processor and a set of instructions stored in the memory. The time series of CI (TSCI) may be extracted from a wireless signal (signal) transmitted between a Type 1 heterogeneous wireless device (e.g. wireless transmitter, TX) and a Type 2 heterogeneous wireless device (e.g. wireless receiver, RX) in a venue through the channel. The channel may be impacted by an expression (e.g. motion, movement, expression, and/or change in position/pose/shape/expression) of an object in the venue.)
sending, via a first antenna, a set of chirps in a first portion of a frame having a specified frame duration; (Wu – [0070] The Type 1 device and the Type 2 device may be the same device. Any device may have a data processing unit/apparatus, a computing unit/system, a network unit/system, a processor (e.g. logic unit), a memory communicatively coupled with the processor, and a set of instructions stored in the memory to be executed by the processor. Some processors, memories and sets of instructions may be coordinated. [0087] A first series of probe signals may be transmitted by a first antenna of the Type 1 device to at least one first Type 2 device through a first channel in a first venue. A second series of probe signals may be transmitted by a second antenna of the Type 1 device to at least one second Type 2 device through a second channel in a second venue. [0239] In some embodiments, the device including the Tx 111 and the Rx 112 serves like a radar, e.g. a mmWave radar. In some embodiments, RadioMic also includes a processor to process the received radar signal at the Rx 112. [0264] In some embodiments, an FMCW radar transmits a single tone signal with linearly increasing frequency, called a chirp, and captures the echoes from the environment. Time delay of the echoes could be extracted by calculating the amount of frequency shift between the transmitted and received signals, which can be converted to a range information. This range information is used to differentiate an object from the other reflectors in the environment. In order to obtain the range information, the frequency shifts between transmitted and received signals are calculated by applying FFT, which can be called Range-FFT. The output of Range-FFT can be considered as CIR, g(t,τ), and the above modeling could be applicable. [0265] In some embodiments, RadioMic further obtains the so-called range-Doppler spectrogram from the CIR, which can be extracted by a short-time Fourier Transform (STFT) operation. STFT is basically FFT operations applied in the t dimension in g(t,τ) for subsets of long-time indices, called frames. One can denote the output range-Doppler spectrograms as G(f, r, k), where f∈(−N.sub.s/2, N.sub.s/2) denotes frequency shift, r corresponds to range bins (equivalent to τ.sub.l), and k is the frame index. G is defined for both positive and negative frequencies, corresponding to different motion directions of the objects.)
receiving, via a second antenna, reflected signals corresponding to the set of chirps; (Wu – [0087], [0264], [0238] As shown in FIG. 1, RadioMic can include a device with a transmitter (Tx) antenna array 111 and a receiver (Rx) antenna array 112. In some embodiments, each of the transmitter (Tx) and receiver (Rx) arrays has multiple antennas.)
generating in-phase and quadrature (IQ) samples based on the reflected signals and the set of chirps; (Wu – [0264], [0254] g(t) lies on a circle in the in-phase and quadrature (IQ) plane with center at the origin.)
sending data to a second device via the first antenna, the data included in a second portion of the frame; (Wu – [0264], [0061] The wireless signal may comprise: transmitted/received signal, EM radiation, RF signal/transmission, signal in licensed/unlicensed/ISM band, bandlimited signal, baseband signal, wireless/mobile/cellular communication signal, wireless/mobile/cellular network signal, mesh signal, light signal/communication, downlink/uplink signal, unicast/multicast/broadcast signal, standard (e.g. WLAN, WWAN, WPAN, WBAN, international, national, industry, defacto, IEEE, IEEE 802, 802.11/15/16, WiFi, 802.11n/ac/ax/be, 3G/4G/LTE/5G/6G/7G/8G, 3GPP, Bluetooth, BLE, Zigbee, RFID, UWB, WiMax) compliant signal, protocol signal, standard frame, beacon/ pilot/ probe/ enquiry/ acknowledgement/ handshake/ synchronization signal, management/ control/ data frame, management/ control/ data signal, standardized wireless/cellular communication protocol, reference signal, source signal, motion probe/detection/sensing signal, and/or series of signals. The wireless signal may comprise a line-of-sight (LOS), and/or a non-LOS component (or path/link). Each CI may be extracted/generated/computed/sensed at a layer (e.g. PHY/MAC layer in OSI model) of Type 2 device and may be obtained by an application (e.g. software, firmware, driver, app, wireless monitoring software/system). [0063] The TSCI may be extracted from the wireless signal at a layer of the Type 2 device (e.g. a layer of OSI reference model, physical layer, data link layer, logical link control layer, media access control (MAC) layer, network layer, transport layer, session layer, presentation layer, application layer, TCP/IP layer, internet layer, link layer). The TSCI may be extracted from a derived signal (e.g. baseband signal, motion detection signal, motion sensing signal) derived from the wireless signal (e.g. RF signal). It may be (wireless) measurements sensed by the communication protocol (e.g. standardized protocol) using existing mechanism (e.g. wireless/cellular communication standard/network, 3G/LTE/4G/5G/6G/7G/8G, WiFi, IEEE 802.11/15/16). The derived signal may comprise a packet with at least one of: a preamble, a header and a payload (e.g. for data/control/management in wireless links/networks). [0064] The packet may comprise a control data and/or a motion detection probe. A data (e.g. ID/ parameters/ characteristics/ settings/ control signal/ command/ instruction/ notification/ broadcasting-related information of the Type 1 device) may be obtained from the payload. The wireless signal may be transmitted by the Type 1 device. It may be received by the Type 2 device.)
generating, using RF signals sent or received by the wireless device, channel state information (CSI) data representing channel properties of a first channel; and (Wu – [0059], [0264], [0214] According to various embodiments, each CI (CI) may comprise at least one of: channel state information (CSI), frequency domain CSI, frequency representation of CSI, frequency domain CSI associated with at least one sub-band, time domain CSI, CSI in domain, channel response, estimated channel response, channel impulse response (CIR),))
determining, using the IQ samples and the CSI data, that an environment in which the wireless device is located has been disrupted by a presence or motion of a person. (Wu – [0059], [0214], [0254], [0264])
Regarding Claim 4, Wu further discloses:
wherein sending the set of chirps comprises sending the set of chirps in a same channel of a frequency band as sending the data. (Wu – [0061], [0264], [0062] The channels may be consecutive (e.g. with adjacent/overlapping bands) or non-consecutive channels (e.g. non-overlapping WiFi channels, one at 2.4 GHz and one at 5 GHz).)
Regarding Claim 5, Wu further discloses:
wherein sending the set of chirps comprises sending the set of chirps in a second channel of a frequency band, wherein sending the data comprises sending the data in the first channel of the frequency band. (Wu – [0061], [0062], [0264])
Regarding Claim 6, Wu further discloses:
wherein the environment is a home with multiple rooms, (Wu – [0209] Here is an example of the disclosed system, apparatus, and method. Stephen and his family want to install the disclosed wireless motion detection system to detect motion in their 2000 sqft two-storey town house in Seattle, Wash. Because his house has two storeys, Stephen decided to use one Type 2 device (named A) and two Type 1 devices (named B and C) in the ground floor. His ground floor has predominantly three rooms: kitchen, dining room and living room arranged in a straight line, with the dining room in the middle. The kitchen and the living rooms are on opposite end of the house. He put the Type 2 device (A) in the dining room, and put one Type 1 device (B) in the kitchen and the other Type 1 device (C) in the living room. With this placement of the devices, he is practically partitioning the ground floor into 3 zones (dining room, living room and kitchen) using the motion detection system. When motion is detected by the AB pair and the AC pair, the system would analyze the motion information and associate the motion with one of the 3 zones.)
wherein the wireless device is located in a first room of the home, (Wu – [0059], [0209])
wherein the method further comprises: determining that the IQ samples meet a first criterion, the first criterion indicative of the person being present or in motion in the environment; (Wu – [0059], [0209], [0254])
determining that the CSI data meets a second criterion, the second criterion indicative of the person being present or in motion in the environment; and (Wu – [0059], [0209], [0214])
determining that the person is located in the first room responsive to the IQ samples meeting the first criterion and the CSI data meeting the second criterion; or (Wu – [0059], [0209], [0214], [0254])
determining that the person is located in the home responsive to the IQ samples not meeting the first criterion and the CSI data meeting the second criterion. (Wu – [0059], [0209], [0214], [0254])
Regarding Claim 7, Wu further discloses:
wherein the set of chirps comprises 64 chirps or less, each having a duration of about 40 microseconds. (Wu – [0264])
Regarding Claim 8, Wu further discloses:
wherein sending the set of chirps comprises sending at least two chirps consecutively without a gap between the at least two chirps. (Wu – [0264] FMCW)
Regarding Claim 9, Wu further discloses:
further comprising: applying a first set of parameters to a transmit (TX) chain and a receive (RX) chain of the wireless device before sending the set of chirps and receiving the reflected signals; and (Wu – [0264], [0139] The channel information (CI) may be associated with/may comprise signal strength, signal amplitude, signal phase, spectral power measurement,)
applying a second set of parameters to the TX chain and the RX chain before sending the data. (Wu – [0139], [0264])
Regarding Claim 10, Wu further discloses:
wherein the first set of parameters comprises a first parameter that indicates a first transmit power level of the TX chain, and (Wu – [0139], [0264])
wherein the second set of parameters comprises a second parameter that indicates a second transmit power level of the TX chain. (Wu – [0139], [0264])
Regarding Claim 11, Wu further discloses:
wherein the first set of parameters comprises a first parameter that indicates a first calibration value of a component of the TX chain or the RX chain, and (Wu – [0139], [0264], [0156] The portable device, the nearby device, a local server (e.g. hub device) and/or a cloud server may share the computation and/or storage for a task (e.g. obtain TSCI, determine characteristics/STI of the object associated with the movement (e.g. change in position/location) of the object, computation of time series of power (e.g. signal strength) information, determining/computing the particular function, searching for local extremum, classification, identifying particular value of time offset, de-noising, processing, simplification, cleaning, wireless smart sensing task, extract CI from signal, switching, segmentation, estimate trajectory/path/track, process the map, processing trajectory/path/track based on environment models/constraints/limitations, correction, corrective adjustment, adjustment, map-based (or model-based) correction, detecting error, checking for boundary hitting, thresholding) and information (e.g. TSCI).)
wherein the second set of parameters comprises a second parameter that indicates a second calibration value of the component. (Wu – [0139], [0156], [0264])
Regarding Claim 12, Wu further discloses:
further comprising: sending a request to an access point (AP) device, the request causes the AP device to buffer packets directed to the wireless device and received by the AP device during the first portion of the frame; and (Wu – [0059], [0065] The Type 1/Type 2 device may comprise: access point, router, mesh router, internet-of-things (IoT) device, wireless terminal, one or more radio/RF subsystem/wireless interface (e.g. 2.4 GHz radio, 5 GHz radio, front haul radio, backhaul radio), modem, RF front end, RF/radio chip or integrated circuit (IC).)
receiving the packets after the first portion of the frame. (Wu – [0059], [0065])
Regarding Claim 13, Wu discloses the following limitations:
A wireless device comprising: (Wu – [0059])
a radar unit; (Wu – [0239])
a wireless local area network (WLAN) radio; and (Wu – [0061])
a processing device operatively coupled to the radar unit and the WLAN radio, (Wu – [0061], [0239])
wherein the processing device is to: send, using the radar unit via a first antenna, a set of chirps in a first portion of a frame having a specified frame duration; (Wu – [0061], [0239], [0264])
receive, using the radar unit via a second antenna, reflected signals corresponding to the set of chirps; (Wu – [0239], [0264])
generate in-phase and quadrature (IQ) samples based on the reflected signals and the set of chirps; (Wu – [0254], [0264])
send, using the WLAN radio, data to a second device via the first antenna, the data included in a second portion of the frame; (Wu – [0061], [0209], [0264], [0265])
generate, using RF signals sent or received by the wireless device, channel state information (CSI) data representing channel properties of a first channel; and (Wu – [0062], [0214], [0264])
determine, using the IQ samples and the CSI data, that an environment in which the wireless device is located has been disrupted by a presence or motion of a person. (Wu – [0059], [0062], [0214], [0254], [0264])
Regarding Claim 14, Wu further discloses:
wherein the processing device is to send the set of chirps in a same channel of a frequency band as sending the data. (Wu – [0061], [0062], [0264])
Regarding Claim 15, Wu further discloses:
wherein the processing device is to send the set of chirps in a second channel of a frequency band, wherein the processing device is to send the data in the first channel of the frequency band. (Wu – [0061], [0062], [0264])
Regarding Claim 16, Wu further discloses:
wherein the environment is a home with multiple rooms, (Wu – [0209])
wherein the wireless device is located in a first room of the home, wherein the processing device is further to: (Wu – [0059], [0209])
determine that the IQ samples meet a first criterion, the first criterion indicative of the person being present or in motion in the environment; (Wu – [0059], [0209], [0254])
determine that the CSI data meets a second criterion, the second criterion indicative of the person being present or in motion in the environment; and (Wu – [0059], [0209], [0214])
determine that the person is located in the first room responsive to the IQ samples meeting the first criterion and the CSI data meeting the second criterion; or (Wu – [0059], [0209], [0214], [0254])
determine that the person is located in the home responsive to the IQ samples not meeting the first criterion and the CSI data meeting the second criterion. (Wu – [0059], [0209], [0214], [0254])
Regarding Claim 17, Wu further discloses:
wherein the set of chirps comprises 64 chirps or less, each having a duration of about 40 microseconds. (Wu – [0264])
Regarding Claim 18, Wu further discloses:
wherein the processing device is to send at least two chirps of the set of chirps consecutively without a gap between the at least two chirps. (Wu – [0264])
Regarding Claim 19, Wu further discloses:
wherein the processing device is further to: apply a first set of parameters to a transmit (TX) chain and a receive (RX) chain of the wireless device before sending the set of chirps and receiving the reflected signals; and (Wu – [0139], [0264])
apply a second set of parameters to the TX chain and the RX chain before sending the data. (Wu – [0139], [0264])
Regarding Claim 20, Wu further discloses:
wherein the first set of parameters comprises a first parameter that indicates a first transmit power level of the TX chain, and (Wu – [0139], [0264])
wherein the second set of parameters comprises a second parameter that indicates a second transmit power level of the TX chain. (Wu – [0139], [0264])
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see Page 6, filed 12/05/2025, with respect to the rejection under 35 U.S.C. § 102(a)(1) have been fully considered and are not persuasive. Applicant argues that “Wu simply fails to disclose sending chirps in a first portion of a frame and sending data to a second device in a second portion of the frame”. The examiner disagrees, Wu discloses a “wireless signal” with a “TSCI” which may contain a “packet with at least one of: a preamble, a header and a payload (e.g. for data/control/management in wireless links/networks)”. The packet may “comprise a control data and/or a motion detection probe”. The chirp signals are used to develop a “range-Doppler spectrogram from the CIR” used for determining “different motion directions of the objects”. The chirp “frame” may consist of a multitude of wireless signal types to include the described IEEE regulated signals which portions of frames (e.g. IEEE 802.11 data packet structure) all contain some form of data. Consistent with the applicant’s disclosure, Wu discloses an FMCW radar that produces chirps consisting of a plurality of frame portions, each portion of the data packet structure contains data being sent from the Type 1 device to the Type 2 device. Wu [0063-0064] is now cited in the office action to further assist understanding the mapping of this limitation.
Applicant’s arguments, see Page 6, filed 12/05/2025, with respect to the rejection under 35 U.S.C. § 102(a)(1) have been fully considered and are not persuasive. Applicant argues that the dependent claims are allowable due to the dependency on Claims 1, 13. The examiner disagrees due to the above-mentioned rejections.
Applicant's remaining arguments amount to a general allegation that the claims define a patentable invention without specifically pointing out how the language of the claims is understandable and distinguishable from other inventions.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any extension fee pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the date of this final action.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's
disclosure or directed to the state of art is listed on the enclosed PTO-892.
The following is a brief description for relevant prior art that was cited but not applied:
Wang (US 20230081472) describes methods, apparatus and systems for wireless vital sign monitoring.
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/BRANDON JAMES HENSON/Examiner, Art Unit 3645
/ROBERT W HODGE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3645