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 .
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)(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.
Claim(s) 1-15, 17, 18 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Van Houtum et al. (US PUB 2023/0314562), hereinafter Van Houtum.
With respect to claim 1, Van Houtum discloses a non-transitory computer readable medium (See paragraph [0148] of Van Houtum) having instructions (See paragraph [0148] of Van Houtum) stored therein that when executed by a processor (See paragraph [0148] of Van Houtum) cause the processor to: determine a time difference between a first reference point (See paragraph [0141] of Van Houtum) of a first signal (See paragraph [0141] of Van Houtum) and a second reference point (See paragraph [0141] of Van Houtum) of a second signal (See paragraph [0141] of Van Houtum), the first signal modulated with a first frequency, and the second signal modulated with a second frequency different from the first frequency; determine a phase noise (See paragraph [0046] in view of paragraph [0083] of Van Houtum) based on the determined time difference (See paragraph [0082] of Van Houtum); and use the determined phase noise for processing a signal associated with the first signal (See paragraph [0149] of Van Houtum).
With respect to claim 2, Van Houtum discloses the non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the instructions are configured to cause the processor to determine the phase noise over a plurality of time differences over a plurality of periods of at least one of the first signal and the second signal (See paragraph [0068] in view of paragraph [0085] and further in view of paragraph [0149] of Van Houtum).
With respect to claim 3, Van Houtum discloses the non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the instructions are configured to cause the processor to use the determined phase noise for processing a signal associated with the first signal by performing a fast Fourier transformation (See paragraph [0053] of Van Houtum).
With respect to claim 4, Van Houtum discloses the non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the instructions are configured to cause the processor to determine the phase noise based on non-directly subsequent time differences (See paragraph [0082] in view of paragraph [0052] of Van Houtum).
With respect to claim 5, Van Houtum discloses the non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the instructions are configured to cause the processor to improve the first signal by providing an information indicating the determined phase noise to a controller controlling any of the generation and the transmission of the first signal (See [1502] in paragraph [0149] of Van Houtum).
With respect to claim 6, Va Houtum discloses the non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first reference point and the second reference point comprises a signal edge (See the reference clock sources disclosed in paragraph [0141] of Van Houtum which have edges).
With respect to claim 7, Van Houtum discloses the non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the first reference point is a first signal edge and the second reference point is a second signal edge (See the reference clock sources disclosed in paragraph [0141] of Van Houtum which have edges).
With respect to claim 8, Van Houtum discloses the non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the instructions are further configured to cause the processor to determine another time difference between a third reference point (See the abstract of Van Houtum) of a third signal (See paragraph [0124] of Van Houtum) and at least one of the first reference point and the second reference point, the third signal modulated with a third frequency different from the first frequency and the second frequency (See claim 16 of Van Houtum).
With respect to claim 9, Van Houtum discloses the non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the instructions are configured to cause the processor to determine the phase noise (See paragraph [0046] in view of paragraph [0083] of Van Houtum) based on time differences between any of the third reference point (See the abstract of Van Houtum) and the first reference point, the third reference point and the second reference point and the first reference point and the second reference point (See claim 16 of Van Houtum).
With respect to claim 10, Van Houtum discloses a communication device, comprising a first signal source (See paragraph [0141] of Van Houtum) configured to transmit a first signal modulated with a first frequency, a second signal source configured to transmit a second signal modulated with a second frequency different from the first frequency (See paragraph [0046] in view of paragraph [0083] of Van Houtum), a first circuit (See [716] in figure 7 of Van Houtum) configured to determine a time difference between a first reference point of the first signal and a second reference point of the second signal (See paragraph [0141] of Van Houtum); a second circuit configured to determine a phase noise (See paragraph [0046] in view of paragraph [0083] of Van Houtum) based on the determined time difference (See paragraph [0082] of Van Houtum); and a third circuit configured to use the determined phase noise for processing a signal associated with the first signal (See [728] in figure 7 of Van Houtum).
With respect to claim 11, Van Houtum discloses the communication device of claim 10, wherein the communication device is a mobile communication device (See paragraph [0047] of Van Houtum).
With respect to claim 12, Van Houtum discloses the communication device of claim 10, wherein the first signal is a local oscillator for a communication signal with another communication device (See paragraph [0046] of Van Houtum).
With respect to claim 13, Van Houtum discloses the means for operating a signal source of claim 10, wherein the second circuit determines the phase noise over a plurality of time differences over a plurality of periods of at least one of the first signal and the second signal (See paragraph [0068] in view of paragraph [0085] and further in view of paragraph [0149] of Van Houtum).
With respect to claim 14, Van Houtum discloses the means for operating a signal source of claim 10, wherein the second circuit determines phase noise based on non-directly subsequent time differences (See paragraph [0082] in view of paragraph [0052] of Van Houtum).
With respect to claim 15, Van Houtum discloses the means for operating a signal source of claim 10, wherein the second circuit transmits an information indicating the determined phase noise to the third circuit, wherein the third circuit controls any of the generation and the transmission the first signal (See paragraph [0124] in view of [0142] and further in view of claim 1 of Van Houtum).
With respect to claim 17, Van Houtum discloses a measurement device, comprising a first signal source (See paragraph [0141] of Van Houtum) configured to transmit a first signal modulated with a first frequency, a second signal source configured to transmit a second signal modulated with a second frequency different from the first frequency (See paragraph [0046] in view of paragraph [0083] of Van Houtum), a first circuit (See [716] in figure 7 of Van Houtum) configured to determine a time difference between a first reference point of the first signal and a second reference point of the second signal (See paragraph [0141] of Van Houtum); a second circuit configured to determine a phase noise (See paragraph [0046] in view of paragraph [0083] of Van Houtum) based on the determined time difference (See paragraph [0082] of Van Houtum); and a third circuit configured to use the determined phase noise for processing a signal associated with the first signal (See [728] in figure 7 of Van Houtum).
With respect to claim 18, Van Houtum discloses the measurement device of claim 17, wherein the measurement device is a RADAR device or a LIDAR device (See the abstract of Van Houtum).
With respect to claim 20, Van Houtum discloses the measurement device of claim 17, wherein the first signal is a local oscillator for a measurement beam to determine at least a distance to an object in the environment of the measurement device (See paragraph [0046] of Van Houtum).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 16 and 19 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
With respect to claim 16, the prior art of record neither shows nor suggests the combination of structural elements wherein the first circuit comprises a time-to-digital-converter TDC, wherein the second signal is a clock signal for the TDC and the first signal is input for the TDC.
With respect to claim 19, the prior art of record neither shows nor suggests the combination of structural elements wherein the first circuit comprises a time-to-digital-converter, TDC, wherein the second signal is a clock signal for the TDC and the first signal is input for the TDC.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US PUB 2017/0153318 discloses a radar device with phase noise estimation.
US PUB 2012/0242536 discloses a doppler radar system having a high phase noise
transmitter.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TEMILADE S RHODES-VIVOUR whose telephone number is (571)270-5814. The examiner can normally be reached M-F (flex schedule).
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Huy Phan can be reached at 571-272-7924. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/TEMILADE S RHODES-VIVOUR/Examiner, Art Unit 2858
/HUY Q PHAN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2858
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