DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Response to Amendment/Arguments
With the response filed 11/18/25, Applicant has amended claims 1, 9 and 17 to recite: “a head of the symbol period comprises a reserved first time interval that is free from including signal content, or a tail of the symbol period comprises a reserved second time interval that is free from including signal content.” Applicant’s arguments with respect to the rejection of the claims as being unpatentable over Schultze in view of Moriai have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground of rejection presented below.
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, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1-3, 5, 7, 9, 11-13, 15 and 17-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Schultze U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2019/0140873 in view of Futatsugi et al. U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2012/0213312.
Regarding claim 1, Schultze discloses a data transmission method comprising: obtaining a data stream (i.e. input data 2908 – Fig. 29), the data stream comprising a plurality of bit groups (i.e. 4-bit data words, ¶ [0152]); modulating the data stream into a modulated symbol stream according to a modulation rule via transform table 2940 (¶ [0153]), and generating a modulated signal based on the modulated symbol stream output by a DAC (step 2964 – Fig. 29), wherein the modulated symbol stream comprises a plurality of modulated symbols (¶ [0151]), and the modulation rule comprises: determining, in a fixed symbol period of one modulated symbol based on a value of a first bit group, a zero time point corresponding to the first bit group, wherein the zero time point is a zero crossing point of the modulated signal in the symbol period (see ¶ [0149], Fig. 28), the first bit group comprises at least one bit (i.e. 4 bits) and is one of the plurality of bit groups (¶¶ [0149]-[0156]); and sending the modulated signal (¶ [0155]).
Schultze does not expressly disclose that a head of the symbol period comprises a reserved first time interval that is free from including signal content, or a tail of the symbol period comprises a reserved second time interval that is free from including signal content.
Futatsugi discloses the use of a guard interval located at the head of a symbol period which is free from signal content as it includes zeroes (see Fig. 6, ¶ [0099]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to use a guard interval as suggested by Futatsugi, prior to a symbol period in the data transmission method of Schultze, as such guard periods reduce interference between symbols.
Regarding claim 2, in Schultze, a quantity of bits included in each of the plurality of bit groups (i.e. 4) is considered to correspond to a modulation order.
Regarding claim 3, Schultze further discloses determining, according to the modulation rule, a plurality of intervals included in the symbol period; and mapping the first bit group to a zero time point in one of the plurality of intervals (¶¶ [0149]-[0153]).
Regarding claim 5, Schultze further discloses that the modulated symbol stream comprises a plurality of modulated symbol blocks, wherein one modulated symbol block comprises M modulated symbols, a zero time point corresponding to a first modulated symbol in the modulated symbol block is located at a starting position of the one modulated symbol block, and a zero time point corresponding to a last modulated symbol in the modulated symbol block is located at an ending position of the one modulated symbol block (¶¶ [0149]-[0153], Figs. 28-29).
Regarding claim 7, Schultze teaches generating the modulated signal based on zero time points corresponding to the plurality of modulated symbols in the modulated symbol stream (¶¶ [0149]-[0156]).
Regarding claim 9, Schultze discloses a data transmission method comprising: obtaining a modulated signal (i.e. receiving a signal at RF input– Fig. 30); and determining a modulated symbol stream based on the modulated signal (via filter 3010 and ADC 3020 – ¶ [0157]-[0158]), and determining a data stream based on the modulated symbol stream and a modulation rule (via blocks 3030-3034 – ¶¶ [0159]-[0161]), wherein the modulated symbol stream comprises a plurality of modulated symbols (i.e. see Fig. 28), the data stream comprises a plurality of bit groups (i.e. 4-bit words, ¶ [0159]), and the modulation rule comprises: determining a value of a first bit group based on a zero time point of a modulated signal in a symbol period of one modulated symbol, wherein the zero time point is a zero crossing point, in the symbol period, of the modulated signal in the symbol period of one modulated symbol (see ¶ [0149], Fig. 28), the first bit group comprises at least one bit (i.e. 4 bits), and the first bit group is one of the plurality of bit groups (¶¶ [0149]-[0156]).
Schultze does not expressly disclose that a head of the symbol period comprises a reserved first time interval that is free from including signal content, or a tail of the symbol period comprises a reserved second time interval that is free from including signal content.
Futatsugi discloses the use of a guard interval located at the head of a symbol period which is free from signal content as it includes zeroes (see Fig. 6, ¶ [0099]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to use a guard interval as suggested by Futatsugi, prior to a symbol period in the data transmission method of Schultze, as such guard periods reduce interference between symbols.
Regarding claim 11, Schultze further discloses detecting an actual zero time point of the modulated signal (¶ [0158]); determining a zero time point closest to the actual zero time point on an axis via a difference measurement module 3030 (¶ [0159]); and determining a modulated symbol corresponding to the zero time point closest to the actual zero time point on the time axis (¶¶ [0159]-[0161]).
Regarding claim 12, in Schultze, a quantity of bits included in each of the plurality of bit groups (i.e. 4-bit data words – ¶ [0159]) is considered to correspond to a modulation order.
Regarding claim 13, Schultze further discloses determining a plurality of intervals comprised in the symbol period; and determining a modulated symbol corresponding to a zero time point in each of the plurality of intervals (¶¶ [0159]-[0161]).
Regarding claim 15, Schultze discloses that the modulated symbol stream comprises a plurality of modulated symbol blocks, wherein one modulated symbol block comprises M modulated symbols, a zero time point corresponding to a first modulated symbol in the modulated symbol block is located at a starting position of the one modulated symbol block, and a zero time point corresponding to a last modulated symbol in the modulated symbol block is located at an ending position of the one modulated symbol block (¶¶ [0149]-[0153], Figs. 28-29).
Regarding claim 17, Schultze discloses a data transmission apparatus comprising: a processor; and a memory having instructions stored thereon (¶ [0164]) that, when executed by the processor, cause the data transmission apparatus to: obtain a data stream (i.e. input data 2908 – Fig. 29), wherein the data stream comprises a plurality of bit groups (i.e. 4-bit data words, ¶ [0152]); modulate the data stream into a modulated symbol stream according to a modulation rule via transform table 2940 (¶ [0153]), and generate a modulated signal based on the modulated symbol stream output by a DAC (step 2964 – Fig. 29), wherein the modulated symbol stream comprises a plurality of modulated symbols (¶ [0151]), and the modulation rule comprises: determining, in a symbol period of one modulated symbol based on a value of a first bit group, a zero time point corresponding to the first bit group, wherein the zero time point is a zero crossing point of the modulated signal in the symbol period (see ¶ [0149], Fig. 28), the first bit group comprises at least one bit (i.e. 4 bits), and the first bit group is one of the plurality of bit groups (¶¶ [0149]-[0156]); and send the modulated signal (¶ [0155]).
Schultze does not expressly disclose that a head of the symbol period comprises a reserved first time interval that is free from including signal content, or a tail of the symbol period comprises a reserved second time interval that is free from including signal content.
Futatsugi discloses the use of a guard interval located at the head of a symbol period which is free from signal content as it includes zeroes (see Fig. 6, ¶ [0099]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to use a guard interval as suggested by Futatsugi, prior to a symbol period in the data transmission apparatus of Schultze, as such guard periods reduce interference between symbols.
Regarding claim 18, in Schultze, a quantity of bits included in each of the plurality of bit groups (i.e. 4) is considered to correspond to a modulation order.
Regarding claim 19, Schultze further discloses the data transmission apparatus is further caused to determine, according to the modulation rule, a plurality of intervals included in the symbol period; and map the first bit group to a zero time point in one of the plurality of intervals (¶¶ [0149]-[0153]).
Claims 6 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Schultze in view of Futatsugi et al., as applied to claims 1 and 9 above, and further in view of Malladi et al. U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2006/0221809.
Regarding claim 6, Schultze in combination with Futatsugi disclose a data transmission method as described above, and Schultze further discloses that the modulated symbol stream comprises a plurality of modulated symbol blocks, wherein one modulated symbol block comprises M modulated symbols (see ¶¶ [0149]-[0153], Figs. 28-29), but Schultze and Futatsugi do not disclose that a prefix of the modulated symbol block comprises a reserved first guard interval, or a suffix of the modulated symbol block comprises a reserved second guard interval.
Malladi discloses that a modulated symbol block includes a prefix comprising a reserved first guard interval, or a suffix of the one modulated symbol block comprises a reserved second guard interval. (see abstract, Fig. 7, ¶¶ [0130, [0136]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to use a guard interval in a prefix or a suffix of a modulated symbol block, as suggested by Malladi, in the data transmission method of Schultze and Futatsugi, in order to provide a buffering period such that the effective data included in a modulated symbol block is not lost.
Regarding claim 16, Schultze in combination with Futatsugi disclose a data transmission method as described above, and Schultze further discloses that the modulated symbol stream comprises a plurality of modulated symbol blocks, wherein one modulated symbol block comprises M modulated symbols (see ¶¶ [0149]-[0153], Figs. 28-29), but Schultze and Futatsugi do not disclose that a prefix of the modulated symbol block comprises a reserved first guard interval, or a suffix of the modulated symbol block comprises a reserved second guard interval.
Malladi discloses that a modulated symbol block includes a prefix comprising a reserved first guard interval, or a suffix of the one modulated symbol block comprises a reserved second guard interval. (see abstract, Fig. 7, ¶¶ [0130, [0136]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to use a guard interval in a prefix or a suffix of a modulated symbol block, as suggested by Malladi, in the data transmission method of Schultze, in order to provide a buffering period such that the effective data included in a modulated symbol block is not lost.
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Schultze in view of Futatsugi as applied to claim 9 above, and further in view of Maruta U.S. Pat. No. 4,684,925.
Regarding claim 10, Schultze in combination with Futatsugi disclose a data transmission method as described above, and Schultze further discloses determining the modulated symbol stream based on the modulated signal by sampling the modulated signal using an analog-to-digital converter 3020 (Fig. 30) to obtain pattern information in the symbol period (¶ [0160]); and performing pattern decision on the pattern information in the symbol period to obtain a modulated symbol corresponding to the zero time point (i.e. via difference measurement module 3030 ¶ [0161]), but Schultze and Futatsugi do not expressly disclose that the sampling performed is an oversampling.
Maruta discloses the use of an oversampling A/D converter (col. 1, ll. 60-64). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to oversample the input signal, as suggested by Maruta, in the method of Schultze and Futatsugi, in order to identify the precise zero crossing points.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 8 is 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.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/DAVID B LUGO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 26311/12/2026