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
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 7, 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by CATT “UE Wakeup Mechanisms and on Demand Access for Fnb-IoT power saving, XP051272664.
Regarding claim 7, CATT (XP051272664) teaches wireless communication method, comprising: sending configuration information (i.e., the idle mode UE is configured by the eNB with the selected combination of the beacons, page 3); wherein the configuration information is used for a terminal device to determine a configuration resource for a type of the terminal device or a terminal group to which the terminal device belongs from resources configured according to the configuration information (i.e., RFID type of electrical toll collection (ETC) system for collecting the toll of vehicles travelling on the toll road, The ETC device on the vehicle is a passive device[page 2]. In order to support UE specific on-demand access, multi-beacon backscattering technology is considered. The control logic of multi-beacon backscattering technology is to have one control logic submit 10 associate with each beacon. The eNB will transmit multiple beacons. Each beacon is in different frequency sub-band. Multiple beacons could be transmitted from the eNB in the same time interval or different time interval… For example, 10 beacons are transmitted by the eNB. If the control logic is designed to receive one distinct beacon, the system will support up to 10 IDLE mode UEs. If the control logic is designed to receive the combination of 2 distinct beacons out of 10 beacons, the NB-IOT system could support up to 45 IDLE mode UES. For the combination of 3 distinct beacons, the NB-IOT system could support 120 IDLE mode UEs [page 3]… For out-of-band wakeup signals, the UE wake mechanism could be used for not only NB-IoT devices but also other LTE UEs [page 3]).
Regarding claim 17, CATT (XP051272664) teaches communication device, comprising: a transceiver, configured to send configuration information (i.e., the idle mode UE is configured by the eNB with the selected combination of the beacons, page 3); wherein the configuration information is used for a terminal device to determine a configuration resource for a type of the terminal device or a terminal group to which the terminal device belongs from resources configured according to the configuration information (i.e., RFID type of electrical toll collection (ETC) system for collecting the toll of vehicles travelling on the toll road, The ETC device on the vehicle is a passive device[page 2]. In order to support UE specific on-demand access, multi-beacon backscattering technology is considered. The control logic of multi-beacon backscattering technology is to have one control logic submit 10 associate with each beacon. The eNB will transmit multiple beacons. Each beacon is in different frequency sub-band. Multiple beacons could be transmitted from the eNB in the same time interval or different time interval… For example, 10 beacons are transmitted by the eNB. If the control logic is designed to receive one distinct beacon, the system will support up to 10 IDLE mode UEs. If the control logic is designed to receive the combination of 2 distinct beacons out of 10 beacons, the NB-IOT system could support up to 45 IDLE mode UES. For the combination of 3 distinct beacons, the NB-IOT system could support 120 IDLE mode UEs [page 3]… For out-of-band wakeup signals, the UE wake mechanism could be used for not only NB-IoT devices but also other LTE UEs [page 3]).
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, 6, 10-12, 15, 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wood, Jr. (US 7,315,522) in view of Mahalingam et al. (US 2024/0106532).
Regarding claim 1, Wood Jr. teaches a wireless communication method, comprising: determining a type of a terminal device or a terminal group to which the terminal device belongs (i.e., the interrogator is configured to employ tree search and Aloha techniques to determine the unique identification numbers of the different wireless identification devices so as to be able to establish communications between the interrogator and individual ones of the multiple wireless identification devices without collision by multiple wireless identification devices attempting to respond to the interrogator at the same time, col. 3, lines 33-58, col. 6, lines 5-13); and sending a command signal, based on a configuration resource for the type of the terminal device or the terminal group to which the terminal device belongs (i.e., sending a query command from an interrogator to a plurality of wireless identification devices, the query command including a first set of fields comprising first bit values; each device of the plurality of devices using the first bit values to determine if the respective device belongs to a group of chosen wireless identification devices that may respond to the query command; each device of the group of chosen devices picking a respective first random slot value from a first number of slot values in response to the query command, the first number of slot values being determined using the first bit values; a first device of the group of chosen devices backscattering a first random number during a first time, the first random number generated by the first device, [claims 22, 25, 27]).
Wood does not specifically teach sending a backscattered signal or listening for a downlink signal, based on a configuration resource for the type of the terminal device.
However, the preceding limitation is known in the art of communications. Mahalingam teaches methods, and/or devices for wireless transmissions based on backscattering. A backscatter indication message (BID) is received from an access point (AP). An interrogation signal is received. In some implementations, energy is harvested from the interrogation signal... In some implementations, the interrogation signal includes a compensation signal based on channel conditions and/or based on backscattering from the WTRU ([0003]). Some implementations provide a method implemented in a wireless station STA. The STA receives a backscatter indication (BID) message that indicates a backscattering opportunity and a downlink (DL) signal strength threshold. The STA backscatters a DL transmission, received on a resource unit (RU) indicated in the BID message, to generate a backscatter transmission, based on a signal strength of the DL transmission exceeding the DL signal strength threshold ([0023]-[0024]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time of the invention to implement the backscattering communication thought by MAHALINGAM within the system of Wood Jr. in order to use an incident RF signal/waveform to (a) harvest the energy required to power its uplink transmissions; and/or (b) modulate a reflected/backscattered RF signal/waveform via a set of antenna.
Regarding claim 2, Wood Jr. in view of Mahalingam teaches all the limitations above. Mahalingam further teaches the type of the terminal device comprises a first type and a second type; the terminal group to which the terminal device belongs comprises a first terminal group and a second terminal group; at least one of the first type or the first terminal group comprises terminal devices with limited power; and at least one of the second type or the second terminal group comprises other terminal devices than the terminal devices with the limited power (i.e., a Backscattering Station (BSTA) is a device which can transmit information by backscattering a signal. In some implementations, a BSTA may include an ultra-low powered device, or Zero Energy device [0090]-[0091], other devices AP, STA [0147]-[0148], [0166]).
Regarding claim 3, Wood Jr. in view of Mahalingam teaches all the limitations above. Mahalingam further teaches the type of the terminal device comprises a first type and a second type; the terminal group to which the terminal device belongs comprises a first terminal group and a second terminal group; and the configuration resource comprises at least one of a first uplink configuration resource or a first downlink configuration resource for the first type or the first terminal group, and at least one of a second uplink configuration resource or a second downlink configuration resource for the second type or the second terminal group (i.e., a Backscattering Station (BSTA) is a device which can transmit information by backscattering a signal. In some implementations, a BSTA may include an ultra-low powered device, or Zero Energy device [0090]-[0091], other devices AP, STA [0147]-[0148], [0166]), wherein the second uplink configuration resource is configured to transmit a backscattered signal of the second type or the second terminal group, and a backscattered signal of the first type or the first terminal group; wherein the first downlink configuration resource or the second downlink configuration resource is a resource configured to transmit a specific downlink signal ([0161]-[0162], [0166]).
Regarding claim 5, Wood Jr. in view of Mahalingam teaches all the limitations above. Mahalingam further teaches upon completion of power harvesting or charging, sending the backscattered signal or listening for the downlink signal, based on the configuration resource (i.e., FIG. 10 illustrates an example system 1000 configured to determine DL channel conditions via reverse estimation. In the example of FIG. 10, a low powered BSTA 1004 uses energy harvesting to operate electronic circuitry. Here, BSTA 1004 performs energy harvesting and an AP 1006 determines the harvesting rate of BSTA 1004 [0206]); or in a case that a quantity of electric charge obtained by the terminal device is greater than or equal to a preset value, sending the backscattered signal or listening for the downlink signal based on the configuration resource (i.e., a downlink interrogating signal 1012 is received by BSTA 1004 with significantly greater power than backscattered uplink 1008. In some implementations, if receiver 1014 on the AP can estimate the downlink incident waveform, then it can implement a control feedback loop 1016 and indicate to the transmitter 1018 of the AP to compensate at the time of transmission [0176], [0206]-[0207]).
Regarding claim 6, Wood Jr. in view of Mahalingam teaches all the limitations above. Wood Jr. further teaches receiving configuration information; wherein the configuration information is used for the terminal device to determine the configuration resource for the type of the terminal device or the terminal group to which the terminal device belongs from resources configured according to the configuration information (i.e., each device of the plurality of devices using the first bit values to determine if the respective device belongs to a group of chosen wireless identification devices that may respond to the query command; each device of the group of chosen devices picking a respective first random slot value from a first number of slot values in response to the query command, the first number of slot values being determined using the first bit values; a first device of the group of chosen devices backscattering a first random number during a first time, the first random number generated by the first device, [claims 22, 25, 27]).
Regarding claim 10, Wood Jr. teaches a terminal device, comprising: a processor configured to determine a type of a terminal device or a terminal group to which the terminal device belongs (i.e., the interrogator is configured to employ tree search and Aloha techniques to determine the unique identification numbers of the different wireless identification devices so as to be able to establish communications between the interrogator and individual ones of the multiple wireless identification devices without collision by multiple wireless identification devices attempting to respond to the interrogator at the same time, col. 3, lines 33-58, col. 6, lines 5-13); and a transceiver configured to send a command signal, based on a configuration resource for the type of the terminal device or the terminal group to which the terminal device belongs (i.e., sending a query command from an interrogator to a plurality of wireless identification devices, the query command including a first set of fields comprising first bit values; each device of the plurality of devices using the first bit values to determine if the respective device belongs to a group of chosen wireless identification devices that may respond to the query command; each device of the group of chosen devices picking a respective first random slot value from a first number of slot values in response to the query command, the first number of slot values being determined using the first bit values; a first device of the group of chosen devices backscattering a first random number during a first time, the first random number generated by the first device, [claims 22, 25, 27]).
Wood does not specifically teach sending a backscattered signal or listening for a downlink signal, based on a configuration resource for the type of the terminal device.
However, the preceding limitation is known in the art of communications. Mahalingam teaches methods, and/or devices for wireless transmissions based on backscattering. A backscatter indication message (BID) is received from an access point (AP). An interrogation signal is received. In some implementations, energy is harvested from the interrogation signal... In some implementations, the interrogation signal includes a compensation signal based on channel conditions and/or based on backscattering from the WTRU ([0003]). Some implementations provide a method implemented in a wireless station STA. The STA receives a backscatter indication (BID) message that indicates a backscattering opportunity and a downlink (DL) signal strength threshold. The STA backscatters a DL transmission, received on a resource unit (RU) indicated in the BID message, to generate a backscatter transmission, based on a signal strength of the DL transmission exceeding the DL signal strength threshold ([0023]-[0024]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time of the invention to implement the backscattering communication thought by MAHALINGAM within the system of Wood Jr. in order to use an incident RF signal/waveform to (a) harvest the energy required to power its uplink transmissions; and/or (b) modulate a reflected/backscattered RF signal/waveform via a set of antenna.
Regarding claim 11, Wood Jr. in view of Mahalingam teaches all the limitations above. Mahalingam further teaches the type of the terminal device comprises a first type and a second type; the terminal group to which the terminal device belongs comprises a first terminal group and a second terminal group; at least one of the first type or the first terminal group comprises terminal devices with limited power; and at least one of the second type or the second terminal group comprises other terminal devices than the terminal devices with the limited power (i.e., a Backscattering Station (BSTA) is a device which can transmit information by backscattering a signal. In some implementations, a BSTA may include an ultra-low powered device, or Zero Energy device [0090]-[0091], other devices AP, STA [0147]-[0148], [0166]).
Regarding claim 12, Wood Jr. in view of Mahalingam teaches all the limitations above. Mahalingam further teaches the type of the terminal device comprises a first type and a second type; the terminal group to which the terminal device belongs comprises a first terminal group and a second terminal group; and the configuration resource comprises at least one of a first uplink configuration resource or a first downlink configuration resource for the first type or the first terminal group, and at least one of a second uplink configuration resource or a second downlink configuration resource for the second type or the second terminal group (i.e., a Backscattering Station (BSTA) is a device which can transmit information by backscattering a signal. In some implementations, a BSTA may include an ultra-low powered device, or Zero Energy device [0090]-[0091], other devices AP, STA [0147]-[0148], [0166]), wherein the second uplink configuration resource is configured to transmit a backscattered signal of the second type or the second terminal group, and a backscattered signal of the first type or the first terminal group; wherein the first downlink configuration resource or the second downlink configuration resource is a resource configured to transmit a specific downlink signal ([0161]-[0162], [0166]).
Regarding claim 15, Wood Jr. in view of Mahalingam teaches all the limitations above. Mahalingam further teaches upon completion of power harvesting or charging, sending the backscattered signal or listening for the downlink signal, based on the configuration resource (i.e., FIG. 10 illustrates an example system 1000 configured to determine DL channel conditions via reverse estimation. In the example of FIG. 10, a low powered BSTA 1004 uses energy harvesting to operate electronic circuitry. Here, BSTA 1004 performs energy harvesting and an AP 1006 determines the harvesting rate of BSTA 1004 [0206]); or in a case that a quantity of electric charge obtained by the terminal device is greater than or equal to a preset value, sending the backscattered signal or listening for the downlink signal based on the configuration resource (i.e., a downlink interrogating signal 1012 is received by BSTA 1004 with significantly greater power than backscattered uplink 1008. In some implementations, if receiver 1014 on the AP can estimate the downlink incident waveform, then it can implement a control feedback loop 1016 and indicate to the transmitter 1018 of the AP to compensate at the time of transmission [0176], [0206]-[0207]).
Regarding claim 16, Wood Jr. in view of Mahalingam teaches all the limitations above. Wood Jr. further teaches receive configuration information; wherein the configuration information is used for the terminal device to determine the configuration resource for the type of the terminal device or the terminal group to which the terminal device belongs from resources configured according to the configuration information (i.e., each device of the plurality of devices using the first bit values to determine if the respective device belongs to a group of chosen wireless identification devices that may respond to the query command; each device of the group of chosen devices picking a respective first random slot value from a first number of slot values in response to the query command, the first number of slot values being determined using the first bit values; a first device of the group of chosen devices backscattering a first random number during a first time, the first random number generated by the first device, [claims 22, 25, 27]).
Claim 8-9, 18-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CATT (XP051272664) in view of Mahalingam et al. (US 2024/0106532).
Regarding claim 8, CATT (XP051272664) teaches all the limitations above except the type of the terminal device comprises a first type and a second type; the terminal group to which the terminal device belongs comprises a first terminal group and a second terminal group; at least one of the first type or the first terminal group comprises terminal devices with limited power; and at least one of the second type or the second terminal group comprises other terminal devices than the terminal devices with the limited power.
However, the preceding limitation is known in the art of communications. Mahalingam teaches a Backscattering Station (BSTA) is a device which can transmit information by backscattering a signal. In some implementations, a BSTA may include an ultra-low powered device, or Zero Energy device [0090]-[0091], other devices AP, STA [0147]-[0148], [0166]… For example, in FIG. 11, the transmitted signal 1102 from the AP is depicted as amplitudes of several tones. Signal 1104 shows the actual incident signal at the BSTA, also referred to as a zero energy (ZE) device (ZE in the figure) [0207]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time of the invention to implement the technique of MAHALINGAM within the system of CATT in order to use an incident RF signal/waveform to (a) harvest the energy required to power its uplink transmissions; and/or (b) modulate a reflected/backscattered RF signal/waveform via a set of antenna loads.
Regarding claim 9, CATT (XP051272664) teaches all the limitations above. Mahalingam teaches the type of the terminal device comprises a first type and a second type; the terminal group to which the terminal device belongs comprises a first terminal group and a second terminal group; and the configuration resource comprises at least one of a first uplink configuration resource or a first downlink configuration resource for the first type or the first terminal group, and at least one of a second uplink configuration resource or a second downlink configuration resource for the second type or the second terminal group (i.e., a Backscattering Station (BSTA) is a device which can transmit information by backscattering a signal. In some implementations, a BSTA may include an ultra-low powered device, or Zero Energy device [0090]-[0091], other devices AP, STA [0147]-[0148], [0166]), wherein the second uplink configuration resource is configured to transmit a backscattered signal of the second type or the second terminal group, and a backscattered signal of the first type or the first terminal group; wherein the first downlink configuration resource or the second downlink configuration resource is a resource configured to transmit a specific downlink signal (i.e., The M U-RTSB indicates the schedule of DL for the STAs on specific RUs and indicates to the BSTAs the specific RUs that are INT_SIG. The DL transmissions to STAs on specific RUs are not interfered with. The interrogation signal INT_SIG on the specific RUs (shown as CW) is used by the BSTAs to backscatter to the AP. The AP performs in-band reception on those specific RUs. The AP transmits a power optimized waveform (POW) dedicated towards a BSTA [0161]-[0162], [0166], [0198]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time of the invention to implement the technique of MAHALINGAM within the system of CATT in order to use an incident RF signal/waveform to (a) harvest the energy required to power its uplink transmissions; and/or (b) modulate a reflected/backscattered RF signal/waveform via a set of antenna loads.
Regarding claim 18, CATT (XP051272664) teaches all the limitations above except the type of the terminal device comprises a first type and a second type; the terminal group to which the terminal device belongs comprises a first terminal group and a second terminal group; at least one of the first type or the first terminal group comprises terminal devices with limited power; and at least one of the second type or the second terminal group comprises other terminal devices than the terminal devices with the limited power.
However, the preceding limitation is known in the art of communications. Mahalingam teaches a Backscattering Station (BSTA) is a device which can transmit information by backscattering a signal. In some implementations, a BSTA may include an ultra-low powered device, or Zero Energy device [0090]-[0091], other devices AP, STA [0147]-[0148], [0166]… For example, in FIG. 11, the transmitted signal 1102 from the AP is depicted as amplitudes of several tones. Signal 1104 shows the actual incident signal at the BSTA, also referred to as a zero energy (ZE) device (ZE in the figure) [0207]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time of the invention to implement the technique of MAHALINGAM within the system of CATT in order to use an incident RF signal/waveform to (a) harvest the energy required to power its uplink transmissions; and/or (b) modulate a reflected/backscattered RF signal/waveform via a set of antenna loads.
Regarding claim 19, CATT (XP051272664) teaches all the limitations above. Mahalingam teaches the type of the terminal device comprises a first type and a second type; the terminal group to which the terminal device belongs comprises a first terminal group and a second terminal group; and the configuration resource comprises at least one of a first uplink configuration resource or a first downlink configuration resource for the first type or the first terminal group, and at least one of a second uplink configuration resource or a second downlink configuration resource for the second type or the second terminal group (i.e., a Backscattering Station (BSTA) is a device which can transmit information by backscattering a signal. In some implementations, a BSTA may include an ultra-low powered device, or Zero Energy device [0090]-[0091], other devices AP, STA [0147]-[0148], [0166]), wherein the second uplink configuration resource is configured to transmit a backscattered signal of the second type or the second terminal group, and a backscattered signal of the first type or the first terminal group; wherein the first downlink configuration resource or the second downlink configuration resource is a resource configured to transmit a specific downlink signal (i.e., The M U-RTSB indicates the schedule of DL for the STAs on specific RUs and indicates to the BSTAs the specific RUs that are INT_SIG. The DL transmissions to STAs on specific RUs are not interfered with. The interrogation signal INT_SIG on the specific RUs (shown as CW) is used by the BSTAs to backscatter to the AP. The AP performs in-band reception on those specific RUs. The AP transmits a power optimized waveform (POW) dedicated towards a BSTA [0161]-[0162], [0166], [0198]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time of the invention to implement the technique of MAHALINGAM within the system of CATT in order to use an incident RF signal/waveform to (a) harvest the energy required to power its uplink transmissions; and/or (b) modulate a reflected/backscattered RF signal/waveform via a set of antenna loads.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4, 10, 14, and 20 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JEAN ALLAND GELIN whose telephone number is (571)272-7842. The examiner can normally be reached MON-FR 9-6 PM.
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/JEAN A GELIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2643