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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Response to Amendment
Applicant's amendment filed on 5/13/2026 have been entered and fully considered. Claims 1-7 and 9-15 are amended, claims 8 and 16 are canceled, and claims 1-7 and 9-15 are currently pending.
Applicant's amendments with respect to the Abstract has been fully considered, therefore specification objection has been withdrawn.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments with respect to claims 1-7 and 9-15 have been fully considered but are moot based upon the new grounds of rejection necessitated by applicant's amendment.
Claim rejections under 35 U.S.C. 101 have been withdrawn based on applicant’s amendments and arguments.
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 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 of this title, 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 set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-7 and 9-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Alwood et al. (US 20210208232 A1 and Alwood hereinafter), in view of Lindgren et al. (US 20240053426 A1 and Lindgren hereinafter).
Regarding claim 1, Alwood teaches an apparatus for a wireless communication system (Figure 1), the apparatus comprising:
one or more processors (Paragraph 0007; a processor), and
memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the apparatus to perform (Paragraph 0007; a memory configured to store executable instructions; and a processor configured to execute the instructions to determine a three-dimensional position and three-axis angular orientation of an external RF device relative to the apparatus):
receiving antennas signals from antennas (Figures 6 and 11 and Paragraphs 0058 and 0076; Signal A from Antenna 1, Signal B from antenna 2, and Signal C from antenna 3. Paragraph 0006; at least one transmitting antenna and at least two receiving antennae) of a user apparatus (Figures 6 and 11 and Paragraph 0076; TCR HMD device 120);
determining ranges between the apparatus and the antennas of the user apparatus using the antenna signals (Paragraph 0084; baseband distance/range – A baseband code phase measurement of round-trip RF time-of-flight (TOF), which represents the relative distance between transacting TCR devices. Paragraph 0085; Carrier Phase Range (CPR)—A carrier phase measurement of the relative distance between transacting TCR devices. Paragraph 0087; Carrier Phase Difference (CPD)—A carrier phase measurement of the interferometric Phase Difference of Arrival (PDoA) of a signal received on multiple coherent receive channels of a TCR device. This phase difference can be further expressed as a Time Difference of Arrival (TDoA) or a distance difference);
determining an orientation of the user apparatus using the determined ranges (Paragraph 0077; utilize additional antennae on the Controller device(s) 110 to constrain TCR Controller device 110 angular orientation and position relative to the TCR HMD device 120. The illustrative embodiment presented herein illustrates two antennas on the TCR Controller device 110, (resulting in one CPD calculation between each pair of antennae), primarily to aid in TCR Controller device 110 angular orientation/attitude estimation. Adding additional antennae may improve position and angular orientation accuracy and computational robustness. Figure 13 and Paragraph 0159; determining 1304 a three-dimensional position and three-axis angular orientation of the TCR RF Transponder device 1210 relative to the TCR RF Originator device 1220 based on calculating a carrier phase difference (CPD) measurement of phase difference based on signals received from the TCR RF Originator device 1220 between each discrete pair of receiving antennae of the at least three receiver antennae of the TCR RF device 1220. Figure 16 and Paragraph 0173; determining 1508 a second three-dimensional position and second three-axis angular orientation of the TCR RF Origination device 1420 relative to the reference TCR RF device 1430 based on calculating a second CPD measurement of phase difference based on signals received from the TCR RF Origination device 1420 between each discrete pair of receiving antennae of the at least three receiver antennae of the reference TCR RF device 1430); and
sending the orientation to the user apparatus or to another apparatus that provides content to the user apparatus based on the orientation (Figure 13 and Paragraph 0160; rendering 1306 an image on the graphical display 1226 of the TCR RF Originator device 1220 in one a virtual reality or an augmented realty environment based on the determined three-dimensional position and three-axis angular orientation of the TCR RF Transponder device 1210 relative to the TCR RF Originator device 1220).
Alwood does not explicitly teach determining measurements between the apparatus and respective ones of the antennas of the user apparatus using the antenna signals. In an analogous art, Lindgren teaches determining measurements between the apparatus and respective ones of the antennas of the user apparatus using the antenna signals (Paragraph 0004; by using a GNSS receiver with multiple antennas, the orientation of the device can be estimated using carrier phase differential techniques with high accuracy, since the distance between the antennas is assumed to be known, the relative position of the different antennas can be used to calculate the orientation of the device. Figure 5 and Paragraphs 0070, 0072 and 0073; measurement of signal phase and amplitude in at least three antennas at each device and in at least two different directions, calculate AoA or AoD, and determine orientation of the device). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Alwood and Lindgren because it would provide estimation of user device orientation with high accuracy (Lindgren, Paragraph 0004).
Regarding claim 2, the combination of Alwood and Lindgren teaches all of the limitations of claim 1, as described above. Further, Alwood teaches wherein the apparatus is caused to perform the determining of the ranges using at least one of the following: carrier-phase measurements or code-phase measurements (Paragraphs 0044 and 0045; using an IMU on the TCR Controller device 110 or optionally using a IMU on the TCR HMD device 120 improves position and orientation/attitude tracking through aiding the fusion filter and TCR carrier phase measurement unwrap. Paragraphs 0084 and 0085; a baseband code phase measurement of round-trip RF time-of-flight, and carrier phase range (CPR) – a carrier phase measurement of the relative distance between transacting TCR devices).
Regarding claim 3, the combination of Alwood and Lindgren teaches all of the limitations of claim 1, as described above. Further, Alwood teaches wherein the apparatus is caused to repeatedly perform the receiving of antenna signals (Figure 1 and Paragraph 0083; an TCR Originator 100 broadcasts a preamble and data payload 130 which a TCR Transponder 110 observes, receives, and processes. The TCR Transponder 110 then responds with its own preamble and data payload 140 containing data products from its observations on the original transmission from the TCR Originator 100 and other data products. The TCR Originator 100 observes and receives TCR Transponder 110 transmission 140, makes its own data products from its observations, and reports the following measurements), the determining of the ranges (Paragraphs 0084 and 0085; a baseband code phase measurement and/or a carrier phase measurement) and the determining of the orientation (Figure 1 and Paragraphs 0009 and 0034; tracks and determines a position and orientation of an RF device).
Regarding claim 4, the combination of Alwood and Lindgren teaches all of the limitations of claim 1, as described above. Further, Alwood teaches wherein the apparatus is caused to perform the determining of the ranges (Paragraphs 0044; using an IMU on the TCR Controller device 110 or optionally using a IMU on the TCR HMD device 120 improves position and orientation/attitude tracking through aiding the fusion filter and TCR carrier phase measurement unwrap) using a configuration of the user apparatus (Figures 6 and 11, and Paragraphs 0056 and 0078; optimize the antennae configuration. Paragraph 0053; the TCR HMD device include four antennae with known geometric configuration), the configuration indicating at least one of the following: a body frame of the user apparatus or positions of the antennas with respect to a center point of rotation of the user apparatus (Paragraphs 0064, 0072 and 0074; baseline between the phase centers of the two antennas performing the CPD [carrier phase difference] measurements. Alternatively, the direct measurement of CPD can also be consumed as an aiding measurement as part of the larger position and orientation tracking filter).
Regarding claim 5, the combination of Alwood and Lindgren teaches all of the limitations of claim 4, as described above. Further, Alwood teaches wherein the memory stores further instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the apparatus to further perform receiving the configuration from the user apparatus (Paragraphs 0064, 0072 and 0074; baseline between the phase centers of the two antennas performing the CPD [carrier phase difference] measurements. Figures 6 and 11 and Paragraphs 0056 and 0078; optimize the antennae configuration).
Regarding claim 6, the combination of Alwood and Lindgren teaches all of the limitations of claim 1, as described above. Further, Alwood teaches twherein the apparatus is caused to perform the receiving of the antenna signals simultaneously, concurrently or quasi concurrently (Figures 6 and 11, and Paragraph 0058; Figures 6 and 11 and Paragraph 0058; Signal A from Antenna 1, Signal B from antenna 2, and Signal C from antenna 3).
Regarding claim 7, the combination of Alwood and Lindgren teaches all of the limitations of claim 1, as described above. Further, Alwood teaches wherein the memory stores further instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the apparatus to further perform determining a location of the user apparatus using the determined ranges (Paragraphs 0044 and 0045; using an IMU on the TCR Controller device 110 or optionally using a IMU on the TCR HMD device 120 improves position and orientation/attitude tracking through aiding the fusion filter and TCR carrier phase measurement unwrap. Paragraphs 0084 and 0085; a baseband code phase measurement of round-trip RF time-of-flight, and carrier phase range (CPR) – a carrier phase measurement of the relative distance between transacting TCR devices).
Regarding claim 9, the combination of Alwood and Lindgren teaches all of the limitations of claim 1, as described above. Further, Alwood teaches wherein the orientation comprises a relative orientation or absolute orientation (Paragraphs 0044 and 0045; using an IMU on the TCR Controller device 110 or optionally using a IMU on the TCR HMD device 120 improves position and orientation/attitude tracking through aiding the fusion filter and TCR carrier phase measurement unwrap).
Regarding claim 10, the combination of Alwood and Lindgren teaches all of the limitations of claim 1, as described above. Further, Alwood teaches wherein the apparatus is caused to perform the receiving of the antenna signals through a radio interface or a direct link interface (Figure 6 and 0053; CPD can be calculated based on RF signals received between the first Tx/RX antenna and second RX antenna).
Regarding claim 11, the combination of Alwood and Lindgren teaches all of the limitations of claim 1, as described above. Further, Alwood teaches wherein the memory stores further instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the apparatus to further perform sending the determined ranges to the user apparatus (Paragraph 0083; an TCR Originator 100 broadcasts a preamble and data payload 130 which a TCR Transponder 110 observes, receives, and processes. The TCR Transponder 110 then responds with its own preamble and data payload 140 containing data products from its observations on the original transmission from the TCR Originator 100 and other data products. The TCR Originator 100 observes and receives TCR Transponder 110 transmission 140, makes its own data products from its observations, and reports the following measurements. Paragraphs 0084-0088; CPR, CPV, CPD and/or TDR measurements).
Regarding claim 12, claim 12 recites similar features as claim 1, therefore is rejected for at least the same reason as discussed above regarding claim 1. Further, Alwood teaches receiving a signal from another apparatus at multiple antennas of the user apparatus, resulting in multiple antenna signals (Figures 6 and 11 and Paragraphs 0058 and 0076; Signal A from Antenna 1, Signal B from antenna 2, and Signal C from antenna 3. Paragraph 0006; at least one transmitting antenna and at least two receiving antennae).
Regarding claim 13, the combination of Alwood and Lindgren teaches all of the limitations of claim 12, as described above. Further, Alwood teaches wherein the received signal comprises a Positioning Reference Signal (Figure 14 and Paragraph 0167; a position and orientation of the TCR Transponder device 1420 is calculated relative to a reference frame of the TCR Originator device 1410).
Regarding claim 14, claim 14 recites similar features as claim 1, therefore is rejected for at least the same reason as discussed above regarding claim 1. Further, Alwood teaches receiving a signal from another apparatus (Figures 6 and 11 and Paragraph 0058; Signal A from Antenna 1, Signal B from antenna 2, and Signal C from antenna 3) at multiple antennas of the user apparatus (Figures 6 and 11 and Paragraphs 0058 and 0076; antenna 1, 2, and 3. Paragraph 0006; at least one transmitting antenna and at least two receiving antennae. Paragraph 0053; the TCR HMD device include four antennae with known geometric configuration), resulting in multiple antenna signals (Figures 6 and 11 and Paragraph 0058; Signal A from Antenna 1, Signal B from antenna 2, and Signal C from antenna 3);
sending the determined ranges to the other apparatus (Paragraph 0083; an TCR Originator 100 broadcasts a preamble and data payload 130 which a TCR Transponder 110 observes, receives, and processes. The TCR Transponder 110 then responds with its own preamble and data payload 140 containing data products from its observations on the original transmission from the TCR Originator 100 and other data products. The TCR Originator 100 observes and receives TCR Transponder 110 transmission 140, makes its own data products from its observations, and reports the following measurements. Paragraphs 0084-0088; CPR, CPV, CPD and/or TDR measurements) for determining by the other apparatus an orientation of the user apparatus using the sent ranges (Paragraph 0077; utilize additional antennae on the Controller device(s) 110 to constrain TCR Controller device 110 angular orientation and position relative to the TCR HMD device 120. The illustrative embodiment presented herein illustrates two antennas on the TCR Controller device 110, (resulting in one CPD calculation between each pair of antennae), primarily to aid in TCR Controller device 110 angular orientation/attitude estimation. Adding additional antennae may improve position and angular orientation accuracy and computational robustness. Figure 13 and Paragraph 0159; determining 1304 a three-dimensional position and three-axis angular orientation of the TCR RF Transponder device 1210 relative to the TCR RF Originator device 1220 based on calculating a carrier phase difference (CPD) measurement of phase difference based on signals received from the TCR RF Originator device 1220 between each discrete pair of receiving antennae of the at least three receiver antennae of the TCR RF device 1220. Figure 16 and Paragraph 0173; determining 1508 a second three-dimensional position and second three-axis angular orientation of the TCR RF Origination device 1420 relative to the reference TCR RF device 1430 based on calculating a second CPD measurement of phase difference based on signals received from the TCR RF Origination device 1420 between each discrete pair of receiving antennae of the at least three receiver antennae of the reference TCR RF device 1430);
receiving the orientation of the user apparatus from the other apparatus (Paragraph 0083; an TCR Originator 100 broadcasts a preamble and data payload 130 which a TCR Transponder 110 observes, receives, and processes. The TCR Transponder 110 then responds with its own preamble and data payload 140 containing data products from its observations on the original transmission from the TCR Originator 100 and other data products. The TCR Originator 100 observes and receives TCR Transponder 110 transmission 140, makes its own data products from its observations, and reports the following measurements. Paragraphs 0084-0088; CPR, CPV, CPD and/or TDR measurements); and
providing content based on the received orientation (Figure 13 and Paragraph 0160; rendering 1306 an image on the graphical display 1226 of the TCR RF Originator device 1220 in one a virtual reality or an augmented realty environment based on the determined three-dimensional position and three-axis angular orientation of the TCR RF Transponder device 1210 relative to the TCR RF Originator device 1220)
Regarding claim 15, the combination of Alwood and Lindgren teaches all of the limitations of claim 14, as described above. Further, Alwood teaches wherein the received signal comprises a Positioning Reference Signal (Figure 14 and Paragraph 0167; a position and orientation of the TCR Transponder device 1420 is calculated relative to a reference frame of the TCR Originator device 1410).
Pertinent Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Ahmed et al. (US 20220303680 A1) discloses first device may receive audio signals corresponding to the second device, and can render the audio signals into audio output to a user of the first device according to the determined orientation.
Kana et al. (US 20220075082 A1) disclose estimating attitude and heading are provided. The systems and methods utilize carrier phase single difference (CSD) measurements or carrier phase double difference (CDD) measurements and a validation test for CSD or CDD measurement residuals.
Cha et al. (US 20220132463 A1) discloses various embodiments in determining a device positioning and orientation.
Akkarakaran et al. (US 20190369201 A1) discloses utilizes beamformed communication to determine position and orientation of device.
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Jing Gao whose telephone number is (571)270-7226. The examiner can normally be reached on 9am - 6pm M-F.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor Alison Slater can be reached on (571) 270-0375. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JING GAO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2647
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