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 .
Priority
Examiner acknowledges no foreign priority is claimed.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement(s) (IDS) submitted on 11/3/2023 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement(s) is/are being considered if signed and initialed by the Examiner.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 1/8/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Argument: Regarding amended independent claims 1, 9 and 17, the applicant argues that phase shifted radar signals are combined and the resulting compressed radar signal is provided to an ADC for conversion to a digital signal. The applicant argues that cited Krutsch (‘882), phase-coding and compression are performed after the received radar signals are converted to digital signals. Krutsch (‘882) does not disclose to teach phase shifting received radar signals and combining the phase-shifted radar signals to generate a compressed radar signal prior to providing the compressed radar signal to an ADC, per amended claims 1, 9 and 17.
Response: The Examiner disagrees. Claim amendment has changed the scope of invention. Independent claims 1, 9 and 17 are now rejected with Lynch et al. (US 2015/0160335 A1).
Amendment to claims 1 and 9 overcomes corresponding 101 rejections.
Cancellation of claims 7, 14 and 20 has been acknowledged.
Amendment to claims 1-3, 6, 9-10, 13, 17-19 and 21-23 has been acknowledged.
Claim Interpretation
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The claims in this application are given their broadest reasonable interpretation using the plain meaning of the claim language in light of the specification as it would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim element (also commonly referred to as a claim limitation) is limited by the description in the specification when 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is invoked.
As explained in MPEP § 2181, subsection I, claim limitations that meet the following three-prong test will be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
(A) the claim limitation uses the term “means” or “step” or a term used as a substitute for “means” that is a generic placeholder (also called a nonce term or a non-structural term having no specific structural meaning) for performing the claimed function;
(B) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is modified by functional language, typically, but not always linked by the transition word “for” (e.g., “means for”) or another linking word or phrase, such as “configured to” or “so that”; and
(C) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is not modified by sufficient structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function.
Use of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim with functional language creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites sufficient structure, material, or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Absence of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is not to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is not interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites function without reciting sufficient structure, material or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Claim limitations in this application that use the word “means” (or “step”) are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action. Conversely, claim limitations in this application that do not use the word “means” (or “step”) are not being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action.
This application includes one or more claim limitations that do not use the word “means,” but are nonetheless being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because the claim limitation(s) uses a generic placeholder that is coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to perform the recited function and the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier. Such claim limitation(s) is/are:
Claim 9: a first coding circuit…configured to
Claim 9: a second coding circuit…configured to
Claim 9: a coding control circuit configured to
Claim 9: a summation circuit configured to
A specialized function must be supported in the specification by the computer and the algorithm that the computer uses to perform the claimed specialized function.
The following have been identified as the structure for the first coding circuit, the second coding circuit, the coding control circuit, the summation circuit:
¶[0021-25] of the published specification provides an algorithm that accomplishes the claimed function associated with the claimed first coding circuit 250(1), 450(1) and Figures 2, 3AB, 4-6 discloses the compressive multiplexing system on which the algorithm/function/process is processed. Therefore, there is sufficient structure for the first coding circuit.
¶[0021-25] of the published specification provides an algorithm that accomplishes the claimed function associated with the second coding circuit 250(2), 450(2) and Figures 2, 3AB, 4-6 discloses the compressive multiplexing system on which the algorithm/function/process is processed. Therefore there is sufficient structure for the second coding circuit.
¶[0021-26] of the published specification provides an algorithm that accomplishes the claimed function associated with the coding control circuit 270, 470 and Figures 2, 3AB, 4-6 discloses the compressive multiplexing system on which the algorithm/function/process is processed. Therefore there is sufficient structure for the coding control circuit.
¶[0021-26] of the published specification provides an algorithm that accomplishes the claimed function associated with the summation circuit 370, 670 and Figures 2, 3AB, 4-6 discloses the compressive multiplexing system on which the algorithm/function/process is processed. Therefore there is sufficient structure for the summation circuit.
Because this/these claim limitation(s) is/are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, it/they is/are being interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof.
If applicant does not intend to have this/these limitation(s) interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, applicant may: (1) amend the claim limitation(s) to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph (e.g., by reciting sufficient structure to perform the claimed function); or (2) present a sufficient showing that the claim limitation(s) recite(s) sufficient structure to perform the claimed function so as to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph.
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 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.
For applicant’s benefit portions of the cited reference(s) have been cited to aid in the review of the rejection(s). While every attempt has been made to be thorough and consistent within the rejection it is noted that the PRIOR ART MUST BE CONSIDERED IN ITS ENTIRETY, INCLUDING DISCLOSURES THAT TEACH AWAY FROM THE CLAIMS. See MPEP 2141.02 VI.
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 1-2, 4-5, 9-13, 17, 19 and 21-23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Lynch et al. (US 2015/0160335 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Lynch et al. (‘335) anticipates “a method (paragraph 6: a method and apparatus for processing Coded Aperture Radar mixer output signal), comprising:
receiving respective radar signals from a plurality of antennas (paragraph 22: Figure 1: the transmitted signal 9 covers a field of view (FOV) and energy is scattered from one or more objects within the FOV, which scattered energy 8 is received by an array of receiving radar antenna elements 12 associated with a radar receiver);
processing the respective radar signals based on a coding sequence that includes a plurality of respective phase shifts to generate respective coded radar signals (paragraph 23: each of the received signals is phase shifted (modulated) by either zero or 180 degrees by one of a plurality of binary (1-bit) phase shifters 10 each of which preferably located near or immediately adjacent an associated one of the antenna elements 12…the received scattered signals are thusly phase shifted (or not) depending on the state of a control word, a bit of which is applied to each binary phase shifter 10 (thus controlling whether it performs a 180 degree phase shift (or not) on the received scattered signals)…the phase shifted signals downstream of the phase shifters 18 are then summed at 14 to a single RF output port…the control word may be called an aperture code and thus the phase shifted signals downstream of the phase shifters 18 may be referred to as being "aperture coded"); and
combining the respective coded radar signals to generate a compressed radar signal (paragraph 23: the RF signal at the RF output port of the summer 14 may be first amplified by an optional low noise amplifier (LNA) and then down-converted (preferably to baseband) by a mixer 16);
converting the compressed radar signal into digital compressed radar data (paragraph 23: digitized by Analog to Digital Convertor (ADC) 18); and
providing the compressed radar data to a digital signal processor (DSP) for use in detecting objects (paragraph 56: a central processor unit (CPU) may be used to processes the data from all of the elements to synthesize beams in the desired directions and (often) utilizes FFTs to provide range/velocity information).”
Regarding Claim 2, which is dependent on independent claim 1, Lynch et al. (‘335) anticipates the method of claim 1. Lynch et al. (‘335) further anticipates “the respective coded radar signals are orthogonal or quasi-orthogonal to one another (paragraph 13:CAR coding on receive; paragraph 25: codes being mutually orthogonal; paragraph 52: choose the square coding matrix to be orthogonal; paragraph 54: orthogonal coding matrix).”
Regarding Claim 4, which is dependent on independent claim 1, Lynch et al. (‘335) anticipates the method of claim 1. Lynch et al. (‘335) further anticipates “applying the respective phase shifts using at least one of respective group delay filters, respective phase shifting inverters, or respective phase shifters (paragraph 23: Figure 1: each of the received signals is phase shifted (modulated) by either zero or 180 degrees by one of a plurality of binary (1-bit) phase shifters 10 each of which preferably located near or immediately adjacent an associated one of the antenna elements 12…the received scattered signals are thusly phase shifted (or not) depending on the state of a control word, a bit of which is applied to each binary phase shifter 10 (thus controlling whether it performs a 180 degree phase shift (or not) on the received scattered signals)…the phase shifted signals downstream of the phase shifters 18 are then summed at 14 to a single RF output port in the depicted embodiment…the control word may be called an aperture code and thus the phase shifted signals downstream of the phase shifters 18 may be referred to as being "aperture coded" herein).”
Regarding Claim 5, which is dependent on independent claim 1, Lynch et al. (‘335) anticipates the method of claim 1. Lynch et al. (‘335) further anticipates “for each respective radar signal, applying the respective phase shift to a local oscillator signal used to down-convert the respective received radar signal to an intermediate frequency (paragraph 23: the RF signal at the RF output port of the summer 14 may be first amplified by an optional low noise amplifier (LNA) and then down-converted (preferably to baseband) by a mixer 16).”
Regarding independent claim 9, which is a corresponding system claim of independent method claim 1, Lynch et al. (‘335) anticipates all the claimed invention as shown above for claim 1. Lynch et al. (‘335) further anticipates “a first receive chain, comprising a first coding circuit, “a second receive chain, comprising a second coding circuit (paragraph 23: each of the received signals is phase shifted (modulated) by either zero or 180 degrees by one of a plurality of binary (1-bit) phase shifters 10 each of which preferably located near or immediately adjacent an associated one of the antenna elements 12…the received scattered signals are thusly phase shifted (or not) depending on the state of a control word, a bit of which is applied to each binary phase shifter 10 (thus controlling whether it performs a 180 degree phase shift (or not) on the received scattered signals)…the phase shifted signals downstream of the phase shifters 18 are then summed at 14 to a single RF output port in the depicted embodiment. The control word may be called an aperture code and thus the phase shifted signals downstream of the phase shifters 18 may be referred to as being "aperture coded" herein)”, “a coding control circuit (paragraph 23: Figure 1: each of the received signals is phase shifted (modulated) by either zero or 180 degrees by one of a plurality of binary (1-bit) phase shifters 10 each of which preferably located near or immediately adjacent an associated one of the antenna elements 12…the received scattered signals are thusly phase shifted (or not) depending on the state of a control word, a bit of which is applied to each binary phase shifter 10 (thus controlling whether it performs a 180 degree phase shift (or not) on the received scattered signals)…the phase shifted signals downstream of the phase shifters 18 are then summed at 14 to a single RF output port…The control word may be called an aperture code and thus the phase shifted signals downstream of the phase shifters 18 may be referred to as being "aperture coded" herein))” and “a summation circuit (paragraph 23: the RF signal at the RF output port of the summer 14 may be first amplified by an optional low noise amplifier (LNA) and then down-converted (preferably to baseband) by a mixer 16).”
Regarding Claim 10, which is dependent on independent claim 9, and which is a corresponding system claim of method claim 2, Lynch et al. (‘335) anticipates all the claimed invention as shown above for claim 2.
Regarding Claim 11, which is dependent on independent claim 9, and which is a corresponding system claim of method claim 4, Lynch et al. (‘335) anticipates all the claimed invention as shown above for claim 4.
Regarding Claim 12, which is dependent on independent claim 9, Lynch et al. (‘335) anticipates “the first coding circuit is coupled between an LO signal splitter and a first local oscillator circuit that generates a signal used for down-converting the first received radar signal (Figure 3c: phase shifters, mixer 16, oscillator 11a, paragraph 23: each of the received signals is phase shifted (modulated) by either zero or 180 degrees by one of a plurality of binary (1-bit) phase shifters 10 each of which preferably located near or immediately adjacent an associated one of the antenna elements 12…the received scattered signals are thusly phase shifted (or not) depending on the state of a control word, a bit of which is applied to each binary phase shifter 10 (thus controlling whether it performs a 180 degree phase shift (or not) on the received scattered signals)…the RF signal at the RF output port of the summer 14 may be first amplified by an optional low noise amplifier (LNA) and then down-converted (preferably to baseband) by a mixer 16 and digitized by a Analog to Digital Convertor (ADC) 18), and
the second coding circuit is coupled between the LO signal splitter and a second local oscillator circuit that generates a signal used for down-converting the second received radar signal (Figure 3c: phase shifters, mixer 16, oscillator 11a, paragraph 23: each of the received signals is phase shifted (modulated) by either zero or 180 degrees by one of a plurality of binary (1-bit) phase shifters 10 each of which preferably located near or immediately adjacent an associated one of the antenna elements 12…the received scattered signals are thusly phase shifted (or not) depending on the state of a control word, a bit of which is applied to each binary phase shifter 10 (thus controlling whether it performs a 180 degree phase shift (or not) on the received scattered signals)…the RF signal at the RF output port of the summer 14 may be first amplified by an optional low noise amplifier (LNA) and then down-converted (preferably to baseband) by a mixer 16 and digitized by a Analog to Digital Convertor (ADC) 18).”
Regarding Claim 13, which is dependent on independent claim 9, Lynch et al. (‘335) anticipates the compressive multiplexing system of claim 9. Lynch et al. (‘335) further anticipates “the first coding circuit is coupled between an output of a first mixer circuit that down-converts the first received radar signal to an intermediate frequency and the ADC (Figure 3c), and
the second coding circuit is coupled between an output of a second mixer circuit that down-converts the second received radar signal to an intermediate frequency and the ADC (Figure 3c).”
Regarding independent Claim 17, Lynch et al. (‘335) anticipates “a radio frequency (RF) circuit (paragraph 6: a method and apparatus for processing Coded Aperture Radar mixer output signal), comprising:
a plurality of respective receive chains coupled to a respective plurality of receive antenna connections (paragraph 22: Figure 1: the transmitted signal 9 covers a field of view (FOV) and energy is scattered from one or more objects within the FOV, which scattered energy 8 is received by an array of receiving radar antenna elements 12 associated with a radar receiver),
wherein each respective receive chain comprises a coding circuit configured to apply a phase shift to a received radar signal to generate a coded radar signal (paragraph 23: each of the received signals is phase shifted (modulated) by either zero or 180 degrees by one of a plurality of binary (1-bit) phase shifters 10 each of which preferably located near or immediately adjacent an associated one of the antenna elements 12…the received scattered signals are thusly phase shifted (or not) depending on the state of a control word, a bit of which is applied to each binary phase shifter 10 (thus controlling whether it performs a 180 degree phase shift (or not) on the received scattered signals)…the phase shifted signals downstream of the phase shifters 18 are then summed at 14 to a single RF output port…the control word may be called an aperture code and thus the phase shifted signals downstream of the phase shifters 18 may be referred to as being "aperture coded");
a coding control circuit coupled to each respective coding circuit, the coding control circuit configured to provide an indication of the phase shift to the coding circuit (paragraph 23: Figure 1: each of the received signals is phase shifted (modulated) by either zero or 180 degrees by one of a plurality of binary (1-bit) phase shifters 10 each of which preferably located near or immediately adjacent an associated one of the antenna elements 12…the received scattered signals are thusly phase shifted (or not) depending on the state of a control word, a bit of which is applied to each binary phase shifter 10 (thus controlling whether it performs a 180 degree phase shift (or not) on the received scattered signals)…the phase shifted signals downstream of the phase shifters 18 are then summed at 14 to a single RF output port in the depicted embodiment. The control word may be called an aperture code and thus the phase shifted signals downstream of the phase shifters 18 may be referred to as being "aperture coded" herein)); and
a summation circuit comprising respective inputs coupled to respective outputs of respective coding circuits (paragraph 23: the RF signal at the RF output port of the summer 14 may be first amplified by an optional low noise amplifier (LNA) and then down-converted (preferably to baseband) by a mixer 16) and
an output coupled to an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) (paragraph 23: digitized by Analog to Digital Convertor (ADC) 18); and
an output interface coupled to the output of the ADC (paragraph 56: a central processor unit (CPU) may be used to processes the data from all of the elements to synthesize beams in the desired directions and (often) utilizes FFTs to provide range/velocity information).”
Regarding Claim 21, which is dependent on independent claim 17, Lynch et al. (‘335) anticipates the RF circuit of claim 17. Krutsch et al. (‘882) further anticipates “the coding circuit comprises at least one of a phase shifter, a group delay filter, or a phase shifting inverter (paragraph 12: receiving and modulating the radar signals reflected from the one or more objects by plurality of binary phase shifters to produce a set of modulated signals, the binary phase shifters being controlled by binary coding data).”
Regarding Claim 22, which is dependent on independent claim 17, Lynch et al. (‘335) anticipates the RF circuit of claim 17. Krutsch et al. (‘882) further anticipates “the summation circuit comprises at least one of an analog coupler (paragraph 23: The phase shifted signals downstream of the phase shifters 18 are then summed at 14 to a single RF output port).”
Regarding Claim 23, which is dependent on independent claim 17, and which is a corresponding device claim of method claim 2, Lynch et al. (‘335) anticipates all the claimed invention as shown above for claim 2.
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.
The factual inquiries 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.
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lynch et al. (US 2015/0160335 A1), and further in view of Heller et al. (US 2022/0006432 A1).
Regarding Claim 6, which is dependent on independent claim 1, Lynch et al. (‘335) discloses the method of claim 1. Lynch et al. (‘335) further discloses “for each respective received radar signal, down-converting the respective received radar signal to generate an intermediate frequency (IF) radar signal (paragraph 23: the RF signal at the RF output port of the summer 14 may be first amplified by an optional low noise amplifier (LNA) and then down-converted (preferably to baseband) by a mixer 16).”
Lynch et al. (‘335) does not explicitly disclose “applying a phase shift of the respective phase shifts to the IF radar signal.”
Heller et al. (‘432) relates to radar system. Heller et al. (‘432) teaches ““applying a phase shift of the respective phase shifts to the IF radar signal (paragraph 25: Figure 4: a multi-input digital beamforming receiver array 400 with antenna multiplexing …phase shifters 402, 409 modulate the oscillation signal 407 using orthogonal phase codes, supplying the modulated oscillation signal to the LO inputs 406, 408 of each mixer pair 410 to down convert the received signals to intermediate frequency (IF)…the orthogonal phase coding provides code division multiplexing, so that the down converted intermediate frequency (IF) signals 416, 417 are later separable, enabling determination of each receive contribution…the IF signals 416, 417 are summed, and then sampled by the analog-to-digital converter (ADC) 404).”
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill-in-the-art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Lynch et al. (‘335) with the teaching of Heller et al. (‘432) for more efficient processing radar signals (Heller et al. (‘432) – paragraph 25). In addition, both of the prior art references, (Lynch et al. (‘335) and Heller et al. (‘432)) teach features that are directed to analogous art and they are directed to the same field of endeavor, such as, processing radar data utilizing multiplexing scheme.
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lynch et al. (US 2015/0160335 A1), and further in view of Roger et al. (US 2021/0364622 A1).
Regarding claim 8, which is dependent on independent claim 1, Lynch et al. (‘335) discloses the method of claim 1. Lynch et al. (‘335) does not explicitly disclose “the respective phase shifts are based on Doppler Division Multiplexing Scheme, Hadamard coding, or pseudo random phase multiplexing coding.”
Roger et al. (‘622) relates to radar applications. Roger et al. (‘622) teaches “the respective phase shifts are based on Doppler Division Multiplexing Scheme, Hadamard coding, or pseudo random phase multiplexing coding (paragraph 348: the radar receiving system may use various modulation types such as TDM (Time Division Multiplexing), CDM (Code Division Multiplexing) or DDM (Doppler Division Multiplexing)).”
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill-in-the-art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Lynch et al. (‘335) with the teaching of Roger et al. (‘622) for more efficient processing radar signals (Roger et al. (‘622) – paragraph 7). In addition, both of the prior art references, (Lynch et al. (‘335) and Roger et al. (‘622)) teach features that are directed to analogous art and they are directed to the same field of endeavor, such as, processing radar data utilizing multiplexing scheme.
Claims 18-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lynch et al. (US 2015/0160335 A1), and further in view of Zivkovic et al. (US 2017/0248686 A1).
Regarding claim 18, which is dependent on independent claim 17, Lynch et al. (‘335) discloses the radio frequency (RF) circuit of claim 17. Lynch et al. (‘335) further discloses “a local oscillator signal splitter (Figure 3c); and wherein an input of the respective coding circuits are coupled to the local oscillator signal splitter (Figure 3c), and each respective receive chain comprises a mixer circuit comprising a first input, a second input, and an output (Figure 3c: mixer 16 comprising two inputs and an output), the mixer circuit connected by the first input to a respective receive antenna connection (Figure 3c: mixer 16 connected to antenna elements 10).”
Lynch et al. (‘335) does not explicitly disclose “the mixer circuit connected, by the second input to the output of the coding circuit, and by the output to a respective input of the summation circuit.”
Zivkovic et al. (‘686) relates to radar system. Zivkovic et al. (‘686) teaches “the mixer circuit connected, by the second input to the output of the coding circuit, and by the output to a respective input of the summation circuit, and the output of the summation circuit is coupled to an analog-to-digital converter (Figure 5: coding circuit 550(1), 550(2), Summation Circuit 550).”
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill-in-the-art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the compressive multiplexing system of Lynch et al. (‘335) with the teaching of Zivkovic et al. (‘686) for more reliable radar signal processing. In addition, both of the prior art references, (Lynch et al. (‘335) and Zivkovic et al. (‘686)) teach features that are directed to analogous art and they are directed to the same field of endeavor, such as, processing radar data utilizing multiplexing scheme.
Regarding claim 19, which is dependent on independent claim 17, Lynch et al. (‘335) discloses the radio frequency (RF) circuit of claim 17. Lynch et al. (‘335) further discloses “each respective receive chain comprises a mixer circuit having a first input, a second input, and an output (Figure 3c: mixer 16 comprising two inputs and an output), the mixer circuit connected by the first input to a respective receive antenna connection (Figure 3c: mixer 16 connected to antenna elements 10), by the second input to a local oscillator signal splitter (Figure 3c).” Lynch et al. (‘335) does not explicitly disclose “by the output to the coding circuit, an output of the coding circuit is coupled to a respective input of the summation circuit, and the output of the summation circuit is coupled to an input of an ADC.”
Zivkovic et al. (‘686) relates to radar system. Zivkovic et al. (‘686) teaches “by the output to the coding circuit, an output of the coding circuit is coupled to a respective input of the summation circuit (Figure 5: coding circuit 550(1), 550(2), Summation Circuit 550).”
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill-in-the-art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the compressive multiplexing system of Lynch et al. (‘335) with the teaching of Zivkovic et al. (‘686) for more reliable radar signal processing. In addition, both of the prior art references, (Lynch et al. (‘335) and Zivkovic et al. (‘686)) teach features that are directed to analogous art and they are directed to the same field of endeavor, such as, processing radar data utilizing multiplexing scheme.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 3 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.
Allowable subject matter:
“the respective received radar signals are down-converted based on an LO signal including a sequence of frequency ramps, the method further comprising applying the respective phase shifts based on a respective coding sequence having a length of MxN, wherein M is a number of phase shifts performed per frequency ramp and N is a number of frequency ramps coded by the respective coding sequence.”
Claim 15 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.
Allowable Subject Matter:
“the first received radar signal and the second received radar signal are down-converted based on an LO signal including a sequence of frequency ramps, further wherein the first coding sequence and the second coding sequence have a length of MxN, wherein M is a number of phase shifts performed per frequency ramp and N is a number of frequency ramps coded by the respective coding sequence.”
Closest Prior art found to be:
Krutsch et al. (US 2024/0230882 A1) describes the RX circuitry 220 includes an RX chain including low noise amplifier 322-1 to amplify the radar signal received at reception antenna 128-1 and mixer 324-1 to mix the amplified signal with signal generated by the transmit signal generation circuitry 302 to generate an intermediate frequency (IF) signal (Figure 3; paragraph 28).
Citation of Pertinent Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Rogers et al. (US 10,502,824 B2) describes a transmitter circuit for a FMCW radar sensor is described herein. In accordance with one exemplary embodiment, the transmitter circuit includes an RF oscillator that operably generates a frequency-modulated RF transmit signal, wherein the RF transmit signal is composed of at least one sequence of consecutive chirp pulses, in which randomly selected chirps pulses are blanked…a method for a radar transmitter is described herein…generating an RF transmit signal composed of at least one sequence of consecutive chirp pulses, in which randomly selected chirp pulses are blanked, and radiating the RF transmit signal via at least one antenna as radar signal (column 1 lines 54-66).
Krutsch et al. (US 2024/0230882 A1) describes (the radar front end chip in each of the radar sensors includes a plurality of encoders, each encoder of the plurality of encoders to receive a digitized radar signal and to encode the digitized radar signal with a phase code to generate one of a plurality of phase-coded digitized radar signals (paragraph 5); receiving a plurality of radar signals at a plurality of reception antennas based on reflections from radar signals transmitted from a plurality of transmission antennas associated with the plurality of reception antennas (paragraph 8); the radar sensor also includes a plurality of reception antennas that are arranged in subsets (which may include one or more reception antennas) to receive the reflected radar signals. Each subset of the plurality of reception antennas, therefore, provides one of a plurality of received radar data streams (paragraph 17); the DSP further includes a combiner that combines the plurality of digitally encoded radar data streams into a single radar data stream for transmission to a central radar processor over an interface …the DSP includes additional compression circuitry such as Huffman block-based compression components to further compress the single radar data stream prior to transmission to the central radar processor; paragraph 25: the DSP 240 combines all of the now-digitally encoded plurality of radar signals into a single data stream for transmission over interface 120. In this manner, the radar front end chip 208 of the radar sensor 108 implements a compression scheme that reduces the size of the radar data sent over interface 120, thereby reducing the bandwidth needs of the overall system (paragraph 17); the radar signals T1 and TM may reflect off one or more objects such as object 202 and back in the direction of reception antennas 128-1 and 128-N as reflected radar signals R1 and RN…reflected radar signal R1 may include components corresponding to the reflections of T1 and TM that are received at reception antenna 128-1 and reflected radar signal RM may include components corresponding to the reflections of T1 and TM received at reception antenna 128-M. While two reception antennas 128-1 and 128-M are shown (i.e., M=2), it is appreciated that this number may be scalable to higher quantities based on the MIMO scheme to be implemented by the radar sensor 108…after receiving reflected radar signals R1 and RM at reception antennas 128-1 and 128-M, respectively, the received radar signals are forwarded to RX circuitry 220 for further signal processing….the RX circuitry 220 includes a plurality of receive chains corresponding to the number of reception antennas 128-1 and 128-M (paragraph 25: the DSP 240 includes code division multiplexing (CDM) components to modulate each of the plurality of digitized radar signals based on a coding pattern (paragraph 25); after the plurality of radar signals received at the reception antennas 128-1 to 128-N undergo signal processing by the RX chains in the RX circuitry 220 and are digitized by each of the respective ADCs 332-1 to 332-N, the digitized plurality of radar signals is forwarded to the DSP 240 for further processing…at the DSP 240, each output from an ADC 332-1 to 332-N is fed to a unique code division multiplexer 342-1 to 342-N…each code division multiplexer 342-1 to 342-N applies a corresponding code 344-1 to 344-N to the digitized radar data stream it receives; paragraph 30: the code division multiplexers 342-1 to 342-N are phase modulators….each of the phase modulators may be a binary phase-shift keying modulator that applies a unique binary phase code to the digitized radar data stream (Figure 3; paragraph 28-29); the radar front end chips in the radar sensors 106, 108 are configured to compress and combine the plurality of radar data streams received via the plurality of reception antennas 118, 128, respectively, prior to transmission over interface 120 to the radar controller processor 104 (paragraph 23); after the plurality of radar signals received at the reception antennas 128-1 to 128-N undergo signal processing by the RX chains in the RX circuitry 220 and are digitized by each of the respective ADCs 332-1 to 332-N, the digitized plurality of radar signals is forwarded to the DSP 240 for further processing…at the DSP 240, each output from an ADC 332-1 to 332-N is fed to a unique code division multiplexer 342-1 to 342-N…each code division multiplexer 342-1 to 342-N applies a corresponding code 344-1 to 344-N to the digitized radar data stream it receives (paragraph 29); the code division multiplexers 342-1 to 342-N are phase modulators ….each of the phase modulators may be a binary phase-shift keying modulator that applies a unique binary phase code to the digitized radar data stream (paragraph 30).
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NUZHAT PERVIN whose telephone number is (571)272-9795. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00AM-5:00PM.
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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.
/NUZHAT PERVIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3648