DETAILED ACTION
This Office action is in response to the application filed on 26 December 2023.
Claims 1-15 are presented for examination.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter. The claim(s) does/do not fall within at least one of the four categories of patent eligible subject matter because Independent claim 15 is directed to “computer readable medium”. The Broadest Reasonable Interpretation (BRI) of machine-readable media can encompass non-statutory transitory forms of signal transmission, such as a propagating electrical or electromagnetic signal per se. See In re Nuijten, 500 F.3d 1346, 84 USPQ2d 1495 (Fed. Cir. 2007). When the BRI encompasses transitory forms of signal transmission, a rejection under 35 U.S.C. 101 as failing to claim statutory subject matter would be appropriate. Thus, a claim to a computer readable medium that can be a compact disc or a carrier wave covers a non-statutory embodiment and therefore should be rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 as being directed to non-statutory subject matter. See, e.g., Mentor Graphics v. EVE-USA, Inc., 851 F.3d at 1294-95, 112 USPQ2d at 1134 (claims to a "machine-readable medium" were non-statutory, because their scope encompassed both statutory random-access memory and non-statutory carrier waves) (MPEP 2601.03, subsection II).
The amended element of “a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a communication control program causing a computer to perform,..….” in independent claim 15 would overcome said 35 USC 101 issue.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by ZORGUI et al. US 2023/0324541 A1.
As to claim 1, ZORGUI discloses substantially the invention as claimed, including a communication control apparatus (Figure 7, the SnMF 700) comprising:
at least one processor that performs, by a sensing information providing sensor setter (The RF sensing coordination unit 750), setting a sensor, among a plurality of sensors whose sensing ranges are included in a sensing area (Figures 1-7, 8, 9-11 and associated paragraphs, “[116] Referring again to FIG. 8, with continued reference to FIGS. 1-7 and 9-11, at stage 820, the SnMF 700 determines the transmitter(s) 805 and the receiver(s) 806 to use for the RF sensing, and schedules corresponding reference signal signaling. The RF sensing coordination unit 750 may use information in the RF sensing request 812 to determine the transmitter(s) 805 and the receiver(s) 806. For example, the RF sensing coordination unit 750 may use the type of RF sensing to be performed (e.g., presence detection, environment detection, biological function detection, etc.), an indicated region, an indicated biological function type, and/or indicated transmitter(s) and/or receiver(s) to determine the physical signaling, the transmitter(s) 805, and the receiver(s) 806 desired or needed to provide the requested RF sensing. The RF sensing coordination unit 750 may select the physical signaling in order to achieve desired sensing, e.g., to cover a region whose environment is to be detected, to cover a presence detection region, to enable detection of a biological function of an indicated object (e.g., person), and/or to include the indicated transmitter(s) and/or the indicated receiver(s), if any, etc. For example, UL sounding by a UE for RF sensing for environment mapping may be preferable. The RF sensing coordination unit 750 may send RS configuration messages 822, 824 to the transmitter(s) 805 and the receiver(s) 806, respectively. The RS configuration messages 822, 824 contain at least the parameters of the RS to be sent by the transmitter(s) 805. The RS configuration messages 822, 824 may be sent as requests for RS signaling to respective serving TRPs 300 of the transmitter(s) 805 and the receiver(s) 806, with the TRPs 300 sending configuration parameters to the transmitter(s) 805 and the receiver(s) 806. The RS configuration messages 822, 824 messages 822, 824 are thus shown functionally, with each of the messages 822, 824 possibly comprising multiple messages and conveyed from the SnMF 700 to the transmitter(s) 805 and the receiver(s) 806 via one or more intermediate entities”, to provide the sensing information through a mobile communication network in response to a request for sensing information concerning the sensing area (Figures 1-7, 8, 9-11 and associated paragraphs, “[114] Referring also to FIG. 11, for a biological function detection request, the RF sensing unit 650 may produce the RF sensing request 812 to identify the transmitter(s) 805 and the receiver(s) 806 to use, and/or may identify the entity whose function(s) is(are) to be detected. For example, the RF sensing unit 650 may include identities of a smartwatch 1110 as the transmitter 805 (or one of the transmitters 805) and a smartphone 1120 as the receiver 806 (or one of the receivers 806) for biological function detection of a person 1130 (as the target object/environment 807). Also or alternatively, the RF sensing request 812 may include an identity of the person 1130. Also or alternatively, the RF sensing request 812 may, for example, identify base stations 1141, 1142 as the transmitter 805 and the receiver 806, respectively. The use of the smartwatch 1110 in conjunction with the smartphone 1120, i.e., two UEs, is an example, and not limiting of the disclosure”; “[119] …... The SnMF 700 (e.g., the RF sensing coordination unit 750) may use information from the RF sensing request 812 to affect the RF sensing report 852. For example, the SnMF 700 may send the RF sensing report 852 with a reporting frequency indicated by the RF sensing request 812, and/or for a reporting duration indicated by the RF sensing request 812”).
As to claim 2, ZORGUI discloses, wherein the sensing information providing sensor setter sets the providing manner of the sensing information from the sensor in response to the request (Figures 1-7, 8, 9-11 and associated paragraphs, [119]-[120]).
As to claim 3, ZORGUI discloses, wherein the at least one processor: by a sensor identifiable information reducer, reducing information identifiable of the sensor in its sensing information, based on the providing manner set by the sensing information providing sensor setter, in response to the request; and by a sensing information outputter, outputting the sensing information with reduced information identifiable of the sensor by the sensor identifiable information reducer, in response to the request (Figures 1-7, 8, 9-11 and associated paragraphs, [119]-[120]).
As to claim 4, ZORGUI discloses 3, wherein the sensor identifiable information reducer is configured by a sensing information analyzer that generates a holistic analysis result of sensing information of the plurality of sensors set by the sensing information providing sensor setter, in response to the request (Figures 1-7, 8, 9-11 and associated paragraphs, [119]-[120]).
As to claim 5, ZORGUI discloses, wherein the sensing information analyzer is configured by the NWDAF (Network Data Analytics Function) (Figures 1-7, 8, 9-11 and associated paragraphs, [119]-[120], [128]).
As to claim 6, ZORGUI discloses, wherein the sensing information providing sensor setter sets a sensor to provide the sensing information in accordance with the entity of the request (the Application Device 600) (Figures 1-7, 8, 9-11 and associated paragraphs, [106], [116]).
As to claim 7, ZORGUI discloses, wherein the sensing information providing sensor setter sets a sensor to provide the sensing information in accordance with the fee concerning the request (the subscription service fee/pay) (Figures 1-7, 8, 9-11 and associated paragraphs, [81]-[83]).
As to claim 8, ZORGUI discloses, wherein at least one of the plurality of sensors is provided in a communication station that can communicate in the mobile communication network, and the sensing information providing sensor setter sets a sensor to provide the sensing information in response to the request based on the type of the communication station (Figures 1-7, 8, 9-11 and associated paragraphs, [117], [118]).
As to claim 9, ZORGUI discloses, wherein the communication station includes at least one of a base station constituting the mobile communication network, and a communication station capable of communicating with the base station (Figures 1-7, 8, 9-11 and associated paragraphs, [117], [118]).
As to claim 10, ZORGUI discloses, wherein the sensing information providing sensor setter sets a sensor to provide the sensing information in response to the request based on the location of each of the sensors (Figures 1-7, 8, 9-11 and associated paragraphs, [118], [119]).
As to claim 11, ZORGUI discloses, wherein the at least one processor performs, by a sensing capability recognizer, causing the mobile communication network to recognize sensing capabilities of the plurality of sensors, and the sensing information providing sensor setter sets a sensor to provide the sensing information in response to the request based on the sensing capability of each of the sensors recognized by the mobile communication network (Figures 1-7, 8, 9-11 and associated paragraphs, [118], [119]).
As to claim 12, ZORGUI discloses, wherein the sensing capability includes the sensing item of each of the sensors (Figures 1-7, 8, 9-11 and associated paragraphs, [118], [119]).
As to claim 13, ZORGUI discloses, wherein the sensing capability includes the sensing accuracy of each of the sensors (Figures 1-7, 8, 9-11 and associated paragraphs, [118], [119], [121], [128]).
Claim 14 corresponds to the method claim of the control apparatus claim 1; therefore, it is rejected under the same rationale in the control apparatus claim 1 as shown above.
Claim 15 corresponds to the non-transitory computer-readable medium claim of the control apparatus claim 1; therefore, it is rejected under the same rationale in the control apparatus claim 1 as shown above.
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The prior art cited in this Office action are: ZORGUI et al. US 2023/0324541 A1;
Conclusion
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/HAI V NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2649