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 Applicant’s is CON of PCT/CN2023/115171 filed 8/28/2023.
Examiner acknowledges no foreign priority is claimed.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement(s) (IDS) submitted on 8/29/2024 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.
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.
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 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.
Claims 1-3,7, 9, 10-12, 16 and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Johnson et al. (US 2017/0254903 A1), and further in view of Jian et al. (CN 113890598 B) [English Translation].
Regarding claim 1, Johnson et al. (‘903) discloses “a method for tracking a satellite (paragraph 9: method and apparatus…for acquiring and tracking a satellite signal with an antenna), comprising:
acquiring trajectory information and antenna attitude information of a communications on-the-move device (paragraph 35: an acquisition process is used to perturb the attitude data (e.g., roll, pitch, yaw) used in the satellite geometry solution to create a sampling pattern of multiple points in the visible sky…the acquisition process scans multiple points in space with an electronically scanned antenna; paragraph 51: IMU 201 generates a number of values 210 that are received by the beam direction and polarization computation unit 202…values 210 comprise roll, pitch, yaw, latitude and longitude…values 210 includes the altitude of the antenna);
calculating a theoretical pointing angle of an antenna beam for a target satellite based on an orbit parameter of the target satellite and the trajectory information of the communications on-the-move device (paragraph 51: IMU 201 generates a number of values 210 that are received by the beam direction and polarization computation unit 202….values 210 comprise roll, pitch, yaw, latitude and longitude…values 210 includes the altitude of the antenna…beam direction and polarization computation unit 202 also receives satellite location (e.g., latitude, longitude, altitude, etc.) and polarization values 230….the altitude for both the satellite and the antenna is needed to compute the vector between them (which results in the “look angle”)…in response to these inputs, beam direction and polarization computation unit 202 generates theta, phi and polarization values 220 (e.g., angles) that are provided to and control electronically steerable antenna 203; paragraph 52: when the antenna is turned on, the acquisition process starts operating…the acquisition process needs an initial orientation to determine where to search for the satellite…the initial orientation is the orientation from a strap-down inertial navigation system (INS)…the inertial orientation could be a predetermined starting phi, theta, and polarization, with a search of the entire visible area…IMU 201 provides the roll, pitch, yaw, longitude and latitude values 210 associated with the orientation to beam direction and polarization computation unit 202…this orientation is used by beam direction and polarization computation unit 202 with the Earth-to-Satellite and Earth-to-Antenna transformations to compute the scan and polarization angles of the antenna; paragraph 58: the satellite position 304 and the antenna position 305 are input to satellite look-angle calculations module 311…the satellite position comprises latitude longitude, longitude, polarization, and altitude, while the antenna position comprises latitude, longitude and altitude. Using the inputs, satellite look-angle calculations 311 generates data corresponding to the azimuth, elevation, and skew values 330 which are provided to the pointing angle calculations module 340);
acquiring an actual pointing angle of the antenna beam by correcting, based on the antenna attitude information of the communications on-the-move device, the theoretical pointing angle of the antenna beam (paragraph 52: IMU 201 also perturbs the roll, pitch and yaw angles of the antenna orientation to enable different scan and polarization angles to be computed…the different scan and polarization angles are associated with an area of uncertainty (i.e., a search volume) in the measurement of the antenna's attitude that is selected to be searched to find the attitude which results in correct pointing to the satellite…the area of uncertainty represents a volume that is searched and the uncertainty is measured in the orientation angles: roll, pitch, and yaw…IMU 201 provides the perturbed roll, pitch and yaw angles to beam direction and polarization computation unit 202; paragraph 59: Orientation 320 is provided to course acquisition module 322…the gyroscope rates 303 is also provided to gyro rate integration module 321 and is provided to corrected orientation 331….Gyro-rate integration 321 is used for “platform motion rejection”…the gyros register the rate the antenna was rotating in the last sample time…the rate times the sample time indicates how far the antenna has rotated. In one embodiment, the electronic beam is moved to compensate for this change in orientation…if the gyros were perfect, then the gyro integration could be used to remain perfectly on the satellite. However, they are not perfect, they have delay and drift. Therefore, there is a need to continue dithering to continually peak the beam. In response to the orientation and tracking receiver metrics 323, course acquisition determines corrected orientation 331. Corrected orientation 331 is input to pointing angles calculation module 340 along with the azimuth, elevation and skew values 330. In response to these inputs, pointing angle calculation module 340 generates antenna pointing angles 341 that are used to electronically steer the antenna);
enabling a receiver to parse a satellite signal received by a receiving phased array antenna and detect a signal strength of the satellite signal by controlling, based on the actual pointing angle of the antenna beam (paragraph 36: the best satellite signal may be judged based on at least one of its signal strength, signal to noise ratio (SNR), carrier-to-noise (C/N), energy per symbol to noise power spectral density (Es/No), or energy per bit to noise power spectral density (Eb/No; paragraph 55: measurements are taken in a volume space to attempt to locate the satellite…by looking at the received satellite signal from different points in the uncertainty volume that is selected with IMU 201…data indicative of the received satellite signal obtained by electrically steerable antenna 203 from the different points in the uncertainty volume is feedback to IMU 201 via modem 204 to enable IMU 201 to search the roll, pitch and yaw uncertainty area…the feedback to IMU 201 is through modem 204…the feedback is through an onboard receiver…the Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) (or other signal characterization information (e.g., C/N, etc.)) of each of these variant orientations is recorded. In one embodiment, the orientation with the best SNR is chosen to be the next orientation to try…the attitude data for this new orientation is perturbed and the process repeats…as the search progresses, the maximum angle of the search pattern is decreased …the amount that one or more of the roll, pitch and yaw are changed is reduced with each iteration; paragraph 60: using the new antenna pointing angles 341, the antenna receives the received satellite signal at a series of points received signals from a series of points that make up a new uncertainty volume…the received portion of an electronically steerable antenna receives the RF signal from the satellite from multiple directions…course acquisition module 322 provides the initial orientation for use as orientation 331 until a hotspot is identified. Once the hotspot is identified, the corrected orientation 331 comes from fine acquisition module 324 which determines the hotspot and causes the new orientation to be provided as corrected orientation 331 to pointing angle calculation module 340 which determines the new antenna pointing angles 341);
in response to the signal strength of the satellite signal being greater than or equal to a predetermined value, changing a current antenna beam of the receiving phased array antenna (paragraph 47: based on the one or more receiver metrics, processing logic selects, as a new orientation, one of the variant orientation (processing block 105) and repeats the process above with the new orientation with a second search pattern narrower than the first search pattern (processing block 106); paragraph 61: the received signals are provided to a modem which generates tracking receiver metrics 323 that are used by fine acquisition module 324 to generate corrected…tracking receiver metrics 323 comprise signal-to-noise (SNR) ratios for each of the points for which signals are being received…tracking receiver metrics 323 comprise carrier-to-noise ratio (C/N) values…course acquisition module 322 provides the initial orientation for use as orientation 331 until a hotspot is identified…once the hotspot is identified, the corrected orientation 331 comes from fine acquisition module 324 which determines the hotspot and causes the new orientation to be provided as corrected orientation 331 to pointing angle calculation module 340 which determines the new antenna pointing angles 341),
acquiring data information of the satellite signal, correcting an actual pointing angle of the current antenna beam, and controlling a transmitting phased array antenna and the receiving phased array antenna to form antenna beams based on a corrected actual pointing angle (paragraph 47: the variance of the search pattern after a good signal has been observed is decreased. In one embodiment, the second search pattern has a maximum angle that is decreased in comparison with that of the first search pattern. In one embodiment, this process of decreasing the maximum angle for each new search pattern used when repeating the process is used until a consistently observed satellite signal is received; paragraph 62: fine acquisition module 324 continues to determine corrected orientation 331 based on tracking receiver metrics (e.g., C/N values, automatic gain control (AGC) values, etc.) for use by pointing angle calculation module 340 in calculating new pointing angles 341 until the process has consistently observed the satellite signal and the maximum angle has reached its minimum value…at this point, the acquisition process is complete and orientation dithering starts…if during orientation dithering the SNR drops below a threshold, then the most recent orientation data from the extended Kalman Filter (EKF) is used as an initial starting point and the process begins again; paragraph 64: rectangular and circular patterns can be used to search the antenna's attitude uncertainty volume to find the attitude which results in correct pointing to the satellite).”
Johnson et al. (‘903) does not explicitly disclose acquiring trajectory information and antenna attitude information of a communications on-the-move device “in real time”, “a receiving phased array antenna in the communications on-the-move device to form an antenna beam”, “establishing a communication link and updating ephemeris data of the target satellite.”
Jian et al. (‘598) relates to satellite communication, scanning antenna tracking method based on phased array, system, terminal and medium. Jian et al. (‘598) teaches acquiring trajectory information and antenna attitude information “in real time (page 2 paragraph 4: a mixed scanning antenna tracking method based on phased array, system, terminal and medium, the phased array antenna can quickly align and real time tracking, and the real time tracking while ensuring the antenna has better array index)”, a receiving phased array antenna in the communications on-the-move device to form an antenna beam (page 3 paragraph 3: controlling the position of the phased array antenna according to the compensation azimuth and the compensation pitch angle control mechanical platform, and controlling the phased array beam pointing to finish the coarse alignment according to the theoretical azimuth angle and the theoretical pitchangle updated after the phased array antenna is rotated)”,
“establishing a communication link and updating ephemeris data of the target satellite (page 8 last paragraph – page 9 first paragraph: the wave control module is configured with a theoretical calculation unit, a compensation calculation unit, a coarse alignment unit, a fine alignment unit, a scanning tracking unit. wherein the theoretical calculation unit is used for according to ephemeris information, carrier position information and carrier attitude information to calculate the theoretical azimuth and theoretical pitch angle of the phased array antenna alignment, and combining the current azimuth and the current pitch respectively the phased array antenna normal direction to determine the theoretical adjusting azimuth and theoretical adjusting pitch. a compensation calculating unit, used for when the theoretical adjusting azimuth and theoretical adjusting pitch exceeds the electric scanning range, combining the frame search algorithm preset maximum pitching direction search angle and the maximum azimuth direction search angle to determine the compensation azimuth of the phased array antenna and compensation pitch angle….coarse alignment unit for controlling the position of the phased array antenna according to the compensation azimuth and the compensation pitch angle control mechanical platform, and controlling the phased array beam pointing to complete the coarse alignment according to the theoretical azimuth angle and the theoretical pitch angle updated after the phased array antenna is rotated…fine alignment unit, when the satellite signal AGC level value received after coarse alignment is not greater than the threshold value, using the coarse alignment position as the center to perform the satellite alignment through the frame search algorithm, and adjusting the position of the phased array antenna according to the satellite result control mechanical platform to finish the fine alignment…a scanning tracking unit, for scanning and tracking the target satellite after fine alignment through the cone scanning tracking).”
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 Johnson et al. (‘903) with the teaching of Jian et al. (‘598) for more efficient antenna alignment for real time tracking (Jian et al. (‘598) – page 2 paragraph 4). In addition, both of the prior art references, (Johnson et al. (‘903) and Jian et al. (‘598)) teach features that are directed to analogous art and they are directed to the same field of endeavor, such as, according to ephemeris information, antenna attitude information to calculate theoretical pointing angle of phased array antenna alignment, if theoretical angle exceeds threshold range, determine the compensation pointing angle of the phased array antenna to correcting align for satellite communication.
Regarding claim 2, which is dependent on independent claim 1, Johnson et al. (‘903) discloses the method of claim 1. Johnson et al. (‘903) does not explicitly disclose “in response to the signal strength of the satellite signal being less than the predetermined value, calculating the actual pointing angle of the antenna beam at a current moment based on the orbit parameter of the target satellite, and the trajectory information and the antenna attitude information of the communications on-the-move device at the current moment, and performing the process of enabling the receiver to parse the satellite signal received by the receiving phased array antenna and detect the signal strength by controlling, based on the actual pointing angle of the antenna beam, the receiving phased array antenna in the communications on-the-move device to form the antenna beam.”
Jian et al. (‘598) relates to satellite communication, scanning antenna tracking method based on phased array, system, terminal and medium. Jian et al. (‘598) teaches “in response to the signal strength of the satellite signal being less than the predetermined value, calculating the actual pointing angle of the antenna beam at a current moment based on the orbit parameter of the target satellite, and the trajectory information and the antenna attitude information of the communications on-the-move device at the current moment, and performing the process of enabling the receiver to parse the satellite signal received by the receiving phased array antenna and detect the signal strength by controlling, based on the actual pointing angle of the antenna beam, the receiving phased array antenna in the communications on-the-move device to form the antenna beam (page 3 paragraph 3: when the received satellite signal AGC level value is not greater than the threshold value, the coarse alignment position as the center through the picture frame search algorithm to the satellite, and according to the satellite result control mechanical platform to adjust the position of the phased array antenna finish alignment; page 4: fine alignment unit, when the satellite signal AGC level value received after coarse alignment is not greater than the threshold value, using the coarse alignment position as the center to perform the satellite alignment through the picture frame search algorithm; and adjusting the position of the phased array antenna to finish fine alignment according to the satellite result control mechanical platform).”
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 Johnson et al. (‘903) with the teaching of Jian et al. (‘598) for more efficient antenna alignment for real time tracking (Jian et al. (‘598) – page 2 paragraph 4). In addition, both of the prior art references, (Johnson et al. (‘903) and Jian et al. (‘598)) teach features that are directed to analogous art and they are directed to the same field of endeavor, such as, according to ephemeris information, antenna attitude information to calculate theoretical pointing angle of phased array antenna alignment, if theoretical angle exceeds threshold range, determine the compensation pointing angle of the phased array antenna to correcting align for satellite communication.
Regarding claim 3, which is dependent on independent claim 1, Johnson et al. (‘903)/Jian et al. (‘598) discloses the method of claim 1. Johnson et al. (‘903) further discloses “the antenna attitude information comprises a pitch angle, a roll angle and an azimuth angle of the antenna beam; and the acquiring the trajectory information and the antenna attitude information of the communications on-the-move device in real time comprises: acquiring the pitch angle, the roll angle and an initial azimuth angle determined by a strapdown inertial navigation system in the communications on-the-move device, and acquiring a reference azimuth angle determined by a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) in the strapdown inertial navigation system (paragraph 51: IMU 201 generates a number of values 210 that are received by the beam direction and polarization computation unit 202….values 210 comprise roll, pitch, yaw, latitude and longitude…values 210 includes the altitude of the antenna…beam direction and polarization computation unit 202 also receives satellite location (e.g., latitude, longitude, altitude, etc.) and polarization values 230….the altitude for both the satellite and the antenna is needed to compute the vector between them (which results in the “look angle”)…in response to these inputs, beam direction and polarization computation unit 202 generates theta, phi and polarization values 220 (e.g., angles) that are provided to and control electronically steerable antenna 203; paragraph 52: when the antenna is turned on, the acquisition process starts operating…acquisition process needs an initial orientation to determine where to search for the satellite …the initial orientation is the orientation from a strap-down inertial navigation system (INS)…the inertial orientation could be a predetermined starting phi, theta, and polarization, with a search of the entire visible area…IMU 201 provides the roll, pitch, yaw, longitude and latitude values 210 associated with the orientation to beam direction and polarization computation unit 202…this orientation is used by beam direction and polarization computation unit 202 with the Earth-to-Satellite and Earth-to-Antenna transformations to compute the scan and polarization angles of the antenna; paragraph 58: the satellite position 304 and the antenna position 305 are input to satellite look-angle calculations module 311. In one embodiment, the satellite position comprises latitude longitude, longitude, polarization, and altitude, while the antenna position comprises latitude, longitude and altitude. Using the inputs, satellite look-angle calculations 311 generates data corresponding to the azimuth, elevation, and skew value 330 which are provided to the pointing angle calculations module 340).”
Johnson et al. (‘903)/Jian et al. (‘598) does not explicitly disclose “acquiring the azimuth angle by correcting the initial azimuth angle using the reference azimuth angle.”
Jian et al. (‘598) teaches “acquiring the azimuth angle by correcting the initial azimuth angle using the reference azimuth angle (page 2 column 7: according to ephemeris information, carrier position information and carrier attitude information to calculate theoretical azimuth and theoretical pitch angle of phased array antenna alignment, and combining the current azimuth angle and the current pitch respectively the phased array antenna normal direction to determine the theoretical adjusting azimuth and theoretical adjusting pitch angle).”
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 Johnson et al. (‘903) with the teaching of Jian et al. (‘598) for more efficient antenna alignment for real time tracking (Jian et al. (‘598) – page 2 paragraph 4). In addition, both of the prior art references, (Johnson et al. (‘903) and Jian et al. (‘598)) teach features that are directed to analogous art and they are directed to the same field of endeavor, such as, according to ephemeris information, antenna attitude information to calculate theoretical pointing angle of phased array antenna alignment, if theoretical angle exceeds threshold range, determine the compensation pointing angle of the phased array antenna to correcting align for satellite communication.
Regarding claim 7, which is dependent on independent claim 1, Johnson et al. (‘903)/Jian et al. (‘598) discloses the method of claim 1. Johnson et al. (‘903) further discloses “the in response to the signal strength of the satellite signal being greater than or equal to the predetermined value, changing the current antenna beam of the receiving phased array antenna (paragraph 47: based on the one or more receiver metrics, processing logic selects, as a new orientation, one of the variant orientation (processing block 105) and repeats the process above with the new orientation with a second search pattern narrower than the first search pattern (processing block 106); paragraph 61: the received signals are provided to a modem which generates tracking receiver metrics 323 that are used by fine acquisition module 324 to generate corrected…tracking receiver metrics 323 comprise signal-to-noise (SNR) ratios for each of the points for which signals are being received…tracking receiver metrics 323 comprise carrier-to-noise ratio (C/N) values. Course acquisition module 322 provides the initial orientation for use as orientation 331 until a hotspot is identified. Once the hotspot is identified, the corrected orientation 331 comes from fine acquisition module 324 which determines the hotspot and causes the new orientation to be provided as corrected orientation 331 to pointing angle calculation module 340 which determines the new antenna pointing angles 341),
acquiring the data information of the satellite signal, correcting the actual pointing angle of the current antenna beam, and controlling the transmitting phased array antenna and the receiving phased array antenna to form the antenna beams based on the corrected actual pointing angle comprises: in response to the signal strength of the satellite signal being greater than or equal to the predetermined value, controlling the current antenna beam of the receiving phased array antenna to perform adaptive scanning within an angle range, performing amplitude comparison detection on strengths of signals of the target satellite received at different beam positions along a beam trajectory of the receiving phased array antenna within at least one scanning cycle (paragraph 36: the best satellite signal may be judged based on at least one of its signal strength, signal to noise ratio (SNR), carrier-to-noise (C/N), energy per symbol to noise power spectral density (Es/No), or energy per bit to noise power spectral density (Eb/No); paragraph 55: measurements are taken in a volume space to attempt to locate the satellite…by looking at the received satellite signal from different points in the uncertainty volume that is selected with IMU 201…data indicative of the received satellite signal obtained by electrically steerable antenna 203 from the different points in the uncertainty volume is feedback to IMU 201 via modem 204 to enable IMU 201 to search the roll, pitch and yaw uncertainty area…the feedback to IMU 201 is through modem 204…the feedback is through an onboard receiver…the Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) (or other signal characterization information (e.g., C/N, etc.)) of each of these variant orientations is recorded…the orientation with the best SNR is chosen to be the next orientation to try…the attitude data for this new orientation is perturbed and the process repeats…as the search progresses, the maximum angle of the search pattern is decreased…the amount that one or more of the roll, pitch and yaw are changed is reduced with each iteration; paragraph 60: using the new antenna pointing angles 341, the antenna receives the received satellite signal at a series of points received signals from a series of points that make up a new uncertainty volume…the received portion of an electronically steerable antenna receives the RF signal from the satellite from multiple directions…course acquisition module 322 provides the initial orientation for use as orientation 331 until a hotspot is identified…once the hotspot is identified, the corrected orientation 331 comes from fine acquisition module 324 which determines the hotspot and causes the new orientation to be provided as corrected orientation 331 to pointing angle calculation module 340 which determines the new antenna pointing angles 341),
performing angle measurement of the target satellite, correcting the actual pointing angle of the current antenna beam based on results of the amplitude comparison detection and the angle measurement, and controlling the transmitting phased array antenna and the receiving phased array antenna to form the antenna beams based on the corrected actual pointing angle (paragraph 47: the variance of the search pattern after a good signal has been observed is decreased…the second search pattern has a maximum angle that is decreased in comparison with that of the first search pattern…this process of decreasing the maximum angle for each new search pattern used when repeating the process is used until a consistently observed satellite signal is received; paragraph 62: fine acquisition module 324 continues to determine corrected orientation 331 based on tracking receiver metrics (e.g., C/N values, automatic gain control (AGC) values, etc.) for use by pointing angle calculation module 340 in calculating new pointing angles 341 until the process has consistently observed the satellite signal and the maximum angle has reached its minimum value…at this point, the acquisition process is complete and orientation dithering starts…if during orientation dithering the SNR drops below a threshold, then the most recent orientation data from the extended Kalman Filter (EKF) is used as an initial starting point and the process begins again; paragraph 64: rectangular and circular patterns can be used to search the antenna's attitude uncertainty volume to find the attitude which results in correct pointing to the satellite).”
Regarding claim 9, which is dependent on independent claim 1, Johnson et al. (‘903)/Jian et al. (‘598) discloses the method of claim 1. Johnson et al. (‘903) further discloses “acquiring the antenna attitude information acquired by a strapdown inertial navigation system of the communications on-the-move device at a power-on moment, wherein the antenna attitude information comprises a pitch angle, a roll angle and an azimuth angle, and predicting initial trajectory information based on the azimuth angle and a historical trajectory (paragraph 35: an acquisition process is used to perturb the attitude data (e.g., roll, pitch, yaw) used in the satellite geometry solution to create a sampling pattern of multiple points in the visible sky…the acquisition process scans multiple points in space with an electronically scanned antenna; paragraph 51: IMU 201 generates a number of values 210 that are received by the beam direction and polarization computation unit 202…values 210 comprise roll, pitch, yaw, latitude and longitude…values 210 includes the altitude of the antenna; paragraph 52: when the antenna is turned on, the acquisition process starts operating…the acquisition process needs an initial orientation to determine where to search for the satellite…the initial orientation is the orientation from a strap-down inertial navigation system (INS)…the inertial orientation could be a predetermined starting phi, theta, and polarization, with a search of the entire visible area…IMU 201 provides the roll, pitch, yaw, longitude and latitude values 210 associated with the orientation to beam direction and polarization computation unit 202…this orientation is used by beam direction and polarization computation unit 202 with the Earth-to-Satellite and Earth-to-Antenna transformations to compute the scan and polarization angles of the antenna; paragraph 58: the satellite position 304 and the antenna position 305 are input to satellite look-angle calculations module 311…the satellite position comprises latitude longitude, longitude, polarization, and altitude, while the antenna position comprises latitude, longitude and altitude. Using the inputs, satellite look-angle calculations 311 generates data corresponding to the azimuth, elevation, and skew values 330 which are provided to the pointing angle calculations module 340).”
Regarding independent claim 10, which is a corresponding device claim of independent method claim 1, Johnson et al. (‘903)/Jian et al. (‘598) discloses all the claimed invention as shown above for claim 1. Johnson et al. (‘903) further discloses “a memory, a processor and a computer program stored in the memory and able to run by the processor, wherein when the computer program is loaded and run by the processor (paragraph 43: the process is performed by processing logic that may comprise hardware (e.g., circuitry, dedicated logic, etc.), software (such as is run on a general purpose computer system or a dedicated machine), firmware, or a combination of the three; paragraph 140: a microprocessor executing the software; paragraph 200: presented in terms of algorithms and symbolic representations of operations on data bits within a computer memory).”
Regarding claim 11, which is dependent on independent claim 10, and which is a corresponding device claim on method claim 2, Johnson et al. (‘903)/Jian et al. (‘598) discloses all the claimed invention as shown above for claim 2.
Regarding claim 12, which is dependent on independent claim 10, and which is a corresponding device claim on method claim 3, Johnson et al. (‘903)/Jian et al. (‘598) discloses all the claimed invention as shown above for claim 3.
Regarding claim 16, which is dependent on independent claim 10, and which is a corresponding device claim on method claim 7, Johnson et al. (‘903)/Jian et al. (‘598) discloses all the claimed invention as shown above for claim 7.
Regarding claim 18, which is dependent on independent claim 10, and which is a corresponding device claim on method claim 9, Johnson et al. (‘903)/Jian et al. (‘598) discloses all the claimed invention as shown above for claim 9.
Regarding independent claim 19, which is a corresponding non-transitory computer-readable storage medium claim of independent device claim 10, Johnson et al. (‘903)/Jian et al. (‘598) discloses all the claimed invention as shown above for claim 10.
Regarding claim 20, which is a corresponding non-transitory computer-readable storage medium claim of device claim 11, Johnson et al. (‘903)/Jian et al. (‘598) discloses all the claimed invention as shown above for claim 11.
Claims 4-5 and 13-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Johnson et al. (US 2017/0254903 A1)/Jian et al. (CN 113890598 B) [English Translation], and further in view of Struhsaker et al. (US 10,756,443 B1).
Regarding claim 4, which is dependent on independent claim 1, Johnson et al. (‘903)/Jian et al. (‘598) discloses the method of claim 1. Johnson et al. (‘903) further discloses “the calculating the theoretical pointing angle of the antenna beam for the target satellite based on the orbit parameter of the target satellite and the trajectory information of the communications on-the-move device comprises: for the target satellite, calculating the theoretical pointing angle of the antenna beam based on the orbit position information of the target satellite and the trajectory information of the communications on-the-move device (paragraph 51: IMU 201 generates a number of values 210 that are received by the beam direction and polarization computation unit 202….values 210 comprise roll, pitch, yaw, latitude and longitude…values 210 includes the altitude of the antenna…beam direction and polarization computation unit 202 also receives satellite location (e.g., latitude, longitude, altitude, etc.) and polarization values 230….the altitude for both the satellite and the antenna is needed to compute the vector between them (which results in the “look angle”)…in response to these inputs, beam direction and polarization computation unit 202 generates theta, phi and polarization values 220 (e.g., angles) that are provided to and control electronically steerable antenna 203; paragraph 52: when the antenna is turned on, the acquisition process starts operating…the acquisition process needs an initial orientation to determine where to search for the satellite…the initial orientation is the orientation from a strap-down inertial navigation system (INS)…the inertial orientation could be a predetermined starting phi, theta, and polarization, with a search of the entire visible area…IMU 201 provides the roll, pitch, yaw, longitude and latitude values 210 associated with the orientation to beam direction and polarization computation unit 202…this orientation is used by beam direction and polarization computation unit 202 with the Earth-to-Satellite and Earth-to-Antenna transformations to compute the scan and polarization angles of the antenna; paragraph 58: the satellite position 304 and the antenna position 305 are input to satellite look-angle calculations module 311. In one embodiment, the satellite position comprises latitude longitude, longitude, polarization, and altitude, while the antenna position comprises latitude, longitude and altitude. Using the inputs, satellite look-angle calculations 311 generates data corresponding to the azimuth, elevation, and skew values 330 which are provided to the pointing angle calculations module 340).”
Johnson et al. (‘903)/Jian et al. (‘598) does not explicitly disclose “in a case that the target satellite is a geostationary satellite, the orbit parameter comprises orbit position information.”
Struhsaker et al. (‘443) relates to wireless communication. Struhsaker et al. (‘443) teaches “in a case that the target satellite is a geostationary satellite, the orbit parameter comprises orbit position information (column 29 lines 6-19: In Step 810, the satellite communication terminal determines whether the satellite is in a geostationary orbit or a non-geostationary orbit… When the determination in Step 810 is YES (i.e., the satellite is in a geostationary orbit), managing the satellite backhaul link continues with Step 812… In Step 812, the satellite communication terminal maintains a beam direction of the satellite antenna within a predetermined angular range of the geostationary satellite to maintain the satellite backhaul link…the predetermined range may be determined by a minimum signal strength, characteristics of the satellite or satellite antenna, or relative position of the satellite communication terminal, but is not limited to these factors).”
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 Johnson et al. (‘903)/Jian et al. (‘598) with the teaching of Struhsaker et al. (‘443) for more efficient antenna alignment (Struhsaker et al. (‘443) – column 1 lines 53-65). In addition, all of the prior art references, (Johnson et al. (‘903), Jian et al. (‘598) and Struhsaker et al. (‘443)) teach features that are directed to analogous art and they are directed to the same field of endeavor, such as, using antenna system to receive and process wireless communication signals transmitted from satellites.
Regarding claim 5, which is dependent on independent claim 1, Johnson et al. (‘903)/Jian et al. (‘598) discloses the method of claim 1. Johnson et al. (‘903) further discloses “the calculating the theoretical pointing angle of the antenna beam for the target satellite based on the orbit parameter of the target satellite and the trajectory information of the communications on-the-move device comprises: for the target satellite, establishing time synchronization with the ephemeris data of the target satellite by using time information output by a GNSS of a strapdown inertial navigation system in the communications on-the-move device, and calculating the theoretical pointing angle of the antenna beam based on the ephemeris data and the trajectory information of the communications on-the-move device (paragraph 51: IMU 201 generates a number of values 210 that are received by the beam direction and polarization computation unit 202….values 210 comprise roll, pitch, yaw, latitude and longitude…values 210 includes the altitude of the antenna…beam direction and polarization computation unit 202 also receives satellite location (e.g., latitude, longitude, altitude, etc.) and polarization values 230….the altitude for both the satellite and the antenna is needed to compute the vector between them (which results in the “look angle”)…in response to these inputs, beam direction and polarization computation unit 202 generates theta, phi and polarization values 220 (e.g., angles) that are provided to and control electronically steerable antenna 203; paragraph 52: when the antenna is turned on, the acquisition process starts operating…the acquisition process needs an initial orientation to determine where to search for the satellite…the initial orientation is the orientation from a strap-down inertial navigation system (INS)…the inertial orientation could be a predetermined starting phi, theta, and polarization, with a search of the entire visible area…IMU 201 provides the roll, pitch, yaw, longitude and latitude values 210 associated with the orientation to beam direction and polarization computation unit 202…this orientation is used by beam direction and polarization computation unit 202 with the Earth-to-Satellite and Earth-to-Antenna transformations to compute the scan and polarization angles of the antenna; paragraph 58: the satellite position 304 and the antenna position 305 are input to satellite look-angle calculations module 311...the satellite position comprises latitude longitude, longitude, polarization, and altitude, while the antenna position comprises latitude, longitude and altitude. Using the inputs, satellite look-angle calculations 311 generates data corresponding to the azimuth, elevation, and skew values 330 which are provided to the pointing angle calculations module 340).”
Johnson et al. (‘903)/Jian et al. (‘598) does not explicitly disclose “in a case that the target satellite is a geostationary satellite, the orbit parameter comprises orbit position information, the orbit parameter comprises ephemeris data.”
Jian et al. (‘598) teaches “the orbit parameter comprises ephemeris data (page 2 column 7: according to ephemeris information, carrier position information and carrier attitude information to calculate theoretical azimuth and theoretical pitch angle of phased array antenna alignment, and combining the current azimuth angle and the current pitch respectively the phased array antenna normal direction to determine the theoretical adjusting azimuth and theoretical adjusting pitch angle).”
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 Johnson et al. (‘903) with the teaching of Jian et al. (‘598) for more efficient antenna alignment for real time tracking (Jian et al. (‘598) – page 2 paragraph 4). In addition, both of the prior art references, (Johnson et al. (‘903) and Jian et al. (‘598)) teach features that are directed to analogous art and they are directed to the same field of endeavor, such as, according to ephemeris information, antenna attitude information to calculate theoretical pointing angle of phased array antenna alignment, if theoretical angle exceeds threshold range, determine the compensation pointing angle of the phased array antenna to correcting align for satellite communication.
Struhsaker et al. (‘443) relates to wireless communication. Struhsaker et al. (‘443) teaches “in a case that the target satellite is a geostationary satellite”, the orbit parameter comprises ephemeris data (column 29 lines 6-19: In Step 810, the satellite communication terminal determines whether the satellite is in a geostationary orbit or a non-geostationary orbit… When the determination in Step 810 is YES (i.e., the satellite is in a geostationary orbit), managing the satellite backhaul link continues with Step 812… In Step 812, the satellite communication terminal maintains a beam direction of the satellite antenna within a predetermined angular range of the geostationary satellite to maintain the satellite backhaul link…the predetermined range may be determined by a minimum signal strength, characteristics of the satellite or satellite antenna, or relative position of the satellite communication terminal, but is not limited to these factors).”
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 Johnson et al. (‘903)/Jian et al. (‘598) with the teaching of Struhsaker et al. (‘443) for more efficient antenna alignment (Struhsaker et al. (‘443) – column 1 lines 53-65). In addition, all of the prior art references, (Johnson et al. (‘903), Jian et al. (‘598) and Struhsaker et al. (‘443)) teach features that are directed to analogous art and they are directed to the same field of endeavor, such as, using antenna system to receive and process wireless communication signals transmitted from satellites.
Regarding claim 13, which is dependent on independent claim 10, and which is a corresponding device claim on method claim 4, Johnson et al. (‘903)/Jian et al. (‘598)/ Struhsaker et al. (‘443) discloses all the claimed invention as shown above for claim 4.
Regarding claim 14, which is dependent on independent claim 10, and which is a corresponding device claim on method claim 5, Johnson et al. (‘903)/Jian et al. (‘598)/Struhsaker et al. (‘443) discloses all the claimed invention as shown above for claim 5.
Claims 8 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Johnson et al. (US 2017/0254903 A1)/Jian et al. (CN 113890598 B) [English Translation], and further in view of Chae et al. (US 2023/0187825 A1).
Regarding claim 8, which is dependent on independent claim 1, Johnson et al. (‘903)/Jian et al. (‘598) discloses the method of claim 1. Johnson et al. (‘903) further discloses “the in response to the signal strength of the satellite signal being greater than or equal to the predetermined value, changing the current antenna beam of the receiving phased array antenna, acquiring the data information of the satellite signal, correcting the actual pointing angle of the current antenna beam, and controlling the transmitting phased array antenna and the receiving phased array antenna to form the antenna beams based on the corrected actual pointing angle (paragraph 47: based on the one or more receiver metrics, processing logic selects, as a new orientation, one of the variant orientation (processing block 105) and repeats the process above with the new orientation with a second search pattern narrower than the first search pattern (processing block 106); paragraph 61: The received signals are provided to a modem which generates tracking receiver metrics 323 that are used by fine acquisition module 324 to generate corrected…tracking receiver metrics 323 comprise signal-to-noise (SNR) ratios for each of the points for which signals are being received…tracking receiver metrics 323 comprise carrier-to-noise ratio (C/N) values. Course acquisition module 322 provides the initial orientation for use as orientation 331 until a hotspot is identified…once the hotspot is identified, the corrected orientation 331 comes from fine acquisition module 324 which determines the hotspot and causes the new orientation to be provided as corrected orientation 331 to pointing angle calculation module 340 which determines the new antenna pointing angles 341) comprises: performing amplitude comparison detection on strengths of signals of the target satellite received within at least one cycle, performing angle measurement of the target satellite, correcting the actual pointing angle of the current antenna beam based on results of the amplitude comparison detection and the angle measurement, and controlling the transmitting phased array antenna and the receiving phased array antenna to form the antenna beams based on the corrected actual pointing angle (paragraph 47: the variance of the search pattern after a good signal has been observed is decreased…the second search pattern has a maximum angle that is decreased in comparison with that of the first search pattern…this process of decreasing the maximum angle for each new search pattern used when repeating the process is used until a consistently observed satellite signal is received; paragraph 62: fine acquisition module 324 continues to determine corrected orientation 331 based on tracking receiver metrics (e.g., C/N values, automatic gain control (AGC) values, etc.) for use by pointing angle calculation module 340 in calculating new pointing angles 341 until the process has consistently observed the satellite signal and the maximum angle has reached its minimum value…at this point, the acquisition process is complete and orientation dithering starts…if during orientation dithering the SNR drops below a threshold, then the most recent orientation data from the extended Kalman Filter (EKF) is used as an initial starting point and the process begins again; paragraph 64: rectangular and circular patterns can be used to search the antenna's attitude uncertainty volume to find the attitude which results in correct pointing to the satellite).”
Johnson et al. (‘903)/Jian et al. (‘598) does not explicitly disclose “in response to the satellite signal strength being greater than or equal to the predetermined value, controlling the current antenna beam of the receiving phased array antenna to periodically form beams in a pattern of “sum beam – difference beam – difference beam – sum beam.”
Chae et al. (‘825) relates to wireless communication. Chae et al. (‘825) teaches “in response to the satellite signal strength being greater than or equal to the predetermined value, controlling the current antenna beam of the receiving phased array antenna to periodically form beams in a pattern of “sum beam – difference beam – difference beam – sum beam (claim 9: when input signals are inputted to the input ports in sequence by the controller, generate and emit one sum beam pattern and a plurality of difference beam patterns through the array antenna: paragraph 56: When in-phase signals are outputted (when signals are inputted to the second input port), a sum beam pattern (s-Beam) which is emitted toward a center appears, and, when signals of offsetting phases are outputted (when signals are inputted to first, third or fourth input port), a difference beam pattern (A-Beam) which is not formed on a center and branches into the left and right sides appears).”
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 Johnson et al. (‘903)/Jian et al. (‘598) with the teaching of Chae et al. (‘825) improving performance of direction estimation (Chae et al. (‘825) – paragraph 2). In addition, all of the prior art references, (Johnson et al. (‘903), Jian et al. (‘598) and Chae et al. (‘825)) teach features that are directed to analogous art and they are directed to the same field of endeavor, such as, beamforming for satellite communication system.
Regarding claim 17, which is dependent on independent claim 10, and which is a corresponding device claim on method claim 8, Johnson et al. (‘903)/Jian et al. (‘598)/Chae et al. (‘825) discloses all the claimed invention as shown above for claim 8.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 6 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 enabling the receiver to parse the satellite signal received by the receiving phased array antenna and detect the signal strength of the satellite signal by controlling, based on the actual pointing angle of the antenna beam, the receiving phased array antenna in the communications on-the-move device to form the antenna beam comprises: by sending, based on the actual pointing angle of the antenna beam, a beamforming instruction to a beam control board of a sub-array module of one receiving phased array antenna in the communications on-the-move device, enabling a beam control board of a sub-array module of another remaining receiving phased array antenna and a beam control board of each transmitting phased array antenna to perform time synchronization and frequency synchronization, and enable, by solving a code table to drive a receiving sub-array module of a corresponding receiving phased array antenna and a transmitting sub-array module of the transmitting phased array antenna to form antenna beams based on the actual pointing angle, the receiver to parse the satellite signal received by the receiving phased array antenna and detect the signal strength.”
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:
“when the computer program is loaded and run by the processor, causes the processor to perform: by sending, based on the actual pointing angle of the antenna beam, a beamforming instruction to a beam control board of a sub-array module of one receiving phased array antenna in the communications on-the-move device, enabling a beam control board of a sub-array module of another remaining receiving phased array antenna and a beam control board of each transmitting phased array antenna to perform time synchronization and frequency synchronization, and enable, by solving a code table to drive a receiving sub-array module of a corresponding receiving phased array antenna and a transmitting sub-array module of the transmitting phased array antenna to form antenna beams based on the actual pointing angle, the receiver to parse the satellite signal received by the receiving phased array antenna and detect the signal strength.”
Citation of Pertinent Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Bischl (EP 0920072 A2) [English Translation] describes a satellite radio terminal intended for systems with non-geostationary satellites, electronically phased array (Phased Array Antenna) with the ability to rapidly swap the main lobe direction from one satellite to another satellite when changing satellites (page 1 second paragraph).
Merrell (US 10,756,413 B2) describes that the target satellite 110 can receive the forward uplink signals 140 from the gateway terminal 130 and transmit corresponding forward downlink signals 114 to the antenna system 150…the target satellite 110 can also receive return uplink signals 116 from the antenna system 150 and transmit corresponding return downlink signals 142 to the gateway terminal 130…the target satellite 110 can operate in a multiple spot beam mode, transmitting and receiving a number of narrow beams directed to different regions on Earth…alternatively, the target satellite 110 can operate in wide area coverage beam mode, transmitting one or more wide area coverage beams…the target satellite 110 may be a geostationary satellite or a non-geostationary satellite, such as a low earth orbit (LEO) or medium earth orbit (MEO) satellite…although only a single target satellite 110 is shown in the satellite communications system 100, other communications system may have more than one target satellite 110, and the more than one target satellites 110 may support various operations of unidirectional or bidirectional communications, including the operations of dynamic antenna platform offset calibration described herein (column 4 line 62- column 5 line 16).
Dueri et al. (US 2022/0109235 A1) describes Figure 13 is a not-to-scale exemplary schematic diagram illustrating the GEO-belt of geostationary satellites orbiting the equator (paragraph 52).
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.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, William J Kelleher can be reached at 571-272-7753. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/NUZHAT PERVIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3648