DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1, 3, 5, 6, and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dugan et al (US 20070242884 A1) in view of Pleskachevsky et al (“Synergy and fusion of optical and synthetic aperture radar satellite data for underwater topography estimation in coastal areas”).
Referring to claim 1:
Dugan et al disclose method for measuring water depth using image processing comprising:
collecting to receive predetermined various types of data for water depth measurement, the predetermined various types of data including image data (par. 21 / Fig. 7);
analyzing to measure water depth at a predetermined particular point or region in an image through image analysis of the image data received through the data collector (par. 16 / Fig. 1); and
outputting various types of information according to predetermined settings, the various types of information including the various types of data collected through the data collector and processing processes and processing results processed through the data analyzer (par. 22 / Fig 8).
Dugan et al do not disclose one of the predetermined various types of data as including a SAR image received through a synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) device, and therefore do not analyze a SAR image through image analysis of the SAR image to measure water depth at a predetermined particular point or region. However, this type of data collection and image analysis is known as is taught for example by Pleskachevsky et al (see abstract).
Therefore, it would have been prima facie obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Dugan et al in view of Pleskachevsky et al to have received a SAR image through a synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) device in order to use improved resolution images, and analyze the SAR image through image analysis of the SAR image to measure water depth at a predetermined particular point or region with improved accuracy.
The steps of collecting, analyzing, and outputting in Dugan et al inherently require a system comprising a collector, data analyzer, and output part, such as a computer, configure (programmed) to perform these steps.
Referring to claim 3:
In the combination of Dugan et al and Pleskachevsky et al, the data collector periodically receives the SAR image according to predetermined settings from the particular SAR device installed separately from the system (i.e. SAR satellite TerraSAR-X in Pleskachevsky et al), the SAR images being received periodically based on predetermined settings inherent to the period of the waves being imaged (wave frequency). And given that Dugan et al disclose receiving wave images from a satellite, tower, or from an airborne vehicle, the modification in view of Pleskachevsky et al would cover receiving SAR images from a plurality of SAR devices in the system or installed separately from the system.
Referring to claim 5:
In the combination of Dugan et al and Pleskachevsky et al, the data analyzer is configured to make a connection between the water depth and a tidal rate and brightness (an intensity of a radar reflection wave) of the SAR image and pre-store the connection as reference data for water depth measurement, and estimate a shape of seafloor topography on the basis of a change in the brightness of the SAR image and a change in the tidal rate received through the data collector and make comparison with the reference data to measure the water depth in the particular point or region according to predetermined settings (Pleskachevsky et al: sections 1.2 and 2).
Referring to claim 6:
In the combination of Dugan et al and Pleskachevsky et al, the data analyzer is configured to calculate, on the basis of information on a period(T) and a wavelength (L) of a wave in a measurement region received through the data collector and a dispersion relation equation of surface gravity waves, the water depth (h) using Equation below
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where h denotes the water depth, k denotes a wavenumber (k = 2π/L), ω denotes an angular frequency (ω = 2π/T), and g denotes gravitational acceleration (Pleskachevsky et al: section 2.3 discloses the calculation of water depth by applying the linear dispersion relation for ocean gravity waves. The solution of the dispersion relation with respect to water depth d is equation (6) with peak wavelength = 1.).
Referring to claim 12:
The method for measuring water depth using radar image processing according to claim 12 corresponds to the using the system as set forth above in the combination of Dugan et al and Pleskachevsky et al.
Claims 2, 4 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dugan et al and Pleskachevsky et al as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Kang, J. G. et al (KR 2016-0072432 A).
Referring to claims 2 and 11:
The combination of Dugan et al and Pleskachevsky et al does not disclose a communication part configured to transmit and receive the various types of data by performing communication with an external device including a server or a user terminal, through wired or wireless communication or both, and a controller configured to control overall operation of the system, wherein the controller is configured to transmit the various types of information including the SAR image and the various types of data received through the data collector and the processing processes and the analysis results of the data analyzer, to the external device including the server or the user terminal through the communication part according to predetermined settings.
However, Kang, J. G. et al disclose a system and controller for communicating with a server and user terminals via wired or wireless communications to receive data, efficiently process data, respond to information requests, and provide marine environmental information whereby prediction and warning of marine disasters conditions are communicated. Therefore, for that reason, it would have been prima facie obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the combination of Dugan et al and Pleskachevsky et al in view of Kang, J. G. et al to have included a communication part configured to transmit and receive the various types of data by performing communication with an external device including a server or a user terminal, through wired or wireless communication or both, and a controller configured to control overall operation of the system, wherein the controller is configured to transmit the various types of information including the SAR image and the various types of data received through the data collector and the processing processes and the analysis results of the data analyzer, to the external device including the server or the user terminal through the communication part according to predetermined settings.
Referring to claim 4:
In the combination of Dugan et al, Pleskachevsky et al, and Kang, J. G. et al, the data collector is configured to receive the SAR image and the predetermined various types of data for water depth measurement including information on sea surface and undersea environments, information on a period (T) and a wavelength (L) of a wave (Pleskachevsky et al: section 2), and current atmospheric temperature, water temperature, wind direction, wind speed, and weather information for the region at which the water depth is to be measured, and store water depth measurement results and respective pieces of the data in the form of a database according to predetermined settings to establish a water depth measurement-related database for each region (Kang, J. G. et al: summary and description of marine environment collection system 300 receiving the marine environment data and marine environment database 320).
Claims 9-10 and 13-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dugan et al and Pleskachevsky et al as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Kang, J. Y. et al (KR 10-2297054 B1) and well-known prior art (MPEP 2144.03).
Referring to claims 9-10:
The combination of Dugan et al and Pleskachevsky et al does not disclose the output part configured to visually display, through a monitor or a display, the various types of information including the SAR image and the various types of data received through the data collector and the processing processes and the analysis results of the data analyzer, or display the various types of information visually through the monitor or the display, and simultaneously convey the various types of information audibly through a voice output means including a speaker.
However, Kang, J. Y. et al disclose providing evaluation information for the ecological environment of a target region based on the analyzed ecological environment elements of that region (information providing server 300 provides the user terminal 400 with the evaluation information on the ecological environment elements of the evaluation target region). While Kang, J. Y. et al do not mention providing information audibly through a voice output, this is a common and well-known feature on user terminals and the user interface to enhance the user experience or provide support for the visually impaired.
It would have been prima facie obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the combination of Dugan et al and Pleskachevsky et al in view of Kang, J. Y. et al to have configured the output part to visually display, through a monitor or a display, the various types of information including the SAR image and the various types of data received through the data collector and the processing processes and the analysis results of the data analyzer, or display the various types of information visually through the monitor or the display, and simultaneously convey the various types of information audibly through a voice output means including a speaker. The motivation for such a modification would be to provide a user with a way to visually and/or audibly appreciate and better use the various types of collected and processed information, including the SAR image and analysis results.
Referring to claims 13-14:
The combination of Dugan et al and Pleskachevsky et al does not disclose a water depth measurement information provision service system, comprising water depth measurement information generators configured to establish databases by collecting water depth measurement results and various types of information related to water depth measurement for respective regions, user terminals for respective users to make requests for information related to water depth measurement and receive corresponding services, and a service server connected to each of the water depth measurement information generators and the user terminals, and configured to receive various types of data including the water depth measurement results from the respective water depth measurement information generators, and provide the corresponding services at the users’ requests received from the respective user terminals, wherein the water depth measurement information generators are configured using a system for measuring water depth using radar image processing according to what is provided by the combination of Dugan et al and Pleskachevsky et al (referring above to claim 1), wherein the user terminals include personal portable information communication terminals including smartphones or tablet PCs, or information processing devices including PCs or laptop computers, or all.
However, Kang, J. Y. et al disclose providing evaluation information on the ecological environment of a target region, the generation of that information being configured to establish databases by collecting various types of ecological environmental factors according to the geographical properties (e.g., location, climate, marine ecology, water depth distribution), user terminals (user terminals 400) for users to make requests for this information and receive corresponding services, and a server (server 300) connected to the means of generating the ecological environmental information and the user terminals, wherein the server is configured to receive the various types of data, such as the ecological environmental factors noted above and provide the corresponding services in response to users’ requests received from the user terminals, and wherein the user terminals include any or all of various types personal portable or desktop devices (e.g., smartphones, PCs, etc.) capable of wired/wireless communication (description of Fig. 1).
It would have been prima facie obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the combination of Dugan et al and Pleskachevsky et al in view of Kang, J. Y. et al to provide a water depth measurement information provision service system, comprising water depth measurement information generators configured to establish databases by collecting water depth measurement results and various types of information related to water depth measurement for respective regions, user terminals for respective users to make requests for information related to water depth measurement and receive corresponding services, and a service server connected to each of the water depth measurement information generators and the user terminals, and configured to receive various types of data including the water depth measurement results from the respective water depth measurement information generators, and provide the corresponding services at the users’ requests received from the respective user terminals, wherein the water depth measurement information generators are configured using a system for measuring water depth using radar image processing according to what is provided by the combination of Dugan et al and Pleskachevsky et al (referring above to claim 1), wherein the user terminals include personal portable information communication terminals including smartphones or tablet PCs, or information processing devices including PCs or laptop computers, or all. The motivation for such a modification would be to provide a service that is easily accessible and responsive to users to obtain information based on results of analyzing and evaluating ecological environmental elements, such as water depth measurement information, of a target region (i.e., a user designated region).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7-8 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. Referring to these claims, the prior art searched and of record neither anticipates nor suggests all the limitations added in the claimed combinations.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 13 March 2024 was filed in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98. Accordingly, the IDS has been considered by the examiner.
Applicant has provided an explanation of relevance of cited documents (Korean Patent No. 10-2280898 and 10-1548198) on pages 1-3 of the specification.
The relevance of the first three cited documents summarized below, in addition to any applied above, can be found in the Written Opinion from the Korean Ministry of Intellectual Property (MOIP) dated 21 June 2023 for application no. 10-2023-0052631 A (of record).
The KR 10-1531906 B1 specification discloses an ocean measurement apparatus. The marine measurement apparatus comprising: an image receiving unit for receiving at least two radar images at predetermined time intervals; a wavelet and wavelength calculator for extracting a wave envelope of the wave from the radar image and calculating a wave velocity and a wavelength for a specific point based on the extracted wave envelope; and a water depth calculation unit for calculating water depths at the specific points from the calculated wavelengths and wavelengths of the specific points.
Kang, J. Y. et al (KR 10-2297054 B1) disclose a method and system, using an island information providing server, for extracting an area corresponding to an evaluation target island from the satellite image data, analyzing the ecological environment elements of the evaluation target island based on the extracted satellite image data for the area corresponding to the evaluation target island, and providing evaluation information for the ecological environment of the evaluation target island based on the analyzed ecological environment elements of the evaluation target island.
Kang, J. G. et al (KR 2016-0072432 A) disclose a system for providing observation data of the marine environment. The collects data from various institutions, monitors and analyzes the environment on the basis of the data, and provides a forecast and a warning through an information prediction, and more efficient, accurate and specialized marine environmental information. The system comprises: a network group having an environmental information server which senses the marine environmental information on a specific area, according to a predetermined period or in response to a request from a monitoring server, and stores the same; a communication system which is dually built with the internet and the telephone network on the basis of wired (RS485 module) and wireless (DASH7 module) communications; a marine environmental collection system which builds a marine environment database through a data collection unit which receives marine environmental data from the environmental information server of the network group via the communication system; a prediction/analysis system which predicts marine disasters and analyzes the marine environment by using the collected data through the marine environmental collection system; and condition propagation system which propagates the predicted and analyzed marine disaster condition via the communication system.
Applicant has not provided an explanation of relevance of cited document(s) summarized below.
Na et al (KR 10-2280898 B1) disclose a water depth measuring apparatus for measuring the depth of a gate seating part of a seawater inlet structure through an opening part for installing a gate of a power plant seawater inlet structure, and a water depth measuring method using the same. According to the present invention, the water depth measuring apparatus comprises: a moving part having a plurality of wheels moving along the step difference of the edge of the opening part; a frame part positioned above the plurality of wheels and composed of a frame member connecting the plurality of wheels; a roller connected to the frame part and rotating; a wire wound on the roller; and a measuring part connected to the end of the wire. According to the present invention, the operator can safely measure the water depth of the gate seating part through the opening of the seawater inlet structure, and the convenience and accuracy of measurement are increased.
Yun et al (KR 10-1548198 B1) disclose a depth finder comprising: a buoy having an installation space; a rotary roller coupled to the installation space of the buoy to be rotated; a depth measurement wire wound on the rotary roller having one end positioned on the water and the other end fallen down to a riverbed and a lakebed to measure a depth; a weight coupled to the other end of the depth measurement wire to draw downward the other end of the depth measurement wire to the underwater bed; a ratchet gear coupled to one side of the rotary roller to control the rotary roller to be rotated in a specific direction; and an operation lever engaged with the ratchet gear to rotate the ratchet gear in a specific direction. If the buoy floats on the river or the lake to be measured, the depth measurement wire is pulled downward to draw out the weight until the weight free falls and reaches to the bed. When the weight reaches to the bed and stops falling, the depth measurement wire is pulled upward. Since the rotary roller is not rotated backward by the engagement of the ratchet gear and the operation lever, a length between the buoy and the weight constantly maintains and the buoy, the depth measurement wire, and the weight simultaneously rise upward. Therefore, the depth is simply measured by floating the buoy at a part to be measured and rising upward the buoy after a predetermined time, thereby simply and accurately measuring the depth.
Cited Art
The prior art and other references made of record and not relied upon are considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Abileah (US 8903134 B2) discloses systems and methods for acquiring accurate maps of near-shore depth and surface currents are disclosed. An imaging platform is provided which is able to obtain a time series of overhead images of an area of a body of water having pixel intensity correlated with wave height. The platform may be on a tower, or may be airborne, space-borne, or ship-borne. The imaging modality may be optical, radar, or LIDAR. Image processing corrects the images, as and if needed, such they are mapped onto a grid of fixed coordinates, and the pixel intensities have a near linear relationship to wave height. A two-dimensional Fourier transform of each image is obtained, then the extremum of an objective function is found, wherein the objective function is a function of the depth and surface current (velocity) vector at each pixel location, and the extremum is sharply peaked at a particular set of depth and a particular set of surface current vector values. A pixel-by-pixel map of depths and or currents can be produced.
Kawanami et al (US 11249185 B2) disclose a signal processing device, which calculates wave information accurately, including wave height, by processing an echo from a wave, and a radar apparatus provided with the signal processing device. Note equation (1) in col. 7 solving for water depth (d).
Murphy (US 11854258 B1) discloses training a machine-learned model using satellite imagery and physical river gauge data as ground-truth information. Methods include receiving, from a user in a graphical user interface presented on a user device, a depth request for depth information at a geolocation. At least two satellite images are received, including the geolocation where a difference in respective capture times of each of the satellite images is within a threshold. The satellite images for the geolocation are provided to a machine-learned river gauge model. The machine-learned river gauge model determines depth information for the geolocation utilizing the satellite images, and provides, to the user in the graphical user interface, the depth information at the geolocation.
Biondi (WO 2024/008365 A1) discloses a method that involves starting to form a single or multiple spectral aperture radar (SAR) images. The SAR image is acquired at any frequency, any acquisition modes, any polarization, and any geometry. A SAR sensor is carried by an air/space/satellite platform. A complex vibrational extrapolation is performed from any SAR data at any processing level by pixel displacement measurement. A pulse compression of the estimated complex vibrations data is performed using any known pulse compression method. A system program is developed at any programming language and compiled using any compiling language. SAR data is processed at a process level. Satellite/air borne complex data is accepted. Observing process is operated at frequency, at chirp and Doppler bandwidths. The method allows synthesis of vibrational/phononic/sounding information present on all pixels of the satellite SAR data using the Doppler centroids displacement/shifts and abnormalities of micro-motion. The method provides complex tomographic images of the internal matter focused in high-resolution and allows possibility to add a new observation domain to SAR satellite/airborne systems.
Bian et al (CN108120981A) disclose a shallow water depth radar remote sensing detection method, including: obtaining multi-view SAR remote sensing images in region to be detected, wherein multi-view SAR remote sensing images include q single-view SAR remote sensing images, and each single-view SAR remote sensing image contains the characteristics of image showing waves from deep water sea area to shallow water sea area in region to be detected; calculating each single-view SAR remote sensing image, respectively, so as to obtain the shallow water depth detection result in shallow water sea area; carrying out tidal correction respectively to the shallow water depth detection result obtained by each single-view SAR remote sensing image; composing the corrected shallow water depth detection result by element to form a one-dimensional shallow water depth array including q elements according to predetermined rule, filtering out every group of shallow water depth array by means of Kalman filtering algorithm, and taking the last one element numerical value in every filtered group of shallow water depth array as depth of the shallow water sea area. This patent employs a single radar-carrying satellite for synthetic aperture radar imaging, and uses multiple single-view SAR remote sensing images to achieve large-area, near-real-time shallow water underwater terrain detection, especially in shallow sea areas with high water color levels, cloudy and rainy, and inaccessible for ships.
Pleskachevsky et al (“Estimation of underwater topography using satellite high resolution synthetic aperture radar data”) present a method to obtain underwater topography for coastal areas using state-of-the-art remote sensing data and techniques worldwide. Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data from the new German satellite TerraSAR-X with high resolution up to 1m are used to render ocean waves. As in shallow areas, bathymetry is reflected by long swell wave refraction governed by underwater seabed structures, the depths can be derived using the dispersion relation from observed swell properties. To retrieve water depth, the linear dispersion relation for ocean gravity waves was applied. The solution of the dispersion relation with respect to water depth d is equation (6) as recited in claim 6 with the peak wavelength = 1.
Wiehle et al (“Bathymetry derived from Sentinel-1 Synthetic Aperture Radar data”) use of Sentinel-1 Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite data to derive bathymetry, the topography of the sea floor. An automatic algorithm is used to retrieve the peak wavelengths of long swell waves from SAR acquisitions of coastal seas and calculate the bathymetry using the shoaling effect, which leads to waves becoming shorter when approaching shallower waters. The peak wave period, required for solving the dispersion relation, is also automatically retrieved by comparison to existing datasets. Using a linear approach and neglecting local circulation currents, the connection between peak wavelengths and depth is described by the rearranged dispersion relation (see equation 1) as recited in claim 6 with the peak wavelength = 1.
Wiehle et al (“Automatic bathymetry retrieval from SAR images”) provide a study for the development of a processor that allows the automatic derivation of gridded bathymetry information from spaceborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data. Observations of sea state modifications in SAR images are used to derive the bathymetry in shelf areas using the shoaling effect, which causes wavelengths to become shorter when reaching shallower waters. The water depth is derived using the dispersion relation for surface water waves, which requires wavelength and wave period as input parameters. While the wavelength can be directly retrieved from the SAR image, for the peak period additional information and procedures are required, e.g. local measurements or complex SAR data. A method for automatically deriving the wave period for swell waves in SAR images was developed and tested in this paper. It uses depth data from public databases as initial values which are compared to derived depths iterating through possible peak periods along the calculation grid; the peak period resulting in a minimal root-mean-square deviation is then used for bathymetry calculation. Using a linear approach and neglecting local circulation currents, the connection between peak wavelengths and depth is described by the rearranged dispersion relation (see equation 1) as recited in claim 6 with the peak wavelength = 1.
Mudiyanselage et al (“Automated High-Resolution Bathymetry from Sentinel-1 SAR Images in Deeper Nearshore Coastal Waters in Eastern Florida”) evaluate the feasibility of applying fast Fourier transform (FFT) to SAR data in coastal nearshore bathymetry derivation in Florida’s coastal waters. The study aims to develop a robust SAR bathymetry inversion framework across extensive spatial scales to address the dearth of bathymetric data in deeper nearshore coastal regions. By leveraging the Sentinel-1 datasets as a rich source of training data, our method yields high resolution and accurate depth extraction up to 80 m. A comprehensive workflow to determine both the wavelength and peak wave period is associated with the proposed automated model compilation. A novel contour geometry-based spectral analysis technique for wavelength retrieval is presented that enables an efficient and scalable SAR bathymetry model. Multi-date SAR images were used to assess the robustness of the proposed depth-retrieval model.
Alpers (“A Theory of the Imaging Mechanism of Underwater Bottom Topography by Real and Synthetic Aperture Radar”) present a simple theoretical model of the imaging mechanism of underwater bottom topography in tidal channels by real and by synthetic aperture radar (SAR) . The imaging is attributed to surface effects induced by current variations over bottom topography. The current modulates the short-scale surface roughness, which in turn gives rise to changes in radar reflectivity.
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/Scott A Rogers/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2683
06 March 2026