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 .
Examiner’s Note
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 use of patents as references is not limited to what the patentees describe as their own inventions or to the problems with which they are concerned. They are part of the literature of the art, relevant for all they contain.” In re Heck, 699 F.2d 1331, 1332-33, 216 USPQ 1038, 1039 (Fed. Cir. 1983) (quoting In re Lemelson, 397 F.2d 1006, 1009, 158 USPQ 275, 277 (CCPA 1968)). A reference may be relied upon for all that it would have reasonably suggested to one having ordinary skill in the art, including non-preferred embodiments. Merck & Co. v.Biocraft Laboratories, 874 F.2d 804, 10 USPQ2d 1843 (Fed. Cir.), cert. denied, 493 U.S. 975 (1989). See also Upsher-Smith Labs. v. Pamlab, LLC, 412 F.3d 1319, 1323, 75 USPQ2d 1213, 1215 (Fed. Cir. 2005) See MPEP 2123.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement(s) (IDS) submitted on 19 November, 2024 is/are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the Examiner.
Claim Objections
Claim(s) 1-2, 7, 17, and 26 is/are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 1 recites “the first plurality of virtual antennas is based on” and “the second plurality of virtual antennas is based on” which are suggested to be amended to “the first plurality of virtual antennas [[is]]are based on” and “the second plurality of virtual antennas [[is]]are based on” to properly reference the previously recited feature(s).
Claim 2 recites “an RDAz bin” and “an estimated RDAz-based Doppler fold” which are suggested to be amended to “[[an]]the RDAz bin” and “[[an]]the estimated RDAz-based Doppler fold” to properly reference the previously recited feature(s).
Claim 7 recites “an estimated RDAz-based Doppler fold corresponding to an RDAz bin” which is suggested to be amended to “[[an]]the estimated RDAz-based Doppler fold corresponding to [[an]]the RDAz bin” to properly reference the previously recited feature(s).
Claim 17 recites “an estimated RDAz-based Doppler fold” which is suggested to be amended to “[[an]]the estimated RDAz-based Doppler fold” to properly reference the previously recited feature(s).
Claim 26 recites “an RDAz bin” and “an estimated RDAz-based Doppler fold” which are suggested to be amended to “[[an]]the RDAz bin” and “[[an]]the estimated RDAz-based Doppler fold” to properly reference the previously recited feature(s).
Appropriate correction is required.
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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-2, 6-8, 10-15, 17, 19-20, and 23-26 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Panzer et al. (US 2021/0389453 A1 “PANZER”).
Regarding claim 1, PANZER discloses an apparatus comprising:
a processor (radar processor 834 may include at least one processor 836, which may be configured, for example, to process the radar Rx data 811 [0174]) configured to:
process Range-Doppler (RD) information corresponding to an RD bin to identify a first plurality of values corresponding to a first plurality of virtual antennas of a virtual antenna array and a second plurality of values corresponding to a second plurality of virtual antennas of the virtual antenna array (detect one or more angles from a plurality of angles based on the virtual radar antenna information of the 2D virtual antenna, which is based on radar antenna 881 (FIG. 8) [0353]), wherein the RD information corresponding to the RD bin is based on radar Receive (Rx) signals received by a plurality of Rx antennas based on radar Transmit (Tx) signals from a Tx array including a first plurality of Tx antennas and a second plurality of Tx antennas (radar frontend 804 may be implemented as part of a MIMO radar utilizing a MIMO radar antenna 881 including a plurality of Tx antennas 814 configured to transmit a plurality of Tx RF signals (also referred to as “Tx radar signals”); and a plurality of Rx antennas 816 configured to receive a plurality of Rx RF signals (also referred to as “Rx radar signals”), for example, based on the Tx radar signals [0162]), wherein the first plurality of virtual antennas is based on the plurality of Rx antennas and the first plurality of Tx antennas, the second plurality of virtual antennas is based on the plurality of Rx antennas and the second plurality of Tx antennas (antenna arrays including multiple antennas both for transmitting the radio transmit signals and for receiving echoes of the radio transmit signals, may be utilized to provide a plurality of virtual channels [0158]); (an array of N transmit antennas and M receive antennas may be implemented to provide a virtual MIMO array of size N×M [0160])
and determine one or more estimated RD-Azimuth (RDAz) based (RDAz-based) Doppler folds corresponding to one or more RDAz bins based on the first plurality of values and the second plurality of values (radar processor 834 may be configured to support and/or implement a Doppler algorithm, which may be configured to determine a plurality of Doppler folding factors for a range-Doppler bin [0319]); (processor 836 may be configured to determine one or more Doppler folding factors corresponding to the one or more angles [0328])
and an output to provide processed data based on the one or more estimated RDAz-based Doppler folds (memory 838 may be configured to store processed data, which may be generated by processor 836, for example, during the process of generating the radar information 813 [0177]).
Regarding claim 2, PANZER discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to determine a measurement vector corresponding to an RDAz bin based on the first plurality of values and the second plurality of values (processor 836 may be configured to determine an energy vector including a plurality of energy values corresponding to the plurality of angles [0338]), and to determine an estimated RDAz-based Doppler fold corresponding to the RDAz bin based on the measurement vector corresponding to the RDAz bin (as indicated at blocks 1502, removing the residual phase for the plurality of hypothesis 1530 may be based on horizontal data 1503 of virtual radar antenna information of the antenna ray, e.g., horizontal dada 1410 (FIG. 14) [0365]); (determine a Doppler folding factor, e.g. a Doppler folding factor 1510, for example, based on a combination of metrics [0378 & FIG. 15]).
Regarding claim 6, PANZER discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to determine a first plurality of azimuth-based values corresponding to the first plurality of virtual antennas based on the first plurality of values, to determine a second plurality of azimuth-based values corresponding to the second plurality of virtual antennas based on the second plurality of values (detect one or more angles from a plurality of angles based on the virtual radar antenna information of the 2D virtual antenna, which is based on radar antenna 881 (FIG. 8) [0353], cited and incorporated in the rejection of claim 1), and to determine the one or more estimated RDAz-based Doppler folds based on the first plurality of azimuth-based values and the second plurality of azimuth-based values (processor 836 may be configured to determine one or more Doppler folding factors corresponding to the one or more angles [0328], cited and incorporated in the rejection of claim 1).
Regarding claim 7, PANZER discloses the apparatus of claim 6, wherein the processor is configured to determine an estimated RDAz-based Doppler fold corresponding to an RDAz bin, which corresponds to an Azimuth (Az) bin, based on a first subset of azimuth-based values in the first plurality of azimuth-based values and a second subset of azimuth-based values in the second plurality of azimuth-based values, wherein the first subset of azimuth-based values and the second subset of azimuth-based values correspond to the Az bin (horizontal dada 1410 may include a plurality of angles, e.g., azimuth angles, corresponding to a plurality of 1D virtual arrays, e.g., a plurality of rows of the 2D virtual antenna [0356]); (as indicated at blocks 1502, removing the residual phase for the plurality of hypothesis 1530 may be based on horizontal data 1503 of virtual radar antenna information of the antenna ray, e.g., horizontal dada 1410 (FIG. 14) [0365]); (determine a Doppler folding factor, e.g. a Doppler folding factor 1510, for example, based on a combination of metrics [0378 & FIG. 15]).
Regarding claim 8, PANZER discloses the apparatus of claim 7, wherein the processor is configured to determine a measurement vector corresponding to the RDAz bin based on the first subset of azimuth-based values and the second subset of azimuth-based values (processor 836 may be configured to determine an energy vector including a plurality of energy values corresponding to the plurality of angles [0338]), and to determine the estimated RDAz-based Doppler fold corresponding to the RDAz bin based on the measurement vector corresponding to the RDAz bin (as indicated at blocks 1502, removing the residual phase for the plurality of hypothesis 1530 may be based on horizontal data 1503 of virtual radar antenna information of the antenna ray, e.g., horizontal dada 1410 (FIG. 14) [0365]); (determine a Doppler folding factor, e.g. a Doppler folding factor 1510, for example, based on a combination of metrics [0378 & FIG. 15]).
Regarding claim 10, PANZER discloses the apparatus of claim 7, wherein the first subset of azimuth-based values corresponds to a first subset of virtual antennas in the first plurality of virtual antennas, wherein the second subset of azimuth-based values corresponds to a second subset of virtual antennas in the second plurality of virtual antennas (detect one or more angles from a plurality of angles based on the virtual radar antenna information of the 2D virtual antenna, which is based on radar antenna 881 (FIG. 8) [0353], cited and incorporated in the rejection of claim 1).
Regarding claim 11, PANZER discloses the apparatus of claim 10, wherein the first subset of virtual antennas comprises a first column of virtual antennas in the virtual antenna array (first sub-array 1022 [0245 & FIG. 10]), and the second subset of virtual antennas comprises a second column of virtual antennas in the virtual antenna array (second sub-array 1028 [0245 & FIG. 10]).
Regarding claim 12, PANZER discloses the apparatus of claim 6, wherein the processor is configured to determine the first plurality of azimuth-based values based on a first plurality of sets of Fast-Fourier-Transform (FFT) values corresponding to a first plurality of virtual antenna rows in the first plurality of virtual antennas, and to determine the second plurality of azimuth-based values based on a second plurality of sets of FFT values corresponding to a second plurality of virtual antenna rows in the second plurality of virtual antennas (radar processor 309 (FIG. 3) may be configured to utilize this relationship between phase and angle of the incoming radio signal, for example, to determine the angle of arrival of echoes, for example by performing an FFT, e.g., a third FFT (“angular FFT”) over the antennas [0154]).
Regarding claim 13, PANZER discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more estimated RDAz-based Doppler folds comprises a first estimated RDAz-based Doppler fold corresponding to a first RDAz bin, and a second estimated RDAz-based Doppler fold corresponding to a second RDAz bin (radar processor 834 may be configured to support and/or implement a Doppler algorithm, which may be configured to determine a plurality of Doppler folding factors for a range-Doppler bin [0319], cited and incorporated in the rejection of claim 1).
Regarding claim 14, PANZER discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processed data comprises Doppler fold information to indicate the one or more estimated RDAz-based Doppler folds (memory 838 may be configured to store processed data, which may be generated by processor 836, for example, during the process of generating the radar information 813 [0177], cited and incorporated in the rejection of claim 1); (processor 836 may be configured to determine one or more Doppler folding factors corresponding to the one or more angles [0328], cited and incorporated in the rejection of claim 1).
Regarding claim 15, PANZER discloses the apparatus of claim 14, wherein the processed data comprises processed radar data corresponding to the one or more RDAz bins, and the Doppler fold information comprising the one or more estimated RDAz-based Doppler folds (radar processor 834 may be configured to support and/or implement a Doppler algorithm, which may be configured to determine a plurality of Doppler folding factors for a range-Doppler bin [0319], cited and incorporated in the rejection of claim 1).
Regarding claim 17, PANZER discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein an estimated RDAz-based Doppler fold comprises an estimated residual Doppler fold value resulting from a folding of an actual Doppler value according to a Doppler folding value (as indicated at blocks 1502, removing the residual phase for the plurality of hypothesis 1530 may be based on horizontal data 1503 of virtual radar antenna information of the antenna ray, e.g., horizontal dada 1410 (FIG. 14) [0365]); (determine a Doppler folding factor, e.g. a Doppler folding factor 1510, for example, based on a combination of metrics [0378 & FIG. 15]).
Regarding claim 19, PANZER discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first plurality of Tx antennas comprises a first column of Tx antennas (first sub-array 1022 [0245 & FIG. 10]), the second plurality of Tx antennas comprises a second column of Tx antennas (second sub-array 1028 [0245 & FIG. 10]), and the plurality of Rx antennas comprises a row of Rx antennas (Rx array 1040 [0259 & FIG. 10]).
Regarding claim 20, PANZER discloses the apparatus of claim 19 comprising a controller configured to control transmission of the radar Tx signals in a sequence of Tx row transmissions via Tx rows of the Tx array (controller 1050 may be configured to control the Tx antenna array 1020 to transmit a sequence of Tx radar signals [0244]).
Regarding claim 23, PANZER discloses a product comprising one or more tangible computer-readable non-transitory storage media comprising instructions operable to, when executed by at least one processor, enable the at least one processor (radar processor 834 may include at least one processor 836, which may be configured, for example, to process the radar Rx data 811 [0174]) to:
process Range-Doppler (RD) information corresponding to an RD bin to identify a first plurality of values corresponding to a first plurality of virtual antennas of a virtual antenna array and a second plurality of values corresponding to a second plurality of virtual antennas of the virtual antenna array (detect one or more angles from a plurality of angles based on the virtual radar antenna information of the 2D virtual antenna, which is based on radar antenna 881 (FIG. 8) [0353]), wherein the RD information corresponding to the RD bin is based on radar Receive (Rx) signals received by a plurality of Rx antennas based on radar Transmit (Tx) signals from a Tx array including a first plurality of Tx antennas and a second plurality of Tx antennas (radar frontend 804 may be implemented as part of a MIMO radar utilizing a MIMO radar antenna 881 including a plurality of Tx antennas 814 configured to transmit a plurality of Tx RF signals (also referred to as “Tx radar signals”); and a plurality of Rx antennas 816 configured to receive a plurality of Rx RF signals (also referred to as “Rx radar signals”), for example, based on the Tx radar signals [0162]), wherein the first plurality of virtual antennas is based on the plurality of Rx antennas and the first plurality of Tx antennas, the second plurality of virtual antennas is based on the plurality of Rx antennas and the second plurality of Tx antennas (antenna arrays including multiple antennas both for transmitting the radio transmit signals and for receiving echoes of the radio transmit signals, may be utilized to provide a plurality of virtual channels [0158]); (an array of N transmit antennas and M receive antennas may be implemented to provide a virtual MIMO array of size N×M [0160])
determine one or more estimated RD-Azimuth (RDAz) based (RDAz-based) Doppler folds corresponding to one or more RDAz bins based on the first plurality of values and the second plurality of values (radar processor 834 may be configured to support and/or implement a Doppler algorithm, which may be configured to determine a plurality of Doppler folding factors for a range-Doppler bin [0319]); (processor 836 may be configured to determine one or more Doppler folding factors corresponding to the one or more angles [0328])
and provide processed data based on the one or more estimated RDAz-based Doppler folds (memory 838 may be configured to store processed data, which may be generated by processor 836, for example, during the process of generating the radar information 813 [0177]).
Regarding claim 24, PANZER discloses the product of claim 23, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the at least one processor to determine a first plurality of azimuth-based values corresponding to the first plurality of virtual antennas based on the first plurality of values, to determine a second plurality of azimuth-based values corresponding to the second plurality of virtual antennas based on the second plurality of values (detect one or more angles from a plurality of angles based on the virtual radar antenna information of the 2D virtual antenna, which is based on radar antenna 881 (FIG. 8) [0353], cited and incorporated in the rejection of claim 23), and to determine the one or more estimated RDAz-based Doppler folds based on the first plurality of azimuth-based values and the second plurality of azimuth-based values (processor 836 may be configured to determine one or more Doppler folding factors corresponding to the one or more angles [0328], cited and incorporated in the rejection of claim 23).
Regarding claim 25, PANZER discloses a vehicle comprising: a system controller configured to control one or more vehicular systems of the vehicle based on radar information (radar processor 834 (FIG. 8) may include one or more elements of radar controller 1050, and/or may perform one or more operations and/or functionalities of radar controller 1050 [0243]); and a radar system configured to provide the radar information to the system controller, the radar system comprising:
a Transmit (Tx) array to transmit radar Tx signals, the Tx array comprising a first plurality of Tx antennas and a second plurality of Tx antennas; a plurality of Receive (Rx) antennas to receive radar Rx signals based on the radar Tx signals (radar frontend 804 may be implemented as part of a MIMO radar utilizing a MIMO radar antenna 881 including a plurality of Tx antennas 814 configured to transmit a plurality of Tx RF signals (also referred to as “Tx radar signals”); and a plurality of Rx antennas 816 configured to receive a plurality of Rx RF signals (also referred to as “Rx radar signals”), for example, based on the Tx radar signals [0162])
and a processor (radar processor 834 may include at least one processor 836, which may be configured, for example, to process the radar Rx data 811 [0174]) configured to:
process Range-Doppler (RD) information corresponding to an RD bin to identify a first plurality of values corresponding to a first plurality of virtual antennas of a virtual antenna array and a second plurality of values corresponding to a second plurality of virtual antennas of the virtual antenna array (detect one or more angles from a plurality of angles based on the virtual radar antenna information of the 2D virtual antenna, which is based on radar antenna 881 (FIG. 8) [0353]), wherein the RD information corresponding to the RD bin is based on the radar Rx signals, wherein the first plurality of virtual antennas is based on the plurality of Rx antennas and the first plurality of Tx antennas, the second plurality of virtual antennas is based on the plurality of Rx antennas and the second plurality of Tx antennas (antenna arrays including multiple antennas both for transmitting the radio transmit signals and for receiving echoes of the radio transmit signals, may be utilized to provide a plurality of virtual channels [0158]); (an array of N transmit antennas and M receive antennas may be implemented to provide a virtual MIMO array of size N×M [0160])
determine one or more estimated RD-Azimuth (RDAz) based (RDAz-based) Doppler folds corresponding to one or more RDAz bins based on the first plurality of values and the second plurality of values (radar processor 834 may be configured to support and/or implement a Doppler algorithm, which may be configured to determine a plurality of Doppler folding factors for a range-Doppler bin [0319]); (processor 836 may be configured to determine one or more Doppler folding factors corresponding to the one or more angles [0328])
and provide processed data based on the one or more estimated RDAz-based Doppler folds, wherein the radar information provided by the radar system is based on the processed data (memory 838 may be configured to store processed data, which may be generated by processor 836, for example, during the process of generating the radar information 813 [0177]).
Regarding claim 26, PANZER discloses the vehicle of claim 25, wherein the processor is configured to determine a measurement vector corresponding to an RDAz bin based on the first plurality of values and the second plurality of values (processor 836 may be configured to determine an energy vector including a plurality of energy values corresponding to the plurality of angles [0338]), and to determine an estimated RDAz-based Doppler fold corresponding to the RDAz bin based on the measurement vector corresponding to the RDAz bin (as indicated at blocks 1502, removing the residual phase for the plurality of hypothesis 1530 may be based on horizontal data 1503 of virtual radar antenna information of the antenna ray, e.g., horizontal dada 1410 (FIG. 14) [0365]); (determine a Doppler folding factor, e.g. a Doppler folding factor 1510, for example, based on a combination of metrics [0378 & FIG. 15]).
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 (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 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.
Claim(s) 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over PANZER, in view of Jansen (US 2020/0049812 A1 “JANSEN”).
Regarding claim 9, PANZER discloses (Examiner’s note: What PANZER does not explicitly disclose is ) the apparatus of claim 8,
In a same or similar field of endeavor, JANSEN relates to a method for resolving velocity ambiguity in a MIMO radar. Specifically, JANSEN teaches that the transmit channels and the virtual channel are encoded with a Walsh-Hadamard matrix having four rows and four columns [0066].
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 system of PANZER to include the teachings of JANSEN, because by using a Walsh-Hadamard encoding matrix, the required orthogonality is achieved, as recognized by JANSEN. In addition, both of the prior art references, PANZER and JANSEN, teach features that are directed to analogous art and they are directed to the same field of endeavor, that is, MIMO radar.
Claim(s) 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over PANZER, in view of Ding et al. (US 2008/0111730 A1 “DING”).
Regarding claim 18, PANZER discloses the apparatus of claim 1,
In a same or similar field of endeavor, DING teaches that the radar data processing module 22 can then apply Doppler filtering to the range-azimuth data to produce range-Doppler-azimuth data. The Doppler information in the range- Doppler-azimuth data provides an estimate of a possible target's radial velocity by measuring the possible target's Doppler shift, which is related to the change in frequency content of a given radar pulse that is reflected by the possible target with respect to the original frequency content of the given radar pulse [0059].
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 system of PANZER to include the teachings of DING, because doing so would improve system performance and reduce false positives, as recognized by DING. In addition, both of the prior art references, PANZER and DING, teach features that are directed to analogous art and they are directed to the same field of endeavor, that is, radar system for target detection.
Claim(s) 21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over PANZER, in view of Park et al. (US 2021/0333386 A1 “PARK”).
Regarding claim 21, PANZER discloses the apparatus of claim 20,
In a same or similar field of endeavor, PARK relates to a MIMO radar. Specifically, PARK teaches that each Tx channel transmits its own waveform alternatingly, and there is no overlap between any two transmissions [0060].
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 system of PANZER to include the teachings of PARK, because doing so would easily separate the signals transmitted by different Tx antennas (Tx channels), thereby achieving ideal orthogonality, as recognized by PARK. In addition, both of the prior art references, PANZER and PARK, teach features that are directed to analogous art and they are directed to the same field of endeavor, that is, MIMO radar.
Claim(s) 22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over PANZER, in view of Couronne et al. (US 2004/0171388 A1 “COURONNE”).
Regarding claim 22, PANZER discloses the apparatus of claim 20,
In a same or similar field of endeavor, COURONNE relates to a wireless tracking system. Specifically, COURONNE teaches that the transmission process utilizing the principle of pseudo-random time division multiplex using orthogonal burst transmission and non synchronized pseudo-random patterns [0063].
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 system of PANZER to include the teachings of COURONNE, because doing so would allow the receiver to clearly separate the signals. If two transmitters actually send out a signal at the same time, then the "unwanted transmitter" appears as noise. There will thus be at least signal-to-noise ratios which will enable the signal to be detected in a problem-free manner, as recognized by COURONNE. In addition, both of the prior art references, PANZER and COURONNE, teach features that are directed to analogous art and they are directed to the same field of endeavor, that is, wireless system for object detection using multiple transmitters and receivers.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim(s) 3-5, and 16 is/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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 3, the closest prior art PANZER discloses a radar antenna including a Transmit (Tx) antenna array configured to transmit a plurality of Tx radar signals; and a Receive (Rx) antenna array configured to receive a plurality of Rx radar signals based on the plurality of Tx radar signals, the Rx antenna array is orthogonal to the Tx antenna array. Specifically, PANZER discloses the determining of one or more Doppler folding factors.
Furthermore, ZHU et al. (US 2022/0221570 A1 cited in Applicant’s IDS) discloses a velocity ambiguity resolving method and an echo signal processing apparatus. The method includes: calculating, for first echo signals respectively received by at least two receive antennas in the N receive antennas, a first estimate of a direction of arrival formed by the at least two receive antennas and a first target, where the first echo signals are echo signals formed after transmit signals sent by a same transmit antenna in a time division transmit mode are reflected by the first target; separately performing, by using the first estimate, angle compensation on M second echo signals received by a first receive antenna, to obtain M first compensated echo signals; and performing velocity estimation based on at least two first compensated echo signals, to obtain a velocity of the first target.
Further still, RAO et al. (US 2020/0355822 A1) discloses systems and methods for registration of synthetic aperture range profile data to aid in SAR-based navigation. The SAR-based navigation system further includes a processor adapted to receive range profile data associated with observed views of a scene, compare the range profile data to a template range profile data of the scene, and estimate registration parameters associated with the range profile data relative to the template range profile data to determine a deviation from the template range profile data.
However, Applicant’s claim also encompasses an invention that the prior art does not disclose, teach, or otherwise render obvious. Neither PANZER, ZHU, nor RAO anticipates or renders fairly obvious, alone, or in combination, to teach all the additional limitations as cited in claim 3, within the context of Applicant' s claimed invention as a whole, that is, “wherein the processor is configured to determine the estimated RDAz-based Doppler fold corresponding to the RDAz bin based on a matching between the measurement vector corresponding to the RDAz bin and a plurality of reference vectors corresponding to a respective plurality of Doppler fold values” as recited in claim 3.
Claim(s) 4-5 would be allowable by virtue of their dependence on claim 3.
Regarding claim 16, similarly, Applicant’s claim also encompasses an invention that the prior art does not disclose, teach, or otherwise render obvious. Neither PANZER, ZHU, nor RAO anticipates or renders fairly obvious, alone, or in combination, to teach all the additional limitations as cited in claim 16, within the context of Applicant' s claimed invention as a whole, that is, “wherein the processor is configured to determine an estimated Doppler value for a target in an RDAz bin based on a sum of a Doppler value corresponding to the RD bin and an estimated RDAz-based Doppler fold corresponding to the RDAz bin, wherein the processed data is based on the estimated Doppler value” as recited in claim 16.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
LI et al. (US 2017/0363715 A1) is considered pertinent art for the disclosure of utilizing a frequency diverse pulse-pair (FDPP) determination method and embodiments incorporating such technology, for example, using frequency diversity pulse-pairs for Doppler phase estimation to extend the Doppler Nyquist range or rate of millimeter radars without causing range ambiguity. This method and technology have potential application in many areas such as spaceborne, airborne and ground-based weather radar, air traffic control, commercial collision avoidance system and defense related high speed moving target detection.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HAILEY R LE whose telephone number is (571)272-4910. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM EST.
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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.
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/Hailey R Le/Examiner, Art Unit 3648 March 19, 2026