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 Objections
Claim 11 is objected to because of the following informalities: Claim 11 recites “The signal processing method”. It is believed Applicant may have intended claim 11 to depend from claim 10, and this should read “The signal processing method of claim 10”. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding claims 1, 6, 14, the phrase "preferably" renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitation(s) following the phrase are part of the claimed invention. See MPEP § 2173.05(d). For the purposes of examination, this limitation will be read to mean “less than -80db”.
Regarding claim 5, the phrase "such as" renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitations following the phrase are part of the claimed invention. See MPEP § 2173.05(d). For the purposes of examination, this limitation will be read to mean “K is an even positive integer” and “K is a multiple of 4”
Regarding claim 16 and 17, the phrase "optionally" renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitations following the phrase are part of the claimed invention. See MPEP § 2173.05(d). For the purposes of examination, this limitation will be read to mean the optional step is a required limitation.
Additional claims are rejected at least for their dependence upon a rejected base claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-9, 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Popov (US 2022/0206107).
Claim 1: Popov discloses A radar transmitter configured to transmit a radar signal, wherein the radar transmitter is configured to modulate the radar signal by a modulation signal comprising at least two repetitions of a sequence element (para 0054, 0055, 0135-0149);
wherein the sequence element comprises at least two repetitions of at least two sequences of a same length, such that the modulation signal is periodic (para 0054, 0055, 0135-0149); and
wherein the at least two sequences are correlated such that a sum of correlation of the at least two sequences produces range sidelobes less than - 60 dB, preferably less than - 70 dB, most preferably less than - 80 dB (para 0054, 0055, 0092, 0135, 0147)
Claim 2: Popov discloses the radar signal is a Phase-Modulated Continuous-Wave, PMCW, signal (para 0054, 0055, 0135-0149)
Claim 3: Popov discloses wherein the modulation signal consists of a number M * N of repetitions of the sequence element; wherein the sequence element consists of a number 2 * K of sequences arranged in an order of two sequences Si, two sequences S2, ...and two sequences SK; wherein the sequences Si, S2, ... SK form a Complementary Sequence Set, CSS (L, K) {S1, S2, ... SK}, and wherein the length of each of the sequences S1, S2, ... SK is L. (para 0054, 0055, 0135-0149)
Claim 4: Popov discloses the modulation signal consists of a number N of repetitions of the sequence element; wherein the sequence element consists of a number (M + 1) * K of sequences arranged in an order of a number M + 1 of repetitions of a sequence Si, a number M + 1 of repetitions of a sequence S2, ... and a number M + 1 of repetitions of a sequence SK; wherein the sequences S1, S2, ... SK form a Complementary Sequence Set, CSS (L, K) {S1, S2, ... SK}, and wherein the length of each of the sequences Si, S2, ... SK is L. (para 0054, 0055, 0135-0149);
Claim 5: Popov discloses wherein K is an even positive integer, such as 2, 4, 6, ...; wherein L is a positive integer, when L is an odd positive integer, K is a multiple of 4, such as 4, 8, 12, ...; wherein M is a positive integer and M ≥ 1; and wherein N is a positive integer and N ≥ 2. (para 0054, 0055, 0135-0149);
Claim 6: Popov discloses when K = 2, the sequences Si and S2 are Golay Complementary Pairs, GCP; preferably L =2a10b26c, and any of a, b, c is a positive integer or zero. (para 0054, 0055, 0135-0149);
Claim 7: Popov discloses A Multiple-Input-Multiple-Output, MIMO, radar comprising a number Nrx of radar transmitters configured to simultaneously transmit a number Nrx of radar signals, respectively, wherein each of the number Nrx of radar transmitters is a radar transmitter according to claim 1, and wherein the number Nrx of radar signals of transmitted by the number NTx of radar transmitters are orthogonal to each other (para 0054, 0055, 0135-0149, 0151, 0164)
Claim 8: Popov discloses A Multiple-Input-Multiple-Output, MIMO, radar comprising a number Ntx of radar transmitters configured to simultaneously transmit a number Ntx of radar signals, respectively, wherein each of the number Ntx of radar transmitters is a radar transmitter according to claim 3, wherein said CSS formed by the sequences S1,S2, ... SK of said modulation signal for modulating each radar signal of the number Ntx of radar transmitters belongs to a Mutually Orthogonal Complementary Set, MOCS (L, K, P) {CSS1, CSS2, ... CSSP} comprising a number P of CSSs, and wherein P ≤ K and P ≥ Ntx. (para 0054, 0055, 0135-0149, 0151, 0164)
Claim 9: Popov discloses wherein K = P = Ntx. (para 0054, 0055, 0135-0149);
Claim 19: Popov discloses A radar receiver configured to receive a reflection signal caused by a radar signal transmitted in an environment and reflected by a target, said radar signal being transmitted by a radar transmitter according to claim 1 (para 0010)
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 10-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Popov (US 2022/02066107) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Kishigami (US 2018/0267158).
Claim 10: Popov does not specifically discloses A signal processing method, comprising: obtaining a signal comprising a reflection signal caused by a radar signal transmitted in an environment and reflected by a target, said radar signal being transmitted by a radar transmitter according to claim 1; extracting, from the obtained signal, data comprising a Fast-Time dimension and a Slow-Time dimension; processing the extracted data for generating converted data comprising the Fast-Time dimension and a Doppler frequency dimension; compensating the converted data for Doppler shift; and performing a range correlation along the Fast-Time dimension on the compensated data for generating a resulting data comprising a range dimension and the Doppler frequency dimension.
In a similar field of endeavor, Kishigami discloses a MIMO radar transmitter configured to transmit a radar signal, wherein the radar transmitter is configured to modulate the radar signal by a modulation signal comprising at least two repetitions of a sequence element, wherein the sequence element comprises at least two repetitions of at least two sequences of a same length, such that the modulation signal is periodic; and wherein the at least two sequences are correlated such that a sum of correlation of the at least two sequences produces range sidelobes less than - 60 dB, preferably less than - 70 dB, most preferably less than - 80 dB (para 0004, 0031, 0039, 0040, 0045-0049, 0061, 0074, 0198) wherein Kishigami further discloses extracting, from the obtained signal, data comprising a Fast-Time dimension and a Slow-Time dimension; processing the extracted data for generating converted data comprising the Fast-Time dimension and a Doppler frequency dimension; compensating the converted data for Doppler shift; and performing a range correlation along the Fast-Time dimension on the compensated data for generating a resulting data comprising a range dimension and the Doppler frequency dimension (para 0101, 0109, 0114-0122, 0186-0189)
It would have been obvious to modify the invention of Popov such that it comprised the above limitations, as taught by Kishigami, in order to improve radar detection performance (Kishigami para 0008)
Claim 11: Popov discloses the radar transmitter is one of a number Ntx of radar transmitters of a Multiple-Input-Multiple-Output, MIMO, radar, wherein each of the number Ntx of radar transmitters is a radar transmitter according to claim 1, wherein the number Ntx of radar signals of transmitted by the number Ntx of radar transmitters are orthogonal to each other (para 0054, 0055, 0135-0149, 0151, 0164)
Claim 12: Kishigami discloses wherein the modulation signal consists of a number M * N of repetitions of the sequence element; wherein the sequence element consists of a number 2 * K of sequences arranged in an order of two sequences S1, two sequences S2, ...and two sequences SK; wherein the sequences Si, S2, ... SK form a Complementary Sequence Set, CSS (L, K) {Si, S2, ... SK}, and wherein the length of each of the sequences S1, S2, ... SK is L; the signal processing method comprising: prior to the step of processing the extracted data, splitting the extracted data into a number K of partial extracted data, which respectively comprises data related to one sequence of the sequences Si, S2, ... SK of said modulation signal, wherein each of the number K of partial extracted data is arranged as a two-dimensional, 2D, matrix (L * N), wherein one dimension is the Fast-Time dimension (L) and another dimension is the Slow-Time dimension (N); wherein the step of processing the extracted data comprises: for each of the number K of partial extracted data: converting the Slow-Time dimension of said partial extracted data to the Doppler frequency dimension for generating a 2D Fast- Time -Doppler matrix (L * N); wherein the step of compensating the converted data comprises: for each of the number K of partial extracted data: compensating, for each element of the generated 2D Fast-Time -Doppler matrix (L * N), a phase rotation caused by Doppler shift along the Fast-Time dimension; and wherein the step of performing a range correlation comprises: for each of the number K of partial extracted data: performing a range correlation along the Fast-Time dimension on the compensated 2D Fast-Time - Doppler matrix (L * N) for generating a 2D Range - Doppler matrix (L * N) (fig 5A-6B, para 0045-0049, 0101, 0109, 0114-0122, 0141, 0186-0189)
Claim 13: Kishigami discloses the modulation signal consists of a number M * N of repetitions of the sequence element; wherein the sequence element consists of a number 2 * K of sequences arranged in an order of two sequences Si, two sequences S2, ...and two sequences SK; wherein the sequences S1, S2, ... SK form a Complementary Sequence Set, CSS (L, K) {S1, S2, ... SK}, and wherein the length of each of the sequences S1, S2, ... SK is L; the signal processing method comprising: prior to the step of processing the extracted data, splitting the extracted data into a number K of partial extracted data, which respectively comprises data related to one sequence of the sequences S1, S2, ... SK of said modulation signal, wherein each of the number K of partial extracted data is arranged as a two-dimensional, 2D, matrix (L * N), wherein one dimension is the Fast-Time dimension (L) and another dimension is the Slow-Time dimension (N); wherein the step of processing the extracted data comprises: for each of the number K of partial extracted data: converting the Slow-Time dimension of said partial extracted data to the Doppler frequency dimension for generating a 2D Fast- Time -Doppler matrix (L * N);wherein the step of compensating the converted data comprises: for each of the number K of partial extracted data: compensating, for each element of the generated 2D Fast-Time -Doppler matrix (L * N), a phase rotation caused by Doppler shift along the Fast-Time dimension; and wherein the step of performing a range correlation comprises: for each of the number K of partial extracted data: performing a range correlation along the Fast-Time dimension on the compensated 2D Fast-Time - Doppler matrix (L * N) for generating a 2D Range - Doppler matrix (L * N) (fig 5A-6B, para 0045-0049, 0101, 0109, 0114-0122, 0141, 0186-0189)
Claim 14: Kishigami discloses generating the resulting data based on said 2D Range - Doppler matrix generated for each of the number K of partial extracted data; wherein the resulting data is a 2D Range - Doppler matrix (L * N); preferably the resulting data is a 2D Range - Doppler map, RDM (fig 5A-6B, para 0045-0049, 0101, 0109, 0114-0122, 0141, 0186-0189)
Claim 15: Kishigami discloses the step of compensating the converted data comprises: compensating, independent of the Fast-Time dimension, a time offset between a start point in time of the sequence S1 and each of the sequences S2,... SK of one sequence element of said modulation signal; and compensating, along the Fast-Time dimension, the phase rotation, column-wise of the generated 2D Fast-Time - Doppler matrix (L * N) (fig 5A-6B, para 0045-0049, 0101, 0109, 0114-0122, 0141, 0186-0189)
Claim 16: Kishigami discloses for each of the number K of partial extracted data, the method further comprises: prior to the step of processing the extracted data, performing a coherent accumulation on the extracted data along the Slow-Time dimension; optionally, the step of converting the Slow-Time dimension of said partial extracted data to the Doppler frequency dimension comprises performing a Fast Fourier Transform, FFT, or a Discrete Fourier Transform, DFT, wherein a size of the FFT or DFT is N (fig 5A-6B, para 0045-0049, 0101, 0109, 0114-0122, 0141, 0186-0189)
Claim 17: Kishigami discloses for each of the number K of partial extracted data, the method further comprises: prior to the step of performing a range correlation, performing a coherent accumulation on the compensated data along the Doppler frequency dimension; optionally, the step of converting the Slow-Time dimension of said partial extracted data to the Doppler frequency dimension comprises performing a Fast Fourier Transform, FFT, or a Discrete Fourier Transform, DFT, wherein a size of the FFT or DFT is M * N (fig 5A-6B, para 0045-0049, 0101, 0109, 0114-0122, 0141, 0186-0189)
Claim 18: Popov discloses for each of the number K of partial extracted data, the method further comprises: prior to the step of performing a range correlation, performing a coherent accumulation on the compensated data along the Doppler frequency dimension; optionally, the step of converting the Slow-Time dimension of said partial extracted data to the Doppler frequency dimension comprises performing a Fast Fourier Transform, FFT, or a Discrete Fourier Transform, DFT, wherein a size of the FFT or DFT is M * N (fig 5A-6B, para 0045-0049, 0101, 0109, 0114-0122, 0141, 0186-0189)
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PETER M BYTHROW whose telephone number is (571)270-1468. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 830am-5pm.
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, Resha Desai can be reached at (571) 270-7792. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/PETER M BYTHROW/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3648