DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1-20 are pending. Claims 1-12 have been examined. Claims 1-5, 7-8 and 12 are rejected. Claims 6 and 9-11 are objected to. Claims 13-20 are not elected for examination.
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 Remarks
The Applicant states (see page 3 of the Applicant’s Response to Election) that Assignee's representative hereby elects with traverse Group I (Claims 1-12, drawn to a network equipment for receiving, by a receive antenna coupled to a reconfigurable intelligent surface of the network equipment, an uplink communication, determining first information representative of an uplink angle of arrival, determining whether an uplink difference value satisfies a threshold uplink difference value, and outputting uplink anomaly information that indicates that the uplink communication arrived at the reconfigurable intelligent surface via an invalid uplink path, classified in G01S3/48.) for further prosecution on the merits.
In response to the Applicant’s election of Group I with traverse, it is noted that a traverse is a request for reconsideration of a requirement to restrict that must include a written statement of the reasons for traverse, distinctly and specifically pointing out the supposed errors upon which the applicant relies for concluding that the requirement is in error. The absence of any statement indicating whether the requirement to restrict is traversed or the failure to provide reasons for traverse will be treated as an election without traverse (see MPEP 818.01).
Since no reasons for traverse is provided, the Applicant’s election of Group I is treated as an election without traverse.
Claim Objections
Claims 6 and 9-11 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.
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.
Claims 1-2, 5, 8 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Duan et al. (U.S. PGPub 2024/0104202) in view of Muthaiah et al. (U.S. PGPub 2011/0080302).
Regarding claim 1, Duan teaches Network equipment, comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, facilitate performance of operations, the operations comprising: receiving, by a receive antenna coupled to a reconfigurable intelligent surface of the network equipment, an uplink communication originating from a user equipment; (Duan, see figs. 3 and 14A-14B; see paragraph 0034 a different antenna array for the base station 120. Physical transmission points may comprise an array of antennas of a base station 120 (e.g., as in a Multiple Input-Multiple Output (MIMO) system and/or where the base station employs beamforming)...; see paragraph 0108 receiving, at the receiving device, at least a portion of a reference signal resource transmitted by a transmitting device...)
determining whether an uplink difference value, based on the first information representative of the uplink angle of arrival and second information representative of an expected uplink angle of arrival, corresponding to at least one of: a pre-configured or expected uplink angle of departure from the user equipment, satisfies a threshold uplink difference value; and (Duan, see figs. 3 and 13A-13B; see abstract where an angle at which a reference signal is received across multiple reference signals and/or in comparison with an expected angle…; see paragraph 0057 obtain location measurements and send the measurements to a location server... include one or more of...Time of Arrival (ToA), AoA...Differential AoA (DAoA), AoD; see paragraph 0098 where compare an AoA of a received signal with an expected AoA based on a calculated position of the transmitting device 1320...an attacker signal 1360 transmitted by the attacker device 1330 may result in an attacker AoA 1370 that is different than the expected AoA 1340. According to some embodiments, a difference between the expected AoA 1340 and attacker AoA 1370 is beyond a threshold amount (e.g., a range of ±5°, 10°, 15°, etc.), then the attacker signal 1360 would fail the angle domain consistency check...; see paragraph 0062 where including taking AoD and AoA measurements)
in response to the uplink difference value being determined not to satisfy the threshold uplink difference value, outputting uplink anomaly information that indicates that the uplink communication arrived at the reconfigurable intelligent surface via an invalid uplink path. (Duan, see figs. 3 and 13A-13B; see abstract where an angle at which a reference signal is received across multiple reference signals and/or in comparison with an expected angle…reporting detected attacks; see paragraph 0098 where compare an AoA of a received signal with an expected AoA based on a calculated position of the transmitting device 1320...an attacker signal 1360 transmitted by the attacker device 1330 may result in an attacker AoA 1370 that is different than the expected AoA 1340 (invalid uplink path). According to some embodiments, a difference between the expected AoA 1340 and attacker AoA 1370 is beyond a threshold amount (e.g., a range of ±5°, 10°, 15°, etc.), then the attacker signal 1360 would fail the angle domain consistency check...; see paragraph 0102 where the attack report may be provided via an Uplink Control Information (UCI) message)
However, Duan does not explicitly teach determining, based on differential delay data of different delay values experienced by a group of unit cells of the reconfigurable intelligent surface with respect to the uplink communication, first information representative of an uplink angle of arrival associated with the uplink communication;
Muthaiah teaches determining, based on differential delay data of different delay values experienced by a group of unit cells of the reconfigurable intelligent surface with respect to the uplink communication, first information representative of an uplink angle of arrival associated with the uplink communication; (Muthaiah, see paragraph 0026 where measuring an angle-of-arrival (AoA) of the transmitted packet at the receiver. AoA involves measuring the time difference of arrival at individual elements of a receiver antenna array and computing a direction of incidence based on delays encountered at each of the individuation antenna array elements. Since array elements are equi-spaced in multiples (integer or fractional) of wavelengths, the delay between array elements is a representative of the direction of wave propagation.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time the invention was filed, to combine Duan and Muthaiah to provide the technique of determining, based on differential delay data of different delay values experienced by a group of unit cells of the reconfigurable intelligent surface with respect to the uplink communication, first information representative of an uplink angle of arrival associated with the uplink communication of Muthaiah in the system of Duan in order to detect malicious activities and prevent prevents eavesdropping, tampering, and message forgery (Muthaiah, see paragraphs 0021 and 0035).
Regarding claim 2, Duan-Muthaiah teaches wherein the first information representative of the uplink angle of arrival comprises detected delay data representative of a first delay associated with the uplink angle of arrival, and (Duan, see figs. 11-12 and 13A-13B; see paragraph 0094 where expected ToA window 1110 in FIG. 11 and/or the expected power delay profile...a ToA peak or power delay profile can be estimated for each symbol, where a signal comprising a comb N structure (e.g., as illustrated in FIG. 6) can result in N ToA peaks/power delay profiles...; see paragraph 0098 compare an AoA of a received signal with an expected AoA... compare the expected AoA 1340 with an AoA estimated based on a received signal. As illustrated in FIG. 13A, an attacker signal 1360 transmitted by the attacker device 1330 may result in an attacker AoA 1370 that is different than the expected AoA 1340. According to some embodiments, a difference between the expected AoA 1340 and attacker AoA 1370 is beyond a threshold amount)
wherein the second information representative of the expected uplink angle of arrival comprises expected delay data representative of a second delay associated with the expected angle of arrival. (Duan, see figs. 11-12 and 13A-13B; see paragraph 0094 where expected ToA window 1110 in FIG. 11 and/or the expected power delay profile...a ToA peak or power delay profile can be estimated for each symbol, where a signal comprising a comb N structure (e.g., as illustrated in FIG. 6) can result in N ToA peaks/power delay profiles...; see paragraph 0098 compare an AoA of a received signal with an expected AoA... compare the expected AoA 1340 with an AoA estimated based on a received signal. As illustrated in FIG. 13A, an attacker signal 1360 transmitted by the attacker device 1330 may result in an attacker AoA 1370 that is different than the expected AoA 1340. According to some embodiments, a difference between the expected AoA 1340 and attacker AoA 1370 is beyond a threshold amount)
Regarding claim 5, Duan-Muthaiah teaches wherein the operations further comprise: obtaining third information representative of downlink angle of arrival data, determined by the user equipment, representative of a downlink angle of arrival for a downlink communication received at the user equipment via the reconfigurable intelligent surface, (Duan, see figs. 3 and 13A-13B; see abstract where an angle at which a reference signal is received across multiple reference signals and/or in comparison with an expected angle…; see paragraph 0057 obtain location measurements and send the measurements to a location server... include one or more of...Time of Arrival (ToA), AoA...Differential AoA (DAoA), AoD; see paragraph 0098 where compare an AoA of a received signal with an expected AoA based on a calculated position of the transmitting device 1320...an attacker signal 1360 transmitted by the attacker device 1330 may result in an attacker AoA 1370 that is different than the expected AoA 1340. According to some embodiments, a difference between the expected AoA 1340 and attacker AoA 1370 is beyond a threshold amount (e.g., a range of ±5°, 10°, 15°, etc.), then the attacker signal 1360 would fail the angle domain consistency check...; see paragraph 0062 where including taking AoD and AoA measurements)
determining whether a downlink difference value, based on the third information and fourth information representative of expected downlink angle data corresponding to a pre-configured downlink angle of departure from the reconfigurable intelligent surface, satisfies a threshold downlink value, and (Duan, see figs. 3 and 13A-13B; see abstract where an angle at which a reference signal is received across multiple reference signals and/or in comparison with an expected angle…; see paragraph 0057 obtain location measurements and send the measurements to a location server... include one or more of...Time of Arrival (ToA), AoA...Differential AoA (DAoA), AoD; see paragraph 0098 where compare an AoA of a received signal with an expected AoA based on a calculated position of the transmitting device 1320...an attacker signal 1360 transmitted by the attacker device 1330 may result in an attacker AoA 1370 that is different than the expected AoA 1340. According to some embodiments, a difference between the expected AoA 1340 and attacker AoA 1370 is beyond a threshold amount (e.g., a range of ±5°, 10°, 15°, etc.), then the attacker signal 1360 would fail the angle domain consistency check...; see paragraph 0062 where including taking AoD and AoA measurements)
in response to the downlink angle difference value being determined not to satisfy the threshold downlink angle value, outputting downlink anomaly information that indicates that the downlink communication arrived at the user equipment via an invalid downlink path. (Duan, see figs. 3 and 13A-13B; see abstract where an angle at which a reference signal is received across multiple reference signals and/or in comparison with an expected angle…reporting detected attacks; see paragraph 0098 where compare an AoA of a received signal with an expected AoA based on a calculated position of the transmitting device 1320...an attacker signal 1360 transmitted by the attacker device 1330 may result in an attacker AoA 1370 that is different than the expected AoA 1340 (invalid uplink path). According to some embodiments, a difference between the expected AoA 1340 and attacker AoA 1370 is beyond a threshold amount (e.g., a range of ±5°, 10°, 15°, etc.), then the attacker signal 1360 would fail the angle domain consistency check...; see paragraph 0102 where the attack report may be provided via an Uplink Control Information (UCI) message)
Regarding claim 8, Duan-Muthaiah teaches wherein the operations further comprise respective reconfigurable delay detection network equipment coupled to respective cells of the group of the unit cells of the reconfigurable intelligent surface. (Duan, see figs. 11 and 12; see paragraph 0034 a different antenna array for the base station 120. Physical transmission points may comprise an array of antennas of a base station 120 (e.g., as in a Multiple Input-Multiple Output (MIMO) system and/or where the base station employs beamforming)...; see paragraph 0093 measure a power delay profile for N parts of a received signal, where N is equal to or greater than 1, to establish an expected power delay profile 1210...)
Regarding claim 12, Duan-Muthaiah teaches wherein the threshold uplink difference value is set based at least in part on environmental state data representative of an environmental state applicable to the network equipment. (Duan, see paragraph 0005 where compare the measured signal characteristic with a comparison signal characteristic, wherein the comparison signal characteristic comprises: a calculated angle based on estimated locations (environmental state) of the transmitting device and receiving device)
Claims 3-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Duan et al. (U.S. PGPub 2024/0104202) in view of Muthaiah et al. (U.S. PGPub 2011/0080302) further in view of Dries et al. (U.S. PGPub 2021/0103058).
Regarding claim 3, Duan-Muthaiah teaches the parameter data comprising at least one of: amplitude data representative of an amplitude associated with the uplink communication, phase data representative of a phase associated with the uplink communication, resonance frequency data representative of a resonance frequency associated with the uplink communication, or capacitance data representative of a capacitance associated with the uplink communication. (Duan, see figs. 10A and 10B; see paragraphs 0087-0088 a reference signal 1010-A received by the receiving device. More specifically, the reference signal 1010-A may represent a correlation peak having a particular amplitude and received at a particular time...)
However, Duan-Muthaiah does not explicitly teach wherein the operations further comprise determining the detected delay data, comprising inputting parameter data associated with the uplink communication and the group of unit cells to a generative adversarial network model,
Dries teaches wherein the operations further comprise determining the detected delay data, comprising inputting parameter data associated with the uplink communication and the group of unit cells to a generative adversarial network model, (Dries, see paragraphs 0037-0038 there is a simulated signal attack occurring... train a neural network 39 on a subset of data with detected delays corresponding to a multipath condition…; see paragraph 0046 identifying detected delays related to a multipath condition. Examples of this technology also may utilize neural network detector or other artificial intelligence to identify delays between a UTC and a GNSS time to effectively detect a replay attack and to efficiently identify any multipath condition...)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time the invention was filed, to combine Duan-Muthaiah and Dries to provide the technique of determining the detected delay data, comprising inputting parameter data associated with the uplink communication and the group of unit cells to a generative adversarial network model of Dries in the system of Duan-Muthaiah in order to effectively detect a replay attack and to efficiently identify any multipath condition (Dries, see paragraph 0046).
Regarding claim 4, Duan-Muthaiah-Dries teaches wherein the generative adversarial network model runs on a tile controller of the network equipment, (Dries, see paragraph 0018 where to detect and counter GNSS replay attacks...the memory 24 also includes a neural network detector 39 which has been trained with machine learning to detect delays in GNSS signals which indicate a replay attack and to identify a multipath condition…) The motivation regarding to the obviousness to claim 3 is also applied to claim 4.
the tile controller coupled to the reconfigurable intelligent surface. (Duan, see figs. 3 and 14A-14B; see paragraph 0034 a different antenna array for the base station 120. Physical transmission points may comprise an array of antennas of a base station 120 (e.g., as in a Multiple Input-Multiple Output (MIMO) system and/or where the base station employs beamforming)...; see paragraph 0108 receiving, at the receiving device, at least a portion of a reference signal resource transmitted by a transmitting device...)
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Duan et al. (U.S. PGPub 2024/0104202) in view of Muthaiah et al. (U.S. PGPub 2011/0080302) further in view of Gupta et al. (U.S. PGPub 2023/0099551).
Regarding claim 7, Duan-Muthaiah teaches all of the features of claim 1. However, Duan-Muthaiah does not explicitly teach wherein the reconfigurable intelligent surface comprises an array of rows and columns of unit cells, and wherein the group of unit cells comprises at least part of a row of adjacent unit cells of the array, or at least part of a column of adjacent unit cells of the array.
Gupta teaches wherein the reconfigurable intelligent surface comprises an array of rows and columns of unit cells, and wherein the group of unit cells comprises at least part of a row of adjacent unit cells of the array, or at least part of a column of adjacent unit cells of the array. (Gupta, see fig. 3; see paragraph 0059 Each wireless transceiver 212...measure the phase shift Δϕ between adjacent pairs of antennas in a sub-array of antennas to obtain the AOA…)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time the invention was filed, to combine Duan-Muthaiah and Gupta to provide the technique of the reconfigurable intelligent surface comprises an array of rows and columns of unit cells, and wherein the group of unit cells comprises at least part of a row of adjacent unit cells of the array, or at least part of a column of adjacent unit cells of the array of Gupta in the system of Duan-Muthaiah in order to improve accuracy in determining positions (Gupta, see paragraphs 0032-0033).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. This includes:
U.S. PGPub 2022/0390541, which describes techniques to disambiguate angle of arrival;
U.S. PGPub 2021/0109184, which describes a system for detecting angle-of-arrival (AoA) includes a first device and at least one second device; and
U.S. PGPub 2014/0225804, which describes a system and method for localizing sources of radio frequency waves within RFID communication systems.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MENG VANG whose telephone number is (571)270-7023. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8AM-2PM, 3PM-5PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, NICHOLAS TAYLOR can be reached at (571) 272-3889. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MENG VANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2443