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 .
Information Disclosure Statement (IDS)
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 30 May 2024 and 15 May 2026 is being considered by the examiner.
Claims 1-30 are pending.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 15 May 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive because Stauffer et al. indeed teaches all features in the independent claims.
Stauffer et al. discloses a method of environment sensing performed by a user equipment (UE), comprising: ([0003]: “a network is given control over whether or not a user equipment (UE) transmits a radar signal within at least a portion of one or more licensed frequency bands associated with coverage of the network.”)
receiving a first resource configuration indicating a first set of resources for a first radar reference signal (RRS), the first set of resource ([0003]: “The UE includes a radar request module that controls an operation of a radar system. In some cases, the radar request module sends a radar request message to a base station requesting authorization to operate the radar system within the licensed frequency band. The base station includes a radar grant module that transmits a radar grant message to the UE informing the radar request module of whether the request is granted or denied, or if any contingencies. The radar request module appropriately configures the radar system based on the radar grant message.”), comprising a first time resource, the first frequency resources, first spatial resources, or any combination thereof, ([0057]: “At 522, the radar grant module 366 sends a radar grant message 524 to the UE 110 based on the grant decision 512. The radar grant message 524 identifies whether or not the UE 110 is authorized to transmit the radar signal 204 within the licensed frequency band. In some cases, the authorization may be for a single instance or time frame. Afterwards, the radar request modules 316 is to send a second radar request message 504. In other cases, the authorization is valid until a second radar grant message 524 is sent from the radar grant module 366 that revokes the authorization. The authorization may be continuous in time over intermittent time periods.”)
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wherein the first set of resources is selected for a first type of environment sensing based on the first RRS ([0003]: “With permission from the network, the radar system may utilize the frequencies within the licensed frequency band for radar-based applications, such as gesture recognition, presence detection, collision avoidance, and so forth.”); and
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receiving a second resource configuration indicating a second set of resources for a second RRS, the second set of resource comprising a second time resources, second frequency resources, second spatial resources, or any combination thereof (“transmitting a second radar request message to the base station to request permission to second radar signal within the licensed frequency band, see Stauffer et al. claim 9),
wherein the second set of resources is selected for a second type of environment sensing based on the second RRS ,
wherein the second set of resources is different from the first set of resources (figure 6 illustrated, , and
wherein the second type of environment sensing is different from the first type of environment sensing.
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([0030]: “the radar request module 316 can send a radar request message to the base station 120 or receive a radar grant message from the base station 120, as further described with respect to FIG. 5.
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In other words, the UE may receive a first resource configuration from the base station, see 522, figure 5. The first resource may be first frequency resource, at time 604, figure 6 where the UE 110 is in a geographic location that has coverage for 4G network and no coverage for the 5G network.
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The first resource may be granted for types of gestures shows in figure 2, for example, 208, figure 2.
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The UE may further request a second resource from the base station. The UE may further receive a second resource configuration for a second radar reference signal from the base station (see figure 5), the second resource may include a second frequency resource at a second time, for example, 606, figure 6 where the UE locates at coverage for 5G network. The second resource is for a second type of environment sensing, for example, 212 of figure 2.
The examiner believes Stauffer et al. indeed teaches all features of the independent claims therefore, the rejection stand.
Figure 11 of the application illustrates the claimed invention.
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Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claims 1-2, 8-9, 13, 14-15, 21-22, 26-28 and 30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Stauffer et al. (US 2020/0107249 A1).
Regarding claims 1, 14, 27 and 30, Stauffer et al. discloses a method of environment sensing performed by a user equipment (UE), comprising:
receiving a first resource configuration indicating a first set of resources for a first radar reference signal (RRS), the first set of resources comprising first time resources, first frequency resources, first spatial resources, or any combination thereof, ([0003]: “The UE includes a radar request module that control an operation of a radar system. In some cases, the radar request module sends a radar request message to a base station requesting authorization to operate the radar system within the licensed frequency band. The base station includes a radar grant module that transmits a radar grant message to the UE informing the radar request module of whether the request is granted or denied, or if there are any contingencies.”)
wherein the first set of resources is selected for a first type of environment sensing based on the first RRS ([0048]: “(e.g., gesture recognition, presence detection, or collision avoidance), and so forth.”); and
receiving a second resource configuration indicating a second set of resources for a second RRS, the second set of resources comprising second time resources, second frequency resources, second spatial resources, or any combination thereof ([0003]: “The UE includes a radar request module that control an operation of a radar system. In some cases, the radar request module sends a radar request message to a base station requesting authorization to operate the radar system within the licensed frequency band. The base station includes a radar grant module that transmits a radar grant message to the UE informing the radar request module of whether the request is granted or denied, or if there are any contingencies.”),
wherein the second set of resource is selected for a second type of environment sensing based on the second RRS ([0048]: “(e.g., gesture recognition, presence detection, or collision avoidance), and so forth.”),
wherein the second set of resources is different from the first set of resources, and
wherein the second type of environment sensing is different from the first type of environment sensing .
Regarding claims 2, 15 and 28, Stauffer et al. teaches:
receiving the first RRS on the first set of resources during a first time period;
performing the first type of environment sensing based on the first RRS;
receiving the second RRS on the second set of resources during a second time period; and
performing the second type of environment sensing based on the second RRS.
Regarding claims 8 and 21, Stauffer et al. teaches transmitting a first request to a first base station (base station 124) for the first resource configuration; and
transmitting a second request to a second base station (base station 121 or 122) for the second resources configuration.
([0046]: “AT 502, the radar request module 316 of the UE 110 causes the LTE or 5G NR transceiver 306 or 308 to send a radar request message 504 to the base station 120.”). See figure 6.
Regarding claims 9 and 22, Stauffer et al. teaches the first and second frequency resources comprise a first set of subcarriers, a first set of resource blocks, a first set of resource elements, or a first set of bandwidth parts. ([0041]: “the frequency spectrum can be divided into multiple sub-spectrums that have similar or different bandwidths. Example bandwidths can be on the order of 500 megahertz (MHz), one gigahertz (GHz), two gigahertz, and so forth.”).
Regarding claims 13 and 26, Stauffer et al. teaches wherein the first type of environment sensing is one of gesture recognition, vibration detection, or location detection, and
the second type of environment sensing is a different one of gesture recognition, vibration detection, or location detection. (see figure 2).
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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.
Claim(s) 3 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Stauffer et al. (US 2020/0107249 A1) in view of Chendamarai (US 2019/0104542 A1).
Regarding claims 3 and 16, Stauffer et al. fails to teach wherein the second time period at least partially overlaps the first time period.
Chendamarai, in the same field of invention, teaches ([0038]: “Two or more user equipment allocated overlapping sets of physical resource blocks can be spatially separated as well as their dedicated reference signal can be transmitted in overlapping resource elements that are quasi-orthogonal due to the use of different UE IDs.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to those having ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Chendamarai with Stauffer et al. so to assign physical resource block elements to a user equipment.
10. Claims 4 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Stauffer et al. (US 2020/0107249 A1) in view of Papasakellariou et al. (US 2008/0039098 A1).
Regarding claims 4 and 17, it is inherently included in Stauffer et al. wherein the second time period does not overlap the first time period.
In an alternative, Papasakellariou et al. teaches ([0022]: “To obviate the limitations of traditional uplink scheduling methods, the example resource assigner 120 of FIG. 1 partitions the operating bandwidth of the example wireless cell 105 into two or more non-overlapping portions, referred to herein as reference signal multiplexing blocks (RSMBs)”.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to those having ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Papasakellariou et al. with Stauffer et al. so to schedule non-overlap resource to the UE.
11. Claims 10 and 23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Stauffer et al. (US 2020/0107249 A1) in view of Wang et al. (US 2019/0254054 A1).
Regarding claims 10 and 23, Stauffer et al. teaches wherein the first set of resources have a first time domain density, a first frequency domain density, or both, and the second set of resources have a second time domain density, a second frequency domain density, or both.
Wang et al. in the same field of invention, ([0029]: “The user device 102 may request one or more of particular resources, time or frequency ranges of resources, spatial layers, a time-domain density, or a frequency-domain density for transmitting the downlink pilots.”).
It would have been obvious to those having ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to allocate resource in time domain density or frequency domain density.
12. Claims 11, 12, 24 and 25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Stauffer et al. (US 2020/0107249 A1) in view of Wilson (US 3,886,460).
Regarding claim 11, 12, 24 and 25, Stauffer et al. fails to teach wherein the first set of resource have a first periodicity, and the second set of resources have a second periodicity.
Wilson, in the same field of invention, teaches (“In different types of electronic systems and particularly in pulse radar systems it is advantageous to analyze periodically the time relationship between two given signals. In automatic radar target tracking systems, for example, the comparison of repetitive radar target echo signals with signals produced by a reference source provides a correction signal which enables the radar system to track certain selected targets.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to those having ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to configure periodicity the first set of resources and the second set of resources.
Allowable Subject Matter
13. Claims 5-7, 18-20 and 29 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.
Conclusion
14. THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
15. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BRENDA H PHAM whose telephone number is (571)272-3135. The examiner can normally be reached 571-272-3135.
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, Charles Jiang can be reached at 571-270-7191. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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BRENDA H. PHAM
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2412
/BRENDA H PHAM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2412
Prosecution Insights