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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. PCT/EP2022/083313, filed on 11/25/2022 and parent Application No. EP21210745.2, filed on 11/26/2021.
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.
(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) 1-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Garrity et al. (US 20230128469 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Garrity discloses
A method for performing radar measurements (see Abstract, “A radar system, apparatus, architecture, and method are provided”), the method comprising:
performing first, second, third and fourth radar measurements (see Fig. 2, multiple chirps; Fig. 3, groups of four signals; Fig. 10, four measurement graphs of four chirps), each radar measurement comprising:
generating a respective radar pulse (see Fig. 1, chirp generator 112)
transmitting the respective radar pulse towards a radar target (see pg. 3, paragraph 0025, there may be four transmitters, “By sequentially using each transmit antenna TX.sub.1,i to transmit successive pulses in the chirp signal 113, each transmitter element 11 operates in a time-multiplexed fashion in relation to other transmitter elements because they are programmed to transmit identical waveforms on a temporally separated schedule”; pg. 3, paragraph 0026, “The radar signal transmitted by the transmitter antenna unit TX.sub.1,i, TX.sub.2,1 may be reflected by an object, and part of the reflected radar signal reaches the receiver antenna units”),
generating a respective reference pulse (see Fig. 3, reference chirps 305, 310, 315, and 320),
receiving a signal comprising a reflection of the respective radar pulse from the radar target, as a respective received signal (see pg. 3, paragraph 0026, “The radar signal transmitted by the transmitter antenna unit TX.sub.1,i, TX.sub.2,1 may be reflected by an object, and part of the reflected radar signal reaches the receiver antenna units”),
mixing the respective received signal with the respective reference pulse to obtain a respective mixing product (see pg. 4, paragraph 0032, “During reception, each receive channel mixes the received RF signal with a reference chirp”; pg. 4, paragraph 0036, “During receive processing of the target return signal, each receiver mixes the RF target return signal received at an antenna with the reference chirp”), and
integrating the respective mixing product to obtain a respective integrated mixing product being a DC-signal (see pg. 5, paragraph 0039, “At the receiver modules 450-453, the reflected signals are received as RF signal and then amplified (e.g., using low noise amplifier 455) and mixed with the reference chirp (e.g., at mixer 460) to extract the IF signals. The IF signals are then fed to a variable gain amplifier (465) which amplifies the signal before being filtered by the tunable anti-aliasing low-pass filter (470) and then fed to a bank of configurable notch filters”; pg. 5, paragraph 0041, “a receiver module 450 which is configured to process single-ended filter input signals will require an n-path notch filter 475 with notches at four corresponding frequencies (e.g., at DC or 0 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz and 120 MHz), with all notches having a predetermined minimum attenuation”);
wherein, in the first, second, third and fourth radar measurements, generating the respective reference pulse is delayed with respect to generating the respective radar pulse by a first, second, third and fourth delay time, respectively, wherein a difference between the second and first delay time, between the third and second delay time, and between the fourth and third delay time, each corresponds to a quarter of a wavelength of the radar pulses (see Fig. 3, Δt between chirps is ¼ the duration of a full chirp); and
determining a first value representing a difference between the respective integrated mixing product of the first and third radar measurements, and a second value representing a difference between the respective integrated mixing product of the second and fourth radar measurements, wherein the first value is an estimate of an in-phase component I and the second value is an estimate of a quadrature component Q (see pg. 1, paragraph 0014, “FIG. 10 is a range spectrum mapping illustrating reference chirp mixing with I/Q sampling”; pg. 9, paragraphs 0080-0082 for descriptions of Figs. 10-11; Figs. 10 and 11 display I and Q sampling from looking at the mixed signals).
Regarding claim 2, Garrity further discloses
A method according to claim 1, wherein the first, second, third and fourth radar measurement each further comprise converting the respective integrated mixing product to a digital value, wherein a first, second, third and fourth digital value is obtained, and wherein determining the first value comprises calculating a difference between the first and third digital value, and determining the second value comprises calculating a difference between the second and fourth digital value (see pg. 4, paragraph 0036, “During receive processing of the target return signal, each receiver mixes the RF target return signal received at an antenna with the reference chirp, and then conditions the mixed signal with an anti-aliasing filter, n-path filter, and an additional low-pass filter in the receive signal processing path. The filtered signal is sampled by an analog-to-digital converter… The output of ADC from each receive channel is the raw data of the radar which may be processed by a digital filter that decimates (i.e., divides) the ADC output to lower the final desired output rate which is the number of transmitters N times the offset frequency Δf times 2. As will be appreciated, the digital filter could be implemented as part of the ADC or as part of the signal processing that occurs in the radar MCU”; Fig. 15, step 161; pg. 13, paragraph 0102, “At step 161, digital processing is applied to separate the reflected transmit channel signals for each transmitter …any suitable digital signal processing steps may be used”; pg. 13, paragraph 0101, “A final analog processing step may be to convert the re-filtered IF signal to a digital signal with an analog-to-digital converter at step 160. In selected embodiments, the ADC processing step 160 may be performed by feeding the refiltered IF signal fed to a high-speed analog/digital converter (ADC) which is clocked at the sampling clock frequency F.sub.CLOCK to generate a digital signal output that is suitable for digital processing.”).
Regarding claim 3, Garrity further discloses
A method according to claim 1, wherein the respective radar pulses of the radar measurements have a same waveform and magnitude, and wherein the respective reference pulses have a same waveform and magnitude (see pg. 3, paragraph 0025, “By sequentially using each transmit antenna TX.sub.1,i to transmit successive pulses in the chirp signal 113, each transmitter element 11 operates in a time-multiplexed fashion in relation to other transmitter elements because they are programmed to transmit identical waveforms on a temporally separated schedule”; see Figs. 2 and 3, same chirp signal forms).
Regarding claim 4, Garrity further discloses
A method according to claim 1, wherein mixing the respective received signal with the respective reference pulse comprises filtering the received signal using a matched filter, wherein in the first, second, third and fourth radar measurements, a respective delay of the matched filter is set to the first, second, third and fourth delay time (see pg. 3, paragraph 0026, “The receiver module 12 compresses target echo of various delays into multiple sinusoidal tones whose frequencies correspond to the round-trip delay of the echo.”).
Regarding claim 5, Garrity further discloses
A method according to claim 1, wherein the radar and reference pulses have a carrier frequency in the mmWave band (see pg. 3, paragraph 0025, “Each radar device 10 includes one or more transmitting antenna elements TX.sub.i and receiving antenna elements RX.sub.j connected, respectively, to one or more radio-frequency (RF) transmitter (TX) units 11 and receiver (RX) units”).
Regarding claim 6, Garrity further discloses
A method according to claim 5, wherein the radar and reference pulses are ultra-wideband pulses (see pg. 3, paragraph 0025, “Each radar device 10 includes one or more transmitting antenna elements TX.sub.i and receiving antenna elements RX.sub.j connected, respectively, to one or more radio-frequency (RF) transmitter (TX) units 11 and receiver (RX) units”).
Regarding claim 7, Garrity further discloses
A method according to claim 1, wherein the first, second, third and fourth radar measurements form a group of consecutive radar measurements (see Fig. 3, chirp group #1).
Regarding claim 8, the same cited sections and rationale from claim 1 are applied. Garrity further discloses
A method according to claim 1, wherein the first, second, third and fourth radar measurements forms a first group of measurements (see Fig. 3, Chirp Group #1 on the left) and the method further comprises:
performing a second group of measurements (see Fig. 3, Chirp Group #2 on the right; pg. 4, paragraph 0034, “This group of chirps are repeatedly transmitted at a pulse repetition interval (PRI) duration for M times until the end of the frame”)
Regarding claim 9, Garrity further discloses
A method according to claim 8, wherein the respective first, second, third and fourth delay times of the first and second groups of radar measurements are equal (see Fig. 3, Δt) and the method further comprises comparing the first values and/or the second values based on the first and second groups of measurements (see Figs. 10-12, groups of chirp comparisons).
Regarding claim 10, Garrity further discloses
A method according to claim 8, wherein the first, second, third and fourth delay times of the second group of radar measurements differ from the first, second, third and fourth delay times of the first group of radar measurements (see pg. 12, paragraph 0099, “In addition, a plurality of RF switches may be connected to receive the frequency offset chirp signals and to generate the plurality of FanTOM chirp signals, where the RF switches are controlled to insert a predetermined time delay (e.g., Δt) between the frequency offset chirp signals transmitted by transmit antennas during a single pulse repetition interval (PRI). In other embodiments, an offset-frequency linear chirp generator is provided to generate a plurality of frequency offset chirp signals having a different frequency offset”).
Regarding claim 11, Garrity further discloses
A method according to claim 10, wherein a spacing in terms of measurement distance between the first and second groups of measurements exceeds a quarter of a wavelength of the radar pulses (see Fig. 3, Δt axis).
Regarding claim 12, the same cited sections and rationale from claim 1 and claim 8 are applied. Garrity further discloses
wherein the first plurality of groups of measurements span a first range of measurement distances and the second plurality of groups of measurements span a second range of measurement distances, forming a sub-range of the first range (see Fig. 3, chirp group #1 and chirp group #2), and
wherein a spacing in terms of measurement distance between consecutive first groups of measurements exceeds a spacing in terms of measurement distance between consecutive second groups of measurements (see Fig. 3, Δt axis).
Regarding claim 13, Garrity further discloses
A method according to claim 12, further comprising:
estimating a first distance to the radar target based on the first and second values determined for each first group of measurements (see pg. 3, paragraph 0027, “the radar controller processing unit 20 may be embodied as a micro-controller unit (MCU) or other processing unit that is configured and arranged for signal processing tasks such as, but not limited to, target identification, computation of target distance,”);
thereafter determining the first, second, third and fourth delay times for each second group of measurements such that said first distance lies within the second distance range (see pg. 12, paragraph 0099, “In addition, a plurality of RF switches may be connected to receive the frequency offset chirp signals and to generate the plurality of FanTOM chirp signals, where the RF switches are controlled to insert a predetermined time delay (e.g., Δt) between the frequency offset chirp signals transmitted by transmit antennas during a single pulse repetition interval (PRI). In other embodiments, an offset-frequency linear chirp generator is provided to generate a plurality of frequency offset chirp signals having a different frequency offset…where the plurality of frequency offset chirp signals is provided to a plurality of RF switches for generating the plurality of FanTOM chirp signals by controlling the RF switches to insert a predetermined time delay (e.g., Δt) between the frequency offset chirp signals transmitted by transmit antennas during a single pulse repetition interval (PRI). While one of the transmit channel circuits may be connected to directly transmit the reference chirp signal without any frequency or time offset modulation, in other embodiments, each transmit channel circuit may impose frequency and time offset modulation on a received reference chirp signal before transmission.”); and
estimating a second distance to the radar target based on the first and second values determined for each second group of measurements (see pg. 3, paragraph 0027, “the radar controller processing unit 20 may be embodied as a micro-controller unit (MCU) or other processing unit that is configured and arranged for signal processing tasks such as, but not limited to, target identification, computation of target distance,”; Fig. 1, element 25 target tracking).
Regarding claims 14-15, the same cited sections and rationale for claims 1-2 are applied. The only difference between claims 1-2 and claims 14-15 is that claims 1-2 refer to a method while claims 14-15 refer to a device. The examiner considers Garrity Abstract (“A radar system, apparatus, architecture, and method are provided”) and Fig. 1 (processor, transmitter, receiver, chirp generator, and analog to digital converter) to show that the radar device performs the radar method of claims 1-2.
Additional Relevant Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure and may be found on the accompanying PTO-892 Notice of References Cited:
Leabman (US 20200195197 A1); Devices, systems, and methods for multi-band radar sensing are disclosed. A method for operating an IC device involves setting a configuration of the IC device to select from available options of low-band and high-band operational modes, transmitting and receiving RF signals at a low-band frequency when the configuration of the IC device is set to the low-band operational mode, and transmitting and receiving RF signals at a high-band frequency when the configuration of the IC device is set to the high-band operational mode, wherein transmitting RF signals at the high-band frequency comprises upconverting a first signal at the low-band frequency to a second signal at the high-band frequency and wherein receiving RF signals at the high-band frequency comprises downconverting a third signal at the high-band frequency to a fourth signal at the low-band frequency, wherein the upconversion and the downconversion are implemented using a conversion signal at a conversion frequency.
Dinc et al. (US 20190044551 A1); Techniques that facilitate reconfigurable transmission of a radar frequency signal are provided. In one example, a system includes a signal generator and a power modulator. The signal generator provides a radar waveform signal from a set of radar waveform signals. The power modulator divides a local oscillator signal associated with a first frequency and a first amplitude into a first local oscillator signal and a second local oscillator signal. The power modulator also generates a radio frequency signal associated with a second frequency and a second amplitude based on the radar waveform signal, the first local oscillator signal and the second local oscillator signal.
Pergande (US 6429801 B1); A method and apparatus is described for signal processing to identify an object in an environment. A precursor associated with an electromagnetic wave interacting with the object is received and a property of the object identified using precursor characteristics. The electromagnetic wave is transmitted with a characteristic including a pulse having a sharp rise time so as to generate the precursor. The pulse is generated using a circuit including capacitive discharge and a semiconductor device such as a Drift Step Recovery Diode. Alternatively the pulse may be generated using a microwave diode switch and a broadband semiconductor amplifier or a traveling wave tube amplifier. The characteristic may also includes a signal with a phase reversal generated by dividing the electromagnetic signal and phase modulating the first electromagnetic signal with the divided signal to generate the phase reversal so as to generate the precursor. A receiver may further establish channels corresponding to the possible precursor spectra and associate each channel with a corresponding possible material property associated with the object including water generated precursor spectra, radar absorptive material generated precursor spectra, and metallic oxides generated precursor spectra. A color display may include an image of the object with possible material properties displayed in a corresponding color in proportion to respective values associated with received precursor spectra.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ISABELLA A EDRADA whose telephone number is (571)272-4859. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri 9am-5pm EST.
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, William 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.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/ISABELLA A EDRADA/Examiner, Art Unit 3648
/William Kelleher/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3648