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
Applicant is advised that should claim 7 be found allowable, claim 8 will be objected to under 37 CFR 1.75 as being a substantial duplicate thereof. When two claims in an application are duplicates or else are so close in content that they both cover the same thing, despite a slight difference in wording, it is proper after allowing one claim to object to the other as being a substantial duplicate of the allowed claim. See MPEP § 608.01(m).
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 and 4-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Blanche (US20200158855) in view of Huschka (T. Huschka, "Ray tracing models for indoor environments and their computational complexity," 5th IEEE International Symposium on Personal, Indoor and Mobile Radio Communications, Wireless Networks - Catching the Mobile Future., The Hague, Netherlands, 1994, pp. 486-490 vol.2, doi: 10.1109/WNCMF.1994.529137.) and Famoriji (Famoriji, O., Shongwe, T., Source Localization of EM Waves in the Near-Field of Spherical Antenna Array in the Presence of Unknown Mutual Coupling, Wireless Communications and Mobile Computing, 2021, 3237219, 14 pages, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1155/2021/3237219).
Regarding claim 1, Blanche teaches a propagation environment estimation method for estimating a propagation environment of a radio wave (paragraph [0003]) using a scale model (paragraph [0006]), the propagation environment estimation method comprising:
creating a scale model (paragraph [0006] discloses creating a reproduction of an object to be measured with a scale reduction factor; Figs. 14A and 14B depict a scale model);
installing a light source in the scale model (220, Fig. 2A), regarding the light source as a transmission station of a radio wave (paragraphs [0029], [0035]), the light source being capable of emitting light having directivity and scanning an irradiation direction (paragraph [0022] discloses the laser used as a light source to scan the model is coherent light, which inherently has directivity);
scanning an inside of the scale model with the light source (paragraph [0042] discloses the scale model is irradiated, as shown in Fig. 2A).
Blanche fails to teach detecting a center light generation state in which center light directed to a measurement point set in the scale model is generated in said scanning;
detecting a position of an irradiated point appearing under the center light generation state on a light receiving sphere installed so as to have a center coincide with the measurement point; and
estimating a direction connecting a position of the center and the position of the irradiated point as an arrival direction of the light reaching the measurement point.
However, in the same field of endeavor of radio wave propagation, Huschka teaches a method where a center light generation state is detected (Examiner is interpreting this state to be the position and direction the center of the light source is detected by the detector. Figs. 7 and 8, as well as page 488 disclose detecting this state of the center ray), detecting a position under the center light generation state on a light receiving sphere centered around a measurement point (Fig. 3 and page 487, column 1, last paragraph and page 488 disclose placing a sphere around the measurement point and identifying an intersection point between the sphere and the center ray) and estimating a direction connecting the position on the irradiated point and the center of the sphere (dp in Fig. 7; page 288, column 1 and column 2 disclose determining the direction of the vector connecting the center of the sphere and the irradiated point).
Huschka discloses the method finds precise rays, increasing accuracy of detection (page 488, 2nd column, second to last paragraph). Thus, a person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date would find it obvious to combine the light wave propagation analogy method of Blanche with the method of placing a light receiving sphere around the measurement point taught in Huschka as a way to precisely and accurately find the direction of the light rays.
The method of Blanche as modified by Huschka teaches a theoretical light receiving sphere rather than a physical light receiving sphere. Instead, the physical light receiver taught is typically a camera (Blanche: paragraph [0065]).
However, in the same field of endeavor of electromagnetic wave detection, Famoriji discloses the use of a spherical receiver to receive electromagnetic waves, such as a light wave (page 1, column 1, paragraph 1).
Blanche discloses the angle-of-detection and polarization of the incoming radiation influences how well a detector can detect an object with electromagnetic waves (paragraph [0005]). Famoriji discloses that a spherical detector has the advantage of receiving all electromagnetic waves, regardless of direction-of-arrival of the light or polarization (page 1, column 1, paragraph 1). Thus, it would be obvious for a person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date to combine the method of Blanche as modified by Huschka with the spherical light receiver taught in Famoriji as a way to ensure direction of arrival and polarization of the incoming light do not affect detection.
Regarding claim 2, Blanch as modified by Huschka and Famoriji teach the invention as explained above in claim 1, and further teaches the detection of said center light generation state includes:
installing a light receiving target at the measurement point (Blanche: Examiner is interpreting the array detector, 250 - Fig. 2A, to be a light receiving target; Fig. 2A depicts the light receiving target at a measurement point), and
detecting a state in which the light receiving target is illuminated with the light as the center light generation state (Huschka: Figs. 7 and 8, as well as page 288 disclose determining a state where the receiver, R, is illuminated), and
the detection of said position of the irradiated point includes
installing the light receiving sphere (Famoriji: page 1, column 1, paragraph 1) in the scale model such that the measurement point and the center coincide with each other after the detection of the center light generation state (Huschka: Fig. 3; page 487, column 1, last paragraph and page 488 disclose placing a sphere centered around the measurement point), and
detecting the position of the irradiated point appearing under the center light generation state on the installed light receiving sphere (Huschka: page 488 discloses identifying an intersection point of the sphere and the point the center ray irradiates).
As discussed above in claim 1, it would be obvious for a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date to combine the scale model method of Blanche with light receiving sphere method taught in Huschka as a way to precisely and accurately find the direction of light rays.
As discussed above in claim 1, it would be obvious for a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date to combine the method of Blanch as modified by Huschka with the physical spherical light receiver taught in Famoriji as a way to ensure direction of arrival and polarization of the incoming light to not affect detection.
Regarding claim 4, Blanche as modified by Huschka and Famoriji teaches the invention as explained above in claim 1 and further teaches setting a scale of the scale model prior to the creation of the scale model, the setting of said scale (Blanche: paragraph [0006], [0077] disclose setting a scale reduction factor, N) including
acquiring information regarding an installation space of the transmission station in a target area (Blanche: Fig. 10D; paragraph [0077] discloses antenna locations can be optimized),
acquiring dimensions of the light source (Blanche: Fig. 10A-C; paragraph [0078]), and
setting the scale such that the light source is accommodated in a corresponding portion of the installation space in the scale model (Blanche: this would be inherent - Fig. 10D; paragraphs [0077]-[0080]).
Regarding claim 5, Blanche as modified by Huschka and Famoriji teaches the invention as explained above in claim 1 and further teaches applying reflection treatment to at least a part of the scale model such that a light reflectance in the scale model matches a radio wave reflectance in a target area (Blanche: paragraph [0052] discloses coating the model with a reflective material to match a reflectivity of radio waves from the modeled object).
Regarding claim 6, Blanche as modified by Huschka and Famoriji teaches the invention as explained above in claim 1 and further teaches setting a wavelength of light emitted from the light source (Blanche: 220, Fig. 2A) on a basis of a frequency of the radio wave assumed to be used in a target area such that a behavior of light in the scale model matches a behavior of the radio wave in the target area (Blanche: paragraphs [0007], [0033]).
Regarding claim 7, Blanche teaches a propagation environment estimation system that estimates a propagation environment of a radio wave using a scale model, the propagation environment estimation system comprising:
a 3D printer that creates a scale model (paragraph [0049]);
an element mounter that installs a light source in the scale model (implicit to nanoantennae - Fig. 10D; paragraph [0078]), regarding the light source as a transmission station of a radio wave (paragraphs [0029], [0035]), the light source being capable of emitting light having directivity and scanning an irradiation direction (paragraph [0022] discloses the laser used as a light source to scan the model is coherent light, which inherently has directivity); and
controller that controls the 3D printer and the element mounter,
the controller (paragraph [0043] discloses a controller which governs the components of the system) being configured to further execute scanning an inside of the scale model with the light source (paragraph [0042]).
Blanche fails to teach detecting a center light generation state in which center light directed to a measurement point set in the scale model is generated said scanning,
detecting a position of an irradiated point appearing under the center light generation state on a light receiving sphere installed so as to have a center coincide with the measurement point, and
estimating a direction connecting a position of the center and the position of the irradiated point as an arrival direction of the light reaching the measurement point.
However, Huschka teaches a method where a center light generation state is detected (Examiner is interpreting this state to be the position and direction the center of the light source is detected by the detector. Figs. 7 and 8, as well as page 488 disclose detecting this state of the center ray), detecting a position under the center light generation state on a light receiving sphere centered around a measurement point (Fig. 3 and page 487, column 1, last paragraph and page 488 disclose placing a sphere around the measurement point and identifying an intersection point between the sphere and the center ray) and estimating a direction connecting the position on the irradiated point and the center of the sphere (dp in Fig. 7; page 288, column 1 and column 2 disclose determining the direction of the vector connecting the center of the sphere and the irradiated point).
As discussed above in claim 1, a person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date would find it obvious to combine the light wave propagation analogy system of Blanche with the method of placing a light receiving sphere around the measurement point taught in Huschka as a way to precisely and accurately find the direction of the light rays.
The method of Blanche as modified by Huschka teaches a theoretical light receiving sphere rather than a physical light receiving sphere. Instead, the physical light receiver taught is typically a camera (Blanche: paragraph [0065]).
However, Famoriji discloses the use of a spherical receiver to receive electromagnetic waves, such as a light wave (page 1, column 1, paragraph 1).
As discussed above in claim 1, it would be obvious for a person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date to combine the system of Blanche as modified by Huschka with the spherical light receiver taught in Famoriji as a way to ensure direction of arrival and polarization of the incoming light do not affect detection.
Regarding claim 8, Blanche teaches a propagation environment estimation device that estimates a propagation environment of a radio wave using a scale model, the propagation environment estimation system comprising:
a 3D printer that creates a scale model (paragraph [0049]);
an element mounter that installs a light source in the scale model (implicit to nanoantennae - Fig. 10D; paragraph [0078]), regarding the light source as a transmission station of a radio wave (paragraphs [0029], [0035]), the light source being capable of emitting light having directivity and scanning an irradiation direction (paragraph [0022] discloses the laser used as a light source to scan the model is coherent light, which inherently has directivity); and
controller that controls the 3D printer and the element mounter,
the controller (paragraph [0043] discloses a controller which governs the components of the system) being configured to further execute scanning an inside of the scale model with the light source (paragraph [0042]).
Blanche fails to teach detecting a center light generation state in which center light directed to a measurement point set in the scale model is generated said scanning,
detecting a position of an irradiated point appearing under the center light generation state on a light receiving sphere installed so as to have a center coincide with the measurement point, and
estimating a direction connecting a position of the center and the position of the irradiated point as an arrival direction of the light reaching the measurement point.
However, Huschka teaches a method where a center light generation state is detected (Examiner is interpreting this state to be the position and direction the center of the light source is detected by the detector. Figs. 7 and 8, as well as page 488 disclose detecting this state of the center ray), detecting a position under the center light generation state on a light receiving sphere centered around a measurement point (Fig. 3 and page 487, column 1, last paragraph and page 488 disclose placing a sphere around the measurement point and identifying an intersection point between the sphere and the center ray) and estimating a direction connecting the position on the irradiated point and the center of the sphere (dp in Fig. 7; page 288, column 1 and column 2 disclose determining the direction of the vector connecting the center of the sphere and the irradiated point).
As discussed above in claim 1, a person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date would find it obvious to combine the light wave propagation analogy device of Blanche with the method of placing a light receiving sphere around the measurement point taught in Huschka as a way to precisely and accurately find the direction of the light rays.
The method of Blanche as modified by Huschka teaches a theoretical light receiving sphere rather than a physical light receiving sphere. Instead, the physical light receiver taught is typically a camera (Blanche: paragraph [0065]).
However, Famoriji discloses the use of a spherical receiver to receive electromagnetic waves, such as a light wave (page 1, column 1, paragraph 1).
As discussed above in claim 1, it would be obvious for a person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date to combine the device of Blanche as modified by Huschka with the spherical light receiver taught in Famoriji as a way to ensure direction of arrival and polarization of the incoming light do not affect detection.
Regarding claim 9, Blanche as modified by Huschka and Famoriji teaches the invention as explained above in claim 2, and further teaches the setting of said scale (Blanche: paragraph [0006] discloses setting a scale reduction factor, N) including
acquiring information regarding an installation space of the transmission station in a target area (Blanche: Fig. 10D; paragraph [0077] discloses antenna locations can be optimized based on space),
acquiring dimensions of the light source (Blanche: Fig. 10A-C; paragraph [0078]), and
setting the scale such that the light source is accommodated in a corresponding portion of the installation space in the scale model (Blanche: this would be inherent - Fig. 10D; paragraphs [0077]-[0080]).
Regarding claim 10, Blanche as modified by Huschka and Famoriji teaches the invention as explained above in claim 3, and further teaches the setting of said scale (Blanche: paragraph [0006] discloses setting a scale reduction factor, N) including
acquiring information regarding an installation space of the transmission station in a target area (Blanche: Fig. 10D; paragraph [0077] discloses antenna locations can be optimized based on space),
acquiring dimensions of the light source (Blanche: Fig. 10A-C; paragraph [0078]), and
setting the scale such that the light source is accommodated in a corresponding portion of the installation space in the scale model (Blanche: this would be inherent - Fig. 10D; paragraphs [0077]-[0080]).
Regarding claim 11, Blanche as modified by Huschka and Famoriji teaches the invention as explained above in claim 2, and further teaches applying reflection treatment to at least a part of the scale model such that a light reflectance in the scale model matches a radio wave reflectance in a target area (Blanche: paragraph [0052] discloses coating the model with a reflective material to match a reflectivity of radio waves from the modeled object).
Regarding claim 12, Blanche as modified by Huschka and Famoriji teaches the invention as explained above in claim 3, and further teaches applying reflection treatment to at least a part of the scale model such that a light reflectance in the scale model matches a radio wave reflectance in a target area (Blanche: paragraph [0052] discloses coating the model with a reflective material to match a reflectivity of radio waves from the modeled object).
Regarding claim 13, Blanche as modified by Huschka and Famoriji teaches the invention as explained above in claim 4, and further teaches applying reflection treatment to at least a part of the scale model such that a light reflectance in the scale model matches a radio wave reflectance in a target area (Blanche: paragraph [0052] discloses coating the model with a reflective material to match a reflectivity of radio waves from the modeled object).
Regarding claim 14, Blanche as modified by Huschka and Famoriji teaches the invention as explained above in claim 9, and further teaches applying reflection treatment to at least a part of the scale model such that a light reflectance in the scale model matches a radio wave reflectance in a target area (Blanche: paragraph [0052] discloses coating the model with a reflective material to match a reflectivity of radio waves from the modeled object).
Regarding claim 15, Blanche as modified by Huschka and Famoriji teaches the invention as explained above in claim 10, and further teaches applying reflection treatment to at least a part of the scale model such that a light reflectance in the scale model matches a radio wave reflectance in a target area (Blanche: paragraph [0052] discloses coating the model with a reflective material to match a reflectivity of radio waves from the modeled object).
Regarding claim 16, Blanche as modified by Huschka and Famoriji teaches the invention as explained above in claim 2, and further teaches setting a wavelength of light emitted from the light source (Blanche: 220, Fig. 2A) on a basis of a frequency of the radio wave assumed to be used in a target area such that a behavior of light in the scale model matches a behavior of the radio wave in the target area (Blanche: paragraphs [0007], [0033]).
Regarding claim 17, Blanche as modified by Huschka and Famoriji teaches the invention as explained above in claim 3, and further teaches setting a wavelength of light emitted from the light source (Blanche: 220, Fig. 2A) on a basis of a frequency of the radio wave assumed to be used in a target area such that a behavior of light in the scale model matches a behavior of the radio wave in the target area (Blanche: paragraphs [0007], [0033]).
Regarding claim 18, Blanche as modified by Huschka and Famoriji teaches the invention as explained above in claim 4, and further teaches setting a wavelength of light emitted from the light source (Blanche: 220, Fig. 2A) on a basis of a frequency of the radio wave assumed to be used in a target area such that a behavior of light in the scale model matches a behavior of the radio wave in the target area (Blanche: paragraphs [0007], [0033]).
Regarding claim 19, Blanche as modified by Huschka and Famoriji teaches the invention as explained above in claim 5, and further teaches setting a wavelength of light emitted from the light source (Blanche: 220, Fig. 2A) on a basis of a frequency of the radio wave assumed to be used in a target area such that a behavior of light in the scale model matches a behavior of the radio wave in the target area (Blanche: paragraphs [0007], [0033]).
Regarding claim 20, Blanche as modified by Huschka and Famoriji teaches the invention as explained above in claim 14, and further teaches setting a wavelength of light emitted from the light source (Blanche: 220, Fig. 2A) on a basis of a frequency of the radio wave assumed to be used in a target area such that a behavior of light in the scale model matches a behavior of the radio wave in the target area (Blanche: paragraphs [0007], [0033]).
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Blanche (US20200158855) in view of Huschka (T. Huschka, "Ray tracing models for indoor environments and their computational complexity," 5th IEEE International Symposium on Personal, Indoor and Mobile Radio Communications, Wireless Networks - Catching the Mobile Future., The Hague, Netherlands, 1994, pp. 486-490 vol.2, doi: 10.1109/WNCMF.1994.529137.) and Famoriji (Famoriji, O., Shongwe, T., “Source Localization of EM Waves in the Near-Field of Spherical Antenna Array in the Presence of Unknown Mutual Coupling”, Wireless Communications and Mobile Computing, 2021, 3237219, 14 pages, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1155/2021/3237219) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Rappaport (US20040259554A1).
Regarding claim 3, Blanche as modified by Huschka and Famoriji teaches the invention as explained above and further teaches the detection of said center light generation state includes installing a light receiving target at the measurement point (Huschka: page 488) of one of the scale models, and
detecting a state in which the light receiving target is illuminated with the light as the center light generation state (Huschka: page 488), and
the detection of said position of the irradiated point includes installing the light receiving sphere (Famoriji: page 1, column 1, paragraph 1) such that a center coincides with the measurement point (Huschka: page 487), and
detecting a position of an irradiated point appearing on the light receiving sphere in a state where the center light generation state is detected in the one scale model (Huschka: page 487-488).
Blanche as modified by Huschka and Famoriji does not teach the creation of said scale model includes creating two identical scale models,
the installation of said light source includes installing the light source in each of the two scale models,
the scanning includes similarly scanning the two scale models with the respective light sources.
Blanche as modified by Huschka and Famoriji teaches a ray tracing method used in conjunction with one scale model, not two identical models.
Rappaport, which teaches a method of ray tracing using models and thus is reasonably pertinent to the problem faced, teaches creating a scale model (101, Fig. 1), defining a wave receiving target (103, Fig. 1), installing a transmitting source in the model (104, Fig. 1), propagating the waves through the model a first time (105, Fig. 1), determining characteristics of the wave at a receiving target (106, Fig. 1), selecting a measurement point in the model (107, Fig. 1), and re-propagating waves through the model a second time and detecting at the measurement point (108, Fig. 1). Essentially, Rappaport discloses the use of one model rather than two identical models to achieve the method claimed in the present claim 3.
The use of two identical models does not distinguish itself over the method taught in Rappaport where one model is used sequentially, as there is no new and unexpected result produced in the propagation calculation.
Further, using two models rather than one single model sequentially would be obvious to avoid interference of light rays and parallel detection rather than sequential detection. Thus, a person having ordinary skill in the art would find it obvious to combine the light source and propagation method taught in Blanche as modified with Huschka and Famoriji with the propagation modeling method taught in Rappaport and duplicate the model as it prevents interference and allows parallel detection rather than sequential detection.
Conclusion
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/ALEXANDRIA MENDOZA/Examiner, Art Unit 2877
/MICHELLE M IACOLETTI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2877