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 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)(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.
Claim(s) 1-7 and 11-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Lagace et al. (Lagace, US PGPub 2021/0321222).
Referring to Claim 1, Lagace teaches a detection unit (Fig. 3 #212; [0122]), and a control unit (Fig. 3 #330; [0122]) communicatively connected with the detection unit, the control unit comprising one or more processors configured to: cause, via the detection unit, transmission of radar signals within the room over a predefined period of time (Fig. 3 #310; [0122]); receive, via the detection unit, reflected signals corresponding to the transmitted radar signals, the reflected signals being indicative of information associated with the room (Fig. 3 #320; [0122]); determine, based on the reflected signals, presence of one or more occupants within the room (Fig. 1 #160; [0106-0108]); and in response to determining presence of the one or more occupants within the room, determine one or more of: an activity associated with the one or more occupants within the room ([0106-0108]), preferences associated with usage of the room by the one or more occupants within the room ([0112]), and a visualization map associated with the room; see abstract, [0002] and [0153].
Referring to Claims 2 and 12, Lagace teaches wherein the detection unit comprises a first ultra-wide band (UWB) radar and a second UWB radar, wherein the first UWB radar is configured to transmit radar signals within the room, and wherein the second UWB radar is configured to transmit the radar signals through wall structures within the room, thereby transmitting the radar signals throughout the room; [0134] and [0165].
Referring to Claims 3 and 13, Lagace teaches wherein the information associated with the room comprises one or more of: occupant activity parameters related to activities of the one or more occupants within the room, occupant location parameters related to respective location of the one or more occupants within the room, and occupant vital parameters indicative of an identification of the one or more occupants within the room and vital sign information associated with the one or more occupants within the room; [0108-0112].
Referring to Claims 4 and 14, Lagace teaches wherein to determine presence of the one or more occupants, the one or more processors are configured to: compare one or more of frequency values, phase values, and amplitude values of the transmitted radar signals with one or more of frequency values, phase values, and amplitude values associated with the received reflected signals, respectively; detect a change in the one or more of frequency values, phase values, and amplitude values of the reflected signals compared to the transmitted radar signals; and in response to detecting the change, determine presence of the one or more occupants within the room; [0108] and [0242].
Referring to Claims 5 and 15, Lagace teaches wherein to determine the activity associated with the one or more occupants within the room, the one or more processors are configured to: extract the occupant activity parameters based on the reflected signals; and determine an activity of the one or more occupants within the room based on the occupant activity parameters, wherein the activity of the one or more occupants comprises one or more of sleeping, standing, sitting, exercising, and walking; [0194].
Referring to Claims 6 and 16, Lagace teaches wherein the one or more processors are configured to: extract the occupant vital parameters based on the reflected signals; determine, based on the occupant vital parameters, a health status associated with the one or more occupants within the room, wherein the health status comprises information related to sleep quality, sleep time, sleep stage, stress level, and health risks associated with the one or more occupants; and cause the health status to be displayed on a user interface associated with one or more of: the control unit, a user device of the one or more occupants, and a user device of one or more administrators associated with the room; [0201-0202] and [0230].
Referring to Claims 7 and 17, Lagace teaches wherein the one or more processors are configured to: upon determining the health status to comprise information related to health risks, transmit an alert notification to one or more of a user device of the one or more occupants, and the user device of one or more administrators associated with the room; [0137-0138], [0166] and [0197].
Referring to Claim 8 and 18, Lagace teaches wherein to determine the preferences associated with the one or more occupants within the room, the one or more processors are configured to: extract the occupant activity parameters and the occupant location parameters based on the reflected signals; detect one or more surrounding parameters associated with the room, the one or more surrounding parameters being associated with a status of surroundings of the one or more occupants; and determine the preferences associated with a usage of the room based on the occupant activity parameters, the occupant location parameters, and the one or more surrounding parameters; [0137-0138], [0166] and [0197].
Referring to Claims 9 and 19, Lagace teaches wherein the one or more processors are configured to: perform a control action based on the preferences associated with the one or more occupants, wherein the control action comprises adjusting a status of surroundings of the occupant, wherein the status of surroundings comprises one or more of temperature status, light status, usage of one or more room areas, and stationary object status within the room; [0137-0138], [0166] and [0197].
Referring to Claim 11, Lagace teaches causing, via a detection unit, transmission of radar signals within the room over a predefined period of time; receiving, via the detection unit, reflected signals corresponding to the transmitted radar signals, the reflected signals being indicative of information associated with the room; determining, based on the reflected signals, presence of one or more occupants within the room; and in response to determining presence of the one or more occupants within the room, determining one or more of: an activity associated with the one or more occupants within the room, preferences associated with usage of the room by the one or more occupants within the room, and a visualization map associated with the room; see citations of Claim 1 above.
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) 10 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lagace in view Gillian et al. (Gillian, US PGPub 2017/0097413).
Referring to Claims 10 and 20, Lagace teaches wherein to determine the visualization map associated with the room, the one or more processors are configured to: extract, based on reflected signals, the information associated with the room;, but does not explicitly disclose nor limit generate a virtual model of the room based on a pre-stored configuration of the room and the information associated with the room, the virtual model comprising a representation of the occupant within the room; and display the virtual model on one or more of a user interface associated with the one or more occupants and a user interface of an administrator associated with the room.
However, Gillian teaches to determine the visualization map associated with the room, the one or more processors are configured to: extract, based on reflected signals, the information associated with the room; generate a virtual model of the room based on a pre-stored configuration of the room and the information associated with the room, the virtual model comprising a representation of the occupant within the room; and display the virtual model on one or more of a user interface associated with the one or more occupants and a user interface of an administrator associated with the room; [0083-0084] and [0122].
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Lagace with the virtual modeling as taught by Gillian so as to provide a library of models to enable the device to learn and remember spaces.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WHITNEY T MOORE whose telephone number is (571)270-3338. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday from 7am-4pm.
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/WHITNEY MOORE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3646