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 § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claims 9, 18, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claim 9 recites “calculating a navigation solution for the satellite receiver based at least on navigation data retrieved from corresponding BOC PRN signals received from the plurality of satellites” which is indefinite, because it seems to be implying that the satellite receiver is mobile and in need of navigation and a corresponding navigation solution. However, there is a lack of antecedent basis for the satellite receiver necessarily being mobile or navigable in the first place, as claim 1, from which claim 9 depends, is completely silent on all such characteristics of the satellite receiver. Similar claims 18 and 20 are likewise rejected.
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 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.
Claims 1 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Julien et al. (US 2005/0270997 A1), hereinafter Julien.
Regarding claim 1, Julien discloses a method for tracking a binary offset carrier (BOC) pseudo random noise (PRN) signal performed by a satellite receiver (abstract, a method for acquiring and tracking a BOC signal in a satellite navigation receiver includes a synthesized acquisition test function or a discriminator for code delay provided by combining a BOC autocorrelation function and a BOC/PRN cross-correlation function), the method comprising:
receiving a BOC PRN signal from a satellite (para. [0142], regarding the satellite signal is received on the first input, following filtering, down-conversion, sampling and quantization; fig. 7A);
forming a BOC PRN correlation between the BOC PRN signal received from the satellite and a local replica of the BOC PRN signal (para. [0086], regarding in order to acquire and track a satellite signal, a receiver generates local replicas of the code and the carrier, which it then correlates with the received signal);
extracting a center peak from the BOC PRN correlation (para. [0090], regarding the synthesized correlation function of the present invention is obtained by differencing the squared correlation points of these two functions; the two side-peaks of the BOC(1,1) autocorrelation function are almost completely cancelled; fig. 5);
generating a center peak local replica signal based at least on the center peak extracted from the BOC PRN correlation (para. [0095], regarding considering the symmetry and shape of the new synthesized correlation function, in a preferred embodiment, the invention may comprise different type of derived discriminators);
forming a center peak correlation between the BOC PRN signal received from the satellite and the center peak local replica signal (see again para. [0095]); and
based at least on the center peak correlation meeting steady tracking criteria, retrieving navigation data for the satellite from the BOC PRN signal (para. [0062], regarding the present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for acquiring and unambiguously tracking a BOC signal in a satellite navigation receiver).
Regarding claim 10, Julien discloses a satellite receiver (abstract) comprising:
a logic subsystem (as shown in fig. 7A, and as can be inferred from the disclosed capabilities of the acquisition decision device 10 per paras. [0142-0146]);
a storage subsystem holding instructions executable by the logic subsystem (as shown in fig. 7A, and as can be inferred from the disclosed capabilities of the acquisition decision device 10 per paras. [0142-0146]) to:
receive a BOC PRN signal from a satellite (para. [0142], regarding the satellite signal is received on the first input, following filtering, down-conversion, sampling and quantization; fig. 7A);
form a BOC PRN correlation between the BOC PRN signal received from the satellite and a local replica of the BOC PRN signal (para. [0086], regarding in order to acquire and track a satellite signal, a receiver generates local replicas of the code and the carrier, which it then correlates with the received signal);
extract a center peak from the BOC PRN correlation (para. [0090], regarding the synthesized correlation function of the present invention is obtained by differencing the squared correlation points of these two functions; the two side-peaks of the BOC(1,1) autocorrelation function are almost completely cancelled; fig. 5);
generate a center peak local replica signal based at least on the center peak extracted from the BOC PRN correlation (para. [0095], regarding considering the symmetry and shape of the new synthesized correlation function, in a preferred embodiment, the invention may comprise different type of derived discriminators);
form a center peak correlation between the BOC PRN signal received from the satellite and the center peak local replica signal (see again para. [0095]); and
based at least on the center peak correlation meeting steady tracking criteria, retrieve navigation data for the satellite from the BOC PRN signal (para. [0062], regarding the present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for acquiring and unambiguously tracking a BOC signal in a satellite navigation receiver).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 19 is allowed.
The prior art does not disclose the combined limitations of the claimed invention, specifically and with respect to the rejection of similar claims 1 and 10 detailed hereinabove: converting the filtered BOC PRN signal from the time domain to the frequency domain; performing point-by-point division of the center peak in the frequency domain and the filtered BOC PRN signal in the frequency domain to generate a center peak local replica signal in the frequency domain; converting the center peak local replica signal from the frequency domain to the time domain;
Claims 2-8 and 11-17 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.
Claims 9, 18, and 20 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The cited references made of record in the contemporaneously filed PTO-892 form and not relied upon in the instant office action are considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure, and may have one or more of the elements in Applicant’s disclosure and at least claim 1.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BRADY W FRAZIER whose telephone number is (469)295-9263. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9:00am-5:00pm CT.
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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.
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/BRADY W FRAZIER/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3648
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