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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1-20 are currently pending.
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 of this title, 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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1, 5-7, 10, 13-17 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Walker et al. (US 2025/0138129 A1) in view of He et al. (US 2021/0058740 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Walker discloses A network entity for wireless communications, the network entity comprising: at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled to the at least one memory and configured to (Fig. 4, paragraph 0279 discloses an apparatus comprising: a processor circuit and a memory circuit, wherein the memory is arranged to store instructions for the processor circuit): receive information associated with a sensing signal, wherein the sensing signal is transmitted by a network device, interacts with a target object, and is received by a plurality of network devices (Paragraphs 0109 FIG. 3, one coded beam together with angle information (e.g. angle of arrival measured by the receiver and/or angle information received from the transmitter and/or the reflector (e.g. the expected angle by which the reflected signal is expected to leave the reflector in case of non-line of sight, or the angle of departure at the transmitter in case of line-of-sight)) and/or other sensor information. The receiver 20 has (at least) one antenna and the ability to measure timing and signal strength of received signals), wherein the information comprises a plurality of time of arrival (TOA) measurements and a plurality of angle of arrival (AOA) measurements by the plurality of network devices associated with the sensing signal after interaction with the target object (Paragraph 0115 discloses The mapping receiver moves through the scene and its location is estimated, e.g., using ToA and AoA of a LOS link to the transmitter 30, or the location is returned directly based on a local sensor measurement (e.g., using an GNSS); determine a plurality of distance measurements associated with the sensing signal after interaction with the target object based on the plurality of TOA measurements (Paragraph 0117 discloses in step S403, the mapping receiver 12 returns at least one of a measured signal strength, AoA and ToA together with the allocated code for each of multiple received signals to the transmitter 30 and provides it to the scene mapping algorithm 14. Furthermore, the mapping receiver 12 may also provide its ground true location (which may have been obtained from the external location service in step S402).
Walker does not explicitly teaches apply first weights to the plurality of distance measurements to produce a plurality of weighted distance measurements; apply second weights to the plurality of AOA measurements to produce a plurality of weighted AOA measurements; determine an estimated location of the target object based on at least a subset of the plurality of weighted distance measurements and at least a subset of the plurality of weighted AOA measurements after interaction with the target object; and determine an error in the estimated location of the target object based on the plurality of weighted distance measurements and the plurality of weighted AOA measurements after interaction with the target object.
In an analogous art, He discloses apply first weights to the plurality of distance measurements to produce a plurality of weighted distance measurements; apply second weights to the plurality of AOA measurements to produce a plurality of weighted AOA measurements (Paragraphs 0043, 0095 disclose weighting may be added to the determined errors based on RSSI signal uncertainties and uncertainties in the angles of the line-of-sight peaks. A weighted-least-squares optimization may be used on the error matrix to estimate the location of the mobile device. Parag. [0095] At 1106, the errors in the error matrix may be weighted by uncertainties in RSSIs and angles. For example, the locator 130 may weight the errors in the error matrix by uncertainties in the measurement of the peak RSSIs and angles of line-of-sight peaks for the base station devices 300, 710, and 720. Paragraph 0103 discloses a location of the device may be calculated by using a weighted least squares optimization on the error matrix); determine an estimated location of the target object based on at least a subset of the plurality of weighted distance measurements and at least a subset of the plurality of weighted AOA measurements after interaction with the target object (Paragraphs 0043, 0095 disclose weighting may be added to the determined errors based on RSSI signal uncertainties and uncertainties in the angles of the line-of-sight peaks. A weighted-least-squares optimization may be used on the error matrix to estimate the location of the mobile device. [0055] Weighting may be added to the errors in the error matrix based on RSSI signal uncertainties and uncertainties in the angles of the line-of-sight peaks. A weighted-least-squares (WLS) optimization may then be used to estimate the location of the mobile device);and determine an error in the estimated location of the target object based on the plurality of weighted distance measurements and the plurality of weighted AOA measurements after interaction with the target object (Paragraph 0043 discloses An error matrix may be constructed using the locations of the base stations, the angles of the line-of-sight peaks, the distances to the base stations, and the orientation of the mobile device. Weighting may be added to the determined errors based on RSSI signal uncertainties and uncertainties in the angles of the line-of-sight peaks. A weighted-least-squares optimization may be used on the error matrix to estimate the location of the mobile device. Paragraphs 0054-0055, 0072-0073, 0094-0095 disclose an error matrix may be constructed using the angles of the line-of-sight peaks, the distances to the base stations, the orientation of the mobile device, and the locations of the base stations. [0095] At 1106, the errors in the error matrix may be weighted by uncertainties in RSSIs and angles. For example, the locator 130 may weight the errors in the error matrix by uncertainties in the measurement of the peak RSSIs and angles of line-of-sight peaks for the base station devices 300, 710, and 720. Uncertainties may be based on, for example, the type of beamforming used by the beamforming antenna system 112 or by the base station devices 300, 710, and 720).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the technique of He to the system of Walker to provide the mechanism of determining errors of the error weighted matrix based on uncertainties of the peak received signal strengths and angles of line-of-sight for the number of base stations (Paragraph 0009, He).
Regarding claim 18, claim 18 comprises substantially similar limitations as claimed above in claim 1, claimed a method to perform the steps of claim 1.
Regarding claim 5, Walker does not disclose wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine a jamming scenario is present based on determining a discrepancy in the plurality of AOA measurements.
In an analogous art, He discloses wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine a jamming scenario is present based on determining a discrepancy in the plurality of AOA measurements (Paragraphs 0043, 0095 disclose weighting may be added to the determined errors based on RSSI signal uncertainties and uncertainties in the angles of the line-of-sight peaks. A weighted-least-squares optimization may be used on the error matrix to estimate the location of the mobile device. Parag. [0095] At 1106, the errors in the error matrix may be weighted by uncertainties in RSSIs and angles. For example, the locator 130 may weight the errors in the error matrix by uncertainties in the measurement of the peak RSSIs and angles of line-of-sight peaks for the base station devices 300, 710, and 720).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the technique of He to the system of Walker to provide the mechanism of determining errors of the error weighted matrix based on uncertainties of the peak received signal strengths and angles of line-of-sight for the number of base stations (Paragraph 0009, He).
Regarding claim 6, Walker does not disclose wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine a jamming scenario is present based on a discrepancy in the plurality of distance measurements.
In an analogous art, He discloses wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine a jamming scenario is present based on a discrepancy in the plurality of distance measurements (Paragraphs 0043, 0095 disclose weighting may be added to the determined errors based on RSSI signal uncertainties and uncertainties in the angles of the line-of-sight peaks. A weighted-least-squares optimization may be used on the error matrix to estimate the location of the mobile device. Parag. [0095] At 1106, the errors in the error matrix may be weighted by uncertainties in RSSIs and angles. For example, the locator 130 may weight the errors in the error matrix by uncertainties in the measurement of the peak RSSIs and angles of line-of-sight peaks for the base station devices 300, 710, and 720).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the technique of He to the system of Walker to provide the mechanism of determining errors of the error weighted matrix based on uncertainties of the peak received signal strengths and angles of line-of-sight for the number of base stations (Paragraph 0009, He).
Regarding claim 7, Walker does not disclose wherein the sensing signal comprises multiple frequencies
In an analogous art, He discloses wherein the sensing signal comprises multiple frequencies (Paragraphs 0043, 0044, 0057-0059 disclose the radio 120 may include the antenna system 122, which may include the antenna 125. The antenna 125 may be non-beamforming antenna, and may be operated by the antenna system 122 at any suitable frequencies. The locator 130 may determine the location of the mobile device 100 using data from other components of the mobile device 100, such as, for example, orientation data from the IMU 150 and/or images from the camera 160, and angle and RSSI data from the radio 110 and beamforming antenna system 112, and base station locations).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the technique of He to the system of Walker to provide the mechanism of determining errors of the error weighted matrix based on uncertainties of the peak received signal strengths and angles of line-of-sight for the number of base stations (Paragraph 0009, He).
Regarding claim 10, Walker does not disclose wherein the sensing signal is encoded with a code with an auto-correlation function.
In an analogous art, He discloses disclose wherein the sensing signal is encoded with a code with an auto-correlation function (Paragraphs 0049 discloses The RSSI mapping data may be, for example, a table correlating peak RSSIs with distances, or may be any suitable equations or algorithms that may allow for the conversion of a peak RSSI to a distance).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the technique of He to the system of Walker to provide the mechanism of determining errors of the error weighted matrix based on uncertainties of the peak received signal strengths and angles of line-of-sight for the number of base stations (Paragraph 0009, He).
Regarding claim 13, Walker does not disclose wherein the first weights and the second weights are based on at least one of a signal to noise ratio (SNR) of the sensing signal after interaction with the target object, an accuracy of the plurality of TOA measurements, or an accuracy of the plurality of AOA measurements.
In an analogous art, He discloses wherein the first weights and the second weights are based on at least one of a signal to noise ratio (SNR) of the sensing signal after interaction with the target object, an accuracy of the plurality of TOA measurements, or an accuracy of the plurality of AOA measurements (Paragraphs 0043, 0095 disclose weighting may be added to the determined errors based on RSSI signal uncertainties and uncertainties in the angles of the line-of-sight peaks. A weighted-least-squares optimization may be used on the error matrix to estimate the location of the mobile device. Parag. [0095] At 1106, the errors in the error matrix may be weighted by uncertainties in RSSIs and angles. For example, the locator 130 may weight the errors in the error matrix by uncertainties in the measurement of the peak RSSIs and angles of line-of-sight peaks for the base station devices 300, 710, and 720. Paragraph 0103 discloses a location of the device may be calculated by using a weighted least squares optimization on the error matrix)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the technique of He to the system of Walker to provide the mechanism of determining errors of the error weighted matrix based on uncertainties of the peak received signal strengths and angles of line-of-sight for the number of base stations (Paragraph 0009, He).
Regarding claim 14, Walker discloses wherein the network entity is a sensing function (Paragraph 0078).
Regarding claim 15, Walker discloses wherein the sensing function is implemented in at least one of a sensing server or in the network device of the plurality of network devices (Paragraph 0078).
Regarding claim 16, Walker discloses wherein the interaction with the target object comprises reflection of the sensing signal from the target object or active manipulation of the sensing signal by the target object (Paragraph 0135 discloses the transmitter 30 may identify the n most suitable reflectors based on their reflection strength and visibility to many areas in the scene. The code associated with these reflectors can be stored in the reflector position database 16 alongside the beamforming parameters needed to use them).
Regarding claim 17, Walker discloses wherein the network device and at least one other first network device are separated spatially from each other around the target object (Fig. 15, paragraph 0215 discloses devices are separated from each other around the reflectors).
Claims 2 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Walker et al. (US 2025/0138129 A1) in view of He et al. (US 2021/0058740 A1) and further in view of Ye (US 2023/0305133 A1).
Regarding claims 2 and 19, Walker and He do not specifically disclose wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine a jamming scenario is present based on the error in the estimated location of the target object being greater than an error threshold.
In an analogous art, Ye discloses wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine a jamming scenario is present based on the error in the estimated location of the target object being greater than an error threshold (Paragraphs 0134-0140 disclose determining position information of a target object in the current step; determining a matrix parameter based on the position information of the target object in the current step and the position information of each of the beacons; determining an error correction value based on the matrix parameter and the distance from the target object to each of the beacons; determining estimation precision based on the error correction value; in response to the estimation precision being greater than or equal to the predetermined threshold, adjusting the position information of the target object in the current step based on the error correction value).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the technique of Ye to the modified system of Walker and He to provide a radar positioning method, a positioning radar and a positioning system, so that accurate position information may be provided where a satellite positioning signal of a target object is weak or there is no satellite positioning signal (Paragraph 0004).
Claims 3-4, 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Walker et al. (US 2025/0138129 A1) in view of He et al. (US 2021/0058740 A1) and further in view of Youn et al. (US 2025/0258272 A1).
Regarding claim 3, Walker and He do not specifically disclose wherein the at least one processor is configured to track the target object over a period of time to observe a velocity of the target object and a Doppler of the target object.
In an analogous art, Youn discloses wherein the at least one processor is configured to track the target object over a period of time to observe a velocity of the target object and a Doppler of the target object (Paragraph 0033 discloses in the range-Doppler antenna cube, each range bin represents ranges or distances between the radar system and a target object. Each Doppler bin represents Doppler shift values corresponding to velocities at which a target object may be traveling (e.g., relative to the ego velocity of the radar system). Such velocities may be calculated based on the determined Doppler shift associated with the target object).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the technique of Youn to the modified system of Walker and He to provide radar systems, such as automotive radar systems, including radar systems that employ methods for processing radar signal reflections to characterize a target while suppressing interference (Paragraph 0002).
Regarding claims 4 and 20, Walker and He do not specifically disclose wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine a jamming scenario is present based on determining a discrepancy between the velocity of the target object and the Doppler of the target object over the period of time.
In an analogous art, Youn discloses wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine a jamming scenario is present based on determining a discrepancy between the velocity of the target object and the Doppler of the target object over the period of time (Paragraph 0021, 0033 discloses in the range-Doppler antenna cube, each range bin represents ranges or distances between the radar system and a target object. Each Doppler bin represents Doppler shift values corresponding to velocities at which a target object may be traveling (e.g., relative to the ego velocity of the radar system). Such velocities may be calculated based on the determined Doppler shift associated with the target object. Further The signal processor 110 may be configured and arranged for signal processing tasks such as, but not limited to, target object identification, interference mitigation, computation of the distance or range to a target object, computation of the radial velocity of a target object, and computation of the AoA of signals reflected by a target object, and the like. Herein, the term “AoA” or “Angle-of-Arrival” refers to the angle of a reflected signal (e.g., a radar signal) incident on an antenna array. The signal processor 110 can provide calculated values associated with such computations to a storage 112 and/or to other systems via an interface 106).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the technique of Youn to the modified system of Walker and He to provide radar systems, such as automotive radar systems, including radar systems that employ methods for processing radar signal reflections to characterize a target while suppressing interference (Paragraph 0002).
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Walker et al. (US 2025/0138129 A1) in view of He et al. (US 2021/0058740 A1) and further in view of Jacques et al. (US 2008/0037293 A1).
Regarding claim 8, Walker and He do not specifically disclose wherein the sensing signal comprises a pulse with suppressed ripples.
In an analogous art, Jacques discloses wherein the sensing signal comprises a pulse with suppressed ripples (Paragraph 0015 discloses a method of suppressing ripple in a mains-powered resonant discontinuous forward converter (RDFC), said forward converter including a transformer with first and second matched polarity windings and a switch to switch dc power to said first winding of said transformer, said converter further having a dc output coupled to said second winding of said transformer, the method comprising: sensing an element of mains ripple in a signal of said RDFC; and controlling one or both of a pulse width and a pulse frequency of a drive signal to said switch to suppress said ripple).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the technique of Jacques to the modified system of Walker and He to provide identifying the reduced load condition using the sensing on an output side of the RDFC (Paragraph 0010).
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Walker et al. in view of He et al. and further in view of Jacques et al. and further in view of Matsui et al. (US 2005/0271392 A1).
Regarding claim 9, Walker, He and Jacques do not specifically disclose wherein the pulse with suppressed ripples is a Gaussian pulse.
In an analogous art, Matsui discloses wherein the pulse with suppressed ripples is a Gaussian pulse (Paragraph 0032 discloses after the OBPF (FIG. 10 b), the intensity waveform shows slower rise/fall times which is approximates Gaussian pulse with a linear chirp across its profile. Such a linear chirp can be favorably compensated by the second order dispersion in the transmission fiber. This suppresses the ripples in the intensity waveform after transmission).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the technique of Matsui to the modified system of Walker, He and Jacques to provide the technique of filtering element (abstract).
Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Walker et al. in view of He et al. and further in view of Jung et al. (US 2026/0113762 A1).
Regarding claim 11, Walker, He do not specifically disclose wherein the code is a Zadoff-Chu code.
In an analogous art, Jung discloses wherein the code is a Zadoff-Chu code (Paragraph 0096).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the technique of Jung to the modified system of Walker, He to provide the technique of applying pair of different sequences to signals (paragraph 0096).
Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Walker et al. in view of He et al. and further in view of Jongsma et al. (US 2026/0169161 A1).
Regarding claim 12, Walker, He do not specifically disclose wherein a phase of the code is randomized.
In an analogous art, Jung discloses wherein a phase of the code is randomized. (Paragraph 0088).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the technique of Jung to the modified system of Walker, He to provide an invention that allows mapping the target region with a high mapping resolution but without negatively impacting sea life and marine mammals for which the operational costs may be significantly reduced (Paragraph 0019).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Al-Shehri (US 20210349230 A1) discloses an error approximation generated based on localization for 10% of a total number of all base station anchors in accordance to one or more embodiments. The following example is for explanatory purposes and not intended to limit the scope of the disclosed technology. In the error estimation (1000, 1100), using 10% as the error in the approximated distances between the sensor to all base station anchor positions configures the error in a location may be anywhere in the circular areas in FIGS. 10A-11B (e.g., large error cross-section (1010) for unknown sensor location (1020) and small error cross-section (1110) for an unknown sensor location (1120)).
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/ROMANI OHRI/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2413
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