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 .
Priority
Examiner acknowledges no foreign priority is claimed.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement(s) (IDS) submitted on 3/9/2024, 12/2/2024, 12/2, 2024 9/17/2024 and 9/17/2024 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement(s) is/are being considered if signed and initialed by the Examiner.
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.
For applicant’s benefit portions of the cited reference(s) have been cited to aid in the review of the rejection(s). While every attempt has been made to be thorough and consistent within the rejection it is noted that the PRIOR ART MUST BE CONSIDERED IN ITS ENTIRETY, INCLUDING DISCLOSURES THAT TEACH AWAY FROM THE CLAIMS. See MPEP 2141.02 VI.
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.
Claims 1-2, 4, 11-12 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Longman et al. (US 2020/333433 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Longman et al. (‘433) discloses “a method of using a radar device to collect data about a target object, the radar device configured to transmit and/or receive RF signals in a plurality of radar operational configurations (paragraph 35: Figures 1-3: radar system 14 may include transmitter 30 structured to transmit a radar signal…radar system 14 may further include an antenna 26 structured to receive reflected radar signals from targets…radar system 14 may further include a controller 28 operably connected to antenna 26 and transmitter 30 and configured to operate on signals received by antenna 26…controller 28 may further be configured to control a waveform of a radar signal output by transmitter 30),
the method comprising: obtaining, by processing circuitry of the radar device, situational awareness data for a vehicle (paragraph 37: the necessary performance characteristics may be determined by the operation state of the vehicle…in high speed applications such as traveling at highway speeds, a large maximal range and maximal Doppler shift may be necessary for the radar system to be able to detect all of vehicles and objects that could possibly affect operation of the vehicle; paragraph 38: in a low speed application such as parallel parking or navigating a parking lot, a high range resolution may be necessary in order to precisely determine the location of nearby objects and vehicles in order to avoid a collision while navigating so close to other objects; paragraph 40: Figure 3: vehicle 10 in which controller 28 of radar system 14 is configured to obtain a present operational state of vehicle 10…an operational state of vehicle 10 may include a velocity of vehicle 10…controller 28 of radar system 14 may be operably connected to a sensor that measures a velocity of vehicle 10, such as speedometer 32 … alternatively, controller 28 may be operably connected to a device such an as onboard navigation device 34 to obtain vehicle velocity from GPS data…navigation information may include information about whether vehicle 10 is on a highway, on local roads, nearing a destination, or in a parking lot…the navigation information may also include route information, so controller 28 may be able to preemptively determine an upcoming change in the operational state of vehicle 10; paragraph 41: Figure 4: a method 1000 for updating a waveform of a radar signal…in block 110, a radar system 14 including a controller 28 and transmitter 30 may be provided (see FIG. 2)…in block 112, controller 28 may obtain a present operational state of vehicle 10 (see FIG. 3)…controller 28 may set a value of one or more of the waveform parameters based on the present operational state of vehicle 10…if the present operational state of vehicle 10 is highway driving (as determined by vehicle velocity and/or navigation information info controller 28 may set a value of one or more of the waveform parameters to generate an updated waveform which has high maximal velocity and high maximal Doppler shift…if the present operational state of vehicle 10 is navigating a parking lot controller 28 may set a value of one or more of the waveform parameters to generate an updated waveform having high range resolution… transmitter 30 may transmit an updated radar signal based on the updated waveform),
the situational awareness data being indicative of at least one characteristic of the vehicle, at least one characteristic of the target object, and/or at least one characteristic of an environment of the vehicle (paragraph 40: Figure 3: vehicle 10 in which controller 28 of radar system 14 is configured to obtain a present operational state of vehicle 10…an operational state of vehicle 10 may include a velocity of vehicle 10…controller 28 of radar system 14 may be operably connected to a sensor that measures a velocity of vehicle 10, such as speedometer 32…controller 28 may be operably connected to a device such an as onboard navigation device 34 to obtain vehicle velocity from GPS data…in addition to vehicle velocity, the operational state of vehicle 10 may include navigation information obtained from onboard navigation device 34 or personal device 40…navigation information may include information about whether vehicle 10 is on a highway, on local roads, nearing a destination, or in a parking lot…the navigation information may also include route information, so controller 28 may be able to preemptively determine an upcoming change in the operational state of vehicle 10; paragraph 41: Figure 4: a method 1000 for updating a waveform of a radar signal…in block 110, a radar system 14 including a controller 28 and transmitter 30 may be provided (see FIG. 2)…controller 28 may obtain a present operational state of vehicle 10 as described herein (see FIG. 3)…controller 28 may set a value of one or more of the waveform parameters based on the present operational state of vehicle 10…if the present operational state of vehicle 10 is highway driving, controller 28 may set a value of one or more of the waveform parameters to generate an updated waveform which has high maximal velocity and high maximal Doppler shift…if the present operational state of vehicle 10 is navigating a parking lot (as determined by vehicle velocity and/or navigation information) controller 28 may set a value of one or more of the waveform parameters to generate an updated waveform having high range resolution. In block 116, transmitter 30 may transmit an updated radar signal based on the updated waveform);
selecting, by the processing circuitry, using the situational awareness data for the vehicle and from among the plurality of radar operational configurations, at least one radar operational configuration to use for collecting the data about the target object (paragraph 35: Figure 2: controller 28 may further be configured to control a waveform of a radar signal output by transmitter 30; paragraph 37: the necessary performance characteristics may be determined by the operation state of the vehicle…in high speed applications such as traveling at highway speeds, a large maximal range and maximal Doppler shift may be necessary for the radar system to be able to detect all of vehicles and objects that could possibly affect operation of the vehicle…the large maximal range and maximal Doppler shift would result in a corresponding low range resolution, but this is not as important at highway speeds where vehicles are spaced farther apart; paragraph 38: in a low speed application such as parallel parking or navigating a parking lot, a high range resolution may be necessary in order to precisely determine the location of nearby objects and vehicles in order to avoid a collision while navigating so close to other objects…the high range resolution would result in a corresponding low maximal range and low maximal Doppler shift, but this is not as important during low speed maneuver where far off objects and vehicles will have no effect on the operation of the vehicle; paragraph 40: Figure 3: vehicle 10 in which controller 28 of radar system 14 is configured to obtain a present operational state of vehicle 10…an operational state of vehicle 10 may include a velocity of vehicle 10…controller 28 of radar system 14 may be operably connected to a sensor that measures a velocity of vehicle 10, such as speedometer 32… controller 28 may be operably connected to a device such an as onboard navigation device 34 to obtain vehicle velocity from GPS data…navigation information may include information about whether vehicle 10 is on a highway, on local roads, nearing a destination, or in a parking lot…the navigation information may also include route information, so controller 28 may be able to preemptively determine an upcoming change in the operational state of vehicle 10; paragraph 41: Figure 4: updating a waveform of a radar signal…in block 110, a radar system 14 including a controller 28 and transmitter 30 may be provided (see FIG. 2)…controller 28 may obtain a present operational state of vehicle 10 as described herein (see FIG. 3)…in block 114, controller 28 may set a value of one or more of the waveform parameters based on the present operational state of vehicle 10…if the present operational state of vehicle 10 is highway driving, controller 28 may set a value of one or more of the waveform parameters to generate an updated waveform which has high maximal velocity and high maximal Doppler shift…if the present operational state of vehicle 10 is navigating a parking lot controller 28 may set a value of one or more of the waveform parameters to generate an updated waveform having high range resolution…transmitter 30 may transmit an updated radar signal based on the updated waveform);
transmitting, using a transmitter of the radar device according to the at least one radar operational configuration, one or more RF transmit signals (paragraph 35: Figure 2: radar system 14 may include transmitter 30 structured to transmit a radar signal…radar system 14 may further include an antenna 26 structured to receive reflected radar signals from targets. Radar system 14 may further include a controller 28 operably connected to antenna 26 and transmitter 30 and configured to operate on signals received by antenna 26… controller 28 may further be configured to control a waveform of a radar signal output by transmitter 30); and
receiving, using a receiver of the radar device according to the at least one radar operational configuration, one or more RF receive signals generated at least in part by reflection of the one or more RF transmit signals from the target object (paragraph 35: Figure 2: radar system 14 may include transmitter 30 structured to transmit a radar signal…radar system 14 may further include an antenna 26 structured to receive reflected radar signals from targets. Radar system 14 may further include a controller 28 operably connected to antenna 26 and transmitter 30 and configured to operate on signals received by antenna 26… controller 28 may further be configured to control a waveform of a radar signal output by transmitter 30).”
Regarding claim 2, which is dependent on independent claim 1, Longman et al. (‘433) anticipates the method of claim 1. Longman et al. (‘433) further anticipates “the vehicle is a car (paragraph 37: the necessary performance characteristics may be determined by the operation state of the vehicle…in high speed applications such as traveling at highway speeds, a large maximal range and maximal Doppler shift may be necessary for the radar system to be able to detect all of vehicles and objects that could possibly affect operation of the vehicle…the large maximal range and maximal Doppler shift would result in a corresponding low range resolution, but this is not as important at highway speeds where vehicles are spaced farther apart; paragraph 38: in a low speed application such as parallel parking or navigating a parking lot, a high range resolution may be necessary in order to precisely determine the location of nearby objects and vehicles in order to avoid a collision while navigating so close to other objects…the high range resolution would result in a corresponding low maximal range and low maximal Doppler shift, but this is not as important during low speed maneuver where far off objects and vehicles will have no effect on the operation of the vehicle; Figure 1).”
Regarding claim 4, which is dependent on independent claim 1, Longman et al. (‘433) anticipates the method of claim 1. Longman et al. (‘433) further anticipates “the plurality of radar operational configurations specify a plurality of waveform types having corresponding frequency bandwidths (paragraph 36: the radar signal output by transmitter 30 may be a linear frequency modulated continuous wave (LFM-CW) signal. An LFM-CW signal may be characterized by one or more waveform parameters such as pulse repetition interval (PRI), chirp slope, sampling rate, and number of samples. The PRI corresponds to the interval between pulses, with closer pulses (i.e., small PRI) being better at tracking fast changes and resulting in a higher Unambiguous Doppler…a small PRI will also result in a lower maximal range and low range resolution…the chirp slope is a measure of how quickly the radar signal sweeps across a range of frequencies…the waveform of the radar signal may also be characterized by one or more performance characteristics, such as maximal range, maximal Doppler shift, and range resolution. It will be understood there is a fixed relationship between maximal range, maximal Doppler shift, and range solution in a radar system…a radar signal that has a large maximal range and large maximal Doppler shift will have a correspondingly low range resolution, and a radar signal that has a high range resolution will have a correspondingly small maximal range and small maximal Doppler shift);
the at least one radar operational configuration specifies at least one waveform type of the plurality of waveform types having a corresponding frequency bandwidth (paragraph 36: the radar signal output by transmitter 30 may be a linear frequency modulated continuous wave (LFM-CW) signal. An LFM-CW signal may be characterized by one or more waveform parameters such as pulse repetition interval (PRI), chirp slope, sampling rate, and number of samples…the PRI corresponds to the interval between pulses, with closer pulses (i.e., small PRI) being better at tracking fast changes and resulting in a higher Unambiguous Doppler…a small PRI will also result in a lower maximal range and low range resolution…the chirp slope is a measure of how quickly the radar signal sweeps across a range of frequencies…the waveform of the radar signal may also be characterized by one or more performance characteristics, such as maximal range, maximal Doppler shift, and range resolution. It will be understood there is a fixed relationship between maximal range, maximal Doppler shift, and range solution in a radar system…a radar signal that has a large maximal range and large maximal Doppler shift will have a correspondingly low range resolution, and a radar signal that has a high range resolution will have a correspondingly small maximal range and small maximal Doppler shift); and
the one or more RF transmit signals have the at least one waveform type (paragraph 36: paragraph 36: the radar signal output by transmitter 30 may be a linear frequency modulated continuous wave (LFM-CW) signal. An LFM-CW signal may be characterized by one or more waveform parameters such as pulse repetition interval (PRI), chirp slope, sampling rate, and number of samples. The PRI corresponds to the interval between pulses, with closer pulses (i.e., small PRI) being better at tracking fast changes and resulting in a higher Unambiguous Doppler…a small PRI will also result in a lower maximal range and low range resolution…the chirp slope is a measure of how quickly the radar signal sweeps across a range of frequencies…the waveform of the radar signal may also be characterized by one or more performance characteristics, such as maximal range, maximal Doppler shift, and range resolution. It will be understood there is a fixed relationship between maximal range, maximal Doppler shift, and range solution in a radar system…a radar signal that has a large maximal range and large maximal Doppler shift will have a correspondingly low range resolution, and a radar signal that has a high range resolution will have a correspondingly small maximal range and small maximal Doppler shift).”
Regarding independent claim 11, which is a corresponding device claim on independent method claim 1, Longman et al. (‘433) anticipates al the claimed invention as shown above for claim 1.
Regarding claim 12, which is dependent on independent claim 11, and which is a corresponding device claim on method claim 2, Longman et al. (‘433) anticipates al the claimed invention as shown above for claim 2.
Regarding claim 14, which is dependent on independent claim 11, and which is a corresponding device claim on method claim 4, Longman et al. (‘433) anticipates al the claimed invention as shown above for claim 4.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 3 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Longman et al. (US 2020/333433 A1), in view of Murray et al. (US 2023/0145218 A1).
Regarding claim 3, which is dependent on independent claim 1, Longman et al. (‘433) discloses the method of claim 1. Longman et al. (‘433) further discloses “the situational awareness data comprises data selected from a group consisting of:
data indicating a velocity of the vehicle (paragraph 37: the necessary performance characteristics may be determined by the operation state of the vehicle…in high speed applications such as traveling at highway speeds, a large maximal range and maximal Doppler shift may be necessary for the radar system to be able to detect all of vehicles and objects that could possibly affect operation of the vehicle…the large maximal range and maximal Doppler shift would result in a corresponding low range resolution, but this is not as important at highway speeds where vehicles are spaced farther apart; paragraph 38: in a low speed application such as parallel parking or navigating a parking lot, a high range resolution may be necessary in order to precisely determine the location of nearby objects and vehicles in order to avoid a collision while navigating so close to other objects…the high range resolution would result in a corresponding low maximal range and low maximal Doppler shift, but this is not as important during low speed maneuver where far off objects and vehicles will have no effect on the operation of the vehicle; paragraph 40: Figure 3: vehicle 10 in which controller 28 of radar system 14 is configured to obtain a present operational state of vehicle 10…an operational state of vehicle 10 may include a velocity of vehicle 10…controller 28 of radar system 14 may be operably connected to a sensor that measures a velocity of vehicle 10, such as speedometer 32… alternatively, controller 28 may be operably connected to a device such an as onboard navigation device 34 to obtain vehicle velocity from GPS data… alternatively, if a personal device 40, such as a smart phone or tablet, is being used for navigation and GPS data, controller 28 may wirelessly communicate with personal device 40 via communication node 36…in addition to vehicle velocity, the operational state of vehicle 10 may include navigation information obtained from onboard navigation device 34 or personal device 40…navigation information may include information about whether vehicle 10 is on a highway, on local roads, nearing a destination, or in a parking lot…the navigation information may also include route information, so controller 28 may be able to preemptively determine an upcoming change in the operational state of vehicle 10; paragraph 41: Figure 4: a method 1000 for updating a waveform of a radar signal…in block 110, a radar system 14 including a controller 28 and transmitter 30 may be provided (see FIG. 2)…in block 112, controller 28 may obtain a present operational state of vehicle 10 as described herein (see FIG. 3)…in block 114, controller 28 may set a value of one or more of the waveform parameters based on the present operational state of vehicle 10…if the present operational state of vehicle 10 is highway driving (as determined by vehicle velocity and/or navigation information), controller 28 may set a value of one or more of the waveform parameters to generate an updated waveform which has high maximal velocity and high maximal Doppler shift…conversely, if the present operational state of vehicle 10 is navigating a parking lot (as determined by vehicle velocity and/or navigation information) controller 28 may set a value of one or more of the waveform parameters to generate an updated waveform having high range resolution. In block 116, transmitter 30 may transmit an updated radar signal based on the updated waveform)”,
“data indicating that the vehicle is parking (paragraph 38: in a low speed application such as parallel parking or navigating a parking lot, a high range resolution may be necessary in order to precisely determine the location of nearby objects and vehicles in order to avoid a collision while navigating so close to other objects…the high range resolution would result in a corresponding low maximal range and low maximal Doppler shift, but this is not as important during low speed maneuver where far off objects and vehicles will have no effect on the operation of the vehicle);
data indicating that the vehicle is on a highway (paragraph 37: the necessary performance characteristics may be determined by the operation state of the vehicle…in high speed applications such as traveling at highway speeds, a large maximal range and maximal Doppler shift may be necessary for the radar system to be able to detect all of vehicles and objects that could possibly affect operation of the vehicle…the large maximal range and maximal Doppler shift would result in a corresponding low range resolution, but this is not as important at highway speeds where vehicles are spaced farther apart)”,
data indicating a distance from the vehicle to the target object (paragraph 40: Figure 3: vehicle 10 in which controller 28 of radar system 14 is configured to obtain a present operational state of vehicle 10…an operational state of vehicle 10 may include a velocity of vehicle 10…controller 28 of radar system 14 may be operably connected to a sensor that measures a velocity of vehicle 10, such as speedometer 32…alternatively, controller 28 may be operably connected to a device such an as onboard navigation device 34 to obtain vehicle velocity from GPS data…alternatively, if a personal device 40, such as a smart phone or tablet, is being used for navigation and GPS data, controller 28 may wirelessly communicate with personal device 40 via communication node 36…in addition to vehicle velocity, the operational state of vehicle 10 may include navigation information obtained from onboard navigation device 34 or personal device 40 …navigation information may include information about whether vehicle 10 is on a highway, on local roads, nearing a destination, or in a parking lot…the navigation information may also include route information, so controller 28 may be able to preemptively determine an upcoming change in the operational state of vehicle 10)”,
“data indicating a type of road on which the vehicle is traveling (paragraph 41: Figure 4: if the present operational state of vehicle 10 is highway driving (as determined by vehicle velocity and/or navigation information), controller 28 may set a value of one or more of the waveform parameters to generate an updated waveform which has high maximal velocity and high maximal Doppler shift… conversely, if the present operational state of vehicle 10 is navigating a parking lot (as determined by vehicle velocity and/or navigation information) controller 28 may set a value of one or more of the waveform parameters to generate an updated waveform having high range resolution. In block 116, transmitter 30 may transmit an updated radar signal based on the updated waveform).”
Longman et al. (‘433) does not explicitly disclose “data indicating that the vehicle is in a cruise control and/or lane departure prevention mode; data indicating a low power level of the vehicle; data indicating a velocity of the target object; data indicating an elevation range of the target object with respect to the radar device; data indicating an azimuth range of the target object with respect to the radar device; data indicating a level of traffic in the environment of the vehicle; data indicating a weather condition in the environment of the vehicle; and data indicating a hazardous condition in the environment of the vehicle.”
Murray et al. (‘218) relates to radar system. Murray et al. (‘218) teaches “data indicating that the vehicle is in a cruise control and/or lane departure prevention mode (paragraph 142: functionality may be part of a cooperative adaptive cruise control functionality of the vehicle 800; paragraph 159: the ADAS system 838 may include autonomous/adaptive/automatic cruise control (ACC), cooperative adaptive cruise control (CACC));
data indicating a low power level of the vehicle (paragraph 125: support low power sensor management and wake use cases);
data indicating a velocity of the target object (paragraph 255: the two measurements can be used to quantify the velocity of the target object) (paragraph 25: on one or more attributes of the radar detections indicating one or more approaching objects, such as a Doppler velocity associated with the one or more radar detections being above a velocity threshold);
data indicating an elevation range of the target object with respect to the radar device (paragraph 37: RADAR sensor(s) 101 may detect these reflections and reflection characteristics such as bearing, azimuth, elevation);
data indicating an azimuth range of the target object with respect to the radar device (paragraph 37: RADAR sensor(s) 101 may detect these reflections and reflection characteristics such as bearing, azimuth, elevation);
data indicating a level of traffic in the environment of the vehicle (paragraph 147: he central four antennae may create a focused beam pattern, designed to record the vehicle's 800 surroundings at higher speeds with minimal interference from traffic in adjacent lanes; paragraph 159: rear cross-traffic warning (RCTW),);
data indicating a weather condition in the environment of the vehicle (paragraph 146: the vehicle 800 may further include RADAR sensor(s) 860. The RADAR sensor(s) 860 may be used by the vehicle 800 for long-range vehicle detection, even in darkness and/or severe weather conditions); and
data indicating a hazardous condition in the environment of the vehicle (paragraph 159: forward crash warning (FCW), automatic emergency braking (AEB), lane departure warnings (LDW), lane keep assist (LKA), blind spot warning (BSW), rear cross-traffic warning (RCTW), collision warning systems (CWS)).”
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill-in-the-art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Longman et al. (‘433) with the teaching of Murray et al. (‘218) for more reliable radar detection (Murray et al. (‘218) – paragraph 5). In addition, both of the prior art references, (Longman et al. (‘433) and Murray et al. (‘218)) teach features that are directed to analogous art and they are directed to the same field of endeavor, such as, vehicle radar system utilizing situational or surrounding conditions for to detect object.
Regarding claim 13, which is dependent on independent claim 11, and which is a corresponding device claim of method claim 3, Longman et al. (‘433)/Murray et al. (‘218) discloses all the claimed invention as shown above for claim 3.
Claims 5-6, 9-10, 15-16 and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Longman et al. (US 2020/333433 A1), in view of Charvat et al. (US 2022/413141 A1).
Regarding claim 5, which is dependent on independent claim 1, Longman et al. (‘433) discloses the method of claim 1. Longman et al. (‘433) does not explicitly disclose “the transmitter comprises a plurality of transmit antenna elements arranged along a dimension of a transmit antenna array of the transmitter; the plurality of radar operational configurations specify a plurality of different subsets of the plurality of transmit antenna elements, the at least one radar operational configuration specifying at least one subset of the plurality of different subsets; and transmitting the one or more RF transmit signals according to the at least one radar operational configuration comprises transmitting the one or more RF transmit signals using the at least one subset of the plurality of different subsets of the plurality of transmit antenna elements.”
Charvat et al. (‘141) relates to radar sensors. Charvat et al. (‘141) teaches “the transmitter comprises a plurality of transmit antenna elements arranged along a dimension of a transmit antenna array of the transmitter; the plurality of radar operational configurations specify a plurality of different subsets of the plurality of transmit antenna elements, the at least one radar operational configuration specifying at least one subset of the plurality of different subsets; and transmitting the one or more RF transmit signals according to the at least one radar operational configuration comprises transmitting the one or more RF transmit signals using the at least one subset of the plurality of different subsets of the plurality of transmit antenna elements (paragraph 291: Figures 14A-14B: a system capable of imaging objects in multiple dimensions…information in the elevation axis is obtained by emitting THz signals with different subsets of TX antenna array 102 at different times…at time t1, antennas 1, 2 and 3 emit (see FIG. 14A)…at time t2 (subsequent to t1), antennas 4, 5 and 6 emit (see Figure 14B)…because the subsets are offset from one another along the elevation axis, different viewpoints with respect to that axis are produced…TX antenna array 102 may be segmented in more than two subsets. Signals reflected in response to emission from the first subset of the TX antenna array 102 and signals reflected in response to emission from the second subset of the TX antenna array 102 are received with RX antenna array 104…the system generates two images…the system can determine the difference between the phases of these images, and may use the phase difference to obtain information with respect to the elevation axis).”
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill-in-the-art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Longman et al. (‘433) with the teaching of Charvat et al. (‘141) for more precise target detection. In addition, both of the prior art references, (Longman et al. (‘433) and Charvat et al. (‘141)) teach features that are directed to analogous art and they are directed to the same field of endeavor, such as, radar target detection using surrounding environmental and situational conditions.
Regarding claim 6, which is dependent on independent claim 1, Longman et al. (‘433) discloses the method of claim 1. Longman et al. (‘433) does not explicitly disclose “the transmitter comprises a plurality of transmit antenna elements arranged along a dimension of a transmit antenna array of the transmitter; the plurality of radar operational configurations specify a plurality of different transmit phase shift patterns for transmitting the one or more RF transmit signals via the plurality of transmit antenna elements, the at least one radar operational configuration specifying at least one transmit phase shift pattern of the plurality of different transmit phase shift patterns; and transmitting the one or more RF transmit signals according to the at least one radar operational configuration comprises transmitting the one or more RF transmit signals according to the at least one transmit phase shift pattern.”
Charvat et al. (‘141) relates to radar sensors. Charvat et al. (‘141) teaches “the transmitter comprises a plurality of transmit antenna elements arranged along a dimension of a transmit antenna array of the transmitter; the plurality of radar operational configurations specify a plurality of different transmit phase shift patterns for transmitting the one or more RF transmit signals via the plurality of transmit antenna elements, the at least one radar operational configuration specifying at least one transmit phase shift pattern of the plurality of different transmit phase shift patterns; and transmitting the one or more RF transmit signals according to the at least one radar operational configuration comprises transmitting the one or more RF transmit signals according to the at least one transmit phase shift pattern (paragraph 291:Figures 14A-14B: a system capable of imaging objects in multiple dimensions …information in the elevation axis is obtained by emitting THz signals with different subsets of TX antenna array 102 at different times…at time t.sub.1, antennas 1, 2 and 3 emit (see FIG. 14A)…at time t2 (subsequent to t1), antennas 4, 5 and 6 emit (see Figure 14B)…because the subsets are offset from one another along the elevation axis, different viewpoints with respect to that axis are produced…TX antenna array 102 may be segmented in more than two subsets. Signals reflected in response to emission from the first subset of the TX antenna array 102 and signals reflected in response to emission from the second subset of the TX antenna array 102 are received with RX antenna array 104…the system generates two images…the system can determine the difference between the phases of these images, and may use the phase difference to obtain information with respect to the elevation axis).”
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill-in-the-art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Longman et al. (‘433) with the teaching of Charvat et al. (‘141) for more precise target detection. In addition, both of the prior art references, (Longman et al. (‘433) and Charvat et al. (‘141)) teach features that are directed to analogous art and they are directed to the same field of endeavor, such as, radar target detection using surrounding environmental and situational conditions.
Regarding claim 9, which is dependent on independent claim 1, Longman et al. (‘433) discloses the method of claim 1. Longman et al. (‘433) does not explicitly disclose “generating, using processing circuitry of the radar device according to the at least one radar operational configuration, using the one or more RF receive signals, a range-cross range image of the target object; wherein: the plurality of radar operational configurations specify a plurality of frame rates; the at least one radar operational configuration specifies at least one frame rate of the plurality of frame rates; and generating the range-cross range image uses the one or more RF receive signals received during a frame defined by the at least one frame rate.”
Charvat et al. (‘141) relates to radar sensors. Charvat et al. (‘141) teaches “generating, using processing circuitry of the radar device according to the at least one radar operational configuration, using the one or more RF receive signals, a range-cross range image of the target object (paragraph 310: ranging-cross range measurements using the multi-dimensional imaging techniques and the multi-channel imaging; paragraph 150: Figure 13: a range/cross range image);
wherein: the plurality of radar operational configurations specify a plurality of frame rates (paragraph 159: Figure 16G: a frame rate as a function of range);
the at least one radar operational configuration specifies at least one frame rate of the plurality of frame rates (paragraph 305: the result is that the frame rate at which the data are imaged also varies as a function of the range. FIG. 16G illustrates how the frame rate may be varied as a function of the range); and
generating the range-cross range image uses the one or more RF receive signals received during a frame defined by the at least one frame rate (paragraph 305: recognizing that propagation loss increases with increasing distance, data corresponding to different response pulses may be added to one another at a rate determined as a function of the range bin…Figure 16F illustrates how the integration rate may be varied as a function of the range…each range bin is assigned a different integration rate (though in other examples, an integration rate may be assigned to more than one range)…the range bin corresponding to ranges in the 20 m-40 m interval are assigned a rate of 2 integrations per second and the range bin corresponding to ranges in the 140 m-160 m interval are assigned a rate of 500 integrations per second. The result is that the frame rate at which the data are imaged also varies as a function of the range…Figure 16G illustrates how the frame rate may be varied as a function of the range, in accordance with some embodiments. In this example, the range bin corresponding to ranges in the 20 m-40 m interval are associated with a frame rate of 500 frames per second (FPS) and the range bin corresponding to ranges in the 140 m-160 m interval are associated with a frame rate of 2 FPS…the integration may be performed in a coherent fashion, thereby increasing the SNR by a factor equal to the integration rate).”
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill-in-the-art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Longman et al. (‘433) with the teaching of Charvat et al. (‘141) for more precise target detection. In addition, both of the prior art references, (Longman et al. (‘433) and Charvat et al. (‘141)) teach features that are directed to analogous art and they are directed to the same field of endeavor, such as, radar target detection using surrounding environmental and situational conditions.
Regarding claim 10, which is dependent on independent claim 1, Longman et al. (‘433) discloses the method of claim 1. Longman et al. (‘433) does not explicitly disclose “the one or more RF transmit signals have frequency content in a frequency band of 300 GHz - 3 THz.”
Charvat et al. (‘141) relates to radar sensors. Charvat et al. (‘141) teaches “the one or more RF transmit signals have frequency content in a frequency band of 300 GHz - 3 THz (paragraph 168; paragraph 173; paragraph 185; Figure 1A-B, Figure 3A).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill-in-the-art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Longman et al. (‘433) with the teaching of Charvat et al. (‘141) for more precise target detection. In addition, both of the prior art references, (Longman et al. (‘433) and Charvat et al. (‘141)) teach features that are directed to analogous art and they are directed to the same field of endeavor, such as, radar target detection using surrounding environmental and situational conditions.
Regarding claim 15, which is dependent on independent claim 11, and which is a corresponding device claim of method claim 5, Longman et al. (‘433)/Charvat et al. (‘141) discloses all the claimed invention as shown above for claim 5.
Regarding claim 16, which is dependent on independent claim 11, and which is a corresponding device claim of method claim 6, Longman et al. (‘433)/Charvat et al. (‘141) discloses all the claimed invention as shown above for claim 6.
Regarding claim 19, which is dependent on independent claim 11, and which is a corresponding device claim of method claim 9, Longman et al. (‘433)/Charvat et al. (‘141) discloses all the claimed invention as shown above for claim 9.
Regarding claim 20, which is dependent on independent claim 11, and which is a corresponding device claim of method claim 10, Longman et al. (‘433)/Charvat et al. (‘141) discloses all the claimed invention as shown above for claim 10.
Claims 7-8 and 17-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Longman et al. (US 2020/333433 A1), and further in view of Lee (US 2020/0072956 A1).
Regarding claim 7, which is dependent on independent claim 1, Longman et al. (‘433) discloses the method of claim 1. Longman et al. (‘433) does not explicitly disclose “the receiver comprises a plurality of receive antenna elements arranged along a dimension of a receive antenna array of the receiver; the plurality of radar operational configurations specify a plurality of different subsets of the plurality of receive antenna elements, the at least one radar operational configuration specifying at least one subset of the plurality of different subsets; and receiving the one or more RF receive signals according to the at least one radar operational configuration comprises receiving the one or more RF receive signals using the at least one subset of the plurality of different subsets of the plurality of receive antenna elements.”
Lee (‘956) relates to radar. Lee (‘956) teaches “the receiver comprises a plurality of receive antenna elements arranged along a dimension of a receive antenna array of the receiver; the plurality of radar operational configurations specify a plurality of different subsets of the plurality of receive antenna elements, the at least one radar operational configuration specifying at least one subset of the plurality of different subsets; and receiving the one or more RF receive signals according to the at least one radar operational configuration comprises receiving the one or more RF receive signals using the at least one subset of the plurality of different subsets of the plurality of receive antenna elements (paragraph 55: Figure 3B: the transmitter antennas included in the second transmitter antenna group Tx2 may be arranged at a first interval which is adjusted to locate them on the same line as some receiver antennas 300 among the multiple receiver antennas included in the second receiver antenna group Rx2…a MIMO configuration shown in Figure 3B can be constructed by adjusting the interval between the transmitter antennas, and the formation of a virtual receiver antenna group VRx results in a double increase in number of receiver antennas…the MIMO configuration shown in FIG. 3B can use a binary phase shift (0 deg/180 deg) and can be used as a phase reference; paragraph 56: Figure 3C: the transmitter antennas included in the second transmitter antenna group Tx2 may be arranged at a second interval which is adjusted to locate them on the same line as some receiver antennas 310 among the multiple receiver antennas included in the second receiver antenna group Rx2 …a MIMO configuration shown in Figure 3C can be constructed by adjusting the interval between the transmitter antennas, and the formation of a virtual receiver antenna group VRx results in a double increase in number of receiver antennas …the MIMO configuration shown in FIG. 3C can use a binary phase shift (0 deg/180 deg) and can be used as a phase reference; paragraph 57: Figure 3D: the transmitter antennas included in the second transmitter antenna group Tx2 may be arranged at a third interval which is adjusted to locate them on the same line as some receiver antennas 320 among the multiple receiver antennas included in the second receiver antenna group Rx2. A MIMO configuration shown in Figure 3D can be constructed by adjusting the interval between the transmitter antennas, and the formation of a virtual receiver antenna group VRx results in a double increase in number of receiver antennas...the MIMO configuration shown in FIG. 3D can use a binary phase shift (0 deg/180 deg) and can be used as a phase reference).”
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill-in-the-art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Longman et al. (‘433) with the teaching of Lee (‘956) for improved radar detection (Lee (‘956) – paragraph 10). In addition, both of the prior art references, (Longman et al. (‘433) and Lee (‘956)) teach features that are directed to analogous art and they are directed to the same field of endeavor, such as, using multiple antenna arrays for radar detection.
Regarding claim 8, which is dependent on independent claim 1, Longman et al. (‘433) discloses the method of claim 1. Longman et al. (‘433) does not explicitly disclose “the receiver comprises a plurality of receive antenna elements arranged along a dimension of a receive antenna array of the receiver; the plurality of radar operational configurations specify a plurality of different receive phase shift patterns for receiving the one or more RF receive signals via the plurality of receive antenna elements, the at least one radar operational configuration specifying at least one receive phase shift pattern of the plurality of different receive phase shift patterns; and receiving the one or more RF receive signals comprises receiving the one or more RF receive signals according to the at least one receive phase shift pattern.”
Lee (‘956) relates to radar. Lee (‘956) teaches “the receiver comprises a plurality of receive antenna elements arranged along a dimension of a receive antenna array of the receiver; the plurality of radar operational configurations specify a plurality of different receive phase shift patterns for receiving the one or more RF receive signals via the plurality of receive antenna elements, the at least one radar operational configuration specifying at least one receive phase shift pattern of the plurality of different receive phase shift patterns; and receiving the one or more RF receive signals comprises receiving the one or more RF receive signals according to the at least one receive phase shift pattern (paragraph 55: Figure 3B: the transmitter antennas included in the second transmitter antenna group Tx2 may be arranged at a first interval which is adjusted to locate them on the same line as some receiver antennas 300 among the multiple receiver antennas included in the second receiver antenna group Rx2…a MIMO configuration shown in Figure 3B can be constructed by adjusting the interval between the transmitter antennas, and the formation of a virtual receiver antenna group VRx results in a double increase in number of receiver antennas…the MIMO configuration shown in FIG. 3B can use a binary phase shift (0 deg/180 deg) and can be used as a phase reference; paragraph 56: Figure 3C: the transmitter antennas included in the second transmitter antenna group Tx2 may be arranged at a second interval which is adjusted to locate them on the same line as some receiver antennas 310 among the multiple receiver antennas included in the second receiver antenna group Rx2 …a MIMO configuration shown in Figure 3C can be constructed by adjusting the interval between the transmitter antennas, and the formation of a virtual receiver antenna group VRx results in a double increase in number of receiver antennas …the MIMO configuration shown in FIG. 3C can use a binary phase shift (0 deg/180 deg) and can be used as a phase reference; paragraph 57: Figure 3D: the transmitter antennas included in the second transmitter antenna group Tx2 may be arranged at a third interval which is adjusted to locate them on the same line as some receiver antennas 320 among the multiple receiver antennas included in the second receiver antenna group Rx2. A MIMO configuration shown in Figure 3D can be constructed by adjusting the interval between the transmitter antennas, and the formation of a virtual receiver antenna group VRx results in a double increase in number of receiver antennas...the MIMO configuration shown in FIG. 3D can use a binary phase shift (0 deg/180 deg) and can be used as a phase reference).”
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill-in-the-art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Longman et al. (‘433) with the teaching of Lee (‘956) for improved radar detection (Lee (‘956) – paragraph 10). In addition, both of the prior art references, (Longman et al. (‘433) and Lee (‘956)) teach features that are directed to analogous art and they are directed to the same field of endeavor, such as, using multiple antenna arrays for radar detection.
Regarding claim 17, which is dependent on independent claim 11, and which is a corresponding device claim of method claim 7, Longman et al. (‘433)/Charvat et al. (‘141) discloses all the claimed invention as shown above for claim 7.
Regarding claim 18, which is dependent on independent claim 11, and which is a corresponding device claim of method claim 8, Longman et al. (‘433)/Charvat et al. (‘141) discloses all the claimed invention as shown above for claim 8.
Citation of Pertinent Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Unnikrishnan et al. (US 2020/0218913 A1) describes a host vehicle includes at least one camera sensor, a memory, and at least one processor coupled to the memory and the at least one camera sensor, the at least one processor configured to detect the target object in one or more images captured by the at least one camera sensor, determine one or more first attributes of the target object based on measurements of the one or more images, determine one or more second attributes of the target object based on measurements of the map of the roadway on which the target object is travelling, and determine a motion state of the target object based on the one or more first attributes and the one or more second attributes of the target object (paragraph 7); the radar-camera sensor module 120 may detect one or more (or none) objects relative to the vehicle 100. In the example of Figure 1, there are two objects, vehicles 130 and 140, within the horizontal coverage zones 150 and 160 that the radar-camera sensor module 120 can detect. The radar-camera sensor module 120 may estimate parameters (attributes) of the detected object(s), such as the position, range, direction, speed, size, classification (e.g., vehicle, pedestrian, road sign, etc.), and the like…the radar-camera sensor module 120 may be employed onboard the vehicle 100 for automotive safety applications, such as adaptive cruise control (ACC), forward collision warning (FCW), collision mitigation or avoidance via autonomous braking, lane departure warning (LDW), and the like (paragraph 34).
Chung et al. (US 2022/252720 A1) describes discloses a multimode radar device capable of detecting the moving direction and status of the vehicle and automatically switching high- and low-resolution modes, wherein only a signal antenna module is needed for fulfilling the detection demands in different situations (paragraph 4).
Roger et al. (US 2020/03411134 A1) describes an implementation with three radar-MMICs 410-1, 410-2, 410-3 acting as receiver ICs and another radar-MMIC 810-4 acting as transmitter IC. Each of the radar-MMICs 410-1, 410-2, 410-3 is connected to a subset of receive antennas of an receive antenna array (not shown). The radar-MMIC 810-4 is connected to transmit antennas of an transmit antenna array (not shown) …the radar-MMIC 410-2 provides is local oscillator (LO) signal as synchronization signal to the other radar-MMICs 410-1, 410-3, and 810-4. All radar-MMICs 410-1, 410-2, 410-3, and 810-4 are connected via SPI. While radar-MMIC 410-3 acts as SPI master, the others act as SPI slaves. A communication cascade reaches from radar-MMIC 410-1 via radar-MIMIC 410-2 to radar-MMIC 410-3 (paragraph78: FIG. 8a).
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/NUZHAT PERVIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3648
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