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
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. CN 2021115807564, filed on December 22, 2021.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered 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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 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 – 10 and 19 – 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Frank (US 20200103498 A1).
A person of ordinary skill is very familiar with the signal-to-noise range equation given by SNR
=
P
G
1
4
π
R
2
σ
1
4
π
R
2
A
e
1
N
wherein SNR stands for signal-to-noise ratio, P is power, G is transmission antenna gain, R is range,
σ
is radar cross section (RCS), is the
A
e
is the effective area of the receive antenna and N is noise. Antenna gain is given by
G
=
4
π
A
e
λ
2
wherein
λ
is wavelength. Antenna Gain is a factor of angle with respect to cosine as evidenced by Haziza (US 20170155443 A1) Para. 37 “As a result, the transmit power of the phased array antenna system 116 is reduced to comply with the mask 30 (FIGS. 2A and 2B) which effectively limits the terminal's EIRP. Besides beam broadening, the antenna gain of the phased array antenna system 116 exhibits a cosine theta dependency, which results in a main lobe gain reduction (both absolute and relative to the sidelobes).” And, Eden (US 20020167445 A1) Fig. 4 Para. 57 “Of course, the G.sub.r=20 dBi broadside (.theta.=0.degree.) antenna gain will also fall off as (Cos(.theta.)).sup.1.4).”
As to claims 1 and 19 – 20, Jansson discloses the wireless sensing parameter determining method, comprising:
obtaining, by a first device, a first value of a first parameter corresponding to a first target, wherein the first device or a second device detects an echo signal of a signal sent at a first moment, to determine the first target (Para. 27 “detect a cyclist”); and
configuring, by the first device, a signal parameter of the first target according to the first value of the first parameter, wherein the signal parameter of the first target is used for indicating signal transmission and echo signal reception at a second moment (Para. 32 “Once a target is detected, the perception module 204 determines how to adjust the beam focus.” See also Para. 34 “The RD map image is processed by the data pre-processing module to determine whether to adjust the transmit power and improve detection and identification of short range targets (306).” See also Para. 35 “The RD map image is processed by the data pre-processing module 212 to determine whether to adjust the receiver gain and improve detection and identification of short range targets (406).” See also Para. 37 “Note that in either FIG. 3 or FIG. 4, a single transceiver parameter is adjusted to improve target detection and identification: the transmit power is adjusted in FIG. 3 and the receiver gain is adjusted in FIG. 4.” See also Figs. 5 – 6); and
the signal parameter comprises: signal transmit power, a transmit end aperture gain, a receive end aperture gain, a transmit beam pointing, and a receive beam pointing, wherein the second moment is later than the first moment; and a value of the first parameter is determined based on a first product, the first product being a product of the signal transmit power, the transmit end aperture gain, the receive end aperture gain, a cosine value of the transmit beam pointing, and a cosine value of the receive beam pointing (In addition to the already cited portions of Paras. 34, 35, 37 and Figs. 3 – 6, Frank’s Fig. 2 shows an antenna 208 and transceiver RF frontend 208 thus making the teachings of SNR and Antenna Gain, discussed supra, inherent. See also Para. 27 “at the instruction of its antenna controller 210, to focus additional RF beams at a given phase shift and direction within the portion of the FoV corresponding to the cyclist's location.” – beamforming.).
Examiner’s Comment: Relevant art including the optional second device feature includes Duan (US 20220095319 A1) Figs. 7 – 9. Also relevant, Li (US 20230184883 A1) Para. 214. Note that the claims do not dictate whether the receive end and transmit end are of the same entity or separate entities. As such, whether the claims are directed to a monostatic or bistatic system is a matter of interpretation under the broadest reasonable interpretation standard. The terms first and second devices is broad. The terms receive end and transmit end are not terms of art and could refer to a receive and/or transmit RF frontend.
As to claim 2, Frank discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the obtaining, by a first device, a first value of a first parameter corresponding to a first target comprises: determining, by the first device, the first value of the first parameter corresponding to the first target (Paras. 34, 35, 37 and Figs. 3 – 6 as cited and discussed in claim 1.); or obtaining, by the first device, the first value of the first parameter corresponding to the first target according to first parameter adjustment information sent by the second device, wherein the first parameter adjustment information comprises any one of the following: the first value of the first parameter; a ratio of the first value of the first parameter to a second value of the first parameter; or a difference between the first value of the first parameter and the second value of the first parameter, wherein the second value of the first parameter is determined based on a signal parameter corresponding to signal transmission and a signal parameter corresponding to echo signal reception at the first moment.
As to claim 3, Frank discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein in a case that the first device is a transmit end device (Fig. 2 item 208 a transceiver would have receive RF frontend electronics as well as transmit RF frontend electronics.), the method further comprises: sending, by the transmit end device to a receive end device, the receive end aperture gain and the receive beam pointing that indicate the echo signal reception at the second moment (Paras. 34, 35, 37 and Figs. 3 – 6. See also Para. 15 “In various examples, radar 102 has an analog beamforming antenna that radiates dynamically controllable and highly-directive RF beams. The RF beams reflect off of targets in the vehicle's path and surrounding environment and the RF reflections are received by the radar 102 for target detection and identification.” See also Para. 16 “The phase of each beam is controlled by Phase Control Elements (“PCEs”) in the analog beamforming antenna in radar 102.”).
As to claim 4, Frank discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein in a case that the first device is a receive end device (Fig. 2 item 208 a transceiver would have receive RF frontend electronics as well as transmit RF frontend electronics.), the method further comprises: sending, by the receive end device to a transmit end device, the signal transmit power, the transmit end aperture gain, and the transmit beam pointing that indicate the signal transmission at the second moment (Paras. 34, 35, 37 and Figs. 3 – 6 as cited and discussed in claim 1.).
As to claim 5, Frank discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein in a case that the first device is a sensing function network element (Fig. 2 item 204), the method further comprises: sending, by the sensing function network element to a transmit end device, the signal transmit power, the transmit end aperture gain, and the transmit beam pointing that indicate the signal transmission at the second moment, and sending, to a receive end device, the receive end aperture gain and the receive beam pointing that indicate the echo signal reception at the second moment (Paras. 34, 35, 37 and Figs. 3 – 6 as cited and discussed in claim 1.).
As to claim 6, Frank discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein in a case that the first device is a transmit end device (Fig. 2 item 208), the method further comprises: sending, by the transmit end device, the signal according to the signal transmit power, the transmit end aperture gain, and the transmit beam pointing (Paras. 34, 35, 37 and Figs. 3 – 6 as cited and discussed in claim 1).
As to claim 7, Frank discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein in a case that the first device is a receive end device (Fig. 2 item 208), the method further comprises: receiving, by the receive end device, the echo signal according to the receive end aperture gain and the receive beam pointing (Paras. 34, 35, 37 and Figs. 3 – 6 as cited and discussed in claim 1).
As to claim 8, Frank discloses the method according to claim 2, wherein the determining, by the first device, the first value of the first parameter corresponding to the first target comprises: determining, by the first device, the first value of the first parameter according to echo signal quality of the first target at the first moment (Paras. 34, 35, 37 and Figs. 3 – 6 as cited and discussed in claim 1); or determining, by the first device, the first value of the first parameter according to a predicted distance value of the first target at the second moment and echo signal quality of the first target at the first moment.
As to claim 9, Frank discloses the method according to claim 8, wherein the echo signal quality of the first target comprises at least one of the following: power of the echo signal of the first target (Para. 37 “either parameter may be adjusted interchangeably depending on the strength of the received RF beams from targets at short and long ranges.”); a signal to noise ratio of the echo signal of the first target; a signal-to-noise plus interference ratio of the echo signal of the first target; reference signal received power of the echo signal of the first target; or reference signal received quality of the echo signal of the first target.
As to claim 10, Frank discloses the method according to claim 8, wherein the determining, by the first device, the first value of the first parameter according to echo signal quality of the first target at the first moment comprises: determining the first value of the first parameter according to the second value of the first parameter, the echo signal quality of the first target at the first moment (Para. 18 “radar 102 therefore adapts its transceiver parameters such as transmit power and receiver gain to address this inherent near-far problem of radar detection. The adaptation performed ensures proper detection and identification of both short range and long range targets.” See also Para. 39 “In image 706, the transmit power or the receiver gain has been lowered to better detect and identify all targets in short ranges in such a way that strong reflectors in short ranges do not mask weak reflectors.” Here, power and gain are both taken into consideration to determine parameters.), and first preset echo quality in a case that the echo signal quality of the first target is maintained near the first preset echo quality (contingent limitation.); or determining the first value of the first parameter according to the second value of the first parameter, the echo signal quality of the first target at the first moment, and a first echo quality range in a case that the echo signal quality of the first target is maintained in the first echo quality range, wherein the second value of the first parameter is determined based on a signal parameter corresponding to signal transmission and a signal parameter corresponding to echo signal reception at the first moment.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 11 – 18 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.
The prior art does not teach all of the claimed limitations of claims 11 – 18. The equations of claims 11 – 12 are not taught by the primary reference and the Examiner does not know of a reason to modify. The preamble of claim 13 requires the contingent limitation of claim 13, which is not taught by primary reference and the Examiner does not know of a reason to modify. At least the lower limit of the receive and transmit ends of claim of claim 16 are not taught. Dependent claims 14 – 15 and 17 – 18 are allowable/objected for being dependent on an allowed/objected base claim.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL W JUSTICE whose telephone number is (571)270-7029. The examiner can normally be reached 7:30 - 5:30 M-F.
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/MICHAEL W JUSTICE/Examiner, Art Unit 3648
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