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. TW 113113890, filed on April 15, 2024.
Status of Claims
Claims 1 – 10 are pending.
Response to Remarks
Hu teaches “Another example (e.g. example 19) relates to a previously-described example (e.g. one or more of examples 16-18), wherein the antenna feed of each respective one of the plurality of antenna elements comprises a set of antenna feeds configured to enable each one of the plurality of antenna elements to operate in accordance with a dual-polarized configuration (Para. 170).” As such, Hu meets the scope of teaching of at least two dual-polarized antennae. Hu also teaches a plurality of ports for polarization. See Hu at Para. 135 – 137. Hu also teaches transceivers. Hu at Para. 117 – 121. Also, Pratt explicitly teaches two polarized antennae. See Pratt (US 20170338874 A1) Para. 88. Also, Wang (US 11774579 B1) teaches “a plurality of groups of orthogonal dual-polarization Vivaldi antenna transmitting subarrays and receiving subarrays are mounted on the substrate.” See Wang Abstract. In fact, Wang also teaches radar and detection. Id. Wang could serve as a basis for a 102 rejection for the independent claims.
It has become common practice for communications to transmit and receive signals to detect users to provide beamforming to improve signal quality. See e.g., Bi (US 20230379735 A1) Para. 52 and 146, Mattheijssen (US 11689265 B2) col. 3 ll. 64 – col. 4 ll. 14. As such, it would not be unreasonable to modify Hu to employ detection.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
Claims 1 and 4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being anticipated by Hu (US 20240097325 A1) filed Sep. 19, 2022 in view of Marianer (US 20120293355 A1).
As to claims 1, 4 and 6, Hu discloses a full-polarimetric radar, comprising:
a first dual-polarized antenna module including a first polarized antenna and a second polarized antenna (Fig. 7A items Antenna elements 200.1 and 200.2),
wherein the first polarized antenna has a first polarization port, the second polarized antenna has a second polarization port (Fig. 7A items 110 see also Paras. 135 – 137), and
polarization directions of the first polarized antenna and the second polarized antenna are orthogonal to each other (Para. 53 “The number of the antenna feeds per antenna element 200 is a function of the number of polarizations that are implemented. That is, if two polarizations are used as shown in FIG. 2A, then the antenna array architecture 100 may comprise a total of 8 separate antenna feeds 106, i.e. two for each antenna element 200.1-200.4. As shown in FIG. 2A, each antenna feed 106 may be coupled to the primary conductive sheet 104 at any suitable number of different respective locations. In the illustrative and non-limiting scenario as shown in FIG. 2A, the primary conductive sheet 104 is coupled to two antenna feeds 106A and 106B, respectively, at locations that are orthogonal to one another, thereby enabling the excitation of the primary conductive sheet 104 in accordance with each respective polarization. In this way, the primary conductive sheet 104 may operate in accordance with a dual-polarized configuration.”);
a second dual-polarized antenna module including a third polarized antenna and a fourth polarized antenna, wherein the third polarized antenna has a third polarization port, the fourth polarized antenna has a fourth polarization port, and polarization directions of the third polarized antenna and the fourth polarized antenna are orthogonal to each other (Id. See also Hu at Para. 170 “Another example (e.g. example 19) relates to a previously-described example (e.g. one or more of examples 16-18), wherein the antenna feed of each respective one of the plurality of antenna elements comprises a set of antenna feeds configured to enable each one of the plurality of antenna elements to operate in accordance with a dual-polarized configuration”.);
an antenna control circuit electrically connected to the first polarization port, the second polarization port, the third polarization port, and the fourth polarization port (Para. 74 “each Butler matrix block 114A, 114B controls one polarization, i.e. the left Butler matrix block 114A connects to the vertical feeds of each of the antenna elements 200 in the antenna array, and the right Butler matrix block 114B connects to the horizontal feeds of each of the antenna elements 200 in the antenna array. Thus, each of the two Butler matrix blocks 114A, 114B is dedicated to a separate polarization, and has a number of input ports and a number of output ports.”),
wherein the antenna control circuit is configured to: control two mutually orthogonal ones of the first polarized antenna, the second polarized antenna, the third polarized antenna, and the fourth polarized antenna to radiate a first transmitting signal and a second transmitting signal that are mutually orthogonal at a first time point and a second time point (In addition to cited Paras. 53 and 74 see also Para. 77 “as a transmission signal is applied to one of the beam-selection input ports 602, the antenna array of antenna elements 200 transmits in accordance with a radiation pattern having a predetermined beam direction corresponding to that particular activated beam selection input port 602.”),
respectively; receive a first reflecting signal and a second reflecting signal that correspond to the first transmitting signal, and a third reflecting signal and a fourth reflecting signal that correspond to the second transmitting signal through another two mutually orthogonal ones of the first polarized antenna, the second polarized antenna, the third polarized antenna, and the fourth polarized antenna (Para. 47 “the antenna array architecture 100 may transmit and receive signals in accordance with any suitable number of frequency bands, each having any suitable bandwidth.”).
Hu teaches transceivers. See Hu at Paras. 117 – 121, Hu is specifically directed to the antennae structure and does not mention the features regarding detection; e.g., generate a detection result according to the first reflecting signal, the second reflecting signal, the third reflecting signal and the fourth reflecting signal, even though a person of ordinary skill understands what applications the antennae would be for given that the acronym for RADAR is Radar Detection And Ranging. In fact, the Examiner believes it would be difficult to realize a profit for an antenna that was not used for detection because detection is the primary purpose for an antenna, especially in RADAR.
In the same field of endeavor, “A method for detecting hidden explosives or weapons, including transmitting a signal in different polarization channels towards an object, the next stage includes collecting back scattered energy in different polarization channels from the object, the next stage includes determining parameters that are dependent upon the transmitted signal polarization channels and the backscattered energy polarization channels, and providing an indication if there are hidden explosives or weapons in the object based on the parameters (Abstract).”
In view of the teachings of Marianer, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before filing to apply detection via multiple polarizations including the four polarizations as taught by Hu to increase resolution as well as reducing background noise thereby improving detection accuracy which is good for realizing profits.
As to claim 4, Hu in view of Marianer teaches the full-polarimetric radar according to claim 1, wherein the first dual-polarized antenna module and the second dual-polarized antenna module are arranged adjacent to each other to form a monostatic radar configuration (Hu Fig. 7A).
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being anticipated by Hu in view of Marianer in further view of Giusti (US 20200064458 A1).
As to claim 5, Hu in view of Marianer does not teach the full-polarimetric radar according to claim 1, wherein the first dual-polarized antenna module and the second dual-polarized antenna module are separated by a predetermined distance to form a bistatic radar configuration, and one of the first dual-polarized antenna module and the second dual-polarized antenna module serves as a receiving module for receiving the first reflecting signal, the second reflecting signal, the third reflecting signal, and the fourth reflecting signal.
Note that for one antenna, separately located from the one other antenna, to receive all four reflections, because two of the four signals belong to each antenna separately, the only possibility is that the radar is employing both monostatic and bistatic together.
In the same field of endeavor, Giusti teaches “The radar system 104 operates as a monostatic radar by transmitting and receiving its own radar signals. In some implementations, the radar system 104 may also cooperate with other radar systems 104 that are within an external environment to implement a bistatic radar, a multi-static radar, or a network radar (Para. 43).”
In view of Giusti, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before filing to apply both monostatic and bistatic allows for unique strengths of both wherein monostatic is simply easier to process signals whereas bistatic allows for detection of non-line-of-sight targets thereby allowing for more robust system in which the reflections from both can be averaged or integrated to improve signal-to-noise and reduce both clutter and multipath.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 2 – 3 and 7 – 10 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Claims 2 and 7 claim a specific a specific hardware arrangement of many structural features that are not taught by the prior art. Claim 3 is dependent on claim 2. Claims 8 – 10 depend on claim 7.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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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