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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 07/29/2024 and 03/19/2025; the submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities: the specification shows “Error! No sequence specified”.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
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.
Claim(s) 1 and 17are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US-20090245406-A1 to Moffatt et al., from hereon Moffatt in view of US-12342264-B2 to Chen et al., from hereon Chen and US-20080137716-A1 to Lakkis.
Regarding claim 1, Moffatt teaches a radio station, comprising: frequency selecting circuitry to select (Fig. 1B, P.56 discloses… receiver circuit 32 used in the exemplary IEEE 802.11a OFDM modem. The antenna 60 receives the OFDM signal from the RF Channel 31 on the carrier wave. It is amplified within a low noise amplifier (LNA) 62. Signal down-conversion occurs within a mixer 64, which also receives a local oscillator signal generated by an LO signal generator 66 ), when at least a portion of a transmission band containing a designated transmission frequency overlaps with at least a portion of a bandwidth of at least one of a plurality of channels specified for wireless communication in accordance with Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (P. 45 discloses… An OFDM signal is typically the sum of each of the orthogonal subcarriers. Baseband data is independently modulated onto each of the orthogonal subcarriers using some type of modulation, such as Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) or Phase Shift Keying (PSK) schemes as discussed before. Because the spectrum of each subcarrier overlaps, it can be considerably wider than if no overlap were allowed. Thus, OFDM provides high spectrum efficiency; Further, the use of a Guard Interval (GI) or cyclic prefix provides enhanced resistance against multipath in the transmission channel), detecting circuitry to detect a signal level, at the target frequency, of a real signal obtained as a result of digitally converting an electric signal derived from a radio wave captured by an antenna (Fig. 1B); but does not teach…a target frequency for carrier sensing from within a bandwidth of one of a plurality of subcarriers for the at least one of the channels, the bandwidth of the one of the subcarriers having at least a portion being within the transmission band; detecting circuitry to detect a signal level, at the target frequency, of a real signal obtained as a result of digitally converting an electric signal derived from a radio wave captured by an antenna; and determining circuitry to determine whether the transmission band is used for the wireless communication from the signal level detected by the detecting circuitry.
Chen teaches… a target frequency for carrier sensing from within a bandwidth of one of a plurality of subcarriers for the at least one of the channels, the bandwidth of the one of the subcarriers having at least a portion being within the transmission band (Fig. 7, Col. 24, Lns. 64-04 discloses the decoding the signal with information from the information element that indicates the transmission parameters and perform WLAN sensing based on the IE);
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 combination of Moffatt by incorporating the teachings of Chen because the method and device allow for various modes of included on the information element received from the WLAN device via the RF interface and perform WLAN sensing (Chen, Abs). The motivation is that by applying a well-known standard or protocol or machine to a system provides the system with significantly improved industrial applicability.
Lakkis teaches…determining circuitry to determine whether the transmission band is used for the wireless communication from the signal level detected by the detecting circuitry (Fig. 1A-Be, P.23-24 discloses… Col. 24, Lns. 64-04 discloses a transmitter configured for generating a frequency-hopped OFDM signal. The transmitter comprises a digital Fourier transform circuit 112, a variable bandpass filter 110, and a frequency-hopping controller 114… The frequency-hopping controller 114 is configured to control the variable bandpass filter 110, and thereby select which subband; Fig. 2B).
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 combination of Moffatt by incorporating the teachings of Lakkis because the method and device allow for various modes of processing the receiving of signal (OFDM signals) (Lakkis, P. 36). The motivation is that by applying a well-known standard or protocol or machine to a system provides the system with significantly improved industrial applicability.
Regarding claim 17 Moffatt teaches…a carrier sensing method performed by a radio station (P.125, discloses… a radio that can be used with such system and method), the method comprising: selecting (Fig. 1B, P. 56 discloses receiver circuit 32 used in the exemplary IEEE 802.11a OFDM modem. The antenna 60 receives the OFDM signal from the RF Channel 31 on the carrier wave. It is amplified within a low noise amplifier (LNA) 62. Signal down-conversion occurs within a mixer 64, which also receives a local oscillator signal generated by an LO signal generator 66 ),), when at least a portion of a transmission band containing a designated transmission frequency overlaps with at least a portion of a bandwidth of at least one of a plurality of channels specified for wireless communication in accordance with Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing(P. 45 discloses… An OFDM signal is typically the sum of each of the orthogonal subcarriers. Baseband data is independently modulated onto each of the orthogonal subcarriers using some type of modulation, such as Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) or Phase Shift Keying (PSK) schemes as discussed before. Because the spectrum of each subcarrier overlaps, it can be considerably wider than if no overlap were allowed. Thus, OFDM provides high spectrum efficiency; Further, the use of a Guard Interval (GI) or cyclic prefix provides enhanced resistance against multipath in the transmission channel), detecting a signal level, at the target frequency, of a real signal obtained as a result of digitally converting an electric signal derived from a radio wave captured by an antenna (Fig. 1B); but does not teach….a target frequency for carrier sensing from within a bandwidth of one of a plurality of subcarriers for the at least one of the channels, the bandwidth of the one of the subcarriers having at least a portion being within the transmission band; and determining whether the transmission band is used for the wireless communication from the signal level.
Chen teaches… a target frequency for carrier sensing from within a bandwidth of one of a plurality of subcarriers for the at least one of the channels, the bandwidth of the one of the subcarriers having at least a portion being within the transmission band(Fig. 7, Col. 24, Lns. 64-04 discloses the decoding the signal with information from the information element that indicates the transmission parameters and perform WLAN sensing based on the IE);
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 combination of Moffatt by incorporating the teachings of Chen because the method and device allow for various modes of included on the information element received from the WLAN device via the RF interface and perform WLAN sensing (Chen, Abs). The motivation is that by applying a well-known standard or protocol or machine to a system provides the system with significantly improved industrial applicability.
Lakkis teaches…and determining whether the transmission band is used for the wireless communication from the signal level(Fig. 1A-Be, P.23-24 discloses… Col. 24, Lns. 64-04 discloses a transmitter configured for generating a frequency-hopped OFDM signal. The transmitter comprises a digital Fourier transform circuit 112, a variable bandpass filter 110, and a frequency-hopping controller 114… The frequency-hopping controller 114 is configured to control the variable bandpass filter 110, and thereby select which subband; Fig. 2B).
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 combination of Moffatt by incorporating the teachings of Lakkis because the method and device allow for various modes of processing the receiving of signal (OFDM signals) (Lakkis, P. 36). The motivation is that by applying a well-known standard or protocol or machine to a system provides the system with significantly improved industrial applicability.
Claim(s) 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US-20090245406-A1 to Moffatt et al., from hereon Moffatt, US-12342264-B2 to Chen et al., from hereon Chen and US-20080137716-A1 to Lakkis in view of US-20230228886-A1 to Yu et al., from hereon Yu.
Regarding claim 13, Moffatt, Chen, and Lakkis teach the radio station according to claim 1, but do not teach…further comprising: a reception processing circuit to digitally convert the electric signal, down-convert the resultant signal, and generate an IF signal in an intermediate frequency band; a first variable-frequency oscillator to output a first reference signal; a second variable-frequency oscillator to output a second reference signal; extracting circuitry to perform complex frequency conversion on the IF signal using the first reference signal and band-limit the resultant signal within a specified bandwidth centered at a frequency of the first reference signal to generate a first complex signal; and frequency controlling circuitry to adjust the frequency of the first reference signal according to the transmission frequency and adjust a frequency of the second reference signal according to difference between the transmission frequency and the target frequency, wherein the detecting circuitry detects the signal level of the real signal obtained as a result of complex frequency conversion on the first complex signal using the second reference signal.
Yu teaches…further comprising: a reception processing circuit to digitally convert the electric signal, down-convert the resultant signal, and generate an IF signal in an intermediate frequency band; a first variable-frequency oscillator to output a first reference signal; a second variable-frequency oscillator to output a second reference signal; extracting circuitry to perform complex frequency conversion on the IF signal using the first reference signal and band-limit the resultant signal within a specified bandwidth centered at a frequency of the first reference signal to generate a first complex signal; and frequency controlling circuitry to adjust the frequency of the first reference signal according to the transmission frequency and adjust a frequency of the second reference signal according to difference between the transmission frequency and the target frequency, wherein the detecting circuitry detects the signal level of the real signal obtained as a result of complex frequency conversion on the first complex signal using the second reference signal (Fig. 2A-B, P. 45, 53, and 55).
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 combination of Moffatt, Chen, and Lakkis by incorporating the teachings of Yu because the method and device allow the architecture of the receiver/transmitter with dual intermediate frequency overcoming analog design frailties with digital techniques (Yu, P 111). The motivation is that by applying a well-known standard or protocol or machine to a system provides the system with significantly improved industrial applicability.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2, 5, 6, 7, 9, 12, and 13 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: the main reason for objection of the claims under discussion is the inclusion of “the frequency selecting circuitry selects, when a center frequency of one of the subcarriers of which a bandwidth has at least a portion being within the transmission band is within the transmission band, the target frequency based on the center frequency”, “the frequency selecting circuitry selects, when a center frequency of each of the at least one of the subcarriers of which a bandwidth has at least a portion being within the transmission band, is outside the transmission band, an upper limit or a lower limit of the transmission band overlapping with the at least one of the subcarriers as the target frequency”, “the frequency selecting circuitry selects, when at least a portion of the transmission band overlaps with at least a portion of a bandwidth of each of the channels that is within the transmission band, the target frequency for each of the channels from within a bandwidth of one of the subcarriers for the channels that is within the transmission band”, “the frequency selecting circuitry selects the transmission frequency and a frequency within a bandwidth of one of the subcarriers for the channels having at least a portion being within the transmission band, as the target frequencies”, “an operation device to accept designation of the transmission frequency as well as an instruction to perform transmission in one of a narrowband mode and a wideband mode in which the transmission band is wider than in the narrowband mode, wherein when transmission in the wideband mode is designated at the operation device, the frequency selecting circuitry selects, when at least a portion of the transmission band containing the transmission frequency designated at the operation device overlaps with at least a portion of the bandwidth of the at least one of the channels, the target frequency from within a bandwidth of one of the subcarriers for the at least one of the channels having at least a portion being within the transmission band, and when transmission in the narrowband mode is designated at the operation device, the frequency selecting circuitry selects, the transmission frequency designated at the operation device as the target frequency”, and “the frequency selecting circuitry selects, when at least a portion of the transmission band overlaps with at least a portion of a bandwidth of at least one of a plurality of channels specified for WLAN communication in accordance with Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing, a target frequency for carrier sensing from within a bandwidth of one of the subcarriers for the at least one of the channels having at least a portion being within the transmission band” as the prior art of record in stand-alone form nor in combination reads into the discloses claims as supported by the specification. Furthermore, the nearest prior art such as US-20050201476-A1 to Kim discloses the assigning of subcarriers per bandwidth, US-20040252776-A1 to Balakrishnan discloses the determination of ratio of desired data to maximum data rate with minimum interference and power usage, US-20210273735-A1 to Da Silva discloses WLAN sensing measurement and informing the resources available but they are silent on selecting circuitry selects, when a center frequency of one of the subcarriers of which a bandwidth has at least a portion being within the transmission band is within the transmission band, the target frequency based on the center frequency”, “ selects, when a center frequency of each of the at least one of the subcarriers of which a bandwidth has at least a portion being within the transmission band, is outside the transmission band, an upper limit or a lower limit of the transmission band overlapping with the at least one of the subcarriers as the target frequency” (with limits and determining whether the desired frequency is inside or outside of the resources; and “the transmission in one of a narrowband mode and a wideband mode in which the transmission band is wider than in the narrowband mode, wherein when transmission in the wideband mode is designated at the operation device, the frequency selecting circuitry selects, when at least a portion of the transmission band containing the transmission frequency designated at the operation device overlaps with at least a portion of the bandwidth of the at least one of the channels, the target frequency from within a bandwidth of one of the subcarriers for the at least one of the channels having at least a portion being within the transmission band, and when transmission in the narrowband mode is designated at the operation device, the frequency selecting circuitry selects, the transmission frequency designated at the operation device as the target frequency” and the concept of detection of narrow band versus wideband and detecting the overlap of the subcarriers within the available subcarriers when the subcarrier desired lies within the range of subcarriers supported. Claim 5, 6, 7, 9, 12, and 13 receive similar treatment as the nearest prior art such as US-20050201476-A1 to Kim discloses the assigning of subcarriers per bandwidth, US-20040252776-A1 to Balakrishnan discloses the determination of ratio of desired data to maximum data rate with minimum interference and power usage, US-20210273735-A1 to Da Silva discloses WLAN sensing measurement and informing the resources available but they are silent on selecting circuitry selects, when a center frequency of one of the subcarriers of which a bandwidth has at least a portion being within the transmission band is within the transmission band, the target frequency based on the center frequency”.
Claims 3, 4, 8, 10, 11, 14, 15, and 16 are allowed as they depend from an allowed claim.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See PTO form PTO-892: US-20050201476-A1 to Kim discloses the assigning of subcarriers per bandwidth, US-20040252776-A1 to Balakrishnan discloses the determination of ratio of desired data to maximum data rate with minimum interference and power usage, US-20210273735-A1 to Da Silva discloses WLAN sensing measurement.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LOUIS SAMARA whose telephone number is (408)918-7582. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 6-3 PT.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ayaz Sheikh can be reached at 571-272-3795. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/L.S./Examiner, Art Unit 2476
/AYAZ R SHEIKH/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2476
Prosecution Insights