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 .
Status of Claims
2. This Office Action is issued in response to the claims filed on 08/19/2024.
Claims 1-20 are pending in this Office Action.
Priority
3. Acknowledgement is made of applicant’s claim of continuation of International Application No. PCT/CN2022/076818, filed on February 18, 2022.
Information Disclosure Statement
4. The information disclosure statements (IDS) filed on 08/19/2024 and 01/21/2026 have been considered by the Examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
5. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
6. Claims 4-7 and 14-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding claim 4, it recites: “generating the ith first initial binary sequence based on received strength of the ith first reflected signal, wherein i is an integer greater than or equal to 1; and combining the ith first initial binary sequence and the (i–1)th first combination sequence, to obtain the ith first combination sequence, and using the ith first combination sequence as the first sequence.” The emphasized parts lack proper antecedent bases and make the claim ambiguous. Therefore, claim 4 and its dependent claims 5-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph. For purpose of examination, the Examiner assumes the limitations as “generating an ith first initial binary sequence based on received strength of an ith first reflected signal, wherein i is an integer greater than or equal to 1; and combining the ith first initial binary sequence and an (i–1)th first combination sequence, to obtain an ith first combination sequence, and using the ith first combination sequence as the first sequence.”
Regarding claim 5, it recites: “determining the ith path loss based on the received strength of the ith first reflected signal and transmission strength of the ith first wireless signal; determining the ith channel estimation value based on the ith path loss and the transmission strength of the ith first wireless signal.” The emphasized parts lack proper antecedent bases and make the claim ambiguous. Therefore, claim 5 and its dependent claims 6-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph. For purpose of examination, the Examiner assumes the limitations as “determining an ith path loss based on the received strength of the ith first reflected signal and transmission strength of the ith first wireless signal; determining an ith channel estimation value based on the ith path loss and the transmission strength of the ith first wireless signal.”
Regarding claim 6, it recites: “setting the ith first indicator bit to…” which lacks proper antecedent basis and make the claim ambiguous. Therefore, claim 5 and its dependent claims 6-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph. For purpose of examination, the Examiner assumes the limitation as “setting an ith first indicator bit to…”
Regarding claim 14, it recites: “generating the wth second initial binary sequence based on received strength of the wth first wireless signal, wherein w is an integer greater than or equal to 1; and combining the wth second initial binary sequence and the (w–1)th second combination sequence, to obtain the wth second combination sequence, and using the wth second combination sequence as the third sequence.” The emphasized parts lack proper antecedent bases and make the claim ambiguous. Therefore, claim 14 and its dependent claims 15-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph. For purpose of examination, the Examiner assumes the limitations as : “generating a wth second initial binary sequence based on received strength of a wth first wireless signal, wherein w is an integer greater than or equal to 1; and combining the wth second initial binary sequence and a (w–1)th second combination sequence, to obtain a wth second combination sequence, and using the wth second combination sequence as the third sequence.”
Regarding claim 16, it recites: “setting the wth second indicator bit to…” which lacks proper antecedent basis and make the claim ambiguous. Therefore, claim 16 and its dependent claims 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph. For purpose of examination, the Examiner assumes the limitation as “setting a wth second indicator bit to…”
Claim Rejections - 35 U.S.C. § 102
7. 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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
8. Claims 1-3 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Chinaei et al. (“A Novel algorithm for Secret Key Generation in Passive Backscatter Communication Systems”-IDS dated 01/21/2026), hereinafter, “Chinaei”.
Regarding claim 2, Chinaei discloses a first device, comprising a processor and a memory, wherein the memory is configured to store a computer program, and the processor is configured to invoke and run the computer program stored in the memory (Fig. 1 with associated text: Reader-first device-inherently has processor and memory to transmit and receive wireless signal) to cause the first device to perform:
transmitting a first wireless signal (Fig.1 with associated text, step 1: signal f1), and receiving a first reflected signal, wherein the first reflected signal is transmitted by a second device (Fig.1 with associated text, step 1: tag) based on the first wireless signal (Fig.1 with associated text: signal f2); and generating a first key based on received strength of the first reflected signal (Fig.1 with associated text, step 1, page 441, second paragraph).
Regarding claim 3, Chinaei discloses the device according to claim 2, wherein the generating a first key based on received strength of the first reflected signal comprises: generating a first sequence based on the received strength of the first reflected signal; and generating the first key based on the first sequence (page 441, section 2.3. Pages 444-445: “Secret Key Generation”).
Regarding claim 11, Chinaei discloses the first device according to claim 3, wherein the generating the first key based on the first sequence comprises: using the first sequence as the first key (Fig.1 with associated text, step 1, page 441, section 2.3 and pages 444-445: “Secret Key Generation”).
Regarding claim 1, it recites similar subject matter as claim 2; therefore, claim 1 is rejected at least for the same reasons as claim 2.
9. Claims 12-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Li et al. (“Efficient and Consistent Key Extraction Based on Received Signal Strength for Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks”), hereinafter, “Li”.
Regarding claim 12, Li discloses a second device, comprising a processor and a memory, wherein the memory is configured to store a computer program, and the processor is configured to invoke and run the computer program stored in the memory (Fig.1 with associated text and pages 5282-5283, sections II.A and B: key establishment for vehicle-second device-inherently has processor and memory to transmit and receive wireless signal) to cause the second device to perform: receiving a first wireless signal; and generating a second key based on received strength of the first wireless signal (page 5283, section B).
Regarding claim 13, Li discloses the second device according to claim 12, wherein the generating a second key based on received strength of the first wireless signal comprises: generating a third sequence based on the received strength of the first wireless signal; and generating the second key based on the third sequence (page 5283, section B: generating key form bit streams-sequence-obtained from RSS readings).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
10. 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.
11. Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chinaei et al. (“A Novel algorithm for Secret Key Generation in Passive Backscatter Communication Systems”- IDS dated 01/21/2026), hereinafter, “Chinaei” in view of Benteo et al. (US 20110274271 A1), hereinafter “Benteo”.
Regarding claim 4, Chinaei discloses the first device according to claim 3, wherein the generating a first sequence based on the received strength of the first reflected signal comprises: generating the ith first initial binary sequence based on received strength of the ith first reflected signal, wherein i is an integer greater than or equal to 1(Fig.1 with associated text, step 1, page 441, second paragraph). Chinaei does not explicitly disclose combining the ith first initial binary sequence and the (i–1)th first combination sequence, to obtain the ith first combination sequence, and using the ith first combination sequence as the first sequence. However, combining sequences is known in the art and Benteo’s teaching is an example (paragraphs [0036]-[0037] and [0045]-[0046]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Chinaei’s teaching of generating key from binary sequence with Benteo’s teaching of combining sequences to have an obvious and predictable result of combining the ith first initial binary sequence and the (i–1)th first combination sequence, to obtain the ith first combination sequence, and using the ith first combination sequence as the first sequence.
12. Claims 8-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chinaei et al. (“A Novel algorithm for Secret Key Generation in Passive Backscatter Communication Systems”- IDS dated 01/21/2026), hereinafter, “Chinaei” in view of Rudland et al. (US 20110135088 A1), hereinafter “Rudland”.
Regarding claim 8, Chinaei discloses the first device according to claim 3. Chinaei does not explicitly disclose wherein the generating the first key based on the first sequence comprises: in a case in which a first condition is met, generating the first key based on the first sequence, wherein the first condition comprises at least one of following: a total length of the first sequence is greater than or equal to a preset length; or a quantity of times the first wireless signal is transmitted reaches a preset quantity, wherein the first wireless signal is used by the second device to generate a second key. However, generating a key based on number of times signals transmitted is known in the art and Rudland’s teaching is an example (Fig.8 with associated text, S101-S102, S107-S112). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Chinaei’s teaching of generating key from binary sequence obtained from wireless signal with Rudland’s teaching of generating a key based on number of times signals transmitted to have an obvious and predictable result of generating the first key based on the first sequence comprises a quantity of times the first wireless signal is transmitted reaches a preset quantity, wherein the first wireless signal is used by the second device to generate a second key.
Regarding claim 9, Chinaei and Rudland disclose the first device according to claim 8, wherein the processor is further configured to invoke and run the computer program stored in the memory to cause the first device to perform: transmitting second information to the second device, wherein the second information comprises at least one of following: the preset length or the preset quantity (Rudland, Fig.8 with associated text, S101: N is a preset quantity).
13. Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chinaei et al. (“A Novel algorithm for Secret Key Generation in Passive Backscatter Communication Systems”- IDS dated 01/21/2026), hereinafter, “Chinaei” in view of Nguyen et al. (US 20210091942 A1), hereinafter “Nguyen”.
Regarding claim 10, Chinaei discloses the first device according to claim 3. Chinaei does not explicitly disclose wherein the generating the first key based on the first sequence comprises: obtaining a second sequence based on the first sequence, and using the second sequence as the first key. However, obtaining a second sequence based on the first sequence, and using the second sequence as a key are known in the art and Nguyen’s teaching is an example (paragraph [0088]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Chinaei’s teaching of generating key from binary sequence with Nguyen’s teaching of obtaining a second sequence based on the first sequence, and using the second sequence as a key to have an obvious and predictable result of the generating the first key based on the first sequence comprises: obtaining a second sequence based on the first sequence, and using the second sequence as the first key.
14. Claims 14-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li et al. (“Efficient and Consistent Key Extraction Based on Received Signal Strength for Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks”), hereinafter, “Li” in view of Benteo et al. (US 20110274271 A1), hereinafter “Benteo”.
Regarding claim 14, Li discloses the second device according to claim 13, wherein the generating a third sequence based on the received strength of the first wireless signal comprises: generating the wth second initial binary sequence based on received strength of the wth first wireless signal, wherein w is an integer greater than or equal to 1 (page 5283, section B: generating key form bit streams-sequence-obtained from RSS readings). Li does not explicitly discloses combining the wth second initial binary sequence and the (w–1)th second combination sequence, to obtain the wth second combination sequence, and using the wth second combination sequence as the third sequence. However, combining sequences is known in the art and Benteo’s teaching is an example (paragraphs [0036]-[0037] and [0045]-[0046]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Li’s teaching of generating key from sequence with Benteo’s teaching of combining sequences to have an obvious and predictable result of combining the wth second initial binary sequence and the (w–1)th second combination sequence, to obtain the wth second combination sequence, and using the wth second combination sequence as the third sequence.
Regarding claim 15, Li and Benteo disclose the second device according to claim 14, wherein the generating the wth second initial binary sequence based on received strength of the wth first wireless signal comprises: quantizing the received strength of the wth first wireless signal based on a preset quantization algorithm, to obtain the wth second initial binary sequence (Li, pages 5283-5284, section III: using vector quantization to extract bits for generating key).
Regarding claim 16, Li and Benteo disclose the second device according to claim 15, wherein the processor is further configured to invoke and run the computer program stored in the memory to cause the second device to perform: in a case in which the received strength of the wth first wireless signal falls within a second quantization range, setting the wth second indicator bit to a first value, wherein the wth second indicator bit is one of M second indicator bits; or in a case in which the received strength of the wth first wireless signal does not fall within the second quantization range, setting the wth second indicator bit to a second value (Li, page 5284, section A).
Regarding claim 17, Li and Benteo disclose the second device according to claim 16, wherein the processor is further configured to invoke and run the computer program stored in the memory to cause the second device to perform: transmitting third information to a first device, wherein the third information comprises the M second indicator bits (Li, page 5284, right column, paragraphs 1-3: Bob-second device- sends index numbers of zeros and ones-M second indicator bits-to Alice-first device).
15. Claims 18-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li et al. (“Efficient and Consistent Key Extraction Based on Received Signal Strength for Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks”), hereinafter, “Li” in view of Rudland et al. (US 20110135088 A1), hereinafter “Rudland”.
Regarding claim 18, Li discloses the second device according to claim 13. Li does not explicitly disclose wherein the generating the second key based on the third sequence comprises: in a case in which a second condition is met, generating the second key based on the third sequence, wherein the second condition comprises one of following: a total length of the third sequence is greater than or equal to a preset length; or a quantity of times the first wireless signal is received reaches a preset quantity, wherein the first wireless signal is used by the second device to generate the second key. However, generating a key based on number of times signals transmitted is known in the art and Rudland’s teaching is an example (Fig.8 with associated text, S101-S102 and S107-S112). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Li’s teaching of generating key from binary sequence with Rudland’s teaching of generating a key based on number of times signals transmitted to have an obvious and predictable result of generating the second key based on the third sequence comprises a quantity of times the first wireless signal is received reaches a preset quantity, wherein the first wireless signal is used by the second device to generate the second key.
Regarding claim 19, Li and Rudland disclose the second device according to claim 18, wherein the processor is further configured to invoke and run the computer program stored in the memory to cause the second device to perform: receiving second information transmitted by the first device, wherein the second information comprises at least one of following: the preset length or the preset quantity (Rudland, Fig.8 with associated text, S101: N is a preset quantity).
16. Claim 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li et al. (“Efficient and Consistent Key Extraction Based on Received Signal Strength for Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks”), hereinafter, “Li” in view of Nguyen et al. (US 20210091942 A1), hereinafter “Nguyen”.
Regarding claim 20, Li discloses the second device according to claim 13. Li does not explicitly disclose wherein the generating the second key based on the third sequence comprises: obtaining a fourth sequence based on the third sequence, and using the fourth sequence as the second key. However, obtaining a second sequence based on the first sequence, and using the second sequence as a key are known in the art and Nguyen’s teaching is an example (paragraph [0088]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Li’s teaching of generating key from binary sequence with Nguyen’s teaching of obtaining a second sequence based on the first sequence, and using the second sequence as a key to have an obvious and predictable result of the generating the first key based on the first sequence comprises: obtaining a second sequence based on the first sequence, and using the second sequence as the first key.
Allowable Subject Matter
17. Claims 5-7 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 and overcome 35 U.S.C. 112(b) rejections set forth above.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
a. Chinaei et al. (“A Novel algorithm for Secret Key Generation in Passive Backscatter Communication Systems”) discloses generating key from sequence obtained from reflected signal (Fig.1 with associated text, step 1, page 441, second paragraph; page 441, section 2.3 and pages 444-445: “Secret Key Generation”).
b. Benteo et al. (US 20110274271 A1) discloses combining sequences (paragraphs [0036]-[0037] and [0045]-[0046]).
c. Zhao et al. (A Physical-Layer Key Generation Approach Based on Received Signal Strength in Smart Home”) discloses concern of fading of wireless signal and loss of the path of received signal strength (RSS) measurements in key generation (pages 4917-4918-Introduction).
Although the above references teach similar aspects of claims 2-4, none of the prior arts of record, either alone or in combination, discloses all the limitations of claims 5-7 (written in independent form), including at least, “the generating the ith first initial binary sequence based on received strength of the ith first reflected signal comprises: determining the ith path loss based on the received strength of the ith first reflected signal and transmission strength of the ith first wireless signal; determining the ith channel estimation value based on the ith path loss and the transmission strength of the ith first wireless signal; and quantizing the ith channel estimation value based on a preset quantization algorithm, to obtain the ith first initial binary sequence.” Therefore, claims 5-7 (written in independent form) are allowable over the prior arts of record.
Prior Art of Record
18. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure: see attached PTO-892 Notice of References Cited.
Conclusion
19. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THANH T. LE whose telephone number is (571)270-0279. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 8:00 am - 4:30 pm EST.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Farid Homayounmehr can be reached on 571-272-3739. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/THANH T LE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2495