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 .
Status of Claims
Claims 1-20 are currently pending and have been examined.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 08/23/2024 has been considered by the examiner and an initialed copy of the IDS is hereby attached.
Claim Objections
Claim 10 objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 10 recites “performs” in “and performs second angle measurement based on the third reflected wave signal”, which should simply recite “perform”.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
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.
Claims 3-7,10-14,17 and 20 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.
Claims 3,6,13,14,17 and 20 recite the limitation "the second transmission periods". There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claims 6 and 14 recite the limitation "the first transmission periods". There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 10 recites the limitation "one radar circuitry" in “one radar circuitry of the first radar circuitry and the second radar circuitry is operative to”. This limitation is unclear as it is unclear whether “one radar circuitry” refers to either one of “the first radar circuitry” or “the second radar circuitry” or whether this limitation refers to another circuitry component in each of the first and second radar circuitries.
Claim 10 recites the limitation " the first reflected wave signal corresponding to a transmission signal of the first transmission signal and the second transmission signal which is transmitted from the one radar circuitry". This limitation is unclear as it is unclear how a singular first reflected wave correspond to both the first transmission signal and the second transmission signal.
Claim 10 recites the limitation "the third reflected wave signal corresponding to a transmission signal of the first transmission signal and the second transmission signal which is transmitted from other radar circuitry". This limitation is unclear as it is unclear how a singular third reflected wave correspond to both the first transmission signal and the second transmission signal.
All claims dependent on a claim rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) are also rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 10-14 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include 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:
In reference to dependent claims 10-14, the prior arts made of record individually or in any combination, failed to teach, render obvious, or fairly suggest to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing the combination of the claimed features of claims 10-14.
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.
(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.
Claim(s) 1-9 and 15-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by KISHIGAMI et al. (US 20210302560 A1).
Regarding claim 1, KISHIGAMI discloses
A radar apparatus (see Fig. 1, radar apparatus 10), comprising:
first radar circuitry, which, in operation, transmits a first transmission signal (see Fig. 1, first transmit antennas 107-1 transmit “a first transmission signal”, further see paragraph 0074, “Transmission signal generation controller 104 controls, for example, generation of radar transmission signals generated in first radar-transmission-signal generator 101-1 and second radar-transmission-signal generator 101-2. For example, transmission signal generation controller 104 may control synchronization of the generation of the radar transmission signals in first radar-transmission-signal generator 101-1 and second radar-transmission-signal generator 101-2, or may control transmission timings of the radar transmission signals.”); and
second radar circuitry, which, in operation, transmits a second transmission signal (see Fig. 1, second transmit antennas 107-2 transmit “a second transmission signal”, further see paragraph 0074, “Transmission signal generation controller 104 controls, for example, generation of radar transmission signals generated in first radar-transmission-signal generator 101-1 and second radar-transmission-signal generator 101-2. For example, transmission signal generation controller 104 may control synchronization of the generation of the radar transmission signals in first radar-transmission-signal generator 101-1 and second radar-transmission-signal generator 101-2, or may control transmission timings of the radar transmission signals.”); wherein
a plurality of transmission periods in which the first transmission signal and the second transmission signal are transmitted include a first transmission period in which frequency-division multiplexing transmission of the first transmission signal and the second transmission signal is performed (see Fig. 2, transmission of the first radar transmission wave and the transmission of the second radar transmission wave within a plurality of transmission periods, further see paragraph 0077, “This control makes the transmission start timing of the first radar transmission wave earlier by Tu than the transmission start timing of the second radar transmission wave, as illustrated in FIG. 2, for example. In other words, a modulation frequency of the first radar transmission wave at a certain transmission timing is the same as that of the second radar transmission wave at a transmission timing later by Tu than the certain transmission timing, as illustrated in FIG. 2. Note that an example of a configuration value of transmission delay time Tu (in other words, a difference between the transmission timings of the first radar transmission signal and the second radar transmission signal) will be described later.”), and a second transmission period in which the first transmission signal and the second transmission signal are transmitted at a same frequency (see Fig. 2, transmission of the first radar transmission wave and the transmission of the second radar transmission wave within a plurality of transmission periods, further see paragraph 0507, “Further, the description has been given of the case of combining the setting of transmission delays (e.g., d.sub.t1, d.sub.t2, . . . , d.sub.tLoc-1) and the operation in Embodiment 1 (e.g., application of transmission delay time Tu) in the present embodiment, but the setting of the transmission delays need not be combined with Embodiment 1. For example, radar apparatus 10 may set the transmission timings (, frequency modulation starting frequency or center frequency) of the first radar transmission wave and the second radar transmission wave to equal, and may cyclically set the transmission delays per code transmission period. In other words, radar apparatus 10 may set transmission delay d.sub.t without setting transmission delay time Tu. This case also enables radar apparatus 10 to expand the Doppler frequency range where it is possible to perform detection without ambiguity.”).
Regarding claim 2, KISHIGAMI further discloses
The radar apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first transmission period and the second transmission period are alternately configured in the plurality of transmission periods (see paragraph 0037, “For example, a radar apparatus may transmit a modulation pulse (or a modulation pulse train consisting of a plurality of modulation pulses) for the LR mode from a transmit antenna for the LR mode, and a modulation pulse (or a modulation pulse train) for the SR mode from a transmit antenna for the SR mode alternately in a time division manner.”).
Regarding claim 3, KISHIGAMI further discloses
The radar apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the second transmission periods consecutive to each other are configured after the first transmission period in the plurality of transmission periods (see Fig. 2, where a plurality of the second transmission periods consecutively are configured after each of the first transmission period in the plurality of transmission periods: Note: we can pick which signals are defining which transmission periods).
Regarding claim 4, KISHIGAMI further discloses
The radar apparatus according to claim 3, wherein a center frequency of a transmission signal in each of the plurality of second transmission periods is different (see paragraph 0522, “In an embodiment of the present disclosure, a difference between the modulation frequency of the first transmission signal and the modulation frequency of the second transmission signal at the third timing is set based on a distance range where detection is performed using the first transmission signal.”).
Regarding claim 5, KISHIGAMI further discloses
The radar apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the center frequency of the transmission signal in each of the plurality of second transmission periods is identical to any of center frequencies set for the frequency-division multiplexing transmission in the first transmission period (see paragraph 0517, “A radar apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes signal generation circuitry, which, in operation, generates a first transmission signal and a second transmission signal; and transmission circuitry, which, in operation, transmits a multiplexed signal resulting from code-multiplexing the first transmission signal and the second transmission signal, wherein a modulation frequency of the first transmission signal at a first timing is identical to a modulation frequency of the second transmission signal at a second timing that is later than the first timing.”).
Regarding claim 6, KISHIGAMI further discloses
The radar apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: a plurality of the first transmission periods consecutive to each other are configured in the plurality of transmission periods, at least one of the second transmission periods is configured after the plurality of first transmission periods (see paragraph 0522, “In an embodiment of the present disclosure, a difference between the modulation frequency of the first transmission signal and the modulation frequency of the second transmission signal at the third timing is set based on a distance range where detection is performed using the first transmission signal.”), and a center frequency of a transmission signal of each of the plurality of first transmission periods is different for each of the first radar circuitry and the second radar circuitry (see paragraph 0522, “In an embodiment of the present disclosure, a difference between the modulation frequency of the first transmission signal and the modulation frequency of the second transmission signal at the third timing is set based on a distance range where detection is performed using the first transmission signal.”).
Regarding claim 7, KISHIGAMI further discloses
The radar apparatus according to claim 6, wherein a center frequency of a transmission signal in at least one transmission period of the plurality of first transmission periods is identical to a center frequency of a transmission signal in the second transmission period for at least one of the first radar circuitry and the second radar circuitry (see paragraph 0517, “A radar apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes signal generation circuitry, which, in operation, generates a first transmission signal and a second transmission signal; and transmission circuitry, which, in operation, transmits a multiplexed signal resulting from code-multiplexing the first transmission signal and the second transmission signal, wherein a modulation frequency of the first transmission signal at a first timing is identical to a modulation frequency of the second transmission signal at a second timing that is later than the first timing.”).
Regarding claim 8, KISHIGAMI further discloses
The radar apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a transmission timing of the first transmission signal is different from a transmission timing of the second transmission signal in at least one of the first transmission period and the second transmission period (see Fig. 2, where the transmission timing of the first transmission signal is different from the transmission timing of the second transmission signal in each of the first and second transmission periods; Note: we can pick which signals are defining which transmission periods).
Regarding claim 9, KISHIGAMI further discloses
The radar apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: the first radar circuitry transmits the first transmission signal from a plurality of first transmission antennas, the second radar circuitry transmits the second transmission signal from a plurality of second transmission antennas (see Fig. 1, where antennas 107-1 transmit the first transmission signal and antennas 107-2 transmit the second transmission signal), and a pattern of a Doppler shift amount applied to the first transmission signal transmitted from each of the plurality of first transmission antennas is different from a pattern of a Doppler shift amount applied to the second transmission signal transmitted from each of the plurality of second transmission antennas (see Fig. 10, where doppler phase correction is performed by apply a phase correction vector the first and second transmission signals and this shift is different for each transmission signal based the distance mode (i.e. short range and long range modes corresponding the a first and second transmission signals)).
Regarding claims 15 and 18, the same cited section and rationale as claim 1 is applied.
Regarding claims 16 and 19, the same cited section and rationale as claim 2 is applied.
Regarding claims 17 and 20, the same cited section and rationale as claim 3 is applied.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
KISHIGAMI et al. (US 20210293946 A1) disclose a radar system utilizing a plurality of antenna arrays for time division multiplexing of transmission signals.
KISHIGAMI et al. (US 20180259632 A1) disclose a radar system utilizing a plurality of antenna arrays for frequency division multiplexing of transmission signals.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NAZRA N. WAHEED whose telephone number is (571)272-6713. The examiner can normally be reached M-F (8 AM - 4:30 PM).
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/NAZRA NUR WAHEED/Examiner, Art Unit 3648
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