DETAILED ACTION
This Office Action is in response to the amendment filed March 12, 2026. Claims 1 and 3-10 are pending.
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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed March 12, 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
In response to the applicant’s argument on page 8 that Murakami et al. (US Publication No. 2017/0230224 A1) describes precoding prior to the phase shifting instead phase shifting prior to precoding as recited in claims 1, 6 and 8, FIG. 27 (as cited in the rejection of claims 1, 6 and 8 in the office action of February 13, 2026) shows another embodiment wherein the phase shift occurs before precoding by weighting unit 600. Paragraphs [0299] and [0304] also describe “phase changing” and “a change of phase,” respectively, before precoding is performed. Therefore, Murakami discloses every feature of claims 1, 6 and 8 and the rejections of these claims under 35 USC 102(a)(1) are not withdrawn.
Claim Objections
Claim 10 is objected to because of the following informalities: on line 1, “the processing circuitry” should be “the processing circuitry configured to determine the random phase shift amount for each of the symbols of the transmission data” (see claim 8, lines 3-5). Appropriate correction is required.
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, 6 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Murakami et al. (US Publication No. 2017/0230224 A1 originally cited in the IDS of January 13, 2026, hereinafter referred to as “Murakami et al. (‘224)”).
With regard to claim 1, Murakami et al. (‘224) discloses the claimed invention including a wireless communication method comprising:
phase shift amount determination processing that determines a random phase shift amount for each symbol (see 314 in FIG. 3 and paragraph [0216]);
modulation processing that modulates the transmission data (see 306A and 306B in FIG. 3 and paragraph [0181]) and further shifts a phase according to the random shift amount (see 317A and 317B in FIG. 27 wherein the inputs correspond to the outputs of 306A and 306B, respectively, in FIG. 3);
precoding processing that performs precoding (see 600 in FIG. 27 and paragraph [0190]); and
transmission processing that transmits the transmission data after precoding processing (see FIG. 3, 310A and 310B and paragraph [0187]).
With regard to claim 6, Murakami et al. (‘224) discloses the claimed invention including a wireless communication system comprising a transmission device and a reception device (see paragraph [0002]) wherein the transmission device is configured to execute: phase shift amount determination processing that determines a random phase shift amount for each symbol (see 314 in FIG. 3 and paragraph [0216]); modulation processing that modulates the transmission data (see 306A and 306B in FIG. 3 and paragraph [0181]) and further shifts a phase according to the random shift amount (see 317A and 317B in FIG. 27 wherein the inputs correspond to the outputs of 306A and 306B, respectively, in FIG. 3); precoding processing that performs precoding (see 600 in FIG. 27 and paragraph [0190]); and transmission processing that transmits the transmission data after precoding processing (see FIG. 3, 310A and 310B and paragraph [0187]).
With regard to claim 8, Murakami et al. (‘224) discloses the claimed invention including a transmission device that performs wireless communication with a reception device (see paragraph [0002]) wherein the transmission device comprising processing circuitry configured: determine a random phase shift amount for each symbol (see 314 in FIG. 3 and paragraph [0216]); modulate the transmission data (see 306A and 306B in FIG. 3 and paragraph [0181]) and further shift a phase according to the random shift amount (see 317A and 317B in FIG. 27 wherein the inputs correspond to the outputs of 306A and 306B, respectively, in FIG. 3); precoding processing that performs precoding (see 600 in FIG. 27 and paragraph [0190]); and transmission processing that transmits the transmission data after precoding processing (see FIG. 3, 310A and 310B and paragraph [0187]).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 3, 9 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Murakami et al. (‘224) as applied to claims 1, 6 and 8, respectively, above, and further in view of Ohwatari et al. (US Patent No. 8,254,476 B2 originally cited in the Office Action of February 13, 2026, hereinafter referred to as “Ohwatari et al”), and Murakami et al. (US Publication No. 2019/0140711 A1, hereinafter referred to as “Murakami et al. (‘711)”).
With regard to claim 3, Murakami et al. (‘224) discloses the claimed invention except for the phase shift determination processing including: acquiring a plurality of types of phase shift patterns; acquiring information on reception quality for each of the plurality of phase shift patterns of the transmission data in the reception device; selecting, based on the acquired information, from among the plurality of types of phase shift patterns, one that maximizes a reception quality of the transmission data in the reception device; and determining the random phase shift amount for each of the symbols based on the random sequence indicated by the selected phase shift pattern. Ohwatari et al. discloses phase shift determination processing (e.g. 12 in Figs. 1 and 2; or 32 in Figs. 3 and 4) that includes: acquiring a plurality of types of phase shift patterns (e.g. 21 in Fig. 2 or 41 in Fig. 4; column 5, lines 20-25; and column 9, lines 1-4 wherein “U” as the number of phase pattern candidates corresponds to “a plurality of type of phase shift patterns”); selecting, from among the plurality of types of phase shift patterns, a phase shift pattern (e.g. 22 in Fig. 2 or 42 in Fig. 4; column 7, lines 35-43; and column 9, lines 1-4); and determining the random phase shift amount for each of the symbols based on the random sequence indicated by the selected phase shift pattern (see column 7, lines 53-56 wherein the elements of the selected phase pattern correspond to the symbols). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the phase shift determination processing of Ohwatari et al. with the transmitter of Murakami et al. (‘224) in order to optimize the communication system by selecting a phase changing/rotating sequence to improve the quality of the communication signal.
However, Murakami et al. (‘224) in view of Ohwatari et al. does not disclose acquiring information on reception quality for each of the plurality of phase shift patterns of the transmission data in the reception device and selecting, based on the acquired information, from among the plurality of types of phase shift patterns, one that maximizes a reception quality of the transmission data in the reception device. Similar to the transmission device in FIG. 27 of Murakami et al. (‘224), FIGs. 31-33 in Murakami et al. (‘711) discloses a transmission device having phase changers (e.g. “PHASE CHANGER” and 205B in FIG. 31) and weighting device (e.g. 203 in FIG. 31) wherein the control signal for the phase changer(s) (see Murakami et al. (‘711), “200” in FIG. 31) may be generated based on information from the reception device (see Murakami et al. (‘711), FIGs. 1, 2 and 31 and paragraphs [0118]-[0119]) and the phase changer(s) improves the data reception quality in the reception device (see FIGs. 2 and 31 and “205B” in paragraphs [0262], [0263] and [0849]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to for the method of Murakami et al. (‘224) in view of Ohwatari et al. to receive (i.e. acquire) reception quality information for each of the plurality of phase shift patterns and select a phase shift pattern based on the received reception quality information in order to improve data recovery by the receiver. Furthermore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to select the phase shift pattern that “maximizes” (i.e. optimizes) the received reception quality information of the transmission data in the reception device in order to optimize the accuracy of the recovered data in the reception device.
With regard to claim 9, Murakami et al. (‘224) discloses the claimed invention except for the phase shift determination processing including: acquiring a plurality of types of phase shift patterns; acquiring information on reception quality for each of the plurality of phase shift patterns of the transmission data in the reception device; selecting, based on the acquired information, from among the plurality of types of phase shift patterns, one that maximizes a reception quality of the transmission data in the reception device; and determining the random phase shift amount for each of the symbols based on the random sequence indicated by the selected phase shift pattern. Ohwatari et al. discloses phase shift determination processing (e.g. 12 in Figs. 1 and 2; or 32 in Figs. 3 and 4) that includes: acquiring a plurality of types of phase shift patterns (e.g. 21 in Fig. 2 or 41 in Fig. 4; column 5, lines 20-25; and column 9, lines 1-4 wherein “U” as the number of phase pattern candidates corresponds to “a plurality of type of phase shift patterns”); selecting, from among the plurality of types of phase shift patterns, a phase shift pattern (e.g. 22 in Fig. 2 or 42 in Fig. 4; column 7, lines 35-43; and column 9, lines 1-4); and determining the random phase shift amount for each of the symbols based on the random sequence indicated by the selected phase shift pattern (see column 7, lines 53-56 wherein the elements of the selected phase pattern correspond to the symbols). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the phase shift determination processing of Ohwatari et al. with the transmitter of Murakami et al. (‘224) in order to optimize the communication system by selecting a phase changing/rotating sequence to improve the quality of the communication signal.
However, Murakami et al. (‘224) in view of Ohwatari et al. does not disclose acquiring information on reception quality for each of the plurality of phase shift patterns of the transmission data in the reception device and selecting, based on the acquired information, from among the plurality of types of phase shift patterns, one that maximizes a reception quality of the transmission data in the reception device. Similar to the transmission device in FIG. 27 of Murakami et al. (‘224), FIGs. 31-33 in Murakami et al. (‘711) discloses a transmission device having phase changers (e.g. “PHASE CHANGER” and 205B in FIG. 31) and weighting device (e.g. 203 in FIG. 31) wherein the control signal for the phase changer(s) (see Murakami et al. (‘711), “200” in FIG. 31) may be generated based on information from the reception device (see Murakami et al. (‘711), FIGs. 1, 2 and 31 and paragraphs [0118]-[0119]) and the phase changer(s) improves the data reception quality in the reception device (see FIGs. 2 and 31 and “205B” in paragraphs [0262], [0263] and [0849]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention for the phase shift amount determination processing in the transmission device of the communication system taught by Murakami et al. (‘224) in view of Ohwatari et al. to receive (i.e. acquire) reception quality information for each of the plurality of phase shift patterns and select a phase shift pattern based on the received reception quality information in order to improve data recovery by the receiver. Furthermore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to select the phase shift pattern that “maximizes” (i.e. optimizes) the reception quality information of the transmission data in the reception device in order to optimize the accuracy of the recovered data in the reception device.
With regard to claim 10, Murakami et al. (‘224) discloses the claimed invention except for the processing circuitry configured to determine the random phase shift amount being further configured to: acquire a plurality of types of phase shift patterns; acquire information on reception quality for each of the plurality of phase shift patterns of the transmission data in the reception device; select, based on the acquired information, from among the plurality of types of phase shift patterns, one that maximizes a reception quality of the transmission data in the reception device; and determine the random phase shift amount for each of the symbols based on the random sequence indicated by the selected phase shift pattern. Ohwatari et al. discloses circuitry for determining phase shift amounts (e.g. 12 in Figs. 1 and 2; or 32 in Figs. 3 and 4) that includes circuitry configured to: acquire a plurality of types of phase shift patterns (e.g. 21 in Fig. 2 or 41 in Fig. 4; column 5, lines 20-25; and column 9, lines 1-4 wherein “U” as the number of phase pattern candidates corresponds to “a plurality of type of phase shift patterns”); select, from among the plurality of types of phase shift patterns, a phase shift pattern (e.g. 22 in Fig. 2 or 42 in Fig. 4; column 7, lines 35-43; and column 9, lines 1-4); and determine the random phase shift amount for each of the symbols based on the random sequence indicated by the selected phase shift pattern (see column 7, lines 53-56 wherein the elements of the selected phase pattern correspond to the symbols). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the circuitry for determining phase shift amounts in Ohwatari et al. with the transmitter of Murakami et al. (‘224) in order to optimize the communication system by selecting a phase changing/rotating sequence to improve the quality of the communication signal.
However, Murakami et al. (‘224) in view of Ohwatari et al. does not disclose circuitry configured to acquire information on reception quality for each of the plurality of phase shift patterns of the transmission data in the reception device and select, based on the acquired information, from among the plurality of types of phase shift patterns, one that maximizes a reception quality of the transmission data in the reception device. Similar to the transmission device in FIG. 27 of Murakami et al. (‘224), FIGs. 31-33 in Murakami et al. (‘711) discloses a transmission device having phase changers (e.g. “PHASE CHANGER” and 205B in FIG. 31) and weighting device (e.g. 203 in FIG. 31) wherein the control signal for the phase changer(s) (see Murakami et al. (‘711), “200” in FIG. 31) may be generated based on information from the reception device (see Murakami et al. (‘711), FIGs. 1, 2 and 31 and paragraphs [0118]-[0119]) and the phase changer(s) improves the data reception quality in the reception device (see FIGs. 2 and 31 and “205B” in paragraphs [0262], [0263] and [0849]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to configure the transmission device taught by Murakami et al. (‘224) in view of Ohwatari et al. to receive (i.e. acquire) reception quality information for each of the plurality of phase shift patterns and select a phase shift pattern based on the received reception quality information in order to improve data recovery by the receiver. Furthermore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to select the phase shift pattern that “maximizes” (i.e. optimizes) the reception quality information of the transmission data in the reception device in order to optimize the accuracy of the recovered data in the reception device.
Claims 4, 5 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Murakami et al. (‘224) as applied to claims 1 and 6, respectively, above, and further in view of Stolpman et al. (US Publication No. 2006/0045193 A1 originally cited in the Office Action of February 13, 2026, hereinafter referred to as “Stolpman et al.”).
With regard to claim 4, Murakami et al. (‘224) discloses the claimed invention except for further comprising signal addition processing that adds a known signal to the transmission data. Stolpman et al. discloses adding a known signal (see “phase-rotated preamble”) to the transmission data wherein the known signal is to be used for estimating the phase shift amount. (See paragraphs [0021], [0035], [0040] and [0041]) Since the receiver needs to know the phase changing pattern in order to demodulate the transmitted signals correctly (see Murakami et al. (‘224), paragraph [0305]), it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention use a known signal as taught by Stolpman et al. with the teaching of Murakami et al. (‘224) in order to facilitate the decoding of the phase rotated data without requiring additional bandwidth or channel to provide the receiver with the applied phase changing pattern. (See Stolpman et al., paragraph [0041])
With regard to claim 5, Murakami et al. (‘224) in view of Stolpman et al. disclose the claimed invention including receiving the transmitted data, estimating the random phase shift based on the known signal, and demodulation processing that demodulates the reception data based on the estimated phase shift amount. (See Stolpman et al., FIG. 2 and paragraphs [0037], [0040] and [0041])
With regard to claim 7, Murakami et al. (‘224) discloses the claimed invention except for: a. the transmission device being configured to execute signal addition processing that adds a known signal to the transmission data and b. the reception device being configured to receive the transmitted data, estimate the random phase shift based on the known signal, and demodulate the reception data based on the estimated phase shift amount. Stolpman et al. discloses a transmitter configured to add a known signal (see “phase-rotated preamble”) to the transmission data wherein the known signal is to be used for estimating the phase shift amount. (See paragraphs [0021], [0035], [0040] and [0041]) Stolpman et al. also discloses a receiver configured to receive the transmitted data, estimate the random phase shift based on the known signal, and demodulate the reception data based on the estimated phase shift amount. (See FIG. 2 and paragraphs [0037], [0040] and [0041]) Since the receiver needs to know the phase changing pattern in order to demodulate the transmitted signals correctly (see Murakami et al. (‘224), paragraph [0305]), it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention combine these teachings of Stolpman et al. with the teaching of Murakami et al. (‘224) in order to facilitate the decoding of the phase rotated data without requiring additional bandwidth or channel to provide the receiver with the applied phase changing pattern. (See Stolpman et al., paragraph [0041])
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.
Please note that non-cited portions of the reference(s) may also read on the claim limitations. Therefore, the reference(s) should be considered in their entirety.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Betsy Deppe whose telephone number is 571-272-3054. The examiner can normally be reached Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, 7:00 am - 3:00 pm (ET).
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/BETSY DEPPE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2633
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