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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claims 18-34 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Ozturk et al. (US 20230273291 A1), hereinafter Ozturk.
Regarding claim 18, Ozturk teaches a method of operation by a processing node of a wireless communication system,
wherein the processing node is integrated or associated with an access node of the wireless communication network (para. 153, “In exemplary positioning systems, users or devices may send at least one location-specific waveform to a locator, which may also be a wireless module of any type, such as a router, an access point, a base station, a computer, a repeater, a handheld device, and the like.”; para. 319, “In some embodiments, the second wireless device may transmit the received waveform from the first wireless antenna to a remote device [e.g. processor, computer, server, access point, router, base station, network resource] and the remote device may be used to estimate the channel response.”; access points implicitly have a dedicated processor), the method comprising:
obtaining a series of uplink channel estimates with respect to each of one or more user equipments (UEs) (see para. 236), each series determined from the access node receiving successive transmissions of an uplink reference signal by a corresponding one of the one or more UEs (para. 236, “In an exemplary embodiment of a wireless positioning system, a first device may be referred to as a base station, or an access point, or a locator, and may receive probe waveforms from a second device transmitting channel probe signals. The locator may be able to process a received probe waveform to generate a channel estimate for the channel between the locator and the device as it is positioned.”; para. 242, “In some embodiments, a newly measured channel response may be compared to a number of previously stored channel response measurements to determine which previously stored channel response measurement most closely matches the newly measured channel response. For example, the change of position of a device may be determined by comparing positions of a device at different times. […] In some embodiments, a device mounted on the shirt pocket or wrist of a senior citizen may be used to detect if the senior citizen has fallen to the ground.”; see para. 232 for further evidence that probe signals are used as reference signals for performing channel estimation; an access point receives uplink reference/probe signals from a device that may be considered a UE, and performs channel estimation based on said signals), and
each uplink channel estimate dependent upon prevailing uplink propagation paths between the corresponding UE and the access node (para. 219, “In some embodiments where a channel response is determined between two separate antennas i and j, the channel response function notation may include either or both indices as a subscript. For example, if a single access point is receiving signals from multiple devices, i, the channel response may be indicated as hi [or Hi in the frequency domain]. If multiple access points, j, are receiving signals from multiple devices, i, the channel response may be indicated as hij [or Hij in the frequency domain].”; para. 361, “In some embodiments, a first device may detect, digitize [or sample] and process a portion of a transmitted signal that travels directly along a line-of-sight between a first device and a second device.”; Fig. 2, prevailing propagation paths in multipath propagation from terminal devices to locator 452 which may be an access point; channel estimates are implicitly dependent on prevailing propagation paths),
evaluating the series of uplink channel estimates to determine whether changes in the prevailing uplink propagation paths in the series are indicative of a falling object (para. 236, “In an exemplary embodiment of a wireless positioning system, a first device may be referred to as a base station, or an access point, or a locator, and may receive probe waveforms from a second device transmitting channel probe signals. The locator may be able to process a received probe waveform to generate a channel estimate for the channel between the locator and the device as it is positioned.”; see paras. 240-241 for further evidence that Ozturk’s locator/access point is the device performing channel response comparison to detect movement of another device; para. 242, “In some embodiments, a newly measured channel response may be compared to a number of previously stored channel response measurements to determine which previously stored channel response measurement most closely matches the newly measured channel response. For example, the change of position of a device may be determined by comparing positions of a device at different times. […] In some embodiments, a device mounted on the shirt pocket or wrist of a senior citizen may be used to detect if the senior citizen has fallen to the ground.”; changes between measured channel responses are indicative of change in propagation path; Examiner is construing a falling human, in this case a senior citizen, to be analogous to a falling object, and a worn device that communicates with an access point as a UE; see paras. 50-56 of Wu et al. [CN 103606248 A], hereinafter Wu, for a further example of detecting changes between channel responses and thus propagation path changes to determine a falling person), and
outputting trigger signaling in response to determining that the changes are indicative of a falling object (para. 409, “In addition to event recognition, positioning systems may also be able to recognize gestures. […] In some embodiments, such systems may be installed to monitor elderly people and/or people with limited mobility or special needs who desire to live independently, but who may be fragile or at risk. In some embodiments, emergency response personal may be contacted and/or notified by the recognition system or by an alert system coupled to the recognition system if a person falls or does not move for a certain period of time.”; see para. 54 of Wu for a further example of outputting trigger signaling in response to determining a falling person as a result of detected changes in propagation path).
Regarding claims 19 and 28, Ozturk teaches the method according to claim 18 and the processing node according to claim 27 respectively,
wherein the one or more UEs comprise two or more UEs (Fig. 2, multiple terminal devices which may be UEs communicate with locator/access point 452) and
wherein evaluating the series of uplink channel estimates to determine whether changes in the prevailing uplink propagation paths in the series are indicative of a falling object comprises independently evaluating the series from each UE and outputting the trigger signaling responsive to the changes in any one or more of the series being indicative of a falling object (para. 242, “In some embodiments, a newly measured channel response may be compared to a number of previously stored channel response measurements to determine which previously stored channel response measurement most closely matches the newly measured channel response. […] In some embodiments, a device mounted on the shirt pocket or wrist of a senior citizen may be used to detect if the senior citizen has fallen to the ground.”; para. 409, “In addition to event recognition, positioning systems may also be able to recognize gestures. […] In some embodiments, such systems may be installed to monitor elderly people and/or people with limited mobility or special needs who desire to live independently, but who may be fragile or at risk. In some embodiments, emergency response personal may be contacted and/or notified by the recognition system or by an alert system coupled to the recognition system if a person falls or does not move for a certain period of time.”; see para. 54 of Wu for a further example of outputting trigger signaling in response to determining a falling person as a result of detected changes in propagation path).
Regarding claims 20 and 29, Ozturk teaches the method according to claim 18 and the processing node according to claim 27 respectively,
wherein the one or more UEs comprise two or more UEs (Fig. 2, multiple terminal devices which may be UEs communicate with locator/access point 452) and
wherein evaluating the series of uplink channel estimates to determine whether changes in the prevailing uplink propagation paths in the series are indicative of a falling object comprises jointly evaluating the series from at least two of the two or more UEs and outputting the trigger signaling responsive to the changes in the jointly-evaluated series being indicative of a falling object (para. 70, “The time series of CI [TSCI] may be extracted from a wireless signal transmitted from a Type1 heterogeneous wireless device [e.g. wireless transmitter (TX), ‘Bot’ device] to a Type2 heterogeneous wireless device [e.g. wireless receiver (RX), ‘Origin’ device] in a venue through the channel.”; para. 80, “Multiple Type1 [or Type 2] devices may interact with a Type2 [or Type1] device. The multiple Type1 [or Type2] devices may be synchronized/asynchronous, and/or may use same/different channels/sensing parameters/settings [e.g. sounding frequency/bandwidth/antennas]. Type2 device may receive another signal from Type1/another Type1 device. Type1 device may transmit another signal to Type2/another Type2 device. Wireless signals sent [or received] by them may be sporadic/temporary/continuous/repeated/synchronous/simultaneous/concurrent/contemporaneous. They may operate independently/collaboratively. Their data [e.g. TSCI/feature/characteristics/STI/MI/intermediate task outcomes] may be processed/monitored/analyzed independently or jointly/collaboratively.”; para. 242, “In some embodiments, a newly measured channel response may be compared to a number of previously stored channel response measurements to determine which previously stored channel response measurement most closely matches the newly measured channel response. […] In some embodiments, a device mounted on the shirt pocket or wrist of a senior citizen may be used to detect if the senior citizen has fallen to the ground.”; para. 409, “In addition to event recognition, positioning systems may also be able to recognize gestures. […] In some embodiments, such systems may be installed to monitor elderly people and/or people with limited mobility or special needs who desire to live independently, but who may be fragile or at risk. In some embodiments, emergency response personal may be contacted and/or notified by the recognition system or by an alert system coupled to the recognition system if a person falls or does not move for a certain period of time.”; para. 411, “By processing received waveforms and/or estimated channel responses and/or estimated time-reversed channel responses, the system may be able to identify not only that a living being has entered the room, but also a characteristic of the living being.”; Ozturk interchangeably uses the terms “Type1 device and “terminal device” to refer to a device that may be a UE, and the terms “Type2 device” and “locator” to refer to a device that may be an access point; see para. 54 of Wu for a further example of outputting trigger signaling in response to determining a falling person as a result of detected changes in in propagation path).
Regarding claims 21 and 30, Ozturk teaches the method according to claim 18 and the processing node according to claim 27 respectively,
wherein each channel estimate comprises path delay and direction estimates, such that the changes in each series of channel estimates comprise changes in the path delays and direction estimates over successive ones of the channel estimates comprised in the series (para. 269, “As described above, because the waveforms received at the locator 682 undergo different reflecting paths and delays for terminal devices 654 at different locations, the channel response can be viewed as a unique location-specific signature.”; para. 371, “When a terminal device [e.g., one of the terminal devices 5304] experiences a change in orientation [e.g., such that the antenna points to different directions], the multiple paths propagated by the probe signals may be different. Thus, even if the terminal device 5304 is at the same or a very similar location, a change in orientation of the terminal device 5304 may cause the locator 5302 to calculate different channel impulse responses based on the received probe waveforms. If the terminal device 5304 is intended to be held at multiple orientations [e.g., users may hold mobile phones at various orientations], then during the training phase, the terminal device 5304 may be held at various orientations, and the locator 5302 may determine channel impulse responses that correspond to the various orientations. The coordinates of each position may map to a set of channel impulse responses corresponding to different orientations of the terminal device at the position.”).
Regarding claims 22 and 31, Ozturk teaches the method according to claim 21 and the processing node according to claim 30 respectively,
wherein evaluating the series of uplink channel estimates to determine whether changes in the prevailing uplink propagation paths in the series are indicative of a falling object comprises determining whether any one or more of the series exhibit path changes characteristic of objects free falling under the force of gravity (para. 233, “As shown in FIG. 1B, if either a first device, in this example device 108, or a second device, in this example, 106, is moved, then at least some of the multiple propagation paths through which a signal propagates can change, thereby changing the channel response. If a single antenna is used for both transmitting and receiving signals, then objects and/or structures that are moved in a venue of environment may change the multiple propagation paths through which a signal propagates, thereby changing the channel response. The characteristics of the estimated channel waveform and how much they change as a function of position and/or orientation may depend on the venue, the environment, and the hardware components in the system, and the like.”; para. 233 is cited to highlight the change in propagation path as a comparable metric between channel estimates; para. 242, “In some embodiments, a newly measured channel response may be compared to a number of previously stored channel response measurements to determine which previously stored channel response measurement most closely matches the newly measured channel response. […] In some embodiments, a device mounted on the shirt pocket or wrist of a senior citizen may be used to detect if the senior citizen has fallen to the ground.”; generally, as a person falls, the only significant force acting on them is gravity).
Regarding claims 23 and 32, Ozturk teaches the method according to claim 18 and the processing node according to claim 27 respectively,
wherein the one or more UEs are respective sensor devices (para. 212, “In some embodiments, a device may also be referred to as a user, a terminal device, a mobile device, a phone, a computer, a tablet, a wearable electronic device such as a watch, a band, a wristband, an ankle band, a belt, a sensor, a piece of clothing and the like, an electronic card, fob, dongle, and the like, a ‘pinger’, a bot, an antenna, and the like.”),
wherein the processing node is the access node, and wherein the method further comprises the access node receiving uplink data from each of the one or more UEs, via respective uplink data transmissions, for sending towards an external host computer (paras. 319-320, “In exemplary embodiments, a wireless channel between two antennas may be represented by the channel response Hij. In some embodiments a first antenna, i, may send a first wireless signal to a second antenna, j. The second wireless antenna may be part of a device that may be able to estimate the channel response Hij. In some embodiments, the second wireless device may transmit the received waveform from the first wireless antenna to a remote device [e.g. processor, computer, server, access point, router, base station, network resource] and the remote device may be used to estimate the channel response. The first wireless antenna, i, may send a second wireless signal to a third wireless antenna, r, and the third wireless antenna may be part of a device that may be able to estimate the channel response Hir. In some embodiments, the third wireless device may transmit the received waveform from the first wireless antenna to a remote device [e.g. processor, computer, server, access point, router, base station, network resource] and the remote device may be used to estimate the channel response. In some embodiments, the second and third antennas may be part of what may be considered a single device such as a wireless access point, router, base station, computer, base station, locator, mobile device and the like.”).
Regarding claims 24 and 33, Ozturk teaches the method according to claim 23 and the processing node according to claim 32 respectively, the method and processing node further comprising
the access node using the series of uplink channel estimates corresponding to each UE (para. 236, “In an exemplary embodiment of a wireless positioning system, a first device may be referred to as a base station, or an access point, or a locator, and may receive probe waveforms from a second device transmitting channel probe signals. The locator may be able to process a received probe waveform to generate a channel estimate for the channel between the locator and the device as it is positioned.”), or
further channel estimates based on the underlying reference-signal reception data from which the series of uplink channel estimates are derived (para. 232, “In some embodiments, processing a received probe waveform may include amplifying or attenuating any portion of the received signal. In some embodiments, a channel may be probed once or a channel may be probed more than once. In some embodiments, multiple received probe waveforms may be measured, processed, recorded and the like. In some embodiments, some channel responses may be averaged with others. In some embodiments, some channel responses may be discarded or not recorded. In some embodiments, some channel responses may be measured under different environmental conditions and stored. Such stored response signals may be used as reference signals to indicate the environmental conditions associated with the original measurements.”), for receiving the uplink data from the UE.
Regarding claims 25 and 34, Ozturk teaches the method according to claim 18 and the processing node according to claim 27 respectively,
wherein each UE among the one or more UEs has a known location relative to reception equipment included in or used by the access node for reception of the uplink reference signal transmissions (para. 245, “In one exemplary embodiment, devices in a venue at known locations may send channel probe signals to a locator and the locator may determine the estimated channel responses for devices in those locations and store that data in a database. In some implementations, a mapping between locations in a venue and corresponding reference channel responses may be established experimentally or by measurement prior to the operation of the positioning system and then the mapping may be used to determine the locations of the terminal devices within the venue.”), and
wherein evaluating the series of uplink channel estimates to determine whether changes in the prevailing uplink propagation paths in the series are indicative of a falling object is based on using the known locations of the UEs to identify propagation-path changes that correlate with an object free falling under the force of gravity (para. 233, “As shown in FIG. 1B, if either a first device, in this example device 108, or a second device, in this example, 106, is moved, then at least some of the multiple propagation paths through which a signal propagates can change, thereby changing the channel response. If a single antenna is used for both transmitting and receiving signals, then objects and/or structures that are moved in a venue of environment may change the multiple propagation paths through which a signal propagates, thereby changing the channel response. The characteristics of the estimated channel waveform and how much they change as a function of position and/or orientation may depend on the venue, the environment, and the hardware components in the system, and the like.”; para. 233 is cited to highlight the change in propagation path as a comparable metric between channel estimates; para. 242, “In some embodiments, a newly measured channel response may be compared to a number of previously stored channel response measurements to determine which previously stored channel response measurement most closely matches the newly measured channel response. […] In some embodiments, a device mounted on the shirt pocket or wrist of a senior citizen may be used to detect if the senior citizen has fallen to the ground.”; generally, as a person falls, the only significant force acting on them is gravity).
Regarding claim 26, Ozturk teaches a system comprising:
one or more User Equipments (UEs) positioned in an area to be monitored for falling objects, each UE comprising a sensor device that communicates sensor data via uplink data transmissions (para. 73, “Wireless signal may comprise a series of probe signals. It may be any of: EM radiation, radio frequency [RF]/light/bandlimited/baseband signal, signal in licensed/unlicensed/ISM band, wireless/mobile/cellular/optical communication/network/mesh/downlink/uplink/unicast/multicast/ broadcast signal.”; para. 143, “User device may comprise smart phone/tablet/speaker/camera/ display/TV/gadget/vehicle/appliance/device/IoT, device with UI/GUI/voice/audio/record/ capture/sensor/playback/display/animation/VR/AR [augmented reality]/voice [assistance/recognition/synthesis] capability, and/or tablet/laptop/PC.”; para. 153, “In exemplary positioning systems, users or devices may send at least one location-specific waveform to a locator, which may also be a wireless module of any type, such as a router, an access point, a base station, a computer, a repeater, a handheld device, and the like.”; Fig. 2, multiple terminal devices/UEs; para. 242, “In some embodiments, a newly measured channel response may be compared to a number of previously stored channel response measurements to determine which previously stored channel response measurement most closely matches the newly measured channel response. […] In some embodiments, a device mounted on the shirt pocket or wrist of a senior citizen may be used to detect if the senior citizen has fallen to the ground.”;),
an access node comprising or associated with reception equipment configured to receive the uplink data transmissions from each of the one or more UEs, along with uplink reference signals transmitted from each of the one or more UEs, and a processing node that is integrated or associated with the access node (para. 153, “In exemplary positioning systems, users or devices may send at least one location-specific waveform to a locator, which may also be a wireless module of any type, such as a router, an access point, a base station, a computer, a repeater, a handheld device, and the like.”; para. 319, “In some embodiments, the second wireless device may transmit the received waveform from the first wireless antenna to a remote device [e.g. processor, computer, server, access point, router, base station, network resource] and the remote device may be used to estimate the channel response.”; access points implicitly have a dedicated processor), the processing node configured to:
obtain a series of uplink channel estimates with respect to each of the one or more UEs (see para. 236), each series determined from the access node receiving successive transmissions of an uplink reference signal by a corresponding one of the one or more UEs (para. 236, “In an exemplary embodiment of a wireless positioning system, a first device may be referred to as a base station, or an access point, or a locator, and may receive probe waveforms from a second device transmitting channel probe signals. The locator may be able to process a received probe waveform to generate a channel estimate for the channel between the locator and the device as it is positioned.”; para. 242, “In some embodiments, a newly measured channel response may be compared to a number of previously stored channel response measurements to determine which previously stored channel response measurement most closely matches the newly measured channel response. For example, the change of position of a device may be determined by comparing positions of a device at different times. […] In some embodiments, a device mounted on the shirt pocket or wrist of a senior citizen may be used to detect if the senior citizen has fallen to the ground.”; see para. 232 for further evidence that probe signals are used as reference signals for performing channel estimation; an access point receives uplink reference/probe signals from a device that may be considered a UE, and performs channel estimation based on said signals), and
each uplink channel estimate dependent upon prevailing uplink propagation paths between the corresponding UE and the access node (para. 219, “In some embodiments where a channel response is determined between two separate antennas i and j, the channel response function notation may include either or both indices as a subscript. For example, if a single access point is receiving signals from multiple devices, i, the channel response may be indicated as hi [or Hi in the frequency domain]. If multiple access points, j, are receiving signals from multiple devices, i, the channel response may be indicated as hij [or Hij in the frequency domain].”; para. 361, “In some embodiments, a first device may detect, digitize [or sample] and process a portion of a transmitted signal that travels directly along a line-of-sight between a first device and a second device.”; Fig. 2, prevailing propagation paths in multipath propagation from terminal devices to locator 452 which may be an access point; channel estimates are implicitly dependent on prevailing propagation paths),
evaluate the series of uplink channel estimates with respect to the one or more UEs, to determine whether changes in the prevailing uplink propagation paths in the series are indicative of a falling object (para. 236, “In an exemplary embodiment of a wireless positioning system, a first device may be referred to as a base station, or an access point, or a locator, and may receive probe waveforms from a second device transmitting channel probe signals. The locator may be able to process a received probe waveform to generate a channel estimate for the channel between the locator and the device as it is positioned.”; see paras. 240-241 for further evidence that Ozturk’s locator/access point is the device performing channel response comparison to detect movement of another device; para. 242, “In some embodiments, a newly measured channel response may be compared to a number of previously stored channel response measurements to determine which previously stored channel response measurement most closely matches the newly measured channel response. For example, the change of position of a device may be determined by comparing positions of a device at different times. […] In some embodiments, a device mounted on the shirt pocket or wrist of a senior citizen may be used to detect if the senior citizen has fallen to the ground.”; changes between measured channel responses are indicative of change in propagation path; Examiner is construing a falling human, in this case a senior citizen, to be analogous to a falling object, and a worn device that communicates with an access point as a UE; see paras. 50-56 of Wu for a further example of detecting changes between channel responses and thus propagation path changes to determine a falling person), and
output trigger signaling in response to determining that the changes are indicative of a falling object (para. 409, “In addition to event recognition, positioning systems may also be able to recognize gestures. […] In some embodiments, such systems may be installed to monitor elderly people and/or people with limited mobility or special needs who desire to live independently, but who may be fragile or at risk. In some embodiments, emergency response personal may be contacted and/or notified by the recognition system or by an alert system coupled to the recognition system if a person falls or does not move for a certain period of time.”; see para. 54 of Wu for a further example of outputting trigger signaling in response to determining a falling person as a result of detected changes in propagation path).
Regarding claim 27, Ozturk teaches a processing node integrated or associated with an access node of a wireless communication system (para. 153, “In exemplary positioning systems, users or devices may send at least one location-specific waveform to a locator, which may also be a wireless module of any type, such as a router, an access point, a base station, a computer, a repeater, a handheld device, and the like.”; para. 319, “In some embodiments, the second wireless device may transmit the received waveform from the first wireless antenna to a remote device [e.g. processor, computer, server, access point, router, base station, network resource] and the remote device may be used to estimate the channel response.”; access points implicitly have a dedicated processor), the processing node comprising:
communication interface circuitry (para. 190, “The receiver can receive the first set of at least two wireless signals without joining a wireless network provided by the network router or access point. The data processor can be configured to provide a user interface to enable a user to provide information about the first location or the first arrangement of objects. The user interface can display a map and enable the user to indicate a location on the map, and the data processor can be configured to associate the location indicated by the user with the first composite channel response.”), and processing circuitry configured to:
obtain a series of uplink channel estimates with respect to each of one or more user equipments (UEs) (see para. 236), each series determined from the access node receiving successive transmissions of an uplink reference signal by a corresponding one of the one or more UEs (para. 236, “In an exemplary embodiment of a wireless positioning system, a first device may be referred to as a base station, or an access point, or a locator, and may receive probe waveforms from a second device transmitting channel probe signals. The locator may be able to process a received probe waveform to generate a channel estimate for the channel between the locator and the device as it is positioned.”; para. 242, “In some embodiments, a newly measured channel response may be compared to a number of previously stored channel response measurements to determine which previously stored channel response measurement most closely matches the newly measured channel response. For example, the change of position of a device may be determined by comparing positions of a device at different times. […] In some embodiments, a device mounted on the shirt pocket or wrist of a senior citizen may be used to detect if the senior citizen has fallen to the ground.”; see para. 232 for further evidence that probe signals are used as reference signals for performing channel estimation; an access point receives uplink reference/probe signals from a device that may be considered a UE, and performs channel estimation based on said signals), and
each uplink channel estimate dependent upon prevailing uplink propagation paths between the corresponding UE and the access node (para. 219, “In some embodiments where a channel response is determined between two separate antennas i and j, the channel response function notation may include either or both indices as a subscript. For example, if a single access point is receiving signals from multiple devices, i, the channel response may be indicated as hi [or Hi in the frequency domain]. If multiple access points, j, are receiving signals from multiple devices, i, the channel response may be indicated as hij [or Hij in the frequency domain].”; para. 361, “In some embodiments, a first device may detect, digitize [or sample] and process a portion of a transmitted signal that travels directly along a line-of-sight between a first device and a second device.”; Fig. 2, prevailing propagation paths in multipath propagation from terminal devices to locator 452 which may be an access point; channel estimates are implicitly dependent on prevailing propagation paths),
evaluate the series of uplink channel estimates to determine whether changes in the prevailing uplink propagation paths in the series are indicative of a falling object (para. 236, “In an exemplary embodiment of a wireless positioning system, a first device may be referred to as a base station, or an access point, or a locator, and may receive probe waveforms from a second device transmitting channel probe signals. The locator may be able to process a received probe waveform to generate a channel estimate for the channel between the locator and the device as it is positioned.”; see paras. 240-241 for further evidence that Ozturk’s locator/access point is the device performing channel response comparison to detect movement of another device; para. 242, “In some embodiments, a newly measured channel response may be compared to a number of previously stored channel response measurements to determine which previously stored channel response measurement most closely matches the newly measured channel response. For example, the change of position of a device may be determined by comparing positions of a device at different times. […] In some embodiments, a device mounted on the shirt pocket or wrist of a senior citizen may be used to detect if the senior citizen has fallen to the ground.”; changes between measured channel responses are indicative of change in propagation path; changes between measured channel responses are indicative of change in propagation path; Examiner is construing a falling human, in this case a senior citizen, to be analogous to a falling object, and a worn device that communicates with an access point as a UE; see paras. 50-56 of Wu for a further example of detecting changes between channel responses and thus propagation path changes to determine a falling person), and
output, via the communication interface circuitry, trigger signaling in response to determining that the changes are indicative of a falling object (para. 409, “In addition to event recognition, positioning systems may also be able to recognize gestures. […] In some embodiments, such systems may be installed to monitor elderly people and/or people with limited mobility or special needs who desire to live independently, but who may be fragile or at risk. In some embodiments, emergency response personal may be contacted and/or notified by the recognition system or by an alert system coupled to the recognition system if a person falls or does not move for a certain period of time.”; see para. 54 of Wu for a further example of outputting trigger signaling in response to determining a falling person as a result of detected changes in propagation path).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Wu et al. (CN 103606248 A) teaches
evaluating the series of uplink channel estimates to determine whether changes in the prevailing propagation paths in the series are indicative of a falling object (see paras. 50-56).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ERIC K HODAC whose telephone number is (571) 270-0123. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 8-6.
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, VLADIMIR MAGLOIRE can be reached at (571) 270-5144. 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.
/ERIC K HODAC/ Examiner, Art Unit 3648
/OLUMIDE AJIBADE AKONAI/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3648
Prosecution Insights