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 .
Priority
Examiner acknowledges Applicant’s claim to priority benefits of DE10 2022 105 197.8 filed 03/04/2022.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement(s) (IDS) submitted on 9/3/2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement(s) is/are being considered if signed and initialed by the Examiner.
Claim Objections
Claim 11 is objected to because of the following informalities: Claim 1 recites “signal processing unit(13)”. The examiner suggests replacing “signal processing unit(13)” with “signal processing unit”. 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.
Claim 3 is 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.
Claim 3 recites “the signal generating unit sets the threshold frequencies according to
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provided that the ramp gradient, according to
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, is below a maximum ramp gradient.” The parameters
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are not defined in the claim. The applicant needs to be clarified.
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 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.
For applicant’s benefit portions of the cited reference(s) have been cited to aid in the review of the rejection(s). While every attempt has been made to be thorough and consistent within the rejection it is noted that the PRIOR ART MUST BE CONSIDERED IN ITS ENTIRETY, INCLUDING DISCLOSURES THAT TEACH AWAY FROM THE CLAIMS. See MPEP 2141.02 VI.
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 11-12, 14-15 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Welle et al. (US 2018/0372529 A1).
Regarding claim 11, Welle et al. (‘529) anticipates “a frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) radar-based distance meter for measuring a distance to an object (paragraph 2: a fill level radar device; paragraph 9: the electromagnetic transmission signal can in particular be what is known as a continuous wave transmission signal (CW signal); paragraph 39: FIG. 1 is a highly simplified circuit diagram showing the fundamental design of a transceiver circuit 101 of an FMCW radar sensor), comprising:
a signal generating unit which is designed to cyclically generate an electrical high- frequency signal whose frequency between a lower threshold frequency and an upper threshold frequency has a frequency ramp over time with a defined ramp gradient and a defined ramp duration (paragraph 39: the synthesizer 102 is used for generating the transmission signal 103 and contains for example a VCO (voltage controlled oscillator) for this purpose. The transmission signal undergoes linear frequency modulation by means of a circuit, for example a PLL circuit (phase-locked loop), contained in the synthesizer 102, for controlling the transmission frequency; paragraph 40: A known variant of the FMCW method is that of modifying the linear frequency modulation of the transmission signal into a stepped linear frequency modulation, as shown as an alternative 103′ in FIG. 2. In this case, the transmission signal 103′ stands at a specific frequency for a certain time period and then jumps, in uniform steps, onwards to the next frequencies; paragraph 59: Figure 7: the measurement device may be in a delivery state in which it generates seven different single frequency values 703 . . . 709 using a synthesiser 301. The high-frequency bandwidth B1 resulting from this measurement results from the difference between the highest transmitted frequency 709 and the lowest transmitted frequency 703);
an antenna by which the radio-frequency signal can be emitted as a radar signal in a direction of the object and can be received as a corresponding received signal after reflection on the object (paragraph 14: the fill level radar device comprises a transceiver circuit that is designed to transmit the continuous wave transmission signal towards the filling material surface and to receive the corresponding reflected transmission signal, and to then mix said signal with a further signal in order to form a reflection-dependent reception signal from which the fill level can then be determined; Said transmission signal 103 reaches the antenna 105 via the circulator 104 and is transmitted therefrom towards the reflector 106. The reception signal that returns to the antenna 105 following the reflection);
a signal processing unit (13) (paragraph 10: a circuit or processor), including:
a mixer stage that is designed to generate a low-frequency intermediate frequency signal per measurement cycle based upon the electrical high-frequency signal and the received signal (rHF), according to the FMCW principle (paragraph 39: reaches the mixer 107 via the circulator 104. Said mixer mixes the reception signal with a portion of the transmission signal, resulting in what is known as a beat signal 108), and
a transformer stage that is designed to create a frequency spectrum of the intermediate frequency signal per measurement cycle (paragraph 39: n the case of a plurality of reflectors, a beat signal 108 results that has a frequency composition of individual frequencies associated with the different measurement distances. It is therefore conventional for the digitalized beat signal to undergo spectral analysis within a controller circuit 112, for example using a Fourier transform or a fast Fourier transform (FFT), in order to separate the individual frequency portions or reflection portions and optionally to precisely determine said portions with regard to the frequency thereof and thus the basic measurement distance. FIG. 2 is a time-frequency graph of a detail of the transmission signal 103 with linear frequency modulation, and directly there below by way of example a time-voltage graph of an associated analogue beat signal 108 that results at a defined reflector distance); and
a control/analysis unit is designed to determine the distance using the frequency spectrum (paragraph 39: the distance between the reflector 106 and the measurement device has a direct effect on the frequency of the beat signal 108, and therefore, vice versa, the measurement distance can be concluded directly from the measured beat frequency), wherein a frequency band and a measurement range can be specified for the signal generating unit, and wherein the control/analysis unit is configured to control the signal generating unit such that the threshold frequencies and/or the ramp gradient are set as a function of the specified frequency band and the measurement range. (paragraph 10: an operating parameter adjustment means, such as a circuit or processor, is provided which may be a separate component part or which is integrated in the operating parameter determination device and which is designed to change the sweep parameter of the continuous wave transmission signal to the new sweep parameter…the sweep parameter can be changed during normal measurement operation of the fill level measurement device…the sweep parameter is for example a parameter that relates to the frequency ramp of the transmission signal, for example the sweep time of the continuous wave transmission signal, the bandwidth thereof, the starting frequency or end frequency thereof, the number of intermediate frequency steps of the continuous wave transmission signal, or the power thereof, which parameters can be set depending on the frequency of the continuous wave transmission signal; paragraph 13: said changes are triggered by the operating parameter determination means consulting information input by a user and/or information detected by the fill level radar device, said determination means determining the new sweep parameters from said information; paragraph 71: Figure 15 shows an operating sequence of a measurement device in accordance with the FMCW method or in accordance with the reflectometer method…the starting state 1501…in step 1502, the parameter adjustment means 501, 601 first checks whether new parameters have been input by the user via an interface 502…if this is the case, characteristic parameters for operating the measurement device are determined on the basis of the user parameters and are communicated to the controller unit. In step 1504, the parameter adjustment means checks for the existence of an external interference frequency or pronounced attenuation behavior of individual frequencies in the frequency range currently used for the measurement…if this is the case, in step 1505 a change in the measurement frequencies to be actuated is determined and communicated to the controller unit…in step 1506, the controller unit carries out a measurement on the basis of the requirements of the parameter adjustment unit and determines the spacing from the filling material).”
Regarding claim 12, which is dependent on independent claim11, Welle et al. (‘529) anticipates the FMCW radar-based distance meter of claim 11. Welle et al. (‘529) further anticipates “a ramp duration of the frequency ramp is preset in the signal generating unit (Figure 9).”
Regarding claim 14, which is dependent on independent claim11, Welle et al. (‘529) anticipates the FMCW radar-based distance meter of claim 11. Welle et al. (‘529) further anticipates “an analog/digital converter stage which is designed to digitize the intermediate frequency signal in the signal direction before the transformer stage (paragraph 39: Figure 1: beat signal is digitalized by an analogue-to-digital converter 111 and then further processed digitally. In this case, mixing the transmission and reception signals is what is known as a homodyne receiver principle. The distance between the reflector 106 and the measurement device has a direct effect on the frequency of the beat signal 108, and therefore, vice versa, the measurement distance can be concluded directly from the measured beat frequency. In the case of a plurality of reflectors, a beat signal 108 results that has a frequency composition of individual frequencies associated with the different measurement distance).”
Regarding claim 15, which is dependent on independent claim 11, Welle et al. (‘529) anticipates the FMCW radar-based distance meter of claim 11. Welle et al. (‘529) further anticipates “a low-pass filter stage that is arranged in the signal direction downstream of the analog/digital converter stage and that is designed to subject the digitized intermediate frequency signal to low-pass filtering (paragraph 66: the processing chain consisting of the band-pass filter 505, amplifier 506 and A/D converter 507 can be set to the low maximum frequency).”
Regarding claim 19, which is dependent on independent claim 11, Welle et al. (‘529) anticipates the FMCW radar-based distance meter of claim 11. Welle et al. (‘529) further anticipates “the signal generating unit is assigned an input unit by means of which the threshold frequencies can be manually set or changed (paragraph 22: optimising the transmission frequencies emitted by a fill level radar device in order, for example, to increase the measuring accuracy. Pre-programmed knowledge can allow the operating parameter determination means in the fill level radar device which operates in accordance with the continuously or stepwise modulated FMCW method or in accordance with the reflectometer principle to optimise the characteristic variables (sweep parameters) of the transmission signal used for the measurement, taking account of the application parameters input by the user and/or self-learnt characteristic variables of the measuring application).”
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.
Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Welle et al. (US 2018/0372529 A1), and further in view of Winter et al. (US 6,633,815 B1).
Regarding claim 13, which is dependent on claim 12, Welle et al. (‘529) discloses the FMCW radar-based distance meter of claim 11. Welle et al. (‘529) further discloses “the signal generating unit sets the threshold frequencies according to
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(paragraph 10: The sweep parameter is for example a parameter that relates to the frequency ramp of the transmission signal, for example the sweep time of the continuous wave transmission signal, the bandwidth thereof, the starting frequency or end frequency thereof, the number of intermediate frequency steps of the continuous wave transmission signal, or the power thereof, which parameters can be set depending on the frequency of the continuous wave transmission signal for example; paragraph 53: The parameter adjustment means 501 processes the user parameters input by a user via an interface unit 502, and derives therefrom, in accordance with guidelines, characteristic variables for operating the radar measurement device in accordance with the FMCW method, for example the starting frequency used for the measurement, the measurement duration, the bandwidth as the difference between the stopping and starting frequency, the number of measured values to be detected, and other measurement parameters that can be set by the sensor electronics; paragraph 56: the parameter adjustment means 601 processes the user parameters input by a user via an interface unit 502, and derives therefrom, in accordance with the guidelines, characteristic variables for operating the radar measurement device in accordance with the reflectometer method, for example the single frequency values to be actuated for the measurement, the bandwidth as the difference between the highest measurement frequency and the lowest measurement frequency, the number of sampling values to be detected per measurement frequency).”
Welle et al. (‘529) does not explicitly disclose “provided that the ramp gradient, according to
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,is below a maximum ramp gradient.”
Winter et al. (‘815) elates to a method for measuring the distance and speed of objects. Winter et al. (‘815) teaches “provided that the ramp gradient, according to
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,is below a maximum ramp gradient (column 3 lines 40-61: the curve of the frequency of received signal 11 would be shifted by the propagation time
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, where d is the distance of the reflected object…the frequency of transmitted signal 10 would increase during this propagation time
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by the value
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…here
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represents the rate of rise of the frequency…with FIG. 1 the special case is shown in which the propagation time
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is approximately 0. ..such a propagation time occurs in the case of target objects or reflection objects which are located directly in front of the motor vehicle radar system…this relationship is utilized in order to recognize detected raindrops, fog, hail or snow in part from the fact that distance d of the detected object is approximately 0).”
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill-in-the-art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the FMCW radar-based distance meter of Welle et al. (‘529) with the teaching of Winter et al. (‘815) for more reliable distance measurement. In addition, both of the prior art references, (Welle et al. (‘529) and Winter et al. (‘815)) teach features that are directed to analogous art and they are directed to the same field of endeavor, such as, using frequency modulated continuous wave signal for radar measurement.
Claim 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Welle et al. (US 2018/0372529 A1), and further in view of Weinzierle et al. (US 2016/0223381 A1).
Regarding claim 17, which is dependent on claim 12, Welle et al. (‘529) discloses the FMCW radar-based distance meter of claim 12. Welle et al. (‘529) does not explicitly disclose “the control/analysis unit comprises a position sensor via which a current site of use of the distance meter can be determined, and wherein the control/analysis unit is designed to set or change the threshold frequencies and the ramp duration in the signal generating unit depending upon the determined site of use.”
Weinzierle et al. (381) relates to position sensing. Weinzierle et al. (381) teaches “the control/analysis unit comprises a position sensor via which a current site of use of the distance meter can be determined, and wherein the control/analysis unit is designed to set or change the threshold frequencies and the ramp duration in the signal generating unit depending upon the determined site of use (paragraph 22: determining a limit level of a filling material in a container. One or more measurement signals are first detected by means of a measuring probe of the limit level switch. Prior to, at the same time as or after said measurement, information about the installation position of the limit level switch inside the container which contains the filling material is detected by means of a position sensor which is either attached to the limit level switch or is integrated therein…the information detected by the measuring probe and by the position sensor is then transmitted to an evaluation unit of the limit level switch and the detected measurement signal(s) is/are evaluated, taking into account the information detected by the position sensor; paragraph 50: he position sensor 406 also sends the evaluation unit 407 the exact installation position of the limit level detector 401 and/or the orientation (position) of the limit level detector or the rod 403 in relation to the filling material. A build-up of deposit can be identified and the complexity of the evaluation algorithm can also be significantly simplified by taking the installation position into consideration; paragraph 60: The measurement signal and the information detected by the position sensor are used by the evaluation unit in step 703 when evaluating the detected measurement signal).”
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill-in-the-art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the FMCW radar-based distance meter of Welle et al. (‘529) with the teaching of Weinzierle et al. (381) for more efficient position sensing (Weinzierle et al. (381) – paragraph 11). In addition, both of the prior art references, (Welle et al. (‘529) and Weinzierle et al. (381)) teach features that are directed to analogous art and they are directed to the same field of endeavor, such as, analyzing echo signal to determine target position.
Claim 18 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Welle et al. (US 2018/0372529 A1), and further in view of Welle et al. (US 2020/0132533 A1).
Regarding claim 18, which is dependent on claim 12, Welle et al. (‘529) discloses the FMCW radar-based distance meter of claim 12. Welle et al. (‘529) does not explicitly disclose “the control/analysis unit comprises a position sensor via which a current site of use of the distance meter can be determined, and wherein the control/analysis unit is designed to set or change the threshold frequencies and the ramp duration in the signal generating unit depending upon the determined site of use.”
Welle et al. (‘533) relates to level measurement. Welle et al. (‘533) teaches “the position sensor includes a GPS module, a WLAN module, and/or a GSM module via which the site of use can be determined (paragraph 83: based on one or more sensor signals of the at least one sensor 222, the detector 220 can detect the movement signal and/or the position signal…the detector 220 can comprise one or more sensors 222 for determining the movement signal and/or the position signal, which, for example, detect a movement of the fill level measuring device 105 by (e.g., continuously) determining the current position of the fill level measuring device 105 and by comparison with a previously determined position, for example by evaluating navigation signals and/or signals from satellites (such as GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO)…the fill level measuring device 105 and/or the detector 220 may comprise one or more position sensors 222 and be configured to detect the movement signal and/or the position signal; paragraph 91: the detector 220 is configured to detect the movement signal based on the at least one movement sensor 222, as explained above with reference to FIG. 3…the detector 220 is configured to detected, based on the position sensor 224, a geographic position of the fill level measuring device 105 and/or the position signal which can represent the geographic position, for example continuously, continually, and/or at predetermined times. For this purpose, the detector 220 and/or the position sensor 224 can, for example, evaluate and/or process signals and/or navigation signals from satellites (such as GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO) in order to determine, generate, and/or detect the position signal based on these signal).”
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill-in-the-art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the FMCW radar-based distance meter of Welle et al. (‘529) with the teaching of Welle et al. (‘533) for more reliable and safe measurement technique (Welle et al. (‘533) – paragraph 6). In addition, both of the prior art references, (Welle et al. (‘529) and Welle et al. (‘533)) teach features that are directed to analogous art and they are directed to the same field of endeavor, such as, using frequency modulated continuous wave signal for radar measurement.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 16 is 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.
Allowable subject matter:
“the low-pass filter stage is designed as an infinite impulse response (IIR) or a finite impulse response (FIR) filter with an integrated decimator, and wherein the control/analysis unit is designed to set a decimation factor of the low-pass filter stage as a function of the ramp gradient or the measurement range.”
Citation of Pertinent Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Winfried et al. (DE 10 2019132354 A1) [English Translation] describes the frequency change over time with FMCW is by default sawtooth-shaped or ramp-shaped, i.e. cyclically recurring linearly increasing or decreasing…the distance to the product or the fill level when implementing the FMCW method is determined on the basis of the instantaneous frequency difference between the currently received radar signal and the currently transmitted radar signal by generating a corresponding evaluation signal by mixing the corresponding electrical high-frequency signals…the distance can be determined on the basis of the frequency of the evaluation signal, since the frequency
of the evaluation signal changes proportionally to the distance…to determine the frequency, the evaluation signal is subjected to an analog / digital conversion so that the frequency of the evaluation signal can be determined by means of a (Fast) Fourier Transformation…he maximum frequency of the usable evaluation signal is theoretically determined by the analog digital converter and, according to the Nyquist theorem, cannot be greater than half its sampling rate...the maximum adjustable frequency f IF of the evaluation signal for a radar measurement with ramp-shaped frequency modulation depends on the following formula
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on the bandwidth
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or the frequency deviation
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, the duration T of the frequency ramp (i.e. indirectly the rate of change of frequency), the distance (d ) to the product and the propagation speed c0 (approximately the speed of light)…from this formula it is easy to see that when using the higher frequency bandwidth for the same maximum measuring
distances d either a higher frequency fIF of the evaluation signal is accepted, or the duration of the frequency ramp has to be increased in accordance with the larger bandwidth.
Waelde et al. (US 2017/141453 A1) describes the control device can control the conversion of the basic frequency of the transmit signal to the first transmit frequency in a time-controlled manner…the conversion of the frequency may take place in such a way that at times in which the antenna device is to be active, thus is to transmit and/or receive for example, the frequency conversion device is activated in order to transform the transmit signal to a frequency range that is adapted to the transmit device. In particular, the frequency conversion device may transform the transmit signal into a pass band of the transmit device in such a way that the transmit signal is sent by the transmit device…it may be decided whether the transmit signal is transmitted or not by the switching on and off or the activation and deactivation of the frequency conversion device…the switching on and off takes place at a low frequency, so that low-frequency switches can be used, for example relays or electronic switches (paragraph 9).
Moss (US 2018/136328 A1) describes a signal generator that is arranged to generate a least one FMCW (Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave) chirp signal. Each chirp signal forms a corresponding plurality of frequency ramps, and each frequency ramp runs between a first frequency and a second frequency (paragraph 9); generating a least one FMCW (Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave) chirp signal, where each chirp signal uses a corresponding plurality of frequency ramps, where each frequency ramp runs between a first frequency and a second frequency (paragraph 11); radar system 3 which is arranged to distinguish and/or resolve single targets from the surroundings by transmitting signals 4 and receiving reflected signals 5 and using a Doppler effect (paragraph 27); the receiver 9 includes a receiver mixer 15 (paragraph 29); the received signals 5a, 5b, thus constituted by reflected radar echoes, are then mixed with the transmitted chirp signal 4 in the receiver mixer 15…in this way, IF (Intermediate Frequency) signals 17 are acquired and filtered in an IF filter 18 such that filtered IF signals 19 are acquired (paragraphs 33-34); the DSP arrangement 12 that adapted for radar signal processing by means of a first FFT (Fast Fourier Transform) to convert the digital signals 20 to a range domain, and a second FFT to combine the results from successive chirp signal ramps into the Doppler domain) (paragraph 9: When a frequency ramp has reached the second frequency, the control unit is arranged to control the signal generator to start outputting an output signal with an output frequency for initializing a further frequency ramp by use of a frequency control signal corresponding to a desired frequency, where the desired frequency includes an initial desired frequency part and at least one further desired frequency part (paragraph 36); Figure 5 shows a desired frequency 39 as a function of time, indicated with a bold, initially solid, line, where the frequency control signal 31 corresponds to the desired frequency 39…also shown in FIG. 5 is the frequency Fout of the actual output signal 4 of the signal generator 13, indicated with a dash-dotted line…for a certain desired frequency, there is a certain corresponding frequency control signal, such that a certain corresponding frequency control signal intends to control the VCO 25 to output an actual output signal 4 having a frequency Fout that equals the desired frequency (paragraph 41).
Mueller et al. (2017/0241825 A1) describes level measurement…fill level measuring devices, to a level radar (paragraph 2); fill level measuring devices, which emit radar waves, for example, in the form of frequency-modulated continuous wave (FMCW) signals as a transmission signal or measuring signal for measuring the level (paragraph 4).
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NUZHAT PERVIN whose telephone number is (571)272-9795. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00AM-5:00PM.
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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.
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/NUZHAT PERVIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3648
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