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 .
Claim Interpretation
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The claims in this application are given their broadest reasonable interpretation using the plain meaning of the claim language in light of the specification as it would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim element (also commonly referred to as a claim limitation) is limited by the description in the specification when 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is invoked.
As explained in MPEP § 2181, subsection I, claim limitations that meet the following three-prong test will be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
(A) the claim limitation uses the term “means” or “step” or a term used as a substitute for “means” that is a generic placeholder (also called a nonce term or a non-structural term having no specific structural meaning) for performing the claimed function;
(B) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is modified by functional language, typically, but not always linked by the transition word “for” (e.g., “means for”) or another linking word or phrase, such as “configured to” or “so that”; and
(C) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is not modified by sufficient structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function.
Use of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim with functional language creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites sufficient structure, material, or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Absence of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is not to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is not interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites function without reciting sufficient structure, material or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Claim limitations in this application that use the word “means” (or “step”) are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action. Conversely, claim limitations in this application that do not use the word “means” (or “step”) are not being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action.
This application includes one or more claim limitations that do not use the word “means,” but are nonetheless being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because the claim limitation(s) uses a generic placeholder that is coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to perform the recited function and the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier. Such claim limitation(s) is/are: a beam sweeping unit, a divided region-specifying unit, an information acquisition unit and an object identification and location extraction unit in claim 8-10.
Because this/these claim limitation(s) is/are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, it/they is/are being interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof.
If applicant does not intend to have this/these limitation(s) interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, applicant may: (1) amend the claim limitation(s) to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph (e.g., by reciting sufficient structure to perform the claimed function); or (2) present a sufficient showing that the claim limitation(s) recite(s) sufficient structure to perform the claimed function so as to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
Claim limitations “a beam sweeping unit and a divided region-specifying unit in claim 8-10.” invoke 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. However, the written description fails to disclose the corresponding structure, material, or acts for performing the entire claimed function and to clearly link the structure, material, or acts to the function. Regarding the beam sweeping unit, the only passage naming the beam sweeping unit recites the claimed function itself without describing any structure that performs it (0045, the beam sweeping unit in the BS divides a beamforming region and performs beam sweeping). The specification elsewhere describes the calculation of beamforming codewords and the sequential performance of beam sweeping, but attributes those acts to the BS rather than to the beam sweeping unit, and no association between that disclosure and the recited unit can be found (0053; 0054; 0061; 0062, the BS calculates K beamforming codewords using Equation 1 to Equation 3 and gathers them to configure a beamforming codebook, and the BS sequentially performs beam sweeping according to the beamforming codeword during K symbols). No processor, memory, or other hardware is disclosed as constituting the beam sweeping unit (0036; 0037, software for performing beam control is installed and executed in the device, and the elements may be formed as an integrated module or one or more modules).
Regarding the divided region-specifying unit, the passage naming the divided region-specifying unit restates the claimed function and then describes the unit as applying signal processing or machine learning technology to process sensor information, which is not the recited function (0064, the divided region-specifying unit specifies a divided region in which the strength of a received signal is the strongest through beam sweeping and may apply the signal processing or machine learning technology to process sensor information). The specification further describes the determination of the strongest received signal as being performed by the terminal rather than by the claimed device (0054; 0062, the terminal feeds back to the BS the index of the beam in which the strength of a received signal is the strongest). No structure disclosed in the specification is clearly linked to the recited function as performed by the claimed naming the divided region-specifying unit.
Therefore, the claim is indefinite and is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, second paragraph.
Applicant may:
(a) Amend the claim so that the claim limitation will no longer be interpreted as a limitation under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph;
(b) Amend the written description of the specification such that it expressly recites what structure, material, or acts perform the entire claimed function, without introducing any new matter (35 U.S.C. 132(a)); or
(c) Amend the written description of the specification such that it clearly links the structure, material, or acts disclosed therein to the function recited in the claim, without introducing any new matter (35 U.S.C. 132(a)).
If applicant is of the opinion that the written description of the specification already implicitly or inherently discloses the corresponding structure, material, or acts and clearly links them to the function so that one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize what structure, material, or acts perform the claimed function, applicant should clarify the record by either:
(a) Amending the written description of the specification such that it expressly recites the corresponding structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function and clearly links or associates the structure, material, or acts to the claimed function, without introducing any new matter (35 U.S.C. 132(a)); or
(b) Stating on the record what the corresponding structure, material, or acts, which are implicitly or inherently set forth in the written description of the specification, perform the claimed function. For more information, see 37 CFR 1.75(d) and MPEP §§ 608.01(o) and 2181.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 3, 4, 6-8 and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2019/0327783 A1 herein Jung in view of US 2023/0031124 A1 herein Alkhateeb '124.
Claim 1, Jung discloses a beam control method using a multi-sensor in a millimeter-wave and terahertz-wave wireless communication system (Title, Method), the beam control method comprising:
dividing a beamforming region and performing beam sweeping by a base station (BS) (0052; FIG. 2B; 0088; FIG. 6B, sweeps all directions with a wide beam then searches finer within the selected direction, step size set in units of sub-groups or sectors; 0066; 0092; FIG. 7, the node doing the search may be a base station or a terminal, master node acting as a base station sends a discovery reference signal in all directions);
specifying a divided region in which a strength of a received signal is a strongest through beam sweeping (0070; FIG. 4; 0094; FIG. 7, after the full 2TT sweep the direction with the largest signal strength is picked and the step size reduced to search that area more finely, the master node using the same procedure on signals received from the slave node). Jung may not explicitly disclose obtaining image information through at least one sensor included in the BS or a wireless terminal located in the specified divided region; identifying a target terminal to be communicated by using the obtained image information and extracting location information of the identified target terminal; and transmitting data in a direction corresponding to the location information of the identified target terminal.
Alkhateeb '124 discloses obtaining image information through at least one sensor included in the BS (claim 10; claim 16; 0034; FIG. 1, the network node receives image data of the environment and further comprises an RGB camera to capture it, the sensors including RGB cameras, mmWave radar, LiDAR, and position sensors) or a wireless terminal located in the specified divided region;
identifying a target terminal to be communicated by using the obtained image information and extracting location information of the identified target terminal (0063; 0064, beam vectors divide the scene into sectors each tied to a beam value, and the system identifies which sector the user is in, the user's location being derived from the image; 0065; claim 7, object detection finds candidate transmitters and position data filters out the distractors, the image data being processed to track the wireless device's location); and
transmitting data in a direction corresponding to the location information of the identified target terminal (claim 8; 0063, beamforming vectors are selected based on the tracked location of the wireless device, directing narrow beams meaning the antenna arrays are focused in a particular direction in space; see also Jung 0095, the same procedure also determines the master node's be beam). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Jung to include identifying the target terminal and extracting its location from camera image information, as taught by Alkhateeb '124, so as to obtain the optimal beamforming vector from visual data in place of conventional beam training and thereby avoid the large training overhead associated with searching a pre-defined codebook (0063).
Claim 3, Jung in view of Alkhateeb '124 discloses the beam control method according to claim 1. Jung may not explicitly disclose wherein: the identifying of the target terminal to be communicated by using the obtained image information and extracting of the location information of the identified target terminal further comprises extracting confidence information indicated by an error rate or a margin of error.
Alkhateeb '124 discloses wherein: the identifying of the target terminal to be communicated by using the obtained image information and extracting of the location information of the identified target terminal further comprises extracting confidence information indicated by an error rate or a margin of error (0055; 0056, object detectors produce predictions with different confidence and non-maximum suppression keeps the high confidence bounding boxes, the output being a probability distribution over N+1 classes covering the boxes and the case of no transmitter). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Jung to include identifying the target terminal and extracting its location from camera image information, as taught by Alkhateeb '124, so as to obtain the optimal beamforming vector from visual data in place of conventional beam training and thereby avoid the large training overhead associated with searching a pre-defined codebook (0063).
Claim 4, Jung in view of Alkhateeb '124 discloses the beam control method according to claim 1. Jung may not explicitly disclose wherein: the location information[AltContent: ] of the target terminal to be communicated is location information of the target terminal receiving channel state information (CSI) or a beam index feedback.
Alkhateeb '124 discloses wherein: the location information of the target terminal to be communicated is location information of the target terminal receiving channel state information (CSI) or a beam index feedback (0055, wireless channels, beamforming vectors, and received power are embedded into a feature vector that encodes spatial information about the transmitters). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Jung to include identifying the target terminal and extracting its location from camera image information, as taught by Alkhateeb '124, so as to obtain the optimal beamforming vector from visual data in place of conventional beam training and thereby avoid the large training overhead associated with searching a pre-defined codebook (0063).
Claim 6, Jung in view of Alkhateeb '124 discloses the beam control method according to claim 1. Jung may not explicitly disclose wherein: the identifying of the target terminal to be communicated by using the obtained image information and extracting of the location information of the identified target terminal further comprises performing pre-processing of processing the obtained image information through signal processing or machine learning technology.
Alkhateeb '124 discloses wherein: the identifying of the target terminal to be communicated by using the obtained image information and extracting of the location information of the identified target terminal further comprises performing pre-processing of processing the obtained image information through signal processing or machine learning technology (0034; FIG. 1; 0055, the multimodal learning component pre-processes and stores the data to train and deploy the machine learning algorithm, adopting a pre-trained object detector fine-tuned to the candidate transmitter classes). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective tiling date of the claimed invention to modify Jung to include identifying the target terminal and extracting its location from camera image information, as taught by Alkhateeb '124, so as to obtain the optimal beamforming vector from visual data in place of conventional beam training and thereby avoid the large training overhead associated with searching a pre-defined codebook (0063).
Claim 7, as analyzed with respect to the limitations as discussed in claim 1. Jung discloses a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium recording computer programs to perform the beam control method of controlling the beam using the multi-sensor in the millimeter-wave and terahertz-wave wireless communication system of claim 1 (0107; 0108, the method may be embodied as computer readable program or codes on a computer readable recording medium, examples including ROMs, RAMs, and flash memories).
Claim 8, as analyzed with respect to the limitations as discussed in claim 1 and as interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) above. Alkhateeb '124 discloses a beam control device using a multi-sensor in a millimeter-wave and terahertz-wave wireless communication system (Title, Apparatus), and comprising:[AltContent: ]
an information acquisition unit (claim 16; 0034; FIG. 1, the network node further comprises an RGB camera to capture the image data, the sensors including RGB cameras, mmWave radar, LiDAR, and position sensors);
an object identification and location extraction unit (0055; 0056, a pre-trained object detector fine-tuned to the candidate transmitter classes, with non-maximum suppression keeping the high confidence bounding boxes and a probability distribution over N+1 classes; 0065; claim 7, object detection finds candidate transmitters and position data filters out the distractors, the image data being processed to track the wireless device's location); and
a data transmitter (claim 8; 0063, beamforming vectors are selected based on the tracked location of the wireless device, directing narrow beams meaning the antenna arrays are focused in a particular direction in space). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Jung to include identifying the target terminal and extracting its location from camera image information, as taught by Alkhateeb '124, so as to obtain the optimal beamforming vector from visual data in place of conventional beam training and thereby avoid the large training overhead associated with searching a pre-defined codebook (0063).
Claim 10, as analyzed with respect to the limitations as discussed in claims 3 and 6.
Claims 2, 5 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. §103 as being unpatentable over Jung in view of Alkhateeb '124 and further in view of US 2023/0198605 A1herein Alkhateeb '605.
Claim 2, Jung in view of Alkhateeb '124 discloses the beam control method according to claim 1. Jung in view of Alkhateeb '124 may not explicitly disclose wherein: the transmitting of the data in the direction corresponding to the location information of the identified target terminal further comprises, in case that direct data cannot be transmitted to the target terminal, transmitting data to at least one of a relay, a small cell, an intelligence reflecting surface, and a WiFi access point.
Alkhateeb '605 discloses wherein: the transmitting of the data in the direction corresponding to the location information of the identified target terminal further comprises, in case that direct data cannot be transmitted to the target terminal (0056, no direct line-of-sight link between the transmitter and receiver, the link being blocked or negligible), transmitting data to at least one of a relay, a small cell, an intelligence reflecting surface, and a WiFi access point (0037; FIG. 1; 0004, a first IRS provides the signal to an antenna port of the attached relay, the relay amplifies or decodes it and sends it to a second IRS, which reflects and focuses the signal towards the target receiver, IRSs reflecting and focusing incident signals towards intended receivers to avoid or mitigate blockages}. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Jung to include the relay and intelligent reflecting surface tailback, as taught by Alkhateeb '605, so as to reflect and focus the incident signal towards the intended receiver and thereby avoid or mitigate blockages of the wireless communication link (0004).
Claim 5, Jung in view of Alkhateeb '124 discloses the beam control method according to claim 1. Jung in view of Alkhateeb '124 may not explicitly disclose wherein: the location information of the target terminal to be communicated comprises at least one of a distance, an azimuth angle, and an elevation angle.
Alkhateeb '605 discloses wherein· the location information of the target terminal to be cornrnur1icated comprises at least one of a distance, an azimuth angle, and an elevation angle (0064, geometric channel model in which each cluster contributes one ray via a complex coefficient and azimuth/elevation angles of arrival; 0097, 3D LOS path distance in meters). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Jung to include angle-of-arrival and path-distance location parameters, as taught by Alkhateeb '605, so as to configure the reconfigurable antenna elements based on the channels between the surfaces and the transmitters/receivers and thereby realize the potential beamforming gain (0053).
Claim 9, as analyzed with respect to the limitations as discussed in claim 2.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US 20230035010 A1 – An edge device includes a first antenna array and a sensor that senses a surrounding area of the edge device. The edge device further includes control circuitry that detects a first user in the surrounding area of the edge device sensed by the sensor. The control circuitry tracks the detected first user in the surrounding area of the edge device based on the sensor and control the first antenna array to direct a first beam of radio frequency (RF) signal having a signal strength greater than a first threshold in a first direction of the first user being tracked based on the sensor for high-performance communication.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Mehmood B. Khan whose telephone number is (571)272-9277. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:30 am-6:30 pm.
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, Asad Nawaz can be reached at (571) 272-3988. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Mehmood B. Khan/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2463
MEHMOOD B. KHAN
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2463
Prosecution Insights