CTNF 18/854,696 CTNF 99515 DETAILED ACTION Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. 12-151 AIA 26-51 12-51 Status of Claims This action is in reply to the application filed on 10/07/2024 . Claims 11-20 are currently pending and have been examined. Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 10/07/2024 and 11/13/2025 have been considered by the examiner and initialed copies of the IDS are hereby attached. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-20-aia AIA 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. 07-23-aia AIA 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. 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 11-14, 16-17 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C 103 as being unpatentable over Gao (X. Gao, S. Roy and G. Xing, "MIMO-SAR: A Hierarchical High-Resolution Imaging Algorithm for mmWave FMCW Radar in Autonomous Driving," in IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology , vol. 70, no. 8, pp. 7322-7334, Aug. 2021) in view of Lim (WO2021126466A1) . Regarding claim 11 Gao discloses: A method for determining an estimated ego velocity value and an estimated angle value of targets using a radar sensor with a waveguide antenna array ( Section III: “MIMO radar can provide estimation of range, Doppler (radial) velocity, and azimuth angle for the detected targets in the field of view, which confers two advantages to our MIMO-SAR algorithm compared to traditional SAR processing: 1) Initial target localization enables a hierarchical approach whereby selecting ROI within imaging plane for subsequent SAR processing effectively reduces computation complexity; 2) Analyzing estimated Doppler velocities and azimuth angles for detected stationary targets enables radar ego-motion estimation, which is necessary for SAR phase compensation along trajectory (Section IV)” ). Gao does not teach “having at least two groups of antenna units having a plurality of antenna elements, wherein the antenna elements in each of the antenna units are arranged next to one another in a first direction, wherein, in a first group of the at least two groups of antenna units, the antenna units are arranged offset with respect to one another in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction, and wherein, in a second group of the at least two groups of antenna units, the antenna units are arranged offset with respect to one another in the first direction “. However, Lim in the analogous arts teaches: having at least two groups of antenna units having a plurality of antenna elements ( Figure 1 ), wherein the antenna elements in each of the antenna units are arranged next to one another in a first direction ( Figure 1 antenna elements 106A are arranged vertically ), wherein, in a first group of the at least two groups of antenna units, the antenna units are arranged offset with respect to one another in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction ( Figure 1, antenna groups 106A and 102 are orthogonal to each other ), and wherein, in a second group of the at least two groups of antenna units, the antenna units are arranged offset with respect to one another in the first direction ( Figure antenna element in group 106 are offset from each other ), Gao further teaches: the method comprising the following steps: measuring using the radar sensor, a distance between the radar sensor and each respective target ( Figure 4, Section II: “The IF signal has a beat frequency fb=Swτn, where τn is related to the distance to target. To estimate the beat frequency, a fast Fourier transform ( Range FFT ) is used to convert the time domain IF signal into the frequency domain [4]; the peaks in resulting spectrum (or range profile) can be transformed to the distance of target. “ ); measuring, using the radar sensor, a relative velocity of each respective target using a Doppler effect ( Section II: “According to (3) and (4), the relative radial velocity vr will cause a Doppler phase shift Δϕv=4πvrTcλ in IF signal between consecutive chirps. Hence, a fast Fourier transform ( Velocity FFT ) is executed across chirps to estimate phase shift and then transform it to velocity” ); estimating a respective estimated angle value characterizing an angle between a direction of the radar sensor's ego velocity and each respective target ( Section II: “The return from a target located at angle θ (far field) results in a steering vector with fixed phase shift Δϕθ=2πhsinθλ for a uniform linear array [28]. Then the angle estimation can be conducted by a fast Fourier transform ( Angle FFT ) across the signal over the Rx elements “ ); ascertaining an individual estimated ego velocity value of the radar sensor using the relative velocity and the estimated angle value for each target ( Section III: “As mentioned earlier, one benefit of FMCW MIMO radar is access to accurate estimate of target's radial Doppler velocity and azimuth angle within a frame [4]. This in turn enables radar odometry since the sensor's velocity can be estimated by analyzing the relationship between the radial Doppler velocities and azimuth angles of all static targets in the field of view ”); classifying and subdividing the individual estimated ego velocity values in regard to stationary targets, the individual estimated ego velocity values of which lie within a predefinable range with respect to one another , and in regard to moving targets, the individual estimated ego velocity values of which lie outside the range ( Section III: “In reality, moving objects are expected in an experimental scenario, resulting in mixing detection of stationary objects and moving objects. Therefore, we employ Random Sample Consensus (RANSAC) algorithm [35] prior to radar odometry to separate out needed stationary targets and determine N d [21]. RANSAC is an iterative method for optimal extraction of inliers (corresponding to stationary targets) that fit model (11) very well and separation of outliers (moving targets or clutter) by random sampling of observed data [35].” ); ascertaining a combined estimated ego velocity value from the individual estimated ego velocity values of the stationary targets ( Figure 9; Section III: “As illustrated in Fig. 9, if a radar sensor ismoving with v s, then all stationary targets move with relative velocity (blue line) equal to the sensor’s speed with opposite heading. Given that Doppler radar only measures the radial velocity component (green line) of target, we can reconstruct the sensor’s velocity components along x-axis and y-axis ( v x , v y) by analyzing the velocity profile of at least two stationary targets [21], [22]. ”); and ascertaining a corrected estimated angle value for each of the stationary targets using the combined estimated ego velocity value and the respective measured relative velocity ( Equation 8 ). It would have been obvious to someone in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Gao with Lim to incorporate the feature of: having at least two groups of antenna units having a plurality of antenna elements, wherein the antenna elements in each of the antenna units are arranged next to one another in a first direction, wherein, in a first group of the at least two groups of antenna units, the antenna units are arranged offset with respect to one another in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction, and wherein, in a second group of the at least two groups of antenna units, the antenna units are arranged offset with respect to one another in the first direction . Gao and Lim are considered analogous arts as they all disclose the methods for processing radar data. However, Gao fails to disclose a feature of multiple antenna groups. This feature is disclosed by Lim. It would have been obvious to someone in the art prior to the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify Gao with Lim to incorporate the feature of: having at least two groups of antenna units having a plurality of antenna elements, wherein the antenna elements in each of the antenna units are arranged next to one another in a first direction, wherein, in a first group of the at least two groups of antenna units, the antenna units are arranged offset with respect to one another in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction, and wherein, in a second group of the at least two groups of antenna units, the antenna units are arranged offset with respect to one another in the first direction as such a feature would increase the accuracy and efficiency of the system. Regarding claim 12 the combination of Gao and Lim discloses all the limitations of claim 11. Lim further teaches: wherein, in the second group, the antenna units are additionally arranged offset with respect to one another in the second direction ( Figure 1 ). Regarding claim 13 the combination of Gao and Lim discloses all the limitations of claim 11. Lim further teaches: wherein the at least two groups are alternately assigned to either the transmitting side or the receiving side ( Para 0049: “The example radar antenna architecture 100 includes a uniform linear array 102 for receiving radar signals. The uniform linear array 102 may be configured as a sixteen by ten array of antenna elements. The example radar antenna architecture 100 also includes a SAR reception array 104. The SAR reception array 104 may be configured as a six by ten array of antenna elements. The example radar antenna architecture 100 also includes four MIMO transmission antenna arrays 106A-106D. Each MIMO array may be configured as a six by ten array. Further, the example radar antenna architecture 100 includes four SAR transmission antenna arrays 108A-108D, each SAR array configured as a six by ten array.” ). Regarding claim 14 the combination of Gao and Lim discloses all the limitations of claim 11. Gao further teaches: wherein the predefinable range is an error tolerance range ascertained from an error for the measurement of the relative velocity and from an error for the angle estimation (Section V: “We assume the velocity errors ϵvx,ϵvy for any frame are independent Gaussian variables, i.e., ϵvx ∼ N(0,σ2),ϵvy ∼ N(0,σ2). Then the distance deviation Δd at frame p is the accumulation of the previous velocity error components projected to the radial direction θi.” ). Regarding claim 16 the combination of Gao and Lim discloses all the limitations of claim 11.Gao further teaches: wherein, for each moving target, the estimated angle value resulting from the angle estimation is adopted as the estimated angle value for the moving target ( Section II: “The return from a target located at angle θ (far field) results in a steering vector with fixed phase shift Δϕθ=2πhsinθλ for a uniform linear array [28]. Then the angle estimation can be conducted by a fast Fourier transform ( Angle FFT ) across the signal over the Rx elements [3], [4]. The Angle FFT is represented as SRVA(mr,mv,mθ)=F{SRV(mr,mv,q)}, where mθ is azimuth angle bin. The angle resolution for MIMO radar is θres=λNTxNRxhcosθ [29]. For non-stationary targets, the motion-induced phase errors should be compensated before Angle FFT on the virtual Rx elements corresponding to the second Tx in case of TDM-MIMO [3]. According to [30], these are corrected via phase compensation of Δϕv2 (half the estimated Doppler phase shift), which can be obtained from the Velocity FFT results. “) . Regarding claim 17 the combination of Gao and Lim discloses all the limitations of claim 11.Gao further teaches: wherein an estimated velocity value for each moving target is ascertained from the relative velocity of the target measured using the Doppler effect ( Section II: “According to (3) and (4), the relative radial velocity vr will cause a Doppler phase shift Δϕv=4πvrTcλ in IF signal between consecutive chirps. Hence, a fast Fourier transform ( Velocity FFT ) is executed across chirps to estimate phase shift and then transform it to velocity “ ). Regarding claim 19 the combination of Gao and Lim discloses all the limitations of claim 11. Gao further teaches: wherein the radar sensor is a chirp sequence radar ( Section I: “In this paper, we propose a new MIMO-SAR algorithm that exploits key features of FMCW MIMO radar to achieve computationally efficient SAR imaging. Specifically, MIMO processing is used for initial low-cost target detection and localization to narrow down the region of interest (ROI) for subsequent finer-resolution SAR processing. We adopt the time-domain backprojection SAR algorithm [8] - that lends itself naturally to parallel processing with graphics processing units (GPU) [18], [19] - to progressively operate on ROI as new snapshots are coherently added and processed. To reduce SAR processing frequency (i.e. PRF) and consequent complexity, the returns from a train of FMCW chirps are stored in a range-velocity-angle (RVA) data cube that is processed via the 3D-FFT algorithm (Section II-B); thereafter we select the max-intensity velocity component for subsequent SAR processing. Above 2-stage hierarchical workflow drastically reduces the computation load while preserving high-resolution imaging.” ) . 07-21-aia AIA Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C 103 as being unpatentable over Gao (X. Gao, S. Roy and G. Xing, "MIMO-SAR: A Hierarchical High-Resolution Imaging Algorithm for mmWave FMCW Radar in Autonomous Driving," in IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology , vol. 70, no. 8, pp. 7322-7334, Aug. 2021) in view of Lim (WO2021126466A1) and further in view of Bialer (US202100111150A1) . Regarding claim 15 the combination of Gao and Lim discloses all the limitations of claim 11. Gao does not teach “wherein an averaged velocity value for the stationary targets is determined as the combined estimated ego velocity value by weighted or unweighted averaging “. However, Bialer in the analogous arts teaches: wherein an averaged velocity value for the stationary targets is determined as the combined estimated ego velocity value by weighted or unweighted averaging ( Para 0006: “The control system classifies a majority of the objects in proximity to the vehicle as static, and construes static objects as those having a relative spatial spread in angle and range. Each target object is categorized as either stationary or moving by identifying as static a majority of objects that are grouped inside a velocity vector cluster with a predetermined spatial spread in angle and range. A host vehicle velocity vector is estimated from an average of the relative velocities of the static objects within a select one of the velocity vector clusters.” ). It would have been obvious to someone in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Gao with Bialer to incorporate the feature of: wherein an averaged velocity value for the stationary targets is determined as the combined estimated ego velocity value by weighted or unweighted averaging . Gao and Bialer are considered analogous arts as they all disclose the methods for processing radar data. However, Gao fails to disclose a feature of using weighted averaging. This feature is disclosed by Bialer. It would have been obvious to someone in the art prior to the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify Gao with Bialer to incorporate the feature of: wherein an averaged velocity value for the stationary targets is determined as the combined estimated ego velocity value by weighted or unweighted averaging as such a feature would increase the accuracy and efficiency of the system . 07-21-aia AIA Claim 18 is rejected under 35 U.S.C 103 as being unpatentable over Gao (X. Gao, S. Roy and G. Xing, "MIMO-SAR: A Hierarchical High-Resolution Imaging Algorithm for mmWave FMCW Radar in Autonomous Driving," in IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology , vol. 70, no. 8, pp. 7322-7334, Aug. 2021) in view of Lim (WO2021126466A1) and further in view of Fei (US20200241124A1) . Regarding claim 18 the combination of Gao and Lim discloses all the limitations of claim 11. Gao does not teach “wherein an elevation angle is taken into account when ascertaining the individual estimated ego velocity value of the radar sensor using the relative velocity and the estimated angle value for each of the targets “. However, wherein an elevation angle is taken into account when ascertaining the individual estimated ego velocity value of the radar sensor using the relative velocity and the estimated angle value for each of the targets ( Para 0019: “It can be provided that the inventive method can discriminate stationary and dynamic radar targets detected (classification) and then utilize the knowledge of the relative velocity and the angle between stationary targets and the vehicle (ego car) to provide an estimate of the ego-velocity. In order to provide the best possible discrimination between moving and stationary targets a precise knowledge of the ego velocity has to be estimated since it directly can influence the velocity window of stationary target observations (see e. g. C. Grimm and R. Farhoud and T. Fei and E. Warsitz and R. Haeb-Umbach, Hypothesis test for the detection of moving targets in automotive radar, in Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Microwaves, Communications, Antennas and Electronic Systems, 2017). ”). It would have been obvious to someone in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Gao with Fei to incorporate the feature of: wherein an elevation angle is taken into account when ascertaining the individual estimated ego velocity value of the radar sensor using the relative velocity and the estimated angle value for each of the targets . Gao and Fei are considered analogous arts as they all disclose the methods for processing radar data. However, Gao fails to disclose a feature of using the elevation angle value to estimate ego velocity. This feature is disclosed by Fei. It would have been obvious to someone in the art prior to the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify Gao with Fei to incorporate the feature of: wherein an elevation angle is taken into account when ascertaining the individual estimated ego velocity value of the radar sensor using the relative velocity and the estimated angle value for each of the targets as such a feature would increase the efficiency of the system . 07-21-aia AIA Claim 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C 103 as being unpatentable over Gao (X. Gao, S. Roy and G. Xing, "MIMO-SAR: A Hierarchical High-Resolution Imaging Algorithm for mmWave FMCW Radar in Autonomous Driving," in IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology , vol. 70, no. 8, pp. 7322-7334, Aug. 2021) in view of Lim (WO2021126466A1) and further in view of Abatzoglou (US 20100259442A1) . Regarding claim 20 the combination of Gao and Lim discloses all the limitations of claim 11. Gao does not teach “wherein the ascertainment of the relative velocity is carried out using the Doppler effect using keystone processing “. However, wherein the ascertainment of the relative velocity is carried out using the Doppler effect using keystone processing ( Para 0055: “Keystone Formatting substantially removes the linear range migration, which is the dominant blurring mechanism that must be compensated for in order to obtain a high resolution range-doppler map of the moving target. After Keystone Formatting, the range and radial velocity of the strongest scatterer in the Keystoned range-doppler map can be extracted by determining the maximum of the range-doppler map, and used as a first estimate of those target motion parameters to initialize the coarse search over parameter space. As noted earlier, the HT has previously been used, but had limited success due to its non-coherent nature. According to the exemplary embodiment disclosed herein, MLE initialization via Keystone Formatting is fully coherent and yields ballpark first estimates of target range and radial velocity in lower SNR conditions than the HT procedure.” ). It would have been obvious to someone in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Gao with Abatzoglou to incorporate the feature of: wherein the ascertainment of the relative velocity is carried out using the Doppler effect using keystone processing . Gao and Abatzoglou are considered analogous arts as they all disclose the methods for processing radar data. However, Gao fails to disclose a feature of using a Keystone algorithm. This feature is disclosed by Abatzoglou. It would have been obvious to someone in the art prior to the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify Gao with Abatzoglou to incorporate the feature of: wherein the ascertainment of the relative velocity is carried out using the Doppler effect using keystone processing as such a feature would increase the spatial resolution and efficiency of the system. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Bongani J. Mashele whose telephone number is (703)756-5861. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 8:00AM-5:00PM (CT). 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 Resha H. Desai , can be reached on 571-270-7792 . 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. /BONGANI JABULANI MASHELE/Examiner, Art Unit 3648 /TIMOTHY A BRAINARD/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3648 Application/Control Number: 18/854,696 Page 2 Art Unit: 3648 Application/Control Number: 18/854,696 Page 3 Art Unit: 3648 Application/Control Number: 18/854,696 Page 4 Art Unit: 3648 Application/Control Number: 18/854,696 Page 5 Art Unit: 3648 Application/Control Number: 18/854,696 Page 6 Art Unit: 3648 Application/Control Number: 18/854,696 Page 7 Art Unit: 3648 Application/Control Number: 18/854,696 Page 8 Art Unit: 3648 Application/Control Number: 18/854,696 Page 9 Art Unit: 3648 Application/Control Number: 18/854,696 Page 10 Art Unit: 3648 Application/Control Number: 18/854,696 Page 11 Art Unit: 3648
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