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 .
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.
Status of Claims
This action is in reply to the application filed on 12/20/2024.
Claims 1-12 and 14 are currently pending and have been examined.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 12/10/2024 and 05/13/2025 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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)(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 1-12 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Pakrooh (US 20240430727 A1), hereinafter Pakrooh.
Regarding claim 1, Pakrooh discloses
A method performed by a first device among one or more first devices for sensing in an ultra-wide band (UWB) system including the one or more first devices and a second device being capable of communicating with the one or more first devices, the method comprising (See at least Figs. 2-3, [0046] “FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example 200 of a network entity (e.g., base station, AP, or UWB device 110 in communication with a UE 120 in a wireless network 100” Pakrooh discloses an initiating device (320) as a second device (110) and a responding device (330) as a first device (120)):
receiving, from the second device, a first request message for requesting inference information corresponding to an object of interest (OOI) (See at least Figs. 2-3 and 6, [0054] “a responding device (e.g., a UE 120, a network entity) includes means for receiving a signal from an initiating device”, [0059] “An initiating device 320 (e.g., a UE 120, a network entity) may transmit a signal that is reflected off of the target object 310” Pakrooh discloses receiving at a responding device from an initiator (second) device a signal which serves as a request.);
generating, based on the first request message, a channel impulse response (CIR) report corresponding to the OOI (See at least [0059] “A responding device 330 (e.g., a UE 120, a network entity) may receive the direct signal and reflections of the signal. The responding device 330 may estimate, from the signal, a CIR.”), the CIR report including one or more attributes corresponding to the OOI (See at least [0059] “The CIR may represent or characterize signal reflections from one or more objects as one or more taps.”);
processing the CIR report to obtain the inference information corresponding to the OOI (See at least Figs. 5-6, Item 630, [0065] “the responding device 330 may be configured (e.g., by the initiating device 320, by another device, or at production) to select one or more reference points to provide in the CIR report 336.” Pakrooh discloses processing at the first device to identify reference points such as strongest or center of mass tap, which are information used for further inference gathering of the reflected object); and
transmitting, to the second device, a first response message including the inference information corresponding to the OOI (See at least Figs. 5-6, Item 640, [0087] “process 600 may include transmitting, to the initiating device, a CIR report that indicates the one or more taps (block 640)”)
Regarding claim 2, Pakrooh, as shown above, discloses all of the limitations of claim 1. Pakrooh additionally discloses
receiving the first request message for inference information further comprises: receiving a request for the one or more attributes corresponding to the OOI (See at least Figs. 2-3 and 6, [0054] “a responding device (e.g., a UE 120, a network entity) includes means for receiving a signal from an initiating device”, [0059] “An initiating device 320 (e.g., a UE 120, a network entity) may transmit a signal that is reflected off of the target object 310” Pakrooh discloses receiving at a responding device from an initiator (second) device a signal which serves as a request.), the one or more attributes comprising at least one of a detection of the OOI, a location corresponding to the OOI, identification information corresponding to the OOI, a confidence level corresponding to the OOI, the CIR report corresponding to the OOI, and one or more body parameters corresponding to the OOI (See at least [0065] “the responding device 330 may be configured (e.g., by the initiating device 320, by another device, or at production) to select one or more reference points to provide in the CIR report 336.” Pakrooh discloses responding to the request signal with the CIR report corresponding to the target (OOI)).
Regarding claim 3, Pakrooh, as shown above, discloses all of the limitations of claim 1. Pakrooh additionally discloses
the inference information comprises at least one of information about an inference of the OOI, information about a partial inference of the OOI, a probability indicating a match of the one or more attributes corresponding to the OOI with pre-stored object information, information about a detection of OOI, information about a location corresponding to the OOI, identification information corresponding to the OOI, a confidence level corresponding to the OOI, the CIR report corresponding to the OOI, and one or more body parameters corresponding to the OOI (See at least [0065] “Consistent CIR reports may include CIR reports with information (e.g., taps, reference points) that the initiating device may use to align the CIR reports in time in order to match reflected signals to objects over time, in order to identify objects when movement is involved.” Pakrooh discloses sending with the CIR report reference points and taps which are used by the initiating device for at least identification information).
Regarding claim 4, Pakrooh, as shown above, discloses all of the limitations of claim 1. Pakrooh additionally discloses
receiving, from the second device, a second request message for requesting additional inference information corresponding to the OOI, the second request message being a request message for one or more additional attributes required for generation of concluding sensing inference (See at least [0055] “an initiating device (e.g., a UE 120, a network entity) includes means for transmitting a signal that includes multiple packets;” Pakrooh discloses each packet as a request message);
re-processing the generated CIR report to generate the additional inference information corresponding to the OOI based on the received second request message (See at least [0054] “means for estimating, from the signal, a CIR that represents signal reflections from one or more objects as multiple taps; means for selecting one or more taps from the multiple taps based at least in part on a configuration for providing consistent CIR reports; and/or means for transmitting, to the initiating device, a CIR report that indicates the one or more taps” Pakrooh discloses producing CIR reports and thereby additional reference information. See also [0063]-[0065]); and
transmitting, to the second device, a second response message including the additional inference information (See at least [0054] “means for estimating, from the signal, a CIR that represents signal reflections from one or more objects as multiple taps; means for selecting one or more taps from the multiple taps based at least in part on a configuration for providing consistent CIR reports; and/or means for transmitting, to the initiating device, a CIR report that indicates the one or more taps” ).
Regarding claim 5, Pakrooh, as shown above, discloses all of the limitations of claim 1. Pakrooh additionally discloses
the first device is a sensing device which transmits and receive signals in a UWB frequency spectrum to sense the OOI (See at least [0036] “A UE 120 may be capable of UWB communications”, [0046] “UWB device 110 in communication with a UE 120 in a wireless network 100” Pakrooh discloses performing the UWB communication ranging system using transmissions from the first and second devices), and wherein the second device is a sensing requesting device which requests an inference corresponding to the OOI to one or more sensing devices and combines one or more inference information received from the one or more sensing devices to generate concluding sensing inference information (See at least [0055] “an initiating device (e.g., a UE 120, a network entity) includes means for transmitting a signal that includes multiple packets; means for receiving, from a responding device, a CIR report for each packet of the multiple packets; means for aligning, using one or more taps in the CIR report for each packet, the CIR reports across the multiple packets to identify a target object”).
Regarding claim 6, Pakrooh discloses
A method performed by a second device in an ultra-wide band (UWB) system including one or more first devices for sensing and the second device being capable of communicating with the one or more first devices, the method comprising (See at least Figs. 2-3, [0046] “FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example 200 of a network entity (e.g., base station, AP, or UWB device 110 in communication with a UE 120 in a wireless network 100” Pakrooh discloses an initiating device (320) as a second device (110) and a responding device (330) as a first device (120)):
transmitting, to one or more first devices, a first request message for requesting inference information corresponding to an object of interest (OOI) (See at least Figs. 2-3 and 6, [0054] “a responding device (e.g., a UE 120, a network entity) includes means for receiving a signal from an initiating device”, [0059] “An initiating device 320 (e.g., a UE 120, a network entity) may transmit a signal that is reflected off of the target object 310” Pakrooh discloses receiving at a responding device from an initiator (second) device a signal which serves as a request.);
receiving, from each of the one or more first devices, a first response message including the inference information processed based on a channel impulse response (CIR) report, the CIR report including one or more attributes corresponding to the OOI (See at least Figs. 5-6, Item 630, [0065] “the responding device 330 may be configured (e.g., by the initiating device 320, by another device, or at production) to select one or more reference points to provide in the CIR report 336.”, [0087] “process 600 may include transmitting, to the initiating device, a CIR report that indicates the one or more taps (block 640)” Pakrooh discloses processing at the first device to identify reference points such as strongest or center of mass tap, which are information used for further inference gathering of the reflected object); and
combining one or more inference information received from the one or more first devices to generate concluding sensing inference information corresponding to the OOI (See at least Figs. 5-6, [0063] “By aligning the CIR reports, the initiating device 320 may better identify the target object 310”).
Regarding claim 7, applicant recites limitations of the same or substantially the same scope as claim 2. Accordingly, claim 7 is rejected in the same or substantially the same manner as claim 2, shown above.
Regarding claim 8, applicant recites limitations of the same or substantially the same scope as claim 3. Accordingly, claim 8 is rejected in the same or substantially the same manner as claim 3, shown above.
Regarding claim 9, applicant recites limitations of the same or substantially the same scope as claim 4. Accordingly, claim 9 is rejected in the same or substantially the same manner as claim 4, shown above.
Regarding claim 10, Pakrooh, as shown above, discloses all of the limitations of claim 6. Pakrooh additionally discloses
combining one or more inference information comprises: comparing at least one of one or more confidence levels corresponding to the received one or more inference information with one or more predefined thresholds (See at least [0067] “as shown by reference number 510, the responding device 330 may select taps that satisfy a tap threshold 512 (e.g., minimum RSRP). This may be in addition to selecting the strongest tap 502. By specifying the selection of stronger taps, insignificant taps may be removed and signaling overhead may be decreased.”); and
combining the received one or more inference information based on a result of the comparison to generate the concluding sensing inference information (See at least [0067] “as shown by reference number 510, the responding device 330 may select taps that satisfy a tap threshold 512 (e.g., minimum RSRP). This may be in addition to selecting the strongest tap 502. By specifying the selection of stronger taps, insignificant taps may be removed and signaling overhead may be decreased.” Pakrooh discloses selecting and gathering taps that meet the threshold).
Regarding claim 11, Pakrooh, as shown above, discloses all of the limitations of claim 6. Pakrooh additionally discloses
performing one or more actions corresponding to the OOI based on the concluding sensing inference information (See at least Fig. 7, Item 740, [0112] “process 700 may include performing an action based at least in part on the target object, the location of the target object, or the movement of the target object (block 740)”).
Regarding claim 12, applicant recites limitations of the same or substantially the same scope as claim 1. Accordingly, claim 12 is rejected in the same or substantially the same manner as claim 1, shown above. Pakrooh additionally discloses
the first device comprising: a transceiver; and a processor configured to (See at least Fig. 2, [0051] “the UE 120 includes a transceiver. […] The transceiver may be used by a processor (e.g., the controller/processor 280) and the memory 282 to perform aspects of any of the methods described herein”).
Regarding claim 14, applicant recites limitations of the same or substantially the same scope as claim 6. Accordingly, claim 14 is rejected in the same or substantially the same manner as claim 6, shown above. Pakrooh additionally discloses
the second device comprising: a transceiver; and a processor configured to (See at least Fig. 2, [0052] “the network entity includes a transceiver. […] The transceiver may be used by a processor (e.g., the controller/processor 240) and the memory 242 to perform aspects of any of the methods described herein”).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Hirzallah (US 20230354247 A1) - Disclosed are techniques for wireless communication. In an aspect, a network entity receives a provide location information message from a user equipment (UE), the provide location information message including one or more positioning estimates derived by the UE during one or more positioning inference occasions of a machine learning model, wherein the machine learning model is applied to one or more measurements of a wireless channel between the UE and a network node during each of the one or more positioning inference occasions, and transmits a performance report indicating a performance of the machine learning model at least in deriving the one or more positioning estimates during the one or more positioning inference occasions.
Wang (US 20230288549 A1) - Systems and methods for simultaneously recovering and separate sounds from multiple sources using Impulse Radio Ultra-Wideband (IR-UWB) signals are described. In one embodiment, a device can be configured for generating an audio signal based on audio source ranging using ultrawideband signals. In an embodiment the device includes, a transmitter circuitry, a receiver circuitry, memory and a processor. The processor configured to generate a radio signal. The radio signal including an ultra-wideband Gaussian pulse modulated on a radio-frequency carrier. The processor further configured to transmit the radio signal using the transmitter circuitry, receive one or more backscattered signals at the receiver circuitry, demodulate the one or more backscattered signals to generate one or more baseband signals, and generate a set of data frames based on the one or more baseband signals.
Tertinek (US 20210211327 A1) - An ultra-wideband (UWB) wireless communication system, comprises a first wireless apparatus; a second wireless apparatus that participates in a first ranging sequence with the first wireless apparatus; and a transmission channel between the first and second wireless apparatuses that transmits data of the first ranging sequence. At least one of the first wireless apparatus or second wireless apparatus generating at least one channel impulse response (CIR) and determining from the at least one CIR whether the transmission channel includes a line-of-sight channel. A special purpose processor reduces a current performance level of at least one of the first and second wireless apparatuses during a second ranging sequence in response to a determination that the transmission channel includes the line-of-sight channel.
Zeng (US 20200309932 A1) - A system and method is disclosed for determining a particular vehicle state based on a UWB signal received at a plurality of receiving nodes. A plurality of channel-impulse responses (CIRs) may be computed from the UWB signal received from the plurality of receiving nodes. A plurality of peak-based features based on a selected position and amplitude may be extracted from the plurality of CIRs. A plurality of correlation-based features may be generated by correlating the plurality of CIRs to a corpus of reference CIRs relating to a plurality of vehicle states. A plurality of maximum likelihood vehicle matrices may be generated by correlating the plurality of CIRs to the corpus of reference CIRs relating to the plurality of vehicle states. The vehicle state may then be determined by processing the plurality of peak-based features and correlation-based features using the machine learning classification algorithm.
Hehn (US 20160259032 A1) - A self-localizing apparatus uses timestampable signals transmitted by transceivers that are a part of a distributed localization system to compute its position relative to the transceivers. Transceivers and self-localizing apparatuses are arranged for highly accurate timestamping using digital and analog reception and transmission electronics as well as one or more highly accurate clocks, compensation units, localization units, position calibration units, scheduling units, or synchronization units. Transceivers and self-localizing apparatuses are further arranged to allow full scalability in the number of self-localizing apparatuses and to allow robust self-localization with latencies and update rates useful for high performance applications such as autonomous mobile robot control.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KENNETH W GOOD whose telephone number is (571)272-4186. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Thu 7:30 am - 5:00 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Resha H Desai can be reached at (571) 270-7792. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/KENNETH W GOOD/
Examiner, Art Unit 3648
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