DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1-17 have been amended. Claims 1-17 have been examined.
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 .
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
Claim Objections
Claims 1, 4, 8-12, and 16-17 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 1, line 14, “the extracted signal” should be changed to “the extracted part of the time-axis waveform signal”. Line 19, “the extracted signal” should be changed to “the extracted part of the frequency-axis waveform signal”. Line 23-24, “the similarity degree” should be changed to “the degree of similarity”.
Claim 4, line 7, “the PSS code sequences” should be changed to “the plurality of PSS code sequences”. Line 13, the abbreviation “NID2” is used without first defining the abbreviation.
Claim 8, line 7, the abbreviation “NID2” is used without first defining the abbreviation. Line 8, “the SSS sequences” should be changed to “the plurality of SSS sequences”.
Claim 9, line 14, the abbreviation “NID1” is used without first defining the abbreviation.
Claim 10, line 10, the abbreviation “NID1” is used without first defining the abbreviation.
Claim 11, line 20, the abbreviation “NID1” is used without first defining the abbreviation.
Claim 12, line 8, the abbreviation “NID1” is used without first defining the abbreviation.
Claim 16, line 11, “the extracted signal” should be changed to “the extracted part of the time-axis waveform signal”. Line 14, “the extracted signal” should be changed to “the extracted part of the frequency-axis waveform signal”. Line 16-17, “the similarity degree” should be changed to “the degree of similarity”.
Claim 17, line 14, “the extracted signal” should be changed to “the extracted part of the time-axis waveform signal”. Line 19, “the extracted signal” should be changed to “the extracted part of the frequency-axis waveform signal”. Line 23-24, “the similarity degree” should be changed to “the degree of similarity”.
Appropriate correction is required.
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
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Claims 1-17 are provisionally rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 1-4 and 8-20 of copending Application No. 19/152,077 (reference application). Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because:
18/877,357
19/152,077
1. A communication device that, in a distributed antenna system including a master station device connected to a base station and one or more slave station devices relaying signals between the master station device and one or more terminal devices communicating with the base station, functions as the master station device or the slave station device and receives an OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) signal transmitted in a time division multiplexing scheme, the communication device comprising: a memory; and one or more processors coupled to the memory and configured to: receive the OFDM signal and convert the OFDM signal into a time-axis waveform signal of a baseband; extract a part of the time-axis waveform signal, and calculate a correlation value between the extracted signal and a known signal; execute FFT (Fast Fourier Transform) on the time-axis waveform signal; extract a part of a frequency-axis waveform signal, on which the FFT is executed, and calculate a degree of similarity between the extracted signal and a known signal; and estimate a switching timing between uplink communication and downlink communication in the communication device based on a calculation result of the similarity degree.
1. A communication device functioning as a master station device or a slave station device in a distributed antenna system and receiving an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) signal transmitted by a time division multiplexing scheme, the distributed antenna system including the master station device connected to a base station and one or more slave station devices relaying a signal between the master station device and a terminal device communicating with the base station, the communication device comprising: a hardware processor connected to a memory and configured to: receive the OFDM signal and convert the OFDM signal into a baseband time-axis waveform signal; extract a part of the time-axis waveform signal; calculate a degree of similarity between the extracted part of the time-axis waveform signal and a known signal; convert a sampling phase of the time waveform signal based on the degree of similarity; execute fast Fourier transform (FFT) on the time-axis waveform signal whose sampling phase has been converted; extract a part of a frequency-axis waveform signal obtained by the FFT; calculate a degree of similarity between the extracted part of the frequency-axis waveform signal and a known signal; and estimate a switching timing between uplink communication and downlink communication in the communication device based on the degree of similarity.
2. The communication device according to claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to receive a PSS (Primary Synchronization Signal), an SSS (Secondary Synchronization Signal), and an SSB (SS/PBCH Block) having a PBCH (Physical Broadcast Channel) including a DMRS (DeModulation of Reference Signal).
2. The communication device according to claim 1, wherein the hardware processor is further configured to receive a radio frame including a synchronization signal block (SS/PBCH; SSB) that includes a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), and a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) including a demodulation of reference signal (DMRS).
3. The communication device according to claim 2, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to detect a PSS signal included in the time-axis waveform signal.
3. The communication device according to claim 2, wherein the hardware processor is further configured to detect a PSS signal included in the time-axis waveform signal.
4. The communication device according to claim 3, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: extract a part of the time-axis waveform signal; output a plurality of PSS code sequences of the PSS signal and code sequence numbers for identifying the PSS code sequences; carry out a correlation calculation between a time-axis waveform signal and the PSS code sequence, and output a correlation value; and output, as an SSB timing, a timing when the correlation value is the highest within a predetermined time range, and output, as an NID2 that is a cell identifier of a physical layer, a PSS code sequence number corresponding to the PSS code sequence at which the correlation value is the highest.
4. The communication device according to claim 3, wherein the hardware processor is further configured to: extract a part of the time-axis waveform signal, generate PSS code sequences of the PSS signal and code sequence numbers for identifying the PSS code sequences, execute correlation calculation between the extracted time-axis waveform signal and the PSS code sequence to calculate a correlation value, detect, as an SSB timing, a timing at which the correlation value is highest in a predetermined time range, and detect, as NID2 being a cell identifier of a physical layer, a PSS code sequence number corresponding to the PSS code sequence at which the correlation value is highest.
5. The communication device according to claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to correct at least one of an amplitude and a phase distortion on an IQ complex plane with respect to the frequency-axis waveform signal.
8. The communication device according to claim 1, wherein the hardware processor is further configured to correct at least one of amplitude or phase distortion on an IQ complex plane with respect to the frequency-axis waveform signal.
6. The communication device according to claim 3, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to detect an SSS signal included in the frequency-axis waveform signal.
9. The communication device according to claim 3, wherein the hardware processor is further configured to detect an SSS signal included in the frequency-axis waveform signal.
7. The communication device according to claim 6, wherein the one or more processors are configured to detect a DMRS signal included in the frequency-axis waveform signal.
10. The communication device according to claim 9, wherein the hardware processor is further configured to detect a DMRS signal included in the frequency-axis waveform signal.
8. The communication device according to claim 6, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: extract, from the frequency-axis waveform signal, a frequency component in which the SSS signal is arranged; and output a plurality of SSS sequences corresponding to an NID2 , which is a cell identifier of a physical layer, and SSS indexes for identifying the SSS sequences.
11. The communication device according to claim 9, wherein the hardware processor is further configured to: extract, from the frequency-axis waveform signal, a frequency component in which an SSS signal is placed, and generate first SSS sequences corresponding to NID2 being a cell identifier of a physical layer, and generate SSS indices for identifying the first SSS sequences.
9. The communication device according to claim 8, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: determine demodulation data corresponding to an IQ complex coordinate position of the SSS signal, and output a series of data determined by an entire of the SSS signal as an SSS sequence; compare the SSS sequence and the plurality of SSS sequences, and output numbers of matches of values as comparison results; and determine a comparison result having a highest number of matches out of the comparison results, and output an SSS index corresponding to the SSS sequence having the highest number of matches as an NID1 indicating a group of cell identifiers of a physical layer.
12. The communication device according to claim 11, wherein the hardware processor is further configured to: determine demodulated data corresponding to an IQ complex coordinate position of the SSS signal, generate, as a second SSS sequence, a series of data determined over the entire SSS signal, compare the second SSS sequence with the first SSS sequence, generate a comparison result indicating the number of matches of values, determine a comparison result indicating the highest number of matches among comparison results, and detect, as NID1, an SSS index corresponding to a first SSS sequence with the highest number of matches, the NID1 indicating a group of cell identifiers of the physical layer.
10. The communication device according to claim 8, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: execute a correlation calculation between an IQ complex signal of the SSS signal and the plurality of SSS sequences; and determine a correlation result having a highest correlation value out of correlation results, and output an SSS index corresponding to the SSS sequence having the highest correlation value as an NID1 indicating a group of cell identifiers of a physical layer.
13. The communication device according to claim 11, wherein the hardware processor is further configured to: execute a correlation calculation between an IQ complex signal of the SSS signal and the first SSS sequence, determine a correlation result indicating the highest correlation value among correlation results of the correlation calculation, and detect, as NID1, an SSS index corresponding to a first SSS sequence with the highest correlation value, the NID1 indicating a group of cell identifiers of the physical layer.
11. The communication device according to claim 8, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: extract two signals present at a predetermined interval out of IQ complex signals of the SSS signal, determine demodulation data corresponding to an IQ complex coordinate position, and output first differential determination data indicating whether there is a difference between obtained two pieces of demodulation data; extract two values present at a predetermined interval out of the plurality of SSS sequences, and output second differential determination data indicating whether there is a difference between the extracted two values; compare the first differential determination data and the second differential determination data, and output numbers of matches of the data as comparison results; and determine a comparison result having the highest number of matches out of the comparison results, and output an SSS index corresponding to the SSS sequence having the highest number of matches as an NID1 indicating a group of cell identifiers of a physical layer.
14. The communication device according to claim 11, wherein the hardware processor is further configured to: extract two signals at a predetermined interval from an IQ complex signal of the SSS signal, determine demodulated data corresponding to an IQ complex coordinate position, generate first differential determination data indicating whether there is a difference between two pieces of obtained demodulated data, extract two values at a predetermined interval from the first SSS sequence, generate second differential determination data indicating whether there is a difference between the extracted two values, compare the first differential determination data with the second differential determination data, generate a comparison result indicating the number of matches of data, determine a comparison result indicating the highest number of matches among comparison results, and detect, as NID1, an SSS index corresponding to a first SSS sequence with the highest number of matches, the NID1 indicating a group of the cell identifiers of the physical layer.
12. The communication device according to claim 7, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: extract, from the frequency-axis waveform signal, a frequency component in which a DMRS signal is arranged; and output a plurality of DMRS sequences corresponding to an NID1 indicating a group of cell identifiers of a physical layer, and ibar_SSB indexes for identifying the DMRS sequences.
15. The communication device according to claim 10, wherein the hardware processor is further configured to: extract a frequency component in which a DMRS signal is placed from the frequency-axis waveform signal, and generate first DMRS sequences corresponding to NID1 and ibar_SSB indices for identifying the first DMRS sequences, the NID1 indicating a group of cell identifiers of a physical layer.
13. The communication device according to claim 12, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: determine demodulation data corresponding to an IQ complex coordinate position of the DMRS signal, and output a series of data determined by an entire of the DMRS signal as a DMRS sequence; compare the DMRS sequence and the plurality of DMRS sequences, and output numbers of matches of values as comparison results; and determine a comparison result having the highest number of matches out of the comparison results, and output an ibar_SSB index corresponding to the DMRS sequence having the highest number of matches.
16. The communication device according to claim 15, wherein hardware processor is further configured to: determine demodulated data corresponding to an IQ complex coordinate position of the DMRS signal, generate, as a second DMRS sequence, a series of data determined over the entire DMRS signal, compare the second DMRS sequence with the first DMRS sequence, generate a comparison result indicating the number of matches of values, determine a comparison result indicating the highest number of matches among comparison results, and detect an ibar_SSB index corresponding to a first DMRS sequence with the highest number of matches.
14. The communication device according to claim 12, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: execute a correlation calculation between an IQ complex signal of the DMRS signal, and the plurality of DMRS sequences; and determine a correlation result having a highest correlation value out of correlation results, and output an ibar_SSB index corresponding to the DMRS sequence having the highest correlation value.
17. The communication device according to claim 15, wherein the hardware processor is further configured to: execute correlation calculation between an IQ complex signal of the DMRS signal and the first DMRS sequence, determine a correlation result indicating the highest correlation value among correlation results of the correlation calculation unit, and detect an ibar_SSB index corresponding to a first DMRS sequence with the highest correlation value.
15. The communication device according to claim 12, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: extract two signals present at a predetermined interval out of IQ complex signals of the DMRS signal, determine demodulation data corresponding to an IQ complex coordinate position, and output third differential determination data indicating whether there is a difference between obtained two pieces of demodulation data; extract, out of the plurality of DMRS sequences, two values present at a predetermined interval, and output fourth differential determination data indicating whether there is a difference between the extracted two values; compare the third differential determination data and the fourth differential determination data, and output numbers of matches of the data as comparison results; and determine a comparison result having the highest number of matches out of the comparison results, and output an ibar_SSB index corresponding to the DMRS sequence having the highest number of matches.
18. The communication device according to claim 15, wherein the hardware processor is further configured to: extract two signals at a predetermined interval from an IQ complex signal of the DMRS signal, determine demodulated data corresponding to an IQ complex coordinate position, generate third differential determination data indicating whether there is a difference between the two pieces of obtained demodulated data, extract two values at a predetermined interval from the first DMRS sequence, generate fourth differential determination data indicating whether there is a difference between the extracted two values, compare the third differential determination with the fourth differential determination data, generate a comparison result indicating the number of matches of data, determine a comparison result indicating the highest number of matches among comparison results, and detect an ibar_SSB index corresponding to a first DMRS sequence with the highest number of matches.
16. A control method for a communication device that, in a distributed antenna system including a master station device connected to a base station and one or more slave station devices relaying signals between the master station device and one or more terminal devices communicating with the base station, functions as the master station device or the slave station device and receives an OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) signal transmitted in a time division multiplexing scheme, the control method comprising: receiving the OFDM signal and converting the OFDM signal into a time-axis waveform signal of a baseband; extracting a part of the time-axis waveform signal and calculating a correlation value between the extracted signal and a known signal; executing FFT (Fast Fourier Transform) on the time-axis waveform signal; extracting a part of a frequency-axis waveform signal, on which the FFT is executed, and calculating a degree of similarity between the extracted signal and a known signal; and estimating a switching timing between uplink communication and downlink communication in the communication device based on a calculation result of the similarity degree.
19. A control method of a communication device, the communication device functioning as a master station device or a slave station device in a distributed antenna system and receiving an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) signal transmitted by a time division multiplexing scheme, the distributed antenna system including the master station device connected to a base station and one or more slave station devices relaying a signal between the master station device and a terminal device communicating with the base station, the method comprising: receiving the OFDM signal and converting the OFDM signal into a baseband time-axis waveform signal; extracting a part of the time-axis waveform signal and calculating a degree of similarity between the extracted signal and a known signal; converting a sampling phase of the time waveform signal as the OFDM signal based on the degree of similarity to a known signal calculated; executing fast Fourier transform (FFT) on the time-axis waveform signal obtained by the converting the sampling phase; extracting a part of a frequency-axis waveform signal on which the FFT is executed and calculating a degree of similarity between the extracted signal and a known signal; and estimating a switching timing between uplink communication and downlink communication in the communication device based on a result of the calculating the degree of similarity.
17. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable medium including programmed instructions for a communication device that, in a distributed antenna system including a master station device connected to a base station and one or more slave station devices relaying signals between the master station device and one or more terminal devices communicating with the base station, functions as the master station device or the slave station device and receives an OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) signal transmitted in a time division multiplexing scheme, the instructions causing the communication device to execute: receiving the OFDM signal and converting the OFDM signal into a time-axis waveform signal of a baseband; extracting a part of the time-axis waveform signal, and calculating a correlation value between the extracted signal and a known signal; executing FFT (Fast Fourier Transform) on the time-axis waveform signal; extracting a part of a frequency-axis waveform signal, on which the FFT is executed, and calculating a degree of similarity between the extracted signal and a known signal; and estimating a switching timing between uplink communication and downlink communication in the communication device based on a calculation result of the similarity degree.
20. A non-transitory recording medium on which a computer program causing a computer to implement the control method according to claim 19 is stored, the computer serving as the communication device. (see claim 19)
This is a provisional nonstatutory double patenting rejection because the patentably indistinct claims have not in fact been patented. Applicant should file a terminal disclaimer to overcome the double patenting rejection.
Conclusion
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FAIYAZKHAN GHAFOERKHAN
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2476
/FAIYAZKHAN GHAFOERKHAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2476
