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 .
Examiner’s Note
For applicant’s benefit, portions of the cited reference(s) have been cited to aid in the review of the rejection(s). While every attempt has been made to be thorough and consistent within the rejection it is noted that the PRIOR ART MUST BE CONSIDERED IN ITS ENTIRETY, including disclosures that teach away from the claims. See MPEP 2141.02 VI.
“The use of patents as references is not limited to what the patentees describe as their own inventions or to the problems with which they are concerned. They are part of the literature of the art, relevant for all they contain.” In re Heck, 699 F.2d 1331, 1332-33, 216 USPQ 1038, 1039 (Fed. Cir. 1983) (quoting In re Lemelson, 397 F.2d 1006, 1009, 158 USPQ 275, 277 (CCPA 1968)). A reference may be relied upon for all that it would have reasonably suggested to one having ordinary skill in the art, including non-preferred embodiments. Merck & Co. v.Biocraft Laboratories, 874 F.2d 804, 10 USPQ2d 1843 (Fed. Cir.), cert. denied, 493 U.S. 975 (1989). See also Upsher-Smith Labs. v. Pamlab, LLC, 412 F.3d 1319, 1323, 75 USPQ2d 1213, 1215 (Fed. Cir. 2005) See MPEP 2123.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
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.
Claim(s) 1-4, 7-8, and 11-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Arlelid et al. (US 2018/0164419 A1 “ARLELID”), in view of Cusmariu et al. (US 7,715,996 B1 “CUSMARIU”).
Regarding claim 1, ARLELID discloses (Examiner’s note: What ARLELID does not disclose is ) a method for estimating a center frequency of a wavelet, the method comprising:
performing a sequence of measurements to obtain a sequence of samples, wherein each measurement comprises obtaining a respective sample of a convolution of a first wavelet generated by a first wavelet generator and a second wavelet generated by a second wavelet generator (the transmitter 102 is arranged to transmit wavelets generated by the first wavelet generator 104. The receiver 108 includes a second wavelet generator 110 [0059]); (correlation results for a set of different delays between a transmitted wavelet and a reference wavelet may be determined [0024])
wherein the first wavelet is the wavelet whose center frequency is to be estimated and comprises an initial portion having an increasing amplitude, an end portion having a decreasing amplitude, and a middle portion having a substantially constant center frequency, wherein the second wavelet has a duration smaller than a duration of the middle portion of the first wavelet (“a wavelet” refers to an electro-magnetic oscillating signal having an amplitude envelope beginning at zero amplitude, increasing to a maximum amplitude, and then decreasing to zero amplitude. A wavelet may comprise one or more oscillations [0013])
and wherein a timing offset between the first and second wavelet is varied between the measurements such that each sample represents a respective point of the convolution, and such that the sequence of samples represents a portion of substantially constant center frequency of the convolution (the system provides control of the delay between the output of the first trigger signal and the output of the second trigger signal, wherein the delay between the transmission of a wavelet and the generation of a reference wavelet may be controlled [0009])
In a same or similar field of endeavor, CUSMARIU teaches computation of phase using either the inverse tangent function or the complex logarithm [col. 2, lines 53-54]. CUSMARIU further teaches unwrapping the phase by joining segments of the phase as they exceed 2π radians; estimating on the computing device the frequency from the unwrapped phase by deriving the linear regression fit through the phase estimate in the data block selected, and taking the coefficient of the 1st order term as the frequency estimate over the selected data block [claim 9].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of ARLELID to include the teachings of CUSMARIU, because doing so would improve accuracy and efficiency of data computation, as recognized by CUSMARIU.
Regarding claim 2, ARLELID/ CUSMARIU discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein each measurement of the sequence of measurements comprises: generating the first wavelet by the first wavelet generator and the second wavelet by the second wavelet generator (the transmitter 102 includes a first wavelet generator 104. The transmitter 102 is arranged to transmit wavelets generated by the first wavelet generator 104. As will be described in greater detail below the first wavelet generator 104 may be arranged to generate a wavelet in response to a trigger signal P_tx. The receiver 108 includes a second wavelet generator 110. As will be described in greater detail below the second wavelet generator 110 may be arranged to generate a wavelet in response to a trigger signal P_rx. Wavelets generated by the second wavelet generator 110 may in the following be referred to as reference wavelets [ARLELID 0059]); mixing and integrating the first wavelet and the second wavelet to obtain an integrated mixing product (the correlator circuit 111 includes a mixer for mixing a reference wavelet with a received wavelet [ARLELID 0060]); (a set of correlations resulting from mixing and integrating the received signal [ARLELID 0110]); and sampling the integrated mixing product to obtain a sample (the integrated signal W_int may be sampled by an ADC and supplied to a DSP for further processing [ARLELID 0109]).
Regarding claim 3, ARLELID/ CUSMARIU discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the timing offset between the first and second wavelets is varied between the sequence of measurements such that the second wavelet presents a different overlap with the middle portion of the first wavelet in each measurement (the delay line and the controller hence enables the total propagation delay to be varied between a minimum value of the total propagation delay of the delay line and a maximum value of the total propagation delay of the delay line in (preferably) a plurality of discrete steps of a size smaller than the period of the reference clock signal, and even more preferably in steps of a size smaller than half the period of the reference clock signal [ARLELID 0008]); (the delay line 1022 is preferably designed to present an adjustment range resulting in the overlap in the digital-to-time transfer function of the timing circuitry 1018 [ARLELID 0147]).
Regarding claim 4, ARLELID/ CUSMARIU discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the timing offset is varied over a range such that the sequence of samples spans at least one period of the convolution (the system 100 is arranged such that the adjustment range of the fine delay control, i.e. the adjustment range of the total propagation delay of the delay line 122 (or 322 or 422) (or synonymously the dynamic range of the delay line) corresponds to at least one period of Ref_clock of length T_ref (or if applicable T_ref/2) [ARLELID 0113]).
Regarding claim 7, ARLELID/ CUSMARIU discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the first wavelet generator has a configurable duration (P_tx may have a duration of Ptx_dur. By this configuration a pulse P_tx may be triggered each falling edge of the input signal, where the duration of the pulse corresponds to the propagation delay of the INV gate [ARLELID 0065]).
Regarding claim 8, ARLELID/ CUSMARIU discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein a frequency spectrum of the second wavelet comprises a band overlapping the center frequency of the first wavelet (the delay line and the controller hence enables the total propagation delay to be varied between a minimum value of the total propagation delay of the delay line and a maximum value of the total propagation delay of the delay line in (preferably) a plurality of discrete steps of a size smaller than the period of the reference clock signal, and even more preferably in steps of a size smaller than half the period of the reference clock signal [ARLELID 0008]); (the delay line 1022 is preferably designed to present an adjustment range resulting in the overlap in the digital-to-time transfer function of the timing circuitry 1018 [ARLELID 0147]).
Regarding claim 11, ARLELID/ CUSMARIU discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the first and second wavelet generators are comprised in a radar device (the system 100 comprises a transmitter 102 and a receiver 108. The transmitter 102 includes a first wavelet generator 104. The receiver 108 includes a second wavelet generator 110 [ARLELID 0059], cited and incorporated in the rejection of claim 1).
Regarding claim 12, ARLELID/ CUSMARIU discloses the method according to claim 11, wherein the first wavelet generator is configured to generate a wavelet for transmission from the radar device (the system 100 comprises a transmitter 102 and a receiver 108. The transmitter 102 includes a first wavelet generator 104. The transmitter 102 is arranged to transmit wavelets generated by the first wavelet generator 104 [ARLELID 0059], , cited and incorporated in the rejection of claim 1).
Regarding claim 13, ARLELID discloses an electronic device (a transmitter-receiver system 100 [0059]) comprising:
a first wavelet generator (the first wavelet generator 104 [0071])
a second wavelet generator (the second wavelet generator 110 [0071])
a sampling circuit (a sampling circuit [0117])
wherein the electronic device is configured to perform a sequence of measurements to obtain a sequence of samples, wherein each measurement comprises obtaining, by the sampling circuit, a respective sample of a convolution of a first wavelet generated by the first wavelet generator and a second wavelet generated by the second wavelet generator (the transmitter 102 is arranged to transmit wavelets generated by the first wavelet generator 104. The receiver 108 includes a second wavelet generator 110 [0059]); (correlation results for a set of different delays between a transmitted wavelet and a reference wavelet may be determined [0024])
wherein the first wavelet is the wavelet whose center frequency is to be estimated and comprises an initial portion having an increasing amplitude, an end portion having a decreasing amplitude, and a middle portion having a substantially constant center frequency, wherein the second wavelet has a duration smaller than a duration of the middle portion of the first wavelet (“a wavelet” refers to an electro-magnetic oscillating signal having an amplitude envelope beginning at zero amplitude, increasing to a maximum amplitude, and then decreasing to zero amplitude. A wavelet may comprise one or more oscillations [0013])
and wherein a timing offset between the first and second wavelet is varied between the measurements such that each sample represents a respective point of the convolution, and such that the sequence of samples represents a portion of substantially constant center frequency of the convolution (the system provides control of the delay between the output of the first trigger signal and the output of the second trigger signal, wherein the delay between the transmission of a wavelet and the generation of a reference wavelet may be controlled [0009])
In a same or similar field of endeavor, CUSMARIU teaches computation of phase using either the inverse tangent function or the complex logarithm [col. 2, lines 53-54]. CUSMARIU further teaches unwrapping the phase by joining segments of the phase as they exceed 2π radians; estimating on the computing device the frequency from the unwrapped phase by deriving the linear regression fit through the phase estimate in the data block selected, and taking the coefficient of the 1st order term as the frequency estimate over the selected data block [claim 9].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of ARLELID to include the teachings of CUSMARIU, because doing so would improve accuracy and efficiency of data computation, as recognized by CUSMARIU.
Regarding claim 14, ARLELID/ CUSMARIU discloses the electronic device according to claim 13, further comprising a mixer and integrator circuit, and wherein each measurement comprises: generating the first wavelet by the first wavelet generator and the second wavelet by the second wavelet generator (the transmitter 102 includes a first wavelet generator 104. The transmitter 102 is arranged to transmit wavelets generated by the first wavelet generator 104. As will be described in greater detail below the first wavelet generator 104 may be arranged to generate a wavelet in response to a trigger signal P_tx. The receiver 108 includes a second wavelet generator 110. As will be described in greater detail below the second wavelet generator 110 may be arranged to generate a wavelet in response to a trigger signal P_rx. Wavelets generated by the second wavelet generator 110 may in the following be referred to as reference wavelets [ARLELID 0059]); mixing and integrating the first wavelet and the second wavelet, by the mixer and integrator circuit, to obtain an integrated mixing product (the correlator circuit 111 includes a mixer for mixing a reference wavelet with a received wavelet [ARLELID 0060]); (a set of correlations resulting from mixing and integrating the received signal [ARLELID 0110]); and sampling, by the sampling circuit, the integrated mixing product to obtain a sample (the integrated signal W_int may be sampled by an ADC and supplied to a DSP for further processing [ARLELID 0109]).
Regarding claim 15, ARLELID/ CUSMARIU discloses the electronic device according to claim 13, wherein the electronic device is a radar device (the system 100 comprises a transmitter 102 and a receiver 108. The transmitter 102 includes a first wavelet generator 104. The receiver 108 includes a second wavelet generator 110 [ARLELID 0059], cited and incorporated in the rejection of claim 13).
Claim(s) 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ARLELID, in view of CUSMARIU, and further in view of Kanterakis et al. (US 6,021,157 A “KANTERAKIS”).
Regarding claim 5, ARLELID/ CUSMARIU discloses the method according to claim 1,
In a same or similar field of endeavor, KANTERAKIS teaches filtering the in-phase component and the quadrature-phase component of the received spread-spectrum signal to generate a second arbitrary phase angle [col. 3, lines 43-44].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of ARLELID to include the teachings of KANTERAKIS, because doing so would improve signal data accuracy and system efficiency, as recognized by KANTERAKIS.
Claim(s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ARLELID, in view of CUSMARIU, and further in view of Steele et al. (US 10,965,507 B1 “STEELE”).
Regarding claim 6, ARLELID/ CUSMARIU discloses the method according to claim 1,
In a same or similar field of endeavor, STEELE teaches to generate a Barker-modulated waveform having a constant envelope [col. 6, lines 44-45].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of ARLELID to include the teachings of STEELE, because doing so would improve system performance and accuracy, as recognized by STEELE.
Claim(s) 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ARLELID, in view of CUSMARIU, and further in view of Hiscock (US 2014/0362891 A1 “HISCOCK”).
Regarding claim 9, ARLELID/ CUSMARIU discloses the method according to claim 1,
In a same or similar field of endeavor, HISCOCK teaches that transmitter device 501 comprises a chirp former 502 which generates chirp signals for transmission by a chirp transmitter 503 comprised in an antenna unit 504 [0086]. Examiner’s note: It is further noted that the limitation is in alternative form; therefore, only one alternative was given patentable weight.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of ARLELID to include the teachings of HISCOCK, because doing so would provide improved sensitivity without significant sacrifices to data rate, as recognized by HISCOCK.
Claim(s) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ARLELID, in view of CUSMARIU, and further in view of Shikata (US 2010/0225406 A1 “SHIKATA”).
Regarding claim 10, ARLELID/ CUSMARIU discloses the method according to claim 1,
In a same or similar field of endeavor, SHIKATA teaches that the calibration circuit 15 includes a first comparator CM1, a second comparator CM2 [0033]. Furthermore, SHIKATA teaches that the oscillation circuit 11 acquires calibration data through the data lines and calibrates the frequency f0 of the output signal in accordance with a calibration value represented by the calibration data [0019].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of ARLELID to include the teachings of SHIKATA, because doing so would improve system performance, as recognized by SHIKATA.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HAILEY R LE whose telephone number is (571)272-4910. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM EST.
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/Hailey R Le/Examiner, Art Unit 3648 June 9, 2026
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