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 .
Status of Claims
The following is a non-final, first office action in response to the communication filed 09/27/2024 and the claims filed 12/09/2024. Claims 1-20 are currently pending and have been examined.
Priority
Applicant’s claim for the benefit of a prior-filed application under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) or under 35 U.S.C. 120, 121, 365(c), or 386(c) is acknowledged. Benefit is given to the priority document CN202210313763.6 and the effective filing date of 03/28/2022.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 11/12/2024 and 06/23/2025 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement has been considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claims 4, 10, 14 and 20 are objected to because of the following informalities: the phrase “in response to the location information of the first reflector is different”, located in the fourth from last line in each of these claims, should read “in response to the location information of the first reflector being different”. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 11-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 11 recites the limitation "the first node" in lines 4-5. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim, as a first node has not been previously recited. For purposes of examination, “the first node” will be read as being synonymous with the “communication apparatus”.
Claim 16 recites the limitation "the second node" in line 6. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim, as a second node has not been previously recited. For purposes of examination, “the second node” will be read as being synonymous with the “communication apparatus”.
Dependent claims are likewise rejected.
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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 6, 8-9, 16 and 18-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Bayesteh (US-20210076417-A1; hereinafter Bayesteh).
Regarding claim 6, Bayesteh discloses:
A method comprising:
determining, by a second node, target information (see at least [0155]; “Similar to stand-alone dedicated sensing agents, a UE used for sensing can perform passive sensing of the surrounding environment by reception of the reflection of a downlink signal from TRP.”), wherein the target information comprises location information of a first reflector and/or location information of a second reflector, the first reflector is a reflector closest to the second node, the second reflector is a reflector with a largest deflection angle relative to a direction of a target signal, and the target signal is a signal sent by a first node to the second node (see at least [0156]; “The sensing information can be related to range, shape, and velocity of targets over a direction in which a downlink signal is transmitted by the corresponding TRP.” When information related to all detected targets are determined, the information regarding the closest target and largest deflection angle target are comprised therein.); and
sending, by the second node, the target information to the first node (see at least [0156]; “In opportunistic sensing, a corresponding TRP does not perform active sensing in downlink, but performs only data transmission. In this case, the UE as sensing agent performs passive sensing and sends sensing information to the corresponding TRP for further processing.”).
Regarding claim 8, Bayesteh discloses the method according to claim 6. Bayesteh further teaches:
wherein the location information of the first reflector comprises a distance between the first reflector and the second node, and a deflection angle of the first reflector relative to the direction of the target signal; and the location information of the second reflector comprises a distance between the second reflector and the second node, and the deflection angle of the second reflector relative to the direction of the target signal (see at least [0156]; “In opportunistic sensing, a corresponding TRP does not perform active sensing in downlink, but performs only data transmission. In this case, the UE as sensing agent performs passive sensing and sends sensing information to the corresponding TRP for further processing. The sensing information can be related to range, shape, and velocity of targets over a direction in which a downlink signal is transmitted by the corresponding TRP.” See also [0005]; “Sensing signals or sensing reference signals can be used to determine properties of a wireless communication network and its surrounding environment. Such properties could include the location and/or velocity of UEs, and the location and/or velocity of scattering objects that obstruct communication signals.” When information related to all detected targets are sent, the information regarding the closest target and largest deflection angle target are comprised therein.); or
the location information of the first reflector comprises an offset of a geographical location of the first reflector relative to a geographical location of the second node, and the location information of the second reflector comprises an offset of a geographical location of the second reflector relative to the geographical location of the second node; or
the location information of the first reflector comprises a geographical location of the first reflector, and the location information of the second reflector comprises a geographical location of the second reflector.
Regarding claim 9, Bayesteh discloses the method according to claim 6. Bayesteh further teaches:
wherein the location information of the first reflector matches is the location information of the second reflector, the target information comprises the location information of the first reflector or the location information of the second reflector; or
the location information of the first reflector is different from the location information of the second reflector, the target information comprises the location information of the first reflector and the location information of the second reflector (see at least [0156]; “In opportunistic sensing, a corresponding TRP does not perform active sensing in downlink, but performs only data transmission. In this case, the UE as sensing agent performs passive sensing and sends sensing information to the corresponding TRP for further processing. The sensing information can be related to range, shape, and velocity of targets over a direction in which a downlink signal is transmitted by the corresponding TRP.” When information related to all detected targets are send, the information regarding the closest target and largest deflection angle target are comprised therein.).
Regarding claim 16, Bayesteh discloses:
A communication apparatus (see at least Fig. 2A, electronic device 110), wherein the communication apparatus comprises a processor (see at least Fig. 2A, processing unit 200) coupled to a memory (see at least Fig. 2A, memory 208) storing instructions, which when executed by the processor, configure the communication apparatus (see at least[0080]; “The memory 208 stores instructions and data used, generated, or collected by the ED 110. For example, the memory 208 could store software instructions or modules configured to implement some or all of the functionality and/or embodiments described elsewhere herein and that are executed by the processing unit(s) 200.”) to:
determine target information (see at least [0155]; “Similar to stand-alone dedicated sensing agents, a UE used for sensing can perform passive sensing of the surrounding environment by reception of the reflection of a downlink signal from TRP.”), wherein the target information comprises location information of a first reflector and/or location information of a second reflector, the first reflector is a reflector closest to the second node, the second reflector is a reflector with a largest deflection angle relative to a direction of a target signal, and the target signal is a signal sent by a first node to the second node (see at least [0156]; “The sensing information can be related to range, shape, and velocity of targets over a direction in which a downlink signal is transmitted by the corresponding TRP.” When information related to all detected targets are determined, the information regarding the closest target and largest deflection angle target are comprised therein.); and
send the target information to the first node (see at least [0156]; “In opportunistic sensing, a corresponding TRP does not perform active sensing in downlink, but performs only data transmission. In this case, the UE as sensing agent performs passive sensing and sends sensing information to the corresponding TRP for further processing.”).
Regarding claim 18, Bayesteh discloses the communication apparatus according to claim 16. The remaining limitations of claim are analogous to those of claim 8 and are rejected for similar reasons.
Regarding claim 19, Bayesteh discloses the communication apparatus according to claim 16. The remaining limitations of claim are analogous to those of claim 9 and are rejected for similar reasons.
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.
Claims 1-3 and 11-13, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bayesteh.
Regarding claim 1, Bayesteh discloses [Note: what Bayesteh fails to disclose is strike-through]
A method comprising:
determining, by a first node, a target distance, wherein the target distance is a distance between the first node and a second node (see at least [0120]; “The TRP 406 could determine certain properties of the UE 420 based on a reflection of the sensing signal 464, including the range, location, shape, speed and/or velocity of the UE 420, for example.”);
receiving, by the first node, target information from the second node (see at least [0156]; “In opportunistic sensing, a corresponding TRP does not perform active sensing in downlink, but performs only data transmission. In this case, the UE as sensing agent performs passive sensing and sends sensing information to the corresponding TRP for further processing.”), wherein the target information comprises location information of a first reflector and/or location information of a second reflector, the first reflector is a reflector closest to the second node, the second reflector is a reflector with a largest deflection angle relative to a direction of a target signal, and the target signal is a signal sent by the first node to the second node (see at least [0156]; “The sensing information can be related to range, shape, and velocity of targets over a direction in which a downlink signal is transmitted by the corresponding TRP.” When information related to all detected targets are sent, the information regarding the closest target and largest deflection angle target are comprised therein.);
determining, by the first node, a first resource based on the target distance and the target information (see at least [0126]; “In some embodiments, communication signals are configured based on the determined properties of one or more objects. The configuration of a communication signal could include, but is not limited to, the configuration of a numerology, waveform, frame structure, multiple access scheme, protocol, beamforming direction, coding scheme and/or modulation scheme. Any or all of the communication signals 430, 440, 450 could be configured based on the properties of the UEs 414, 416, 418, 420. In one example, the location and velocity of the UE 416 could be used to help determine a suitable configuration for the DL signal 430. The properties of any scattering objects between the UE 416 and the TRP 402 could also be used to help determine a suitable configuration for the DL signal 430. Beamforming could be used to direct the DL signal 430 towards the UE 416 and to avoid any scattering objects.”); and
sensing, by the first node, the second node (see at least Fig. 4 and [0118] – [0119], for example [0118]; “In one example, the TRP 404 could receive a reflection of the sensing signal 460 from the UE 410 and potentially determine properties of the UE 410 based on the reflection of the sensing signal.”)
However, Bayesteh does not explicitly teach sensing, by the first node, the second node by using the first resource.
Bayesteh does teach using knowledge of targets from previous measurements to inform resource allocation for active sensing performed by the UE (see at least [0154]; “Once a UE is selected and assigned by the network for active sensing, some extra information can be signaled to the UE to indicate more details of the sensing. This may include some parameters of the sensing signal including a beam sweeping pattern, resource allocation and SeRS sequence length and some indications (explicit and/or implicit) for sensing quality and some level of knowledge of the environment (including the target classification results based on previous measurements, etc.).”
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 resource allocation for sensing by a TRP (mapped above to node 1) to include consideration of knowledge of the environment from previous measurements, as Bayesteh teaches for UE active sensing. Knowledge of the environment, which Bayesteh teaches to be useful for active sensing performed by a UE, would also be useful for active sensing performed by a TRP.
Regarding claim 2, Bayesteh discloses the method according to claim 1. Bayesteh further teaches:
wherein the location information of the first reflector comprises a distance between the first reflector and the second node, and a deflection angle of the first reflector relative to the direction of the target signal; and the location information of the second reflector comprises a distance between the second reflector and the second node, and the deflection angle of the second reflector relative to the direction of the target signal (see at least [0156]; “In opportunistic sensing, a corresponding TRP does not perform active sensing in downlink, but performs only data transmission. In this case, the UE as sensing agent performs passive sensing and sends sensing information to the corresponding TRP for further processing. The sensing information can be related to range, shape, and velocity of targets over a direction in which a downlink signal is transmitted by the corresponding TRP.” See also [0005]; “Sensing signals or sensing reference signals can be used to determine properties of a wireless communication network and its surrounding environment. Such properties could include the location and/or velocity of UEs, and the location and/or velocity of scattering objects that obstruct communication signals.” When information related to all detected targets are sent, the information regarding the closest target and largest deflection angle target are comprised therein.); or
the location information of the first reflector comprises an offset of a geographical location of the first reflector relative to a geographical location of the second node, and the location information of the second reflector comprises an offset of a geographical location of the second reflector relative to the geographical location of the second node; or
the location information of the first reflector comprises a geographical location of the first reflector, and the location information of the second reflector comprises a geographical location of the second reflector.
Regarding claim 3, Bayesteh discloses the method according to claim 1. Bayesteh further teaches:
wherein the location information of the first reflector matches is the location information of the second reflector, the target information comprises the location information of the first reflector or the location information of the second reflector; or
the location information of the first reflector is different from the location information of the second reflector, the target information comprises the location information of the first reflector and the location information of the second reflector (see at least [0156]; “In opportunistic sensing, a corresponding TRP does not perform active sensing in downlink, but performs only data transmission. In this case, the UE as sensing agent performs passive sensing and sends sensing information to the corresponding TRP for further processing. The sensing information can be related to range, shape, and velocity of targets over a direction in which a downlink signal is transmitted by the corresponding TRP.” When information related to all detected targets are send, the information regarding the closest target and largest deflection angle target are comprised therein.).
Regarding claim 11, Bayesteh discloses [Note: what Bayesteh fails to disclose is strike-through]:
A communication apparatus (see at least Fig. 2B, base station 170), comprising a processor (see at least Fig. 2B, processing unit 250) coupled to a memory (see at least Fig. 2B, memory 258) storing instructions, which when executed by the processor, configure the communication apparatus (see at least [0082]; “The memory 258 stores instructions and data used, generated, or collected by the base station 170. For example, the memory 258 could store software instructions or modules configured to implement some or all of the functionality and/or embodiments described elsewhere herein and that are executed by the processing unit(s) 250.”) to:
determine a target distance, wherein the target distance is a distance between the first node and a second node (see at least [0120]; “The TRP 406 could determine certain properties of the UE 420 based on a reflection of the sensing signal 464, including the range, location, shape, speed and/or velocity of the UE 420, for example.”);
receive target information from the second node (see at least [0156]; “In opportunistic sensing, a corresponding TRP does not perform active sensing in downlink, but performs only data transmission. In this case, the UE as sensing agent performs passive sensing and sends sensing information to the corresponding TRP for further processing.”), wherein the target information comprises location information of a first reflector and/or location information of a second reflector, the first reflector is a reflector closest to the second node, the second reflector is a reflector with a largest deflection angle relative to a direction of a target signal, and the target signal is a signal sent by the first node to the second node (see at least [0156]; “The sensing information can be related to range, shape, and velocity of targets over a direction in which a downlink signal is transmitted by the corresponding TRP.” When information related to all detected targets are sent, the information regarding the closest target and largest deflection angle target are comprised therein.);
determine a first resource based on the target distance and the target information (see at least [0126]; “In some embodiments, communication signals are configured based on the determined properties of one or more objects. The configuration of a communication signal could include, but is not limited to, the configuration of a numerology, waveform, frame structure, multiple access scheme, protocol, beamforming direction, coding scheme and/or modulation scheme. Any or all of the communication signals 430, 440, 450 could be configured based on the properties of the UEs 414, 416, 418, 420. In one example, the location and velocity of the UE 416 could be used to help determine a suitable configuration for the DL signal 430. The properties of any scattering objects between the UE 416 and the TRP 402 could also be used to help determine a suitable configuration for the DL signal 430. Beamforming could be used to direct the DL signal 430 towards the UE 416 and to avoid any scattering objects.”); and
sense the second node (see at least Fig. 4 and [0118] – [0119], for example [0118]; “In one example, the TRP 404 could receive a reflection of the sensing signal 460 from the UE 410 and potentially determine properties of the UE 410 based on the reflection of the sensing signal.”)
Bayesteh does teach using knowledge of targets from previous measurements to inform resource allocation for active sensing performed by the UE (see at least [0154]; “Once a UE is selected and assigned by the network for active sensing, some extra information can be signaled to the UE to indicate more details of the sensing. This may include some parameters of the sensing signal including a beam sweeping pattern, resource allocation and SeRS sequence length and some indications (explicit and/or implicit) for sensing quality and some level of knowledge of the environment (including the target classification results based on previous measurements, etc.).”
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 resource allocation for sensing by a TRP (mapped above to node 1) to include consideration of knowledge of the environment from previous measurements, as Bayesteh teaches for UE active sensing. Knowledge of the environment, which Bayesteh teaches to be useful for active sensing performed by a UE, would also be useful for active sensing performed by a TRP.
Regarding claim 12, Bayesteh discloses the communication apparatus according to claim 11. The remaining limitations of claim are analogous to those of claim 2 and are rejected for similar reasons.
Regarding claim 13, Bayesteh discloses the communication apparatus according to claim 11. The remaining limitations of claim are analogous to those of claim 3 and are rejected for similar reasons.
Claims 7 and 17, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bayesteh in view of Yang et al. (CN-112887903-A; hereinafter, Yang).
Regarding claim 7, Bayesteh discloses the method according to claim 6. However, Bayesteh does not explicitly teach:
wherein before determining, by the a-second node, target information, the method further comprises:
receiving, by the second node, the target signal from the first node; and determining, by the second node, the direction of the target signal.
Bayesteh is directed to integration of sensing and wireless communications, and Yang discloses a method of integrated communication, positioning and sensing based on soft information fusion. Yang teaches:
wherein before determining, by the a-second node, target information (see at least Abs, where soft information is extracted prior to environment estimation: “The invention discloses a communication, positioning and sensing integrated method based on soft information fusion, which comprises the following steps that a user extracts corresponding soft information from a received radio frequency signal, a sensing signal and an image signal, and carries out fusion processing to obtain estimation of own position and state and estimation of surrounding environment characteristics…”), the method further comprises:
receiving, by the second node, the target signal from the first node (see translation at least [0009]; “Step 1. Users extract relevant soft information from the received radio frequency signals, sensor signals and image signals, perform fusion processing, and obtain estimates of their own position and state, as well as estimates of the characteristics of the surrounding environment.” See also [0014]; “As a further technical solution of the present invention, the radio frequency signal in step 1 includes: cellular signals, Wi-Fi signals, and radar signals transmitted via radio frequency;”); and determining, by the second node, the direction of the target signal (see translation at least [0018]; “1) Extracting soft information includes, but is not limited to, extracting angle of arrival information, time delay information, Doppler information, and received signal strength information from radio frequency signals; extracting step size information and steering information from sensor signals; and extracting depth information from image signals.”).
Both Bayesteh and Yang describe integrated communication and sensing systems where network nodes extract information about surrounding scatterers (see for example [0029] of Yang translation; “The surrounding environment features refer to scatterer features including the state, location, distribution density, and material of the scatterer…”). 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 methods used in Bayesteh to include additional information gained from extraction of “soft information” from received radio frequency signals, as taught by Yang. One of ordinary skill would be motivated to include extraction of “soft information” in order to inform analysis and insight into the surrounding environment, as recognized by Yang (see Yang at least [0009]; “Users extract relevant soft information from the received radio frequency signals, sensor signals and image signals, perform fusion processing, and obtain estimates of their own position and state, as well as estimates of the characteristics of the surrounding environment.”).
Regarding claim 17, Bayesteh discloses the communication apparatus according to claim 16. The remaining limitations of claim are analogous to those of claim 7 and are rejected for similar reasons.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-5, 10, 14-15 and 20 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The subject matter of claims 4, 10, 14 and 10 specifies a format for messaging sent from node 2 to node 1 that includes target location information. The first field in this message indicates if “the location information of the first reflector matches the location information of the second reflector”. Referring to the definitions of the first and second reflector in the independent claims, this limitation thus requires the first field to indicate if closest reflector (defined to be the first reflector) is co-located with the largest deflection angle reflector (defined to be the second reflector). Bayesteh teaches sending location information of reflectors, but does not teach sending a message that indicates whether the closest reflector and highest angle reflector are co-located. The prior art does not provide a teaching, suggestion, or motivation for such a message, and thus the claims are not obvious over the prior art.
Claims 5 and 15 depend on claims with allowable subject matter.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Ashley B. Raynal whose telephone number is (703)756-4546. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 8 AM - 4 PM.
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/ASHLEY BROWN RAYNAL/Examiner, Art Unit 3648
/OLUMIDE AJIBADE AKONAI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3648
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