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 .
Status of Claims
Claims 1-6 are pending in instant application.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Acknowledgment is made of Applicant's claim for foreign priority based on the certified copy of the Taiwanese application (TW112138168) filed on 10/04/2023.
However, should Applicant desire to obtain the benefit of foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d) prior to declaration of an interference, a certified English translation of the foreign application must be submitted in reply to this action. 37 CFR 41.154(b) and 41.202(e).
Failure to provide a certified translation may result in no benefit being accorded for the non-English application.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement(s) (IDS) submitted on 09/30/2024 was filed before the mailing of a first Office action on the merits. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claim(s) [ 1,2,4 and 5 ] are objected to because of the following informalities:
[ “so as”]. The phrase “so as” is not positively recited claim language and may render the associated limitation optional or unclear. Similar language such as “so that,” “thereby,” “configured to,” “adapted to,” “able to,” or “capable of” may not clearly limit claim scope unless it recites a definite structural or functional requirement.
A positive action verb or clearer limiting language would avoid ambiguity as to whether the following limitation has patentable weight.
Appropriate correction is required. See MPEP § 2106 and § 2143.03.
Claim Interpretation
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The claims in this application are given their broadest reasonable interpretation using the plain meaning of the claim language in light of the specification as it would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim element (also commonly referred to as a claim limitation) is limited by the description in the specification when 35 U.S.C. 112(f), is invoked.
As explained in MPEP § 2181, subsection I, claim limitations that meet the following three-prong test will be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(A) the claim limitation uses the term “means” or “step” or a term used as a substitute for “means” that is a generic placeholder (also called a nonce term or a non-structural term having no specific structural meaning) for performing the claimed function;
(B) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is modified by functional language, typically, but not always linked by the transition word “for” (e.g., “means for”) or another linking word or phrase, such as “configured to” or “so that”; and
(C) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is not modified by sufficient structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function.
Use of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim with functional language creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f). The presumption that the claim limitation is interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f), is rebutted when the claim limitation recites sufficient structure, material, or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Absence of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is not to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f). The presumption that the claim limitation is not interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f), is rebutted when the claim limitation recites function without reciting sufficient structure, material or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Claim limitations in this application that use the word “means” (or “step”) are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f), except as otherwise indicated in an Office action. Conversely, claim limitations in this application that do not use the word “means” (or “step”) are not being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f), except as otherwise indicated in an Office action.
This application includes one or more claim limitations that do not use the word “means,” but are nonetheless being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f), because the claim limitations use generic placeholders that are coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to perform the recited function and the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier.
Such claim limitations are:
“a receiver unit configured to receive” … Claim 1
“a conversion module electrically connected to” … Claim 1
“an estimation module electrically connected to” … Claim 1
“a processing unit electrically connected to” … Claim 1
“a storage unit electrically connected to” … Claim 1
Because these claim limitations are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f), they are being interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof.
If applicant does not intend to have these limitations interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f), applicant may:
(1) amend the claim limitation(s) to avoid them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) (e.g., by reciting sufficient structure to perform the claimed function); or
(2) present a sufficient showing that the claim limitations recite sufficient structure to perform
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.
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.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C 103 as being unpatentable over Matsumura et al. [Matsumura] US 20260180692 A1 in view of Kachroo et al. [Kachroo] US11616553B1 , Zhang et al. [Zhang] US 12279190 B1 and in further view of Ibrahim et al. [Ibrahim] WO 2023158943 A1.
Regarding claim 1. Matsumura discloses a wireless signal transceiver device comprising: a receiver unit configured to receive a wireless signal; (Paragraph [0458], The communication apparatus 1004 is hardware (transmitting/receiving device) for allowing inter-computer communication via at least one of wired and wireless networks, and may be referred to as, for example, a “network device”, a “network controller”, a “network card”, a “communication module”, and so on. The communication apparatus 1004 may be configured to include a high frequency switch, a duplexer, a filter, a frequency synthesizer, and so on in order to realize, for example, at least one of frequency division duplex (FDD) and time division duplex (TDD). For example, the transmitting/receiving section 120 (220), the transmitting/receiving antenna 130 (230), and so on may be implemented by the communication apparatus 1004. In the transmitting/receiving section 120 (220), the transmitting section 120a (220a) and the receiving section 120b (220b) can be implemented while being separated physically or logically.)
a conversion module electrically connected to the receiver unit and configured to convert the wireless signal into a frequency-domain signal; (Abstract, A terminal according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes a receiving section that receives a configuration of one of a first demodulation reference signal (DMRS) to which a first frequency domain orthogonal cover code (FD-OCC) having a length of 2 is applied and a second DMRS to which a second FD-OCC having a length of 4 is applied, and a control section that determines a size of an antenna port field in downlink control information for scheduling a physical uplink shared channel, based on the configuration. According to an aspect of the present disclosure, it is possible to use an appropriate number of DMRS ports. Paragraph [0411],The transmitting/receiving section 120 (reception processing section 1212) may apply reception processing such as analog-digital conversion, fast Fourier transform (FFT) processing, inverse discrete Fourier transform (IDFT) processing (as necessary), filtering, de-mapping, demodulation, decoding (which may include error correction decoding), MAC layer processing, the processing of the RLC layer and the processing of the PDCP layer, and so on, on the acquired baseband signal, and acquire user data, and so on.)
Matsumura does not disclose an estimation module electrically connected to the conversion module and configured to estimate the frequency-domain signal so as to obtain first channel state information, wherein the first channel state information comprises a plurality of channel state information sub portions; a processing unit electrically connected to the estimation module and configured to filter the first channel state information so as to obtain second channel state information; and a storage unit electrically connected to the processing unit and configured to store the second channel state information.
However, Kachroo disclose an estimation module electrically connected to the conversion module and configured to estimate the frequency-domain signal so as to obtain first channel state information, wherein the first channel state information comprises a plurality of channel state information sub portions; (Fig. 1C illustrates Baseband Channel Estimator connected to Processor/Supervised Machine Learning (ML) Model. Column 3 Lines 27- 32 ,As opposed to the RSSI, a single value available per packet, the CSI data includes the detailed channel impulse response with both amplitude and phase information across all the Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) subcarriers and is updated (at the maximum rate) every OFDM symbol. Column 4, Lines 19-22, One method includes receiving first CSI data representing channel properties of a wireless channel used by a first wireless device and a second wireless device that operates in a 2.4 GHz band. [Examiner Notes: Here Baseband Channel Estimator is being treated as estimation module and in modern wireless communication both Processor/Supervised Machine Learning (ML) Model are considered as conversion module. The setup under wireless device, works as whole and configure to estimate the signal received from antenna. Both amplitude and phase information are fundamental components of CSI Sub-Portions.])
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 teachings as taught by Matsumura with the teachings of Kachroo, since doing so would have given efficient processing, better sensing accuracy, and reduced overhead.
Modified Matsumura does not disclose a processing unit electrically connected to the estimation module and configured to filter the first channel state information so as to obtain second channel state information; and a storage unit electrically connected to the processing unit and configured to store the second channel state information.
However, Zhang disclose a processing unit electrically connected to the estimation module and configured to filter the first channel state information so as to obtain second channel state information; (Fig. 1c Illustrates Processor connected to Baseband Channel Estimator Module. FIG. 1B is a block diagram of a CSI sensing engine, according to at least one embodiment. Column 21,Paragraph 6, Lines 9- 19, The processing logic generates, using the first CSI data, a first set of CSI samples (block 1404). The processing logic removes (or adjusts amplitudes of) one or more outlier CSI samples of the first set of CSI samples using a sparse outlier process (block 1406). The processing logic removes a cluster of outlier CSI samples in the first set of CSI samples using a cluster outlier process (block 1408). The processing logic determines FFT data for each channel subcarrier index of a set of channel subcarriers of the wireless channel using the first set of CSI samples (block 1410).[Examiner Notes: Here Baseband Channel Estimator Module works as a estimation module and connected to processor , which works as whole unit and receive signal from antenna. Processing unit removes outlier CSI which would result in filters CSI (Second CSI)])
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 teachings as taught by modified Matsumura with the teachings of Zhang, since doing so would have yields a clean waveform because of noise reduction and smoothing.
Modified Matsumura does not disclose and a storage unit electrically connected to the processing unit and configured to store the second channel state information.
However, Ibrahim disclose and a storage unit electrically connected to the processing unit and configured to store the second channel state information. ([0007] A user equipment for wireless communication is disclosed. The user equipment includes a transceiver, a memory, and a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory. The processor and the memory are configured to obtain a first channel state information (CSI)-related quantity and a second CSI-related quantity in at least one of: respective first and second CSI-interference measurement (CSI-IM) resources, or respective first and second CSI-reference signal (CSI-RS) resources in respective first and second slots, and transmit a baseline CSI report based on the first CSI- related quantity in the first slot, and a differential CSI report based on the second CSI- related quantity in the second slot, the baseline CSI report being linked to the differential CSI report.)
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 teachings as taught by modified Matsumura with the teachings of Ibrahim, since doing so would have help in optimizing network performance.
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C 103 as being unpatentable over modified Matsumura.
Regarding claim 2. Modified Matsumura discloses the wireless signal transceiver device according to claim 1,
Kachroo discloses wherein the processing unit filters out the channel state information sub portions which are outside a time interval from the first channel state information so as to obtain the second channel state information. (Fig. 1C illustrates Baseband Channel Estimator connected to Processor/Supervised Machine Learning (ML) Model. Column 3 Lines 27- 32 ,As opposed to the RSSI, a single value available per packet, the CSI data includes the detailed channel impulse response with both amplitude and phase information across all the Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) subcarriers and is updated (at the maximum rate) every OFDM symbol. Column 4, Lines 19-22, One method includes receiving first CSI data representing channel properties of a wireless channel used by a first wireless device and a second wireless device that operates in a 2.4 GHz band. [Examiner Notes: Here Baseband Channel Estimator is being treated as estimation module and in modern wireless communication both Processor/Supervised Machine Learning (ML) Model are considered as conversion module. The setup under wireless device, works as whole and configure to estimate the signal received from antenna. Both amplitude and phase information are fundamental components of CSI Sub-Portions.])
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C 103 as being unpatentable over modified Matsumura in view of Zhang et al. [Zhang] US 12279190 B1.
Regarding claim 3. Modified Matsumura discloses the wireless signal transceiver device according to claim 2,
Modified Matsumura does not disclose wherein the processing unit obtains equivalent frequency-domain information based on time-domain information of the time interval and then filters out the channel state information sub portions which are outside the time interval from the first channel state information according to the equivalent frequency-domain information.
However, Zhang discloses wherein the processing unit obtains equivalent frequency-domain information based on time-domain information of the time interval and then filters out the channel state information sub portions which are outside the time interval from the first channel state information according to the equivalent frequency-domain information. (Column 3 Paragraph 2, CSI data is granular, real-time data on the amplitude and phase of each channel subcarrier between the WLAN transmitter and receiver. Raw CSI data, provided by the chipset, is fed to a signal-processing engine for noise reduction, signal transforms, and/or signal extraction. The current implementations take these processed CSI data and run it through a machine learning (ML) model to determine whether the environment has been disrupted to the point of perceiving motion. This ML model can be “tuned” to prioritize latency and accuracy/sensitivity, using hysteresis or applying a user-provided notification threshold.)
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C 103 as being unpatentable over Matsumura et al. [Matsumura] US 20260180692 A1 in view of Kachroo et al. [Kachroo] US 11616553 B1 in further view of Zhang et al. [Zhang] US 12279190 B1
Regarding claim 4. Matsumura discloses a wireless signal processing method executed by a processing circuit, wherein the wireless processing method comprises: converting a wireless signal which is received by a receiver unit into a frequency-domain signal; (Fig 51, Illustrates Transmitting/Receiving Section received signal through antenna port. Fig. 53, Illustrates Processor unit being part of terminal. Paragraph [0001], The present disclosure relates to a terminal, a radio communication method, and a base station in next-generation mobile communication systems. Paragraph [0411], The transmitting/receiving section 120 (reception processing section 1212) may apply reception processing such as analog-digital conversion, fast Fourier transform (FFT) processing, inverse discrete Fourier transform (IDFT) processing (as necessary), filtering, de-mapping, demodulation, decoding (which may include error correction decoding), MAC layer processing, the processing of the RLC layer and the processing of the PDCP layer, and so on, on the acquired baseband signal, and acquire user data, and so on. Paragraph [0070], Digital BF is, for example, a method in which precoding signal processing is performed on a baseband (for a digital signal). In this case, as many parallel processing, such as inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT), digital to analog conversion (Digital to Analog Converter (DAC)), and Radio Frequency (RF), as the number of antenna ports (or RF chains) are required. At the same time, as many beams as the number of RF chains can be formed at any timing.)
Matsumura doses not disclose estimating the frequency-domain signal so as to obtain first channel state information, wherein the first channel state information comprises a plurality of channel state information sub portions; and filtering the first channel state information so as to obtain second channel state information.
However, Kachroo disclose estimating the frequency-domain signal so as to obtain first channel state information, wherein the first channel state information comprises a plurality of channel state information sub portions; (Fig. 1C illustrates Baseband Channel Estimator connected to Processor/Supervised Machine Learning (ML) Model. Column 3 Lines 27- 32 ,As opposed to the RSSI, a single value available per packet, the CSI data includes the detailed channel impulse response with both amplitude and phase information across all the Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) subcarriers and is updated (at the maximum rate) every OFDM symbol. Column 4, Lines 19-22, One method includes receiving first CSI data representing channel properties of a wireless channel used by a first wireless device and a second wireless device that operates in a 2.4 GHz band. [Examiner Notes: Here Baseband Channel Estimator is being treated as estimation module and in modern wireless communication both Processor/Supervised Machine Learning (ML) Model are considered as conversion module. The setup under wireless device, works as whole and configure to estimate the signal received from antenna. Both amplitude and phase information are fundamental components of CSI Sub-Portions.])
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 teachings as taught by Matsumura with the teachings of Kachroo, since doing so would have given efficient processing, better sensing accuracy, and reduced overhead.
Modified Matsumura does not disclose and filtering the first channel state information so as to obtain second channel state information.
However, Zhang disclose and filtering the first channel state information so as to obtain second channel state information. (Fig. 1c Illustrates Processor connected to Baseband Channel Estimator Module. FIG. 1B is a block diagram of a CSI sensing engine, according to at least one embodiment. Column 21,Paragraph 6, Lines 9- 19, The processing logic generates, using the first CSI data, a first set of CSI samples (block 1404). The processing logic removes (or adjusts amplitudes of) one or more outlier CSI samples of the first set of CSI samples using a sparse outlier process (block 1406). The processing logic removes a cluster of outlier CSI samples in the first set of CSI samples using a cluster outlier process (block 1408). The processing logic determines FFT data for each channel subcarrier index of a set of channel subcarriers of the wireless channel using the first set of CSI samples (block 1410).[Examiner Notes: Here Baseband Channel Estimator Module works as an estimation module and connected to processor , which works as whole unit and receive signal from antenna. Processing unit removes outlier CSI which would result in filters CSI (Second CSI)])
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 teachings as taught by modified Matsumura with the teachings of Zhang, since doing so would have yields a clean waveform because of noise reduction and smoothing.
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C 103 as being unpatentable over modified Matsumura.
Regarding claim 5. Modified Matsumura disclose the wireless signal processing method according to claim 4,
Kachroo discloses wherein the step of obtaining the second channel state information comprises filtering out the channel state information sub portions which are outside a time interval from the first channel state information so as to obtain the second channel state information. (Fig. 1C illustrates Baseband Channel Estimator connected to Processor/Supervised Machine Learning (ML) Model. Column 3 Lines 27- 32 ,As opposed to the RSSI, a single value available per packet, the CSI data includes the detailed channel impulse response with both amplitude and phase information across all the Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) subcarriers and is updated (at the maximum rate) every OFDM symbol. Column 4, Lines 19-22, One method includes receiving first CSI data representing channel properties of a wireless channel used by a first wireless device and a second wireless device that operates in a 2.4 GHz band. [Examiner Notes: Here Baseband Channel Estimator is being treated as estimation module and in modern wireless communication both Processor/Supervised Machine Learning (ML) Model are considered as conversion module. The setup under wireless device, works as whole and configure to estimate the signal received from antenna. Both amplitude and phase information are fundamental components of CSI Sub-Portions.])
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C 103 as being unpatentable over modified Matsumura in view of Zhang et al. [Zhang] US 12279190 B1.
Regarding claim 6. Modified Matsumura disclose the wireless signal processing method according to claim 5,
Modified Matsumura does not disclose wherein the step of obtaining the second channel state information comprises obtaining equivalent frequency-domain information based on time-domain information of the time interval and then filtering out the channel state information sub portions which are outside the time interval from the first channel state information according to the equivalent frequency-domain information.
However, Zhang discloses wherein the step of obtaining the second channel state information comprises obtaining equivalent frequency-domain information based on time-domain information of the time interval and then filtering out the channel state information sub portions which are outside the time interval from the first channel state information according to the equivalent frequency-domain information. (Column 3 Paragraph 2, CSI data is granular, real-time data on the amplitude and phase of each channel subcarrier between the WLAN transmitter and receiver. Raw CSI data, provided by the chipset, is fed to a signal-processing engine for noise reduction, signal transforms, and/or signal extraction. The current implementations take these processed CSI data and run it through a machine learning (ML) model to determine whether the environment has been disrupted to the point of perceiving motion. This ML model can be “tuned” to prioritize latency and accuracy/sensitivity, using hysteresis or applying a user-provided notification threshold.)
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 teachings as taught by modified Matsumura with the teachings of Zhang, since doing so would have given accuracy, timeliness, and efficiency of channel state information usage.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure (See PTO-892).
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/VNP/Examiner, Art Unit 2414
/EDAN ORGAD/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2414
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