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 .
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.
Claims 14 and 16-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claim 14 recites “wherein the first circuitry of the at least one active” which is indefinite, because there is a lack of proper antecedent basis for “the first circuitry.”
Claim 16 recites “transmitting, by the at least one active radar beacon and via at least a second antenna, the at least one artificial echo emulating a return signal” and then subsequently recites “receiving, by the at least one active radar beacon, the radar signals having the radar waveform” which is indefinite, because it appears to require the beacon to transmit the artificial echo before it receives the radar signals in the first place. Such an order defies logic and contradicts Applicant’s own disclosure. Claim 18 is likewise rejected, as it appears to add a “receiving” step at the radar beacon to the end of claim 16, which is also out of order. Dependent claims 17 and 19-20 fail to cure the deficiency.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Jones (WO 90/04795 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Jones discloses a system (abstract, regarding an aircraft landing approach system), comprising:
at least one active radar beacon (transponder 7; fig. 1) positioned within a geographic area (as shown in fig. 1), the at least one active radar beacon comprising:
at least a first antenna (wide beam localiser antenna 70; fig. 7); and
first circuitry configured to encode data into at least one artificial echo by adding an adjusted delay into the at least one artificial echo, wherein the at least one artificial echo with the adjusted delay is transmitted via the at least the first antenna, wherein the at least one artificial echo emulates a return signal (p. 11, regarding the pulse is received by antenna 70, filter 75, circulator 77 and mixer 79; the mixer 79 thus produces an IF at 150 MHz which, after transmission by a blanking gate 83 is passed to an array of delay lines; the first received pulse is further delayed a half unit by delay line 93 to give a total delay of one unit, and retransmitted by way of mixer 95, amplifier 97, circulator 77 and antenna 70; fig. 8a); and
a radar unit onboard a vehicle (approach radar 1; fig. 1), the radar unit comprising:
at least a second antenna (antenna 143; fig. 15);
a transmitter communicatively coupled to the at least the second antenna, the transmitter configured to transmit radar signals through the at least the second antenna to the geographic area including the at least one active radar beacon (p. 9, regarding interrogating pulses are transmitted in the usual manner by magnetron 147, modulator 149, circulator 151 and antenna 143; fig. 15);
a receiver communicatively coupled to the at least the second antenna, the receiver configured to receive return signals from the geographic area, the return signals including reflected signals reflected from surfaces and the at least one artificial echo transmitted from the at least one active radar beacon (p. 9, regarding the return signal, including radar returns at the transmitter frequency and beacon (i.e. transponder) returns at a shifted frequency, are passed to a mixer 153 producing separation of the beacon signal in the upper path and the radar return in the lower path); and
second circuitry configured to receive and decode the data encoded into the at least one artificial echo to generate decoded data by detecting changes in a delay in the at least one artificial echo received by the receiver (p. 9, regarding the beacon signal, consisting of a coded pulse series, is then converted to parallel format 161 and applied to a processor 163 for decoding; p. 13, regarding in practice the pulse code would preferably be long enough to give a normal looking analog signal to the operator or the aircraft autopilot via standard binary coding and an ADC, ie the retransmitted pulses would be coded to represent a number of degrees off boresight in standard binary forms; this is an example using time delay ID of the landing platform).
Regarding claim 2, Jones discloses the invention in claim 1, and further discloses wherein the first circuitry of the at least one active radar beacon is configured to encode the data into the at least one artificial echo by adding the adjusted delay into the at least one artificial echo to change a position of the at least one artificial echo to encode a single bit of information (p. 11, regarding the first received pulse is further delayed a half unit by delay line 93 to give a total delay of one unit).
Regarding claim 3, Jones discloses the invention in claim 1, and further discloses wherein the first circuitry of the at least one active radar beacon is further configured to receive, via the at least the first antenna, at least one radar signal of the radar signals transmitted by the transmitter of the radar unit onboard the vehicle (see again p. 11).
Regarding claim 4, Jones discloses the invention in claim 3, and further discloses wherein the first circuitry of the at least one active radar beacon is further configured to generate the at least one artificial echo by repeating and modifying the at least one radar signal of the radar signals transmitted by the transmitter of the radar unit onboard the vehicle (see again p. 11).
Regarding claim 5, Jones discloses the invention in claim 1, and further discloses wherein the radar unit comprises a radar altimeter configured to: determine an altitude of the vehicle based on at least one of the reflected signals reflected from the surfaces (p. 7, regarding Similarly altitude measurements are taken, either by independent altimeter or by employing the ranging facility of the radar and a small portion of radar power directed downwards).
Regarding claim 6, Jones discloses a method comprising:
transmitting, by a transmitter of a radar unit onboard a vehicle and via at least a first antenna, radar signals to a geographic area including at least one active radar beacon (fig. 1);
encoding, by the at least one active radar beacon, encoded data into at least one artificial echo by adding an adjusted delay into the at least one artificial echo, wherein the at least one artificial echo emulates a return signal (see again p. 11);
transmitting, by the at least one active radar beacon and via at least a second antenna, the at least one artificial echo with the adjusted delay (see again p. 11);
receiving, by a receiver of the radar unit onboard the vehicle and via the at least the first antenna, return signals from the geographic area, the return signals including reflected signals reflected from surfaces and the at least one artificial echo transmitted from the at least one active radar beacon (see again p. 9); and
decoding, by circuitry onboard the vehicle, the encoded data from the at least one artificial echo to generate decoded data by detecting changes in a delay in the at least one artificial echo received by the receiver of the radar unit onboard the vehicle (see again p. 13).
Regarding claim 7, Jones discloses the invention in claim 6, and further discloses the invention further comprising: encoding, by the at least one active radar beacon, the encoded data into the at least one artificial echo to change a position of the at least one artificial echo to encode a single bit of information (see again p. 11).
Regarding claim 8, Jones discloses the invention in claim 6, and further discloses the invention further comprising: receiving, at the at least one active radar beacon and via the at least the second antenna, at least one radar signal of the radar signals transmitted by the transmitter of the radar unit onboard the vehicle (see again p. 11).
Regarding claim 9, Jones discloses the invention in claim 8, and further discloses the invention further comprising: generating, at the at least one active radar beacon, the at least one artificial echo by repeating and modifying the at least one radar signal of the radar signals transmitted by the transmitter of the radar unit onboard the vehicle (see again p. 11).
Regarding claim 10, Jones discloses the invention in claim 6, and further discloses the invention further comprising: determining, by the circuitry onboard the vehicle, an altitude of the vehicle based on at least one of the reflected signals reflected from the surfaces (see again p. 7).
Regarding claim 11, Jones discloses a system (abstract, regarding an aircraft landing approach system), comprising:
at least one active radar beacon (transponder 7; fig. 1) positioned within a geographic area (as shown in fig. 1), the at least one active radar beacon comprising:
at least a first antenna (wide beam localiser antenna 70; fig. 7); and
circuitry configured to transmit at least one artificial echo via the at least the first antenna, wherein the at least one artificial echo emulates a return signal (p. 11, regarding the pulse is received by antenna 70, filter 75, circulator 77 and mixer 79; the mixer 79 thus produces an IF at 150 MHz which, after transmission by a blanking gate 83 is passed to an array of delay lines; the first received pulse is further delayed a half unit by delay line 93 to give a total delay of one unit, and retransmitted by way of mixer 95, amplifier 97, circulator 77 and antenna 70; fig. 8a); and
a radar unit onboard a vehicle (approach radar 1; fig. 1), the radar unit comprising:
at least a second antenna (antenna 143; fig. 15);
a transmitter communicatively coupled to the at least the second antenna, the transmitter configured to transmit radar signals through the at least the second antenna to the geographic area including the at least one active radar beacon, wherein the radar signals include encoded data (p. 9, regarding interrogating pulses are transmitted in the usual manner by magnetron 147, modulator 149, circulator 151 and antenna 143; fig. 15), wherein the encoded data is encoded into the radar signals by adjusting at least one parameter of a radar waveform of the radar signals transmitted by the transmitter (p. 9, regarding both signals are subjected to sensitivity-time-controls 155 followed by matched filters 157 and detectors 159; fig. 15);
a receiver communicatively coupled to the at least the second antenna, the receiver configured to receive return signals from the geographic area, the return signals including reflected signals reflected from surfaces and the at least one artificial echo transmitted from the at least one active radar beacon (p. 9, regarding the return signal, including radar returns at the transmitter frequency and beacon (i.e. transponder) returns at a shifted frequency, are passed to a mixer 153 producing separation of the beacon signal in the upper path and the radar return in the lower path); and
wherein the circuitry of the at least one active radar beacon is further configured to:
receive the radar signals having the radar waveform (as shown in fig. 8a); and
decode the encoded data in the radar signals into decoded data by detecting changes in the at least one parameter of the radar waveform of the radar signals received by the receiver (p. 11, regarding the radar frequency is in the X band, typically 9-10 GHz; the pulse is received by antenna 70, filter 75, circulator 77 and mixer 79 where it is mixed with a local oscillator 81 signal of frequency fo-150 MHz, f0 being the radar frequency; the mixer 79 thus produces an IF at 150 MHz which, after transmission by a blanking gate 83 is passed to an array of delay lines).
Regarding claim 12, Jones discloses the invention in claim 11, and further discloses wherein the encoded data is encoded into the radar signals by adjusting at least one of a frequency, phase, or amplitude at which the radar signals are transmitted by the transmitter (see again p. 11).
Regarding claim 13, Jones discloses the invention in claim 11, and further discloses wherein the circuitry of the at least one active radar beacon is further configured to receive, via the at least the first antenna, at least one radar signal of the radar signals transmitted by the transmitter of the radar unit onboard the vehicle (see again p. 11).
Regarding claim 14, Jones discloses the invention in claim 13, and further discloses wherein the first circuitry of the at least one active radar beacon is further configured to generate the at least one artificial echo by repeating and modifying the at least one radar signal of the radar signals transmitted by the transmitter of the radar unit onboard the vehicle (see again p. 11).
Regarding claim 15, Jones discloses the invention in claim 11, and further discloses wherein the radar unit comprises a radar altimeter configured to: determine an altitude of the vehicle based on at least one of the reflected signals reflected from the surfaces (p. 7, regarding similarly altitude measurements are taken, either by independent altimeter or by employing the ranging facility of the radar and a small portion of radar power directed downwards).
Regarding claim 16, Jones discloses a method comprising:
encoding, by circuitry onboard a vehicle, encoded data into radar signals by adjusting at least one parameter of a radar waveform of the radar signals (see again p. 9);
transmitting, by a transmitter of a radar unit onboard a vehicle and via at least a first antenna, radar signals to a geographic area including at least one active radar beacon (fig. 1), wherein the radar signals include the encoded data encoded into the radar signals (see again p. 9);
transmitting, by the at least one active radar beacon and via at least a second antenna, the at least one artificial echo emulating a return signal (see again p. 11);
receiving, by a receiver of the radar unit onboard the vehicle and via the at least the first antenna, return signals from the geographic area, the return signals including reflected signals reflected from surfaces and the at least one artificial echo transmitted from the at least one active radar beacon (see again p. 9);
receiving, by the at least one active radar beacon, the radar signals having the radar waveform (see again p. 11); and
decoding, by the at least one active radar beacon, the encoded data in the radar signals into decoded data by detecting changes in the at least one parameter of the radar waveform of the radar signals received by the at least one active radar beacon (see again p. 11).
Regarding claim 17, Jones discloses the invention in claim 16, and further discloses wherein the encoding, by the circuitry onboard the vehicle, the encoded data into the radar signals includes adjusting at least one of a frequency, phase, or amplitude at which the radar signals are transmitted by the transmitter (see again p. 11).
Regarding claim 18, Jones discloses the invention in claim 16, and further discloses the invention further comprising: receiving, at the at least one active radar beacon and via the at least the second antenna, at least one radar signal of the radar signals transmitted by the transmitter of the radar unit onboard the vehicle (as shown in fig. 1).
Regarding claim 19, Jones discloses the invention in claim 18, and further discloses the invention further comprising: generating, at the at least one active radar beacon, the at least one artificial echo by repeating and modifying the at least one radar signal of the radar signals transmitted by the transmitter of the radar unit onboard the vehicle (see again p. 11).
Regarding claim 20, Jones discloses the invention in claim 16, and further discloses the invention further comprising: determining, by the circuitry onboard the vehicle, an altitude of the vehicle based on at least one of the reflected signals reflected from the surfaces (see again p. 7).
Conclusion
The cited references made of record in the contemporaneously filed PTO-892 form and not relied upon in the instant office action are considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure, and may have one or more of the elements in Applicant’s disclosure and at least claim 1.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BRADY W FRAZIER whose telephone number is (469)295-9263. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9:00am-5:00pm CT.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Vladimir Magloire can be reached at 571-270-5144. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BRADY W FRAZIER/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3648
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