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 .
This action is in response to the preliminary amendment filed on 12/5/2024. Claims 21-40 are pending and have been considered below.
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 (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 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.
Claim(s) 21-23,26,28,29,31-33,36,38,39 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticitaped by Park et al (US 2021/0392478).
Regarding claims 21, 31:
Park discloses a apparatus and method, applied to a first communication device (abstract; see figures), apparatus comprising processor and memory (see figures 3a-3c; para 98) comprising:
determining first time domain resource configuration information based on a speed resolution and a maximum unambiguous speed, wherein the first time domain resource configuration information indicates a plurality of sending moments on a time domain resource, the speed resolution and the maximum unambiguous speed are related to a target object, and the first time domain resource configuration information is in one-to-one correspondence with the target object (para 106, partially reproduced herein with emphasis {radar signal for environment sensing, specific reference signals, referred to herein as radar reference signals (RRS), may be needed. The radar performance (e.g., resolution and maximum values of range, velocity… a specific RRS may be needed for each use case}; para 107, table 1; para 109 {.. use cases and the corresponding requirements for RRS. For a gesture recognition use case, coarse range/velocity estimation may be enough. That is, it may be sufficient to be able to detect a pattern of movement relative to the current position of the target object (e.g., a user's hand or head). In this case, a low density (i.e., sparse) RRS with a short wavelength and narrow bandwidth may be sufficient to provide the necessary range and velocity resolution. That is, a larger value of M.sub.t, a smaller value of f.sub.c, and a smaller value of B may be appropriate}; para 110 {vibration detection use case, such as for respiration monitoring of a human, accurate Doppler estimation may be important, whereas accurate range estimation may not be. In this case, a high-density RRS with a long duration in the time domain may be beneficial. That is, a larger value of T.sub.frm and a smaller value of M.sub.t may be beneficial}); and
sending a sensing signal to a second communication device at the plurality of sending moments (para 113 {..The RRS may also be downlink or uplink. For example, the base station can configure UE-specific RRS and broadcast the RRS to all UEs in the cell, or specific UEs in the cell, or in specific directions (e.g., using spatial beamforming). As another example, the base station can configure UE-specific RRS and send the RRS configuration to the UE (e.g., as an uplink grant). The UE can then transmit RRS on uplink resources according to the received RRS configuration}; para 118,119; and see throughout the disclosure).
Regarding claims 22,32:
Park discloses all of the subject matter as described above and receiving, before determining the first time domain resource configuration information based on the speed resolution and the maximum unambiguous speed, the speed resolution and the maximum unambiguous speed (para 103,107-109 [range, velocity resolution]; and see throughout the disclosure).
Regarding claims 23,33:
Park discloses all of the subject matter as described above and determining, before determining the first time domain resource configuration information based on the speed resolution and the maximum unambiguous speed, the speed resolution and the maximum unambiguous speed based on the target object (para 103,107-109 [range, velocity resolution]; figures; and see throughout the disclosure).
Regarding claims 26,36:
Park discloses all of the subject matter as described above and wherein time intervals between any two adjacent sending moments in the plurality of sending moments are not completely the same (para 101 [transmitted RF signal increase with delay (i.e., the time between transmission and reception]; and see throughout the disclosure).
Regarding claims 28, 38:
Park discloses a apparatus and method, applied to a first communication device (abstract; see figures), apparatus comprising processor and memory (para113; see figures 3a-3c; para 98) comprising:
receiving a sensing signal sent by a first communication device at a plurality of sending moments, wherein the plurality of sending moments are moments that are on a time domain resource and that are indicated by first time domain resource configuration information, the first time domain resource configuration information is determined based on a speed resolution and a maximum unambiguous speed that are related to a target object, and the first time domain resource configuration information is in one-to-one correspondence with the target object (para 106, partially reproduced herein with emphasis {radar signal for environment sensing, specific reference signals, referred to herein as radar reference signals (RRS), may be needed. The radar performance (e.g., resolution and maximum values of range, velocity… a specific RRS may be needed for each use case}; para 107, table 1; para 109 {.. use cases and the corresponding requirements for RRS. For a gesture recognition use case, coarse range/velocity estimation may be enough. That is, it may be sufficient to be able to detect a pattern of movement relative to the current position of the target object (e.g., a user's hand or head). In this case, a low density (i.e., sparse) RRS with a short wavelength and narrow bandwidth may be sufficient to provide the necessary range and velocity resolution. That is, a larger value of M.sub.t, a smaller value of f.sub.c, and a smaller value of B may be appropriate}; para 110 {vibration detection use case, such as for respiration monitoring of a human, accurate Doppler estimation may be important, whereas accurate range estimation may not be. In this case, a high-density RRS with a long duration in the time domain may be beneficial. That is, a larger value of T.sub.frm and a smaller value of M.sub.t may be beneficial});
sensing the target object based on the sensing signal (para 113 {..The RRS may also be downlink or uplink. For example, the base station can configure UE-specific RRS and broadcast the RRS to all UEs in the cell, or specific UEs in the cell, or in specific directions (e.g., using spatial beamforming). As another example, the base station can configure UE-specific RRS and send the RRS configuration to the UE (e.g., as an uplink grant). The UE can then transmit RRS on uplink resources according to the received RRS configuration}; and
calculating a speed of the target object (para 75; figures; para 117 {base station or UE may perform object detection, vibration detection, gesture recognition, etc. based on measurements of the RRS, the locations of the base station and the UE, the angle of the transmit and receive beams (where the base station and/or UE use beamforming), and/or the like. In addition, where the UE is measuring downlink RRS, it may report those measurements to the base station or other network entity for the base station to perform the object detection}; and see throughout the disclosure).
Regarding claims 29,39:
Park discloses all of the subject matter as described above and receiving, before receiving the sensing signal sent by the first communication device, second time domain resource configuration information sent by the first communication device, wherein the second time domain resource configuration information is obtained by performing normalization processing on the first time domain resource configuration information (para 103,107-109 [range, velocity resolution]; figures; and see throughout the disclosure).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 24,25,27,30,34,35,37,40 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Yao et al. (US 2024/0236924) discloses sensing based positioning system and method.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HIRDEPAL SINGH whose telephone number is (571)270-1688. The examiner can normally be reached 8:00-5:00 M-F.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Hannah S Wang can be reached on (571) 272-9018. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/HIRDEPAL SINGH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2631
Prosecution Insights