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 § 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.
(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 1-4. 7-8, 10-14, 17-18, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Dai et al. (US 20240201356 A1), hereinafter Dai.
Regarding claim 1, Dai teaches,
A method performed (para. 0005, “In an aspect of the disclosure, a method, a computer-readable medium, and an apparatus are provided”) by a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) in communication with a wireless network (para. 0038, “FIG. 1 is a diagram 100 illustrating an example of a wireless communications system and an access network. “) for performing sensing measurements of a target object (para. 0086, “The wireless node 506 may measure the 2nd order reflected signal 526 to perform sensing relative to the wireless node 502, the RIS 504, and the target object 505.”), the method comprising:
receiving, from the wireless network, configuration information for performing the sensing measurements of the target object (fig. 8, sensing signal configuration 810. See also para. 0107, “The wireless node 802 may transmit a sensing signal configuration 810 to the wireless node 806. The wireless node 806 may receive the sensing signal configuration 810.”);
receiving a sensing reference signal (Sen_RS) indicating a plurality of paths (para. 0107, “The wireless node 802 may transmit a sensing signal configuration 810 to the wireless node 806. The wireless node 806 may receive the sensing signal configuration 810.” See also para. 0109, which notes that the sensing signal configuration 810 can include an indication for a cluster-based path report to be generated using a number of representative reflection paths. The examiner notes that the relevant part of para. 0109 has been quoted below);
performing a sensing measurement based at least in part on the Sen_RS and on the configuration information (para. 0113, “At 824, the wireless node 806 may perform sensing on the set of 1st order reflected sensing signals 822 and the set of 2nd order reflected sensing signals 818 based on the sensing signal configuration 810.”);
for each path of the plurality of paths, determining whether the respective path is a first type of reflection from the target object or a second type of reflection from the target object based at least in part on the configuration information (para. 0113, “For example, the wireless node 806 may report one or more representative paths from each target object sensed, such as the target object 805. Each target object may have a separate path. The cluster-based path report may indicate each path. For example, the cluster-based path report may include a first indication of the first reflection path including the set of sensing signals 820 and the set of 1st order reflected sensing signals 822 and a second indication of the second reflection path including the set of sensing signals 814, the set of 1st order reflected sensing signals 816, and the set of 2nd order reflected sensing signals 818. The wireless node 806 may differentiate each reflection path based on a delay of the reflected sensing signals, or based on the AoA of the reflected sensing signals.”);
for each of the paths of the plurality of paths that is determined to be the second type of reflection from the target object, determining a respective degree of the second type of reflection and a respective type of the second type of reflection (para. 0109, “The sensing signal configuration 810 may include an indication for the wireless node 806 to generate a cluster-based path report. The indication may include one or more settings for the wireless node 806 to use, such as a clustering method (e.g., K-means clustering, DBSCAN clustering), a delay threshold, an AoA threshold, a number of representative reflection paths, or a metric for reflection path selection. The delay threshold or the AoA threshold may be used to differentiate sets of reflected sensing signals, as one set of signals may be delayed as compared to the other set of sensing signals (e.g., the wireless node 806 may receive the set of 1st order reflected sensing signals 822 before receiving the set of 2nd order reflected sensing signals 818), or one set of signals may have a different AoA than the other set of sensing signals. In some aspects, the metric for reflection path selection may indicate for the wireless node 806 to select the first path and the last path as representative paths for each cluster, or may indicate for the wireless node 806 to select the strongest measured power (e.g., RSRP) as a representative path for each cluster.”); and
transmitting information to the wireless network, the information comprising at least one of: the sensing measurement, whether each of the plurality of the paths is the first type of reflection or the second type of reflection, the determined degree of the second type of reflection for each of the paths determined to be the second type of reflection, or the determined type of the second type of reflection for each of the paths determined to be the second type of reflection (0113, “The wireless node 806 may differentiate each reflection path based on a delay of the reflected sensing signals, or based on the AoA of the reflected sensing signals. The wireless node 806 may generate the cluster-based path report based on one or more settings of the sensing signal configuration 810. The wireless node 806 may transmit the sensing report 826 to the wireless node 802. The wireless node 802 may receive the sensing report 826 from the wireless node 806”).
Regarding claim 2, Dai teaches,
The method of claim 1, wherein the configuration information comprises: metrics and conditions to determine a reference signal (RS) association type (para. 0107-0108, “The sensing signal configuration 810 may include an indication of a sensing path (i.e., reflection path) from the wireless node 802 to the wireless node 806 via the reflector 804 and the target object 805, such as the path of the set of sensing signals 814 from the wireless node 802 to the reflector 804, the path of the set of 1st order reflected sensing signals 816 from the reflector 804 to the target object 805, and the path of the set of 2nd order reflected sensing signals 818 from the target object 805 to the wireless node 806. The sensing signal configuration 810 may include a configuration of the set of sensing signals 820. The sensing signal configuration 810 may include an indication of a sensing path from the wireless node 802 to the wireless node 806 via the target object 805, such as the path of the set of sensing signals 820 from the wireless node 802 to the target object 805, and the path of the set of 1st order reflected sensing signals 822 from the target object 805 to the wireless node 806… The sensing signal configuration 810 may include an indication of what kind of beams are used for a set of sensing signals. The sensing signal configuration 810 may include an indication of one or more attributes of a sensing signal, for example a first RS for a first set of sensing signals and a second RS, different from the first RS, for the second set of sensing signals, or a first resource for a first set of sensing signals, and a second resource, different from the first resource, for the second set of sensing signals. The sensing signal configuration 810 may include an indication of the type of reflector used (e.g., whether the reflector is a RIS or a static reflector), and a position of each reflector.”); a measurement window in a time domain and/or a spatial domain for the performing the sensing measurement (para. 0112, “In another aspect, the wireless node 802 may transmit the set of sensing signals 814 and the set of sensing signals 820 with TDM as two narrow beams transmitted in different time periods. In some aspects, the wireless node 802 may be configured to sense the target object 805 while the target object 805 is moving. As such, the target object 805 may be in a first position when the set of 1st order reflected sensing signals 816 reach the target object 805, and may be in a second position when the set of sensing signals 820 reach the target object 805. In such an aspect, the wireless node 802 may schedule the measurement of each of the set of 2nd order reflected sensing signals 818 and the set of 1st order reflected sensing signals 822 independently, while the processing of the measurements may be performed jointly by the wireless node 806 or by another wireless device (e.g., a sensing entity that receives a report of the measurements from the wireless node 806).”); and scatterer assistance information (para. 0108, “The sensing signal configuration 810 may include a coverage of the reflector 804 with respect to the wireless node 802, such as a LOS ability of the RIS to reach areas about the target object 805, an angle of the reflector 804 relative to the wireless node 802, and a scatter adjustability of the reflector 804.”).
Regarding claim 3, Dai teaches,
The method of claim 2, wherein the measurement window is configured in the time domain or the spatial domain (para. 0112, “In another aspect, the wireless node 802 may transmit the set of sensing signals 814 and the set of sensing signals 820 with TDM as two narrow beams transmitted in different time periods. In some aspects, the wireless node 802 may be configured to sense the target object 805 while the target object 805 is moving. As such, the target object 805 may be in a first position when the set of 1st order reflected sensing signals 816 reach the target object 805, and may be in a second position when the set of sensing signals 820 reach the target object 805. In such an aspect, the wireless node 802 may schedule the measurement of each of the set of 2nd order reflected sensing signals 818 and the set of 1st order reflected sensing signals 822 independently, while the processing of the measurements may be performed jointly by the wireless node 806 or by another wireless device (e.g., a sensing entity that receives a report of the measurements from the wireless node 806).”).
Regarding claim 4, Dai teaches,
The method of claim 2, wherein: the first type of reflection is a single-bounce line-of-sight (LoS) reflection (fig. 5A, 1st order path), the second type of reflection is a multi-bounce non-line-of-sight (NLoS) reflection (fig. 5A, 2nd order path), and the metrics and the conditions to determine the RS association type comprises thresholds for the single-bounce LoS reflection and/or the multi-bounce NLoS reflection (para. 0109, “The sensing signal configuration 810 may include an indication for the wireless node 806 to generate a cluster-based path report. The indication may include one or more settings for the wireless node 806 to use, such as a clustering method (e.g., K-means clustering, DBSCAN clustering), a delay threshold, an AoA threshold, a number of representative reflection paths, or a metric for reflection path selection. The delay threshold or the AoA threshold may be used to differentiate sets of reflected sensing signals, as one set of signals may be delayed as compared to the other set of sensing signals (e.g., the wireless node 806 may receive the set of 1.sup.st order reflected sensing signals 822 before receiving the set of 2.sup.nd order reflected sensing signals 818), or one set of signals may have a different AoA than the other set of sensing signals. In some aspects, the metric for reflection path selection may indicate for the wireless node 806 to select the first path and the last path as representative paths for each cluster, or may indicate for the wireless node 806 to select the strongest measured power (e.g., RSRP) as a representative path for each cluster.” See also figs. 5A, 5B).
Regarding claim 7, Dai teaches,
The method of claim 1, wherein: the first type of reflection is a single-bounce line-of-sight (LoS) reflection (fig. 5A, 1st order path), the second type of reflection is a multi-bounce non-line-of-sight (NLoS) reflection (fig. 5A, 2nd order path), and the information transmitted to the wireless network further comprises at least one of: measurements of the Sen_RS within a measurement window; measurement comparison results at configured angles of arrival (AoAs) between a profile of the Sen_RS and a profile of the target object and/or a combined profile of the target object and a scatterer; or resource IDs of the Sen_RS associated with the single-bounce LoS reflection and/or the multi-bounce NLoS reflection from the target object (para. 0095, “The sensing signal configuration 612 may include an indication for the RIS 604 to modify the reflected sensing signal using watermarking to differentiate the set of 1st order reflected sensing signals 616 (and thus the set of 2nd order reflected sensing signals 618) from the set of 1st order reflected sensing signals 622. For example, the RIS 604 may add a header to the set of 1st order reflected sensing signals 616 indicating the reflection path. The watermarking may also be indicated in the sensing signal configuration 610 transmitted to the wireless node 606 so that the wireless node 606 may detect the watermarking pattern to differentiate the set of 2nd order reflected sensing signals from other received sensing signals.”).
Regarding claim 8, Dai teaches,
The method of claim 1, wherein: the first type of reflection is a single-bounce line-of-sight (LoS) reflection (fig. 5, 1st order signals), the second type of reflection is a multi-bounce non-line-of-sight (NLoS) reflection (fig. 5, 2nd order signals), and a degree of the multi-bounce NLoS reflection is determined to be at least one of a double bounce reflection, a triple bounce reflection, or a higher-order bounce reflection (fig. 5, 2nd order signals are taught to be a double bounce reflection. See also para. 0113, “The cluster-based path report may indicate each path. For example, the cluster-based path report may include a first indication of the first reflection path including the set of sensing signals 820 and the set of 1st order reflected sensing signals 822 and a second indication of the second reflection path including the set of sensing signals 814, the set of 1.sup.st order reflected sensing signals 816, and the set of 2nd order reflected sensing signals 818. The wireless node 806 may differentiate each reflection path based on a delay of the reflected sensing signals, or based on the AoA of the reflected sensing signals. The wireless node 806 may generate the cluster-based path report based on one or more settings of the sensing signal configuration 810.”).
Regarding claim 10, Dai teaches,
The method of claim 1, wherein the sensing measurement comprises at least one of a reference signal received power (RSRP), a reference signal received power per path (RSRPP), a reference signal carrier power (RSCP), a reference signal received quality (RSRQ), a signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR), a channel quality indicator (CQI), a channel impulse response (CIR), a rank indicator (RI), a precoding matrix indicator (PMI), or a timing advance (TA) (para. 0109, “In some aspects, the metric for reflection path selection may indicate for the wireless node 806 to select the first path and the last path as representative paths for each cluster, or may indicate for the wireless node 806 to select the strongest measured power (e.g., RSRP) as a representative path for each cluster.”).
Claim 11 is rejected for the same reasons and using the same citations as claim 1.
Claim 12 is rejected for the same reasons and using the same citations as claim 2.
Claim 13 is rejected for the same reasons and using the same citations as claim 3.
Claim 14 is rejected for the same reasons and using the same citations as claim 4.
Claim 17 is rejected for the same reasons and using the same citations as claim 7.
Claim 18 is rejected for the same reasons and using the same citations as claim 8.
Claim 20 is rejected for the same reasons and using the same citations as claim 10.
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 5 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dai in view of Haustein et al. (Us 2024/0128999 A1), hereinafter Haustein.
Regarding claim 5, Dai teaches the method of claim 2. Dai further teaches (note: what Dai does not teach is struck through),
…wherein the scatterer assistance information comprises scatterer object location (para. 0108, “The sensing signal configuration 810 may include an indication of the type of reflector used (e.g., whether the reflector is a RIS or a static reflector), and a position of each reflector.”), (para. 0109, “The sensing signal configuration 810 may include an indication for the wireless node 806 to generate a cluster-based path report. The indication may include one or more settings for the wireless node 806 to use, such as a clustering method (e.g., K-means clustering, DBSCAN clustering), a delay threshold, an AoA threshold, a number of representative reflection paths, or a metric for reflection path selection. The delay threshold or the AoA threshold may be used to differentiate sets of reflected sensing signals, as one set of signals may be delayed as compared to the other set of sensing signals (e.g., the wireless node 806 may receive the set of 1st order reflected sensing signals 822 before receiving the set of 2nd order reflected sensing signals 818), or one set of signals may have a different AoA than the other set of sensing signals.”).
Haustein teaches (note: what Haustein does not teach is struck through),
…wherein the scatterer assistance information comprises (para. 0085, “Attributes describing the beacon signal properties are: periodicity, directionality, polarization, sequences, patterns, temporal availability and/or validity, frequency range, signal strength, code, signatures, reference signals, radar cross-section (E.g., an around the corner radar like reflector can be in form of a cylinder, a prismatic surface etc. that allows for a Direction-tuneable specular reflector or the like) this to be included in the analysis at the observer/receiver and conclusion/decision making process. That is, such attributes or properties may identify a beacon, i.e., a multipath component associated with it.”).
Dai and Haustein are analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of endeavor. It would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the scatterer assistance information of Dai to include the average RCS and average RCS profile of Haustein. Dai already teaches sharing information about the scatterer (see citation above). Thus, the structure for sending scatterer assistance measurement is already present. Including the RCS information as Haustein, above, does is a simple design choice that has the benefit of improving the ability of the receiver to identify multipath reflections.
Claim 15 is rejected for the same reasons and using the same citations as claim 5.
Claims 6 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dai in view of Kjellson (US 2026/0126542 A1).
Regarding claim 6, Dai teaches the method of claim 1. Dai further teaches (note: what Dai does not teach is struck through),
…wherein: the first type of reflection is a single-bounce line-of-sight (LoS) reflection (fig. 5A, 1st order path), the second type of reflection is a multi-bounce non-line-of-sight (NLoS) reflection (fig. 5A, 2nd order path),
Kjellson teaches,
…wherein… the determining whether the respective path is the single-bounce LoS reflection from the target object or the multi-bounce NLoS reflection from the target object is based at least in part on at least one of: a difference between a profile of the Sen_RS and a profile of the target object; a difference between the profile of the Sen_RS and a combined profile of the target object and a scatterer; a correlation between the profile of the Sen_RS and the profile of the target object; or a correlation between the profile of the Sen_RS and the combined profile of the target object and the scatterer (para. 080, “In order to identify clusters caused by multi-path detections, the device 202 may analyze the temporal correlation between the detections of the remaining clusters, such as the clusters 900 of FIG. 9. In particular, the device 202 may analyze the temporal correlation between the detections of two clusters at a time, and repeat this for any combination of clusters in the set of clusters. This may include calculating the Pearson correlation between the time points of the detections in a first cluster to the time points of the detections in a second cluster. A high temporal correlation, i.e., if the detections in the first cluster has a tendency to be present at the same time points as the detections in the second cluster, indicates that the detections in one of the first and second clusters are multi-path detections of the detections in the other one of the first and second clusters.”).
Kjellson is analogous to the claimed invention because it is in the same field of endeavor. It would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Dai with the correlation of Kjellson because the correlation process of Kjellson is one method of determining the type of NLoS reflection experienced by the signal, giving the predictable result of enabling the system of Dai to accurately detect multipath components.
Claim 16 is rejected for the same reasons and using the same citations as claim 6.
Claims 9 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dai in view of Hwang et al. (US 20260040119 A1), hereinafter Hwang.
Regarding claim 9, Dai teaches the method of claim 1. Dai further teaches (note: what Dai does not teach is struck through),
…wherein: the first type of reflection is a single-bounce line-of-sight (LoS) reflection (fig. 5, 1st order signals), the second type of reflection is a multi-bounce non-line-of-sight (NLoS) reflection (fig. 5, 2nd order signals),
Hwang teaches,
…wherein…the type of the multi-bounce NLoS path is determined to be at least one of a NLoS-LoS path, a LoS-NLoS path, or a NLoS-NLoS path (para. 0201, “As a specific example, the influence of the LOS-NLOS environment can be determined by using the LOS-NLOS indicator standard defined by the 3GPP NR Rel-17 standard.”).
Hwang is analogous to the claimed invention because it is in the same field of endeavor. It would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Dai with the determination of Hwang. Dai teaches determining that a reflection is a multi-bounce NLoS signal, but does not explicitly teach determining the type of NLoS reflection that occurs. Hwang teaches determining the type of NLoS reflection that occurs, suggesting using the 3GPP NR Rel-17 standard can be used to ID LOS-NLOS environmental indicators. Hwang thus shows not only that the type of NLoS reflection can be determined, but also shows that doing so is a well-known technique in the art that a person of ordinary skill in the art could easily incorporate into a wireless sensing invention with predictable results.
Claim 19 is rejected for the same reasons and using the same citations as claim 9.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Anna K Benjamin Gosling whose telephone number is (571)272-0401. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 9-5 Eastern.
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, 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.
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.
/Anna K. Gosling/Examiner, Art Unit 3648
/VLADIMIR MAGLOIRE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3648
Prosecution Insights